Passage Summary: Sociologists look at local stories to learn about what makes a culture special, even though most of these stories are just recycled versions of the same old global plots.

Reasoning: Sociologists study folktales to identify unique cultural values, yet these tales are almost always local versions of the same universal ancient stories.

Analysis: The paradox here lies in how 'distinctive' values can be found in stories that are essentially the same across all cultures. To resolve this, we need to find a bridge that explains how the universal becomes specific. Look for an answer that suggests the unique cultural identity is found in the specific way the story is adapted or the local details added to the ancient template. If the core plot is a constant, the 'local milieu' must be where the variables—and thus the values—reside.