Altruism (TOEFL Practice) First, the reading passage show altruism as an extraordinary act that people and mammals are able to do even if they do not will recieve nothing for themselves and also explain this perspective through two different examples that are rejected by the lecture. The reading passage mentioned that many people donate their organs to familiar or an strange even if this action wont benefit them. While many people could donate their organs without any benefit, some of them will do it because of the reward in society or the appreciation of the person who is going to own the organ. For this reason this act is not anymore an altruism act, because it is done to elevate the donator's ego. Second, new findings in science or in animal's behavior create the necessity to reexamine prior facts, for instance the animal that was used in the reading passage, was mentioned because in the past scientist believe that the behavior of the sentinel helps his group, but now scientist have realized that his behavior does not help others. It acts this way because it has the intention to survive. To conclude, it is difficult to say which behavior or actions could be altruistic. In some cases the action could appear as something good, when the reality is different.