GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文七五

　　75. The speaker claims that people are motivated only by fear and self-interest. This

　　claim relies on the belief that human beings are essentially selfish, or egoistic. In my

　　view, the speaker oversimplifies human nature, ignoring the important motivating force

　　of altruism.

　　On the one hand, I agree that most of our actions result in large part from self-

　　interest and from our survival instincts, such as fear. For example, our educational and

　　vocational lives are to a great extent motivated by our interest in ensuring our own

　　livelihood, safety, health, and so on. We might perpetuate bad personal relationships

　　because we are insecure―or afraid―of what will happen to us if we change course.

　　Even providing for our own children may to some extent be motivated by selfishness―

　　satisfying a need for fulfillment or easing our fear that we will be alone in our old age.

　　On the other hand, to assert that all of our actions are essentially motivated by

　　self-interest and fear is to overemphasize one aspect of human nature. Humans are also

　　altruistic―that is, we act to benefit others, even though doing so may not in be in our

　　own interest. The speaker might claim that altruistic acts are just egoistic ones in

　　disguise―done to avoid unpleasant feelings of guilt, to give oneself pleasure, or to

　　obligate another person. However, this counter argument suffers from three critical

　　problems. First, some examples of altruism are difficult to describe in terms of self-

　　interest alone. Consider the soldier who falls on a grenade to save his companions. It

　　would be nonsensical to assert that this soldier is acting selfishly when he knows his

　　action will certainly result in his own immediate death. Second, the argument offends

　　our intuition that human motivation is far more complex. Third, it relies on a poor

　　assumption: just because we feel good about helping others, it does not follow that the

　　only reason we help is in order to feel good.

　　In sum, the speaker oversimplifies human nature. All human motivation cannot be

　　reduced to fear and self-interest. We can also be motivated by altruism, and the pleasure

　　we might take in helping others is not necessarily an indication that our actions are