Saturday, 22 October 2016

As a result of advances in medical care, average life expectancy is increasing for men and women. Do you think most people will see this as a positive development? What are the disadvantages of an ageing population for individuals and society? Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience or observations.

These days, there is an ongoing debate between people whether advances in medical care and increase in life expectancy is a positive development. While it is possible that some people will claim that it is detrimental, a vast majority will welcome this improvement. The advantages and disadvantages of older population are discussed in this essay.

There are several reasons why humans love increase in average life span for self and fellow beings. One of them is that they can spend longer years with their loved ones. Moreover, fast paced world economy has increased competition and people have to struggle for longer years before they can establish a career and start a family life. Therefore, they need to live longer in order to support their children.

On the contrary, the main disadvantage of aged people is that they reduce the number of opportunities for youngsters in workplaces. Further, other problems might arise like low production, lack of modern outlook and innovation. For example, a person becomes head of the department on the basis of his seniority but is oblivious to new ideas. If he does not accept new suggestions and improvements, then he limits the growth of the organization by continuing to work in old fashioned way.

While there are strong arguments on both sides of the case, my personal opinion is that the benefits of ageing population outweigh the harms. I would strongly recommend that youngsters look upon elders as a source of inspiration, motivation and benefit from their experience.

It has recently been suggested that the classical, or “dead”, languages Latin and Greek should be re-introduced into the school curriculum. Those that oppose the idea claim that the ancient languages are of no practical use and no help in getting a job. Those in favor of the idea say that education is more about training the mind than preparing for a career Which of these points of view do you most agree with? Support your argument, where possible, with reasons and/or examples from your own experience and observations.

It is argued that classical languages like Latin and Greek should be reintroduced into the school curriculum. This essay disagrees with this statement and believes that education should be focussed on career development. The essay will first discuss the potential negative impact of introducing traditional languages in study course, along with supporting arguments, followed by a reasoned conclusion.

To begin with, there are numerous reasons why we should not force the students to study Latin and Greek at School level. But the most notable one stems from the fact that pupils have right to choose the subjects of their interest so that they can perform to the best of their abilities. For example, a child might be fond of science fiction while another might love drawings and paintings. Moreover, it is a popular belief these days that if we try to judge a fish by its ability to climb the tree then it would remain stupid forever.

Some may offer a contrary argument that education must be diverse rather than focussing on job future opportunities. However, it also needs to be taken into consideration that the world economy has changed and competition demands more and more expertise in every field. The most concerning aspect about this fact is that students might lose interest in study because if they do not like a subject or feel that it would not help them in career. This idea is completely unacceptable, as use of traditional languages is limited to students of literature who can enrol to study them after school.

Taking into account the arguments discussed, we can conclude that ancient languages like Latin and Greek must remain optional course of study for those opting for higher education or career in linguistics or literature.

Sunday, 16 October 2016

When computers first appeared on the scene, it was thought they would make us more productive in providing goods and services, smarter and possibly happier. Sceptics claim that the opposite is true as computers have proved disappointing in terms of productivity, and have made us less happy and more stupid because information is not knowledge. Which of these points of view do you agree with most? Support your argument with reasons and/or examples from your own experience and observations.

When computers were first invented, people expected them to make us more productive, smarter and happier. Undoubtedly, computers have lived up to the expectations which can be proved by looking at the fast paced world.

Firstly, use of computers have been included in all walks of life and manufacturing as well as services industries are no exception. Although sceptics might argue that computers distract workers and result in loss of productivity, it is not true. If workers are lethargic then they might find another way of skipping work. On the other hand, computers have resulted in faster processing and record keeping leaving enough time to focus on improvement. For instance, industries are now able to automate several tasks using artificial intelligence and production has increased as a consequence.

Secondly, computers are rich source of information and communication. We can retrieve and utilise volumes of information readily available at our fingertips because there are several search engines and online encyclopaedias. Critics believe that easily accessible information is different from knowledge earned through deep study preferably using printed books. However, I see no difference between a printed book, online article and an ebook. For example, students use ebooks and find them handy in case availability of printed book is an issue at a library. This ability to find information easily and communicate to our peers have definitely made the lives joyful.

Therefore, we can conclude that the advantages of computers outweigh its disadvantages and have certainly made us more productive, happier and knowledgeable.