A benefit of using good human relations is that you will adjust to new situations better and more easily. In other words, if a person is rather sociable and communicative, if he talks to different kinds of people during his lifetime, he will not have any difficulties in communication with them. He will be able to adapt to any interlocutor, thus, being able to maintain any conversation.
This metaphor means that you are taking on too much, and you were only supposed to deal with some of it.
It affects the text by telling you how Billy feels, and the reader will understand Billy.
I believe the answer is c