Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #653

Elias possessed a generosity that was, to the untrained eye, entirely boundless. He funded the town’s orphanage, underwrote the municipal theater, and personally rescued the local textile mill from inevitable insolvency. Yet, to those who observed him closely, his philanthropy resembled a meticulously kept ledger rather than an overflowing well. A favor from Elias was a heavy coin, minted with an unspoken but absolute expectation of a return on investment—be it in the form of fierce political loyalty, elevated social capital, or unquestioning obedience when he inevitably called upon his debtors. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?