The general topic here is about altruism which the passage defines as one’s sacrifice for his other group of members and it is selfless act. The reading passages gives an example of a meerkat animal and human who sacrifice for their other members of the group. However the lecturer casts doubt on the point explains in the reading passage related to these examples.
To begin with, the reading passage states that the meerkat who stands as a guard for their other members sacrifice its food to perform his duty, and it warns other members about predators by crying. Thus in protecting other, it sacrifices its food and put its life in danger as there is more risk to escape alone after warning others. However the lecture mentions that the study has proved that the meerkat who acts as a guard already eat before others, and by alarming others, it tries to deviate the focus of the predators on other members as other members run by hearing the crying sound. She also states that for this meerkat, it is easy to return to its dwell as it stands outside of it. Thus all these points challenge the information sates in the reading passage.
In addition, the reading passage says that humans to explain altruism. It states that humans share their with the strangers, and sometimes donate their organs for other family members; this shows their selfless act for others. However the lecturer points out that humans donate a kidney or other body parts to get rewards and appreciation from their society. She also states that it is more worthy for some of them. Thus, this point also shows a contradiction to the assertion made in the reading passage of selfless act of humans.
Hi, I think you have done a pretty good job. You have captured the main points of the lecture, but the way you explained some parts of it were a little bit confusing to me. Overall, I would rate this a 4 out of 5. By the way, here is the listening script for this question:
Listening Script
You know, often in science, new findings force us to re-examine earlier beliefs and assumptions. And a recent study of meerkats is having exactly this effect. The study examined the meerkat’s behavior quite closely, much more closely than had ever been done before. And some interesting things were found… like about eating habits… it showed that typically meerkats eat before they stand guard – so the ones standing guard had a full stomach! And the study also found that since the sentinel is the first to see a predator coming, it’s the most likely to escape… because it often stands guard near a burrow, so it can run immediately into the burrow after giving the alarm. The other meerkats, the ones scattered about looking for food, are actually in greater danger. And in fact, other studies have suggested that when an animal creates an alarm, the alarm call might cause the other group members either to gather together or else to move about very quickly, behaviors that might actually draw the predator’s attention away from the caller, increasing that animal’s own chances of survival. And what about people – what about some human acts that might be considered altruistic? Let’s take an extreme case, uh, suppose a person donates a kidney to a relative, or even to a complete stranger. A selfish act, right? But …. Doesn’t the donor receive appreciation and approval from the stranger and from society? Doesn’t the donor gain an increased sense of self-worth? Couldn’t such non-material rewards be considered very valuable to some people?
