Writing Feedback / TOEFL independent writing: How does the increasing availability of information influence life? [3]

huge information data and its influence on human

The widespread use of the internet has given people access to information on a level never experienced before. How does this increase in the availability of information influence life in today's world?

It is an indisputable fact that, nowadays, Internet has a dramatic impact on human's life because of the free flow of information. This great influence can be seen in three main aspects demonstrated in the following essay.

The first facet is associated with education. The access to abundant learning resources and global information from the Internet enables children in rural areas to receive an education chance they deserve. In the past two decades, the literacy rate in China has a significant rise by over ten percent. One particularly good example is that more and more children lived in a small village in Sichuan have been literate through the Internet. This outcome should be attributed to establishing the infrastructure of Internet in remote areas.

The other aspect is conservation of paper resource. Being replaced by Internet, books are not the most important method of transmitting information, which has considerably decreased the demand of paper and greatly prevented forest from deforestation. Furthermore, it also saves a great deal of time by clicking on a button instead of searching library shelves.

Despite these advantages above, the drawback of the free flow of information is that people have difficulty to tell its reliability in this information flooding generation. For instance, it is said that the U.S. election in 2016 was manipulated by Russia through inserting fake advertisement into Facebook and hacking American's identity. It is the most serious problem I have ever seen that the untruthful information on the Internet have the power of controlling the election of a country.

In conclusion, although the flow of information has greatly benefited to human's life by increasing the literacy rate and conserving paper, it is undeniable that the social media should be properly regulated to avoid the case above happen again

Writing Feedback / Travel agencies with customized travel program or free backpacking? [4]

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

The way of traveling

Nowadays, there is a boom in the number of the travel agency providing several customized travel program. However, I hold the opinion that putting your trust in the tour company is not always the best alternative to travel. I feel this way for three reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

First of all, although tour group saves much time and effort to consider all your needs and make the whole plan for you, it also limits the time you want to spend in one place and tourist sites you prefer to explore. My own experience is a compelling example of this. When I traveled to Beijing with my friends several months ago, we joined a tour group and were forced to spend only one hour on the Great Wall. Later on, we were taken to a shopping store. It is impossible to enjoy the entire trip in so limited time, let go of shopping stores. If we travel alone, we can go wherever we want and spend enough time to enjoy every site rather than wasting time in a shopping center. As a result, I am strongly opposed to traveling with tour groups, which totally ruined the pleasure in travel.

The other reason is associated with money. Following with a tour group usually costs much more money than traveling alone due to the higher level of hotels and restaurants, the fee of travel bus and the tour agency. On the other hand, if traveling alone, you can book cheap hostels and eat local foods. Making travel plans by yourself not only saves the agency fee but also provides the feeling of accomplishment.

Third, as a person fond of adventure and explore everything new, I can meet other like-minded people while traveling alone. This is not going to happen if you are in a tour group which is probably full of elderly people or those cannot understand the pleasure of adventure. Take my travel in Norway for example, on the way alone to catch a glimpse of the aurora, I met a group of people with great enthusiasm in adventures like me. We went find aurora together and waited in the weather of minus thirty degrees Celsius, which was really the most remarkable experience in my life. Therefore, I will absolutely choose to travel alone for the things and the people surprise me on every trip.

By the way of conclusion, I once again reaffirm my position that traveling in a tour group is absolutely not the best choice for me. This is because people cannot control their time, place and money when traveling by themselves and will not meet like-minded fellows.