The Reading:
Altruism is a type of behavior in which an animal sacrifices its own interest for that of another animal or group of animals. Altruism is the opposite of selfishness; individuals performing altruistic acts gain nothing for themselves. Examples of altruism abound, both among humans and among other mammals. Unselfish acts among humans range from the sharing of food with strangers to the donation of body organs to family members, and even to strangers. Such acts are altruistic in that they benefit another, yet provide little reward to the one performing the act.
In fact, many species of animals appear willing to sacrifice food, or even their life, to assist other members of their group. The meerkat, which is a mammal that dwells in burrows in grassland areas of Africa, is often cited as an example. In groups of meerkats, an individual acts as a sentinel, standing guard and looking out for predators while the others hunt for food or eat food they have obtained. If the sentinel meerkat sees a predator such as a hawk approaching the group, it gives an alarm cry alerting the other meerkats to run and seek shelter. By standing guard, the sentinel meerkat gains nothing - it goes without food while the others eat, and it places itself in grave danger. After it issues an alarm, it has to flee alone, which might make it more at risk to a predator, since animals in groups are often able to work together to fend off a predator. So the altruistic sentinel behavior helps ensure the survival of other members of the meerkat’s group.
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?
The author of the passage and the lecture both talk about altruism, a type of behavior in which an individual sacrfices ones self for the greater good. The author suggests that people who are being altruistic gain nothing for themselves. The lecturer directly challenges the claim by the author. He is of the opinion that even if the person doesn't gain anything , the individual has a increased value of self worth.
To begin with, the author of the passage talks about the unselfish acts of human beings. He elaborates how human beings share their food with strangers and even donates specific body organ when such is the need, without gaining anything in return. The lecturer however challenges the author by explaining that the person sharing food or the donor receives appreciation from the receiver. This give the receiver a feeling of nobility and humility which is essential for is own self development.
Moreover, the author states in the example of meerkat that the sentinel puts itself at risk so that the rest of the meerkat can go hunting highlighting the sentinels selflessness. He states that the sentinel take guard position and in turn go without eating. However, the lecture, rebuts this by stating that the sentinel taking guard, already eats beforehand and therefore doesn't end up being hungery.
Finally the author states that the sentinel meerkat risks its life by standing at guard and sounding the alarm, as it would be the first one to be spotted in case of a predator attack and has the highest risk. The author further states that the sentinel meerkat standing alone would have a greater risk since other meerkats being in groups can easily fend of the predator attack. The lecturer challenges the author by stating a few vital points, he mentions that the sentinel takes such a position which is closest to a burrow or a hiding place and when predator attacks, he can easily escape into burrow, while other are still in danger as they are away from burrows, out in the open still hunting for food and the pose a greater risk from the predator.
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 121, Rule ID: ONES[1]
Message: Did you mean 'one's'?
Suggestion: one's
...havior in which an individual sacrfices ones self for the greater good. The author s...
^^^^
Line 1, column 239, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...altruistic gain nothing for themselves. The lecturer directly challenges the claim ...
^^^
Line 1, column 342, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: doesn't
... of the opinion that even if the person doesnt gain anything , the individual has a in...
^^^^^^
Line 1, column 362, Rule ID: COMMA_PARENTHESIS_WHITESPACE
Message: Put a space after the comma, but not before the comma
Suggestion: ,
... even if the person doesnt gain anything , the individual has a increased value of...
^^
Line 1, column 384, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'an' instead of 'a' if the following word starts with a vowel sound, e.g. 'an article', 'an hour'
Suggestion: an
...esnt gain anything , the individual has a increased value of self worth. To b...
^
Line 5, column 157, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[2]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'sentinels'' or 'sentinel's'?
Suggestion: sentinels'; sentinel's
...meerkat can go hunting highlighting the sentinels selflessness. He states that the sentin...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 5, column 375, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: doesn't
..., already eats beforehand and therefore doesnt end up being hungery. Finally the a...
^^^^^^
Line 7, column 1, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Finally,
...refore doesnt end up being hungery. Finally the author states that the sentinel mee...
^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, finally, first, however, if, moreover, so, still, therefore, while, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 10.4613686534 124% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 6.0 5.04856512141 119% => OK
Conjunction : 11.0 7.30242825607 151% => OK
Relative clauses : 16.0 12.0772626932 132% => OK
Pronoun: 23.0 22.412803532 103% => OK
Preposition: 42.0 30.3222958057 139% => OK
Nominalization: 4.0 5.01324503311 80% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1724.0 1373.03311258 126% => OK
No of words: 355.0 270.72406181 131% => OK
Chars per words: 4.85633802817 5.08290768461 96% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.34067318298 4.04702891845 107% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.43511947193 2.5805825403 94% => OK
Unique words: 183.0 145.348785872 126% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.515492957746 0.540411800872 95% => OK
syllable_count: 523.8 419.366225166 125% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 3.25607064018 184% => OK
Article: 11.0 8.23620309051 134% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 2.5761589404 116% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 14.0 13.0662251656 107% => OK
Sentence length: 25.0 21.2450331126 118% => OK
Sentence length SD: 75.5129398291 49.2860985944 153% => OK
Chars per sentence: 123.142857143 110.228320801 112% => OK
Words per sentence: 25.3571428571 21.698381199 117% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.14285714286 7.06452816374 87% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 8.0 4.19205298013 191% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 6.0 4.33554083885 138% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 5.0 4.45695364238 112% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.27373068433 70% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.110568385949 0.272083759551 41% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0464636585957 0.0996497079465 47% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0625884018221 0.0662205650399 95% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0783090741322 0.162205337803 48% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0758816926161 0.0443174109184 171% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 14.1 13.3589403974 106% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 54.56 53.8541721854 101% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.9 11.0289183223 108% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.2 12.2367328918 92% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.21 8.42419426049 97% => OK
difficult_words: 75.0 63.6247240618 118% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 10.7273730684 75% => OK
gunning_fog: 12.0 10.498013245 114% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.2008830022 107% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Write the essay in 20 minutes.
Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.