How does it feel moving towards the twilight?

Some people say that in the modern world, getting old is entirely bad. Others, however, say that life for the elderly nowadays is much better than it was in the past.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Answer:
There is an on-going debate over whether getting older in the present times is positively influential. I am of the firm belief that people cannot escape from the world of challenges and difficulties as well as excitement in their life at any times throughout the course of human history.

The fact that today people are afraid of reaching the latter of their life is worth considering. This concern mainly stems from the sense of isolation that is very common among the elderly. To illustrate, youngsters of previous generations approaching adulthood tended to settle down in their own local areas and even lived in an extended family to easily take great care of their parents. This close contact contributed to alleviating the feeling of loneliness of older people. Today, higher standards of living intertwined with modern technology and popularity of transportation allow young people to travel and have access to state-of-the-art educational environments worldwide that, potentially, enable them to make a climb up their career ladder. Therefore, contact of the elderly with their children, siblings, and relatives is limited to a screen within a couple of minutes through which connection on an emotional level is virtually absent. Significantly, not having people around goes further beyond the scope of loneliness. In case of emergency, a sudden heart attack, for instance, would result in undesired situations if there is nobody to look after them. In another respect, this problem even concerns citizens in the developed world where aging population is a national issue. People therein do not get married, or if they do, they do not give birth or adopt any child because of economic hardships suffered. Comprehensibly, many would sometimes come to the realisation that their journey of hard work and efforts will end up in hiring a caregiver, at a high cost, to look after and befriend until the end of their life.

However, challenges do go along with benefits. Today, a number of solutions have been put forward to help the elderly overcome such negative feelings. Urban planners and developers always put at the heart of their urban designs cultural venues where people can meet up and socialise with each other. Furthermore, a variety of social programmes targeting the old available in big cities are shown to be effective. At the top of the list is dance performances, which according to some research, bring both physical and mental health benefits. Specifically, old people are encouraged to dance in groups as a means of interacting with others to reduce the sense of isolation and irrelevance. Besides, dance is proven to improve their balance and brain function by forcing it to process information faster, and thus better life quality of Alzheimer sufferers. Additionally, one of the major advantages of living in the modern world is unlimited access to health care services. Higher living standards and recent progresses in medical research are bound to confirm higher life expectancy compared to previous generations. In other words, that people dying prematurely of poor diseases before partaking in the excitement of their lives, is now a thing of the past.

In conclusion, challenges and benefits are always here to stay, regardless of the era people live in. Getting old in the contemporary or in any times is never given a welcome. At the least, many steps are now taken to help the elderly overcome their own difficulties.

Please note that you only have 40 minutes to write a simple discussion for this topic. You will not have enough time to complete almost 600 words in an actual presentation. You will end up with a failing essay presentation due to an unfinished discussion consideration. I know that some teachers tell you that you just have to keep on writing until the time is up and you will get a passing score. Do not believe that. The word count does not matter. What matters is how well you can explain yourself quickly. Prove your English comprehension skills and your ability to discuss in everyday English terms. Keep it short due to the time constraint. That is what matters to the examiner when he is reviewing and scoring your essay. As long as you write between 250-300 words, you will stand a good chance of passing the test, provided your discussion is on point.