Writing Feedback / Many people regret that they had not attended a university, but none regret that have a degree [4]

Hi everybody,

This is my first toefl essay and I will be glad if somebody will find time to give me a feed-back.

People attend college or university for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge).Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

People attend university for different reasons like new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge, to meet new people, to be specialized in a field, to change the city that they were born in, to make their parents proud, to be out of the parents' eyes and many, many other reasons.

As human beings, we are programmed to establish goals in our life. One of the goals is the career or how we will earn the income and at what standard we want to live. If we want a high level income and life then is necessary to choose a university or a college. Why? Because only if you are professional in the field that you want to practice then your income and life-level will be high.

Not all the teenagers that choose to enroll in a university or college know very well what they want to do with their life so their goals are not too specific. Then, they must be motivated by other reasons. One reason can be just to get out of the small towns or villages that they were born in and to go into a big city with so many opportunities. Imagine what a life...new friends from different backgrounds, clubs, parties, freedom (the parents are not there). Maybe you just dream to know other society than yours...well, the borders are open now, and you can study in your dream country or society.

Another reason to attend university is the level of knowledge that your are exposed to. Every day the amount of knowledge is getting bigger, more specific with each level. So many opportunities are open in your face, specialties that you did not know before. Is impossible not to find something that you like...molecular physics, behavior analysis, a philosopher that you agree with, genetic science etc. The environment will take you to the highest level. You just need to choose the field.

Finally, one of the most common reasons to attend a university is the family. It is more probable that, if you come from an intellectual family to attend university. It is a fact that the parental model is very important in the way you choose to live your life. The percentage of teenagers that attend university is much higher in intellectual families than in families where parents do not have degrees. Many persons attend university for the sake of their parents.

There are many reasons to attend university. I think in these days everybody can attend a university. You can take a loan or you can attend different programs and foundations, or your grades will speak for you and you can win a grant or a bursary. I am sure that there are many persons who regret that they had not attended a university, but none to regret that have a degree.

Writing Feedback / Does Success Come from Luck or Work? [7]

hi again,

can you guys, please, give me an opinion about this one? i am not so sure about it.
thank you

"When people succeed in life, it is because of hard work. Being lucky has nothing to do with success in life." Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

Successful people are...

Success is every person goal. We all need to succeed, to achieve our standards. Both luck and hard work play a role in being successful; for some people is mostly about luck and for others, luck and hard work in the same amount. You must have the opportunity, the luck to be the right man at the right time and then you need to work hard, to invest alot of time in that activity.

Some people are just born in rich, powerful families and this is the chance of their life. Here is not about hard work. This is just pure luck. Being born in a famous family opens the doors more then anything else. For example, take some generations of politicians, mafia clans, inheritance in the families. A big percent of the today's successful people are coming from decades long rich and powerful families. For example, Bush family, the Rockefellers, etc

An important factor to achieve success is the 'cumulative advantages". Malcolm Gladwell describes this phenomenon very well in his book "Outliers". Some people are successful because they met a chain of opportunities that built their success. Gladwell describes the cases of few people, one of them being Bill Gates. First he was born a in a family with possibilities that could afford to sent him in a private school that at that time had one of the first computer laboratories in United States. He stuck with computers, and with hard work and other opportunities became Bill Gates that we know the today. Gladwell says that the magic number of time that need to be invest to become a professional in your field is around 10.000 hours, which is a huge amount of work.

Today, in the developed societies, success means great career, a lot of money and high standard living, but along the history, different societies have different meaning for being successful. In Sparta, for example, the successful person was a warrior; you could not be a warrior without the skills, the talent that you were born with- the luck-, and then, hard work to develop those skills.

In conclusion, success in life is about having the opportunity to focus your hard work in the field that you have chosen. The opportunity "opens the door", is showing a road and the hard work is like "walking on that road". Many had the opportunity, but only few found the power to work hard and they became successful.

Writing Feedback / What discovery in the last century has been most beneficial for your country? [4]

hi again,

so guys...is getting better? to much history and is out of subject?what about my grammar? thanks

In the last century, my country, Romania, had passed through many changes and regimes that influence its history in many ways. The worst experience for my country was the communist regime. Scientists made so many discoveries and inventions over the century, but I think the most important for the people of Romania is the internet.

Under monarchy, Romania had reached the performance to be the second largest grain exporter in Europe and the economy flourish. Young people were educated in Paris and other big universities centres around Europe. All this changed when the communist party ravished the liberty and fortunes of people. With the instauration of the communist regime, dreams were stolen. From 1947 to 1989 life was a continuum of suppression and low standards; borders were close and educated people imprisoned. Generation were using the same kind of furniture, appliances same educational curriculum. It was no progress, dreams or hope during this half-century. But all came to an end in 1989 when a revolution took place and the regime fell down. People celebrated the freedom of thinking and mostly the hope for a better life.

After all this years, Romanians gained the right to live at the same standards as the people in developed countries. Now the key-word is "information" and what helps us to have it is the internet. On the internet is so easy to have a conversation with somebody from other country, to know the most recent news or the new movie that won an Oscar prize. You do not have the money to travel? Well, you can use Google Earth and you can travel in seconds anywhere in this world. Under communism, even if you were the best student, there was no chance for you in Romania, but now, you can apply online to universities all over the world. The amount of information on the internet is huge: encyclopaedias, books, foreign languages courses, new discoveries, the most recent entertainment shows and news from all over the world. There are no boundaries anymore and this is our true achievement.

The internet helped us to get beyond the years that we were far behind civilization and evolution of the developed nations. The progress that we had made in these 20 years was huge and that was possible only with the discovery of the internet who gave us access to information. Without this huge amount of information I'm sure my country will still be far behind.

Writing Feedback / Will You Buy a House or Start a Business? [9]

hi again,

another essay here...i wrote this one few times before i post it here. i.m not sure if i argued enough in favor of my thesis.

thank you everybody for helping me!

[/b]You have enough money to purchase either a house or a business. Which would you choose to buy? Give specific reasons to explain your choice. [b]

Having money to buy a house or to start a business is a big advantage for each one of us. If I were in the position to make this choice, I will certainly start a business. Why? Because my dream is to be my own boss and in the same time financially independent. Buying a house for yourself is a dead investment but starting a profitable business can give you the opportunity to buy maybe a better house and to improve your life standards.

A business can be a risky investment but buying a house can be a dead end one. I always liked to take the risk and be responsible for my choices. A big advantage that a business can give me is that I am totally responsible for its destiny. I like to be my own boss and to be in charge for something that is totally mine. Maybe I do not have the perfect skills to be a business woman but I can ask for different opinions and I can make some researches so in the end my job is to adopt the best way to improve and promote my business. The profit is directly connected with the way that business is managed and this will put me in charge about my financial situation.

Buying a house is not going to give you the opportunity to grow your earning to much. Maybe after the purchase the money is not going to be enough for renovations and furniture and other needs. Of course, the value of the house can grow in time, but even like that, how can you increase your earning? Also I have to consider that a house need maintenance which is another investment that maybe I am not going to be able to afford.

To have a superior earning is a need for me and only a profitable business can give me the financial security that I need. My dream house is a big, elegant one and the only way to afford it is to start and grow a profitable business

Writing Feedback / Do you support it or not? A mall construction in your neighborhood [6]

hi again,

i have here another essay. thanks

It has recently been announced that a large shopping center may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

Will a shopping center makes a neighbourhood better? A shopping center there will definitely improve the neighbourhood economical status by offering jobs and also will raise the price on real estate market, so I will definitely support its construction.

Through the construction ...
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