Answer:
I assume you are referring to Malcolm Gladwell's article "The Tipping Point". If that's so, the correct answer is C. The similarities between social phenomena and diseases show the significance small changes can have on overall social trends.
Explanation:
Gladwell emphasizes the connection between social phenomena and contagious diseases on the grounds that neither of them necessarily happen in a linear way. In other words, the effects don't have to be proportionate to their causes.
When police tries to tackle the rising violent-crime rate, the common-sense approach would be to introduce drastic measures. But sometimes, even those won't help. Instead, it's often more effective to introduce "the most modest of changes" to "bring about enormous effects". Those small changes, when accumulated, can just about reach the "tipping point", the point from which things will start improving dramatically.
A famous example was the so-called "broken window" experiment in Palo Alto. The researchers parked a car on a street. The car was left untouched for over a week. When they parked the same car without a licence plate in a similar neighborhood, it was stripped in less than a day. To prove their point completely, they then decided to smash one of its windows. In just a couple of hours, the car was completely destroyed. This experiment (as well as Gladwell's central thesis) shows that violence always invites more violence. Therefore, a tiny change can bring about great results if applied at the right time and place to help reach the tipping point.
Answer: C) The similarities between social phenomena and diseases show the significance small changes can have on overall social trends.
