Digital ACT Reading Practice Question #1713

In a gift economy, an individual who immediately returns an identical gift would likely be seen as: Passage Excerpt (Social Science): In modern market theory, transactions are conceptualized as discrete exchanges where goods are surrendered for immediate monetary compensation, extinguishing reciprocal obligations. However, classical anthropological studies of gift economies—such as the Kula ring of the Trobriand Islands documented by Malinowski—reveal an entirely contrary logic. In a gift economy, circulating ceremonial shell armbands and necklaces is not designed to settle accounts or meet material needs, but precisely to cultivate perpetual indebtedness. By giving a valuable object, the donor creates a social tether compelling the recipient to respond in the future with an equivalent or superior gift, weaving enduring webs of alliance and mutual interdependence. The value lies not in utility, but in binding human communities across time.