Meerkat
2
Passage was about the altruistic behaviour of animal which is an unselfish act of kindness. But the lecturer opposes the idea of altruism. She says that it may not always be the case of altruism. In lecture, the professor gave an example of a study conducted on Meerkats' behaviour. The early belief about Meerkat is that one Meerkat stands guard and gives an alarm cry when a predator comes as so showing an act of altruism. But the close study of Meerkat revealed that the Meerkat standing as guard eats before it guards and as the guard Meerkat is the first to see the predator coming it increases the chance of guard Meerkat's survival as it is guarding near its burl. And other Meerkat would have to run together in a crowd so it may get noticed by predator more quickly which decreases their chance of survival. But the passage suggested that the guarding Meerkat was actually an altruistic behaviour which is completely opposed by the study. The professor also gave an example of a person donating his/her kidney. People usually consider that it's an act of altruism, but actually person donating his/her kidney or any organ to a family member or stranger may also seek an increased sense of self behaviour or reward from society or any non-materialist acknowledgement. But the passage suggested that it's an unselfish act which is not always the case according to the professor. The lecture contradicts the passage discussing altruism. In the lecture, a careful study of meerkats has been discussed. According to the study, meerkats stand guard after having food, unlike mentioned in the passage. Another observation that was made was that the meerkat sentinel is the first one to escape since it is the first one to see the predator. Also, the burrow is nearby so it doesn't have to cover a long distance alone. This is again in contradiction with the passage's declaration. Furthermore, the study found that the predator is likely to attack in a direction away from the cry of the sentinel so the statement in the passage that the sentinel is at a greater risk is incorrect. The probability of the predator assailing the group of meerkats foraging for food is higher.
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toefl meerkat
Transcript of Meerkat
Passage was about the altruistic behaviour of animal which is an unselfish act of kindness. But the lecturer opposes the idea of altruism. She says that it may not always be the case of altruism.In lecture, the professor gave an example of a study conducted on Meerkats' behaviour. The early belief about Meerkat is that one Meerkat stands guard and gives an alarm cry when a predator comes as so showing an act of altruism. But the close study of Meerkat revealed that the Meerkat standing as guard eats before it guards and as the guard Meerkat is the first to see the predator coming it increases the chance of guard Meerkat's survival as it is guarding near its burl. And other Meerkat would have to run together in a crowd so it may get noticed by predator more quickly which decreases their chance of survival. But the passage suggested that the guarding Meerkat was actually an altruistic behaviour which is completely opposed by the study.The professor also gave an example of a person donating his/her kidney. People usually consider that it's an act of altruism, but actually person donating his/her kidney or any organ to a family member or stranger may also seek an increased sense of self behaviour or reward from society or any non-materialist acknowledgement. But the passage suggested that it's an unselfish act which is not always the case according to the professor.
The lecture contradicts the passage discussing altruism. In the lecture, a careful study of meerkats has been discussed. According to the study, meerkats stand guard after having food, unlike mentioned in the passage. Another observation that was made was that the meerkat sentinel is the first one to escape since it is the first one to see the predator. Also, the burrow is nearby so it doesn't have to cover a long distance alone. This is again in contradiction with the passage's declaration.Furthermore, the study found that the predator is likely to attack in a direction away from the cry of the sentinel so the statement in the passage that the sentinel is at a greater risk is incorrect. The probability of the predator assailing the group of meerkats foraging for food is higher. The lecture also covered altruism in case of human beings. An example of donation of kidney has been considered. This example explains that it would not be correct to assert that the donor is an altruist and is not gaining anything out of the unselfish act he performs because he would receive appreciation from the society and experience the feeling of self-worth. So, in a way he receives something non-material in exchange for a materialistic object. This is another place where the lecture is in opposition to the passage.To conclude, it can be said that the altruist also receives something, latent or patent, in exchange for his good deed.
