Author - Dara Saoyuth

Topic: “In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and detail to develop your essay.”

Jeanne Calment of France died at the age of 122 and 164 days, and Shigechigo Lzumi of Japan died at the age of 122. Along with this, Gertrude Bains, a 115-year old American, is still alive, and Kama Chinen is now living at his age of 144. I am very surprised when I heard this news from my radio. I think that these people are ones showing that the world has stepped into a new era when people tend to live longer and longer. In the past, rarely did people live up to the age of 50 or 60; however, presently, living up to age seemingly becomes normal. Comparing to more than one hundred years ago when the life expectancy for people was just 22 for males and 25 for females, the life expectancy in 2008 is 64.3 and 68.35 for males and females respectively. This tendency does not naturally occur. In deed, there are many factors causing it.

First of all, advanced medical care and education of health contribute so much to prolonging people’s lives. Scientists, nowadays, are seeking new medicines that effectively cure many grave diseases. The health care centers are established throughout the world to meet the physical and mental needs of people. Along with this, many high-tech medical equipment such as X-ray scanner, disease analyzing machine and operation equipment have been produced to enhance the quality of medical services. Unlike people in hundred years ago who could lose their lives even just they had a cold, people on these days can receive health care services whenever they get sick, or even when they feel uncomfortable. Plus, people now become well aware of how to take care their health, and they can prevent themselves from infectious or even epidemic diseases, for they can get enough information from health agents or advertisements on radios or televisions. As a result, when any epidemic disease breaks out, everyone is alert, and each nation tries to take an urgent action to prevent it from spreading worldwide. For instance, in 1976, when the swine flu broke out, there were approximately 40 millions people infected, but this horrific event can not happen again today. Recently, when this virus just broke out, each country took an action immediately, and we all got enough information about it already.

Besides, food stability helps reduce the number of people who die of hunger. In primitive time, people practiced poor agriculture such as slash-and-burn farming that depended much on weather. If the weather was friendly, the crops would grow well, and people could gain enough food for that season. Unfortunately, if the weather became harsh, drought or flood, people would face a starvation, and thousands of people could die of food shortage. In contrary, people these days know

how to store water for farming. Many huge dams and irrigation systems are built, containing millions of cubic meters of water to support their agriculture and make their cultivation less dependent on nature. Because of a possibility to do farming two or three times a year by using of  high-tech cultivation, people today can ensure the stability of food for themselves, which is a main factor that can help lengthen their lives.

A decrease of wars and political unrest also enable human beings to live longer. Before twenty-first century, the world seemed disorder in politics, economy and society. Rarely was any international law enacted. Most countries at that time were led by monarchy, dictatorship or colonialism. Wars and rebels were usually seen, and millions of people were involved; thus, thousands of them were killed and injured while other thousands were living with fearfully every day. For instance, during World War II, there were around forty million people falling victim, and about fourteen million military personnel died. This situation caused their physical and mental security to become weak, and this was the main point making their life expectancy short. However, the world now becomes safer and more convenient. Each nation is trying to promote democracy and effective law for its people’s welfare. National and international organizations are established to maintain the human rights and social welfare and to promote peace around the world. Generally, wars are replaced by face-to-face negotiations. As a result, people can build their confidence on their lives and live harmoniously until they get old.

In short, although life expectancy keeps increasing, we should not feel too prod. We must know that when more and more people are loaded into our world, many problems, especially those concerning with environment, will become much more harmful to our lives in the future. However, I strongly believe that if our world can still ensure food stability, improve medical care, and reduce or eliminate wars or political unrest by using proper policies, people will still live longer.