Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past?

[Tung Lam]

topic 163: is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
essay
Reading and writing are very crucial skills to people, but in the different ages, the importance of them is not equal. As far as I am concerned, I agree with the concept that reading and writing are more important to modern people than to ancient people, because these are basic abilities of modern people.

First and foremost, nowadays, people cannot live or work well without reading and writing skills. In the past time, reading and writing might not be necessary for a lot of people because all their knowledge based on experience, which passed from one person to others by speaking. However, getting knowledge through listening and speaking is not enough for modern people to work well, and they have to develop their reading and writing skills in order to work better. For example, in the past, farmers might cultivate their plants well by listening to some experience from other farmers, but these experience were limited because they could not meet much people. Nevertheless, modern farmers have to read a lot of books about agriculture, which provide all critical information about agriculture to them.

In addition, writing and reading become two basic skills that most people have to know. Nowadays, along with the development of society and economy, more people can approach education services; as a result, the number of people who can write and read are increasing, and if people do not know about them , their lives will be difficult. Without reading and writing skills, they cannot find good jobs or improve their abilities;consequently, people who do not have abilities to write and read will be difficult to get aspect from others in society.

In conclusion, writing and reading always are important skill to all ages. However, nowadays, they become extremely vital abilities, because they have become basic skills of all people, and we can work and live better thanks to them.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a student and a university advisor

[TutorPhil]

Reading and writing are very crucial skills to people, but in the at different ages, the importance of them is not equal. As far as I am concerned, I agree with the concept that reading and writing are more important to modern people than to ancient people, because these are basic abilities of modern people.

First and foremost, nowadays, people cannot live or work well without reading and writing skills. In the past time, reading and writing might not be necessary for a lot of people because all their knowledge was based on experience, which passed from one person to others another by speaking. However, getting knowledge through listening and speaking is not enough for modern people to work well, and they have to develop their reading and writing skills in order to work better (very nice sentence!). For example, in the past, farmers might cultivate their plants well by listening to some experience learning from other farmers, but these this experience were was limited because they could not meet much many people. Nevertheless, modern farmers have to read a lot of books about agriculture, which provide all critical information about agriculture to them.

In addition, writing and reading have become two basic skills that most people have to know. Nowadays, along with the development of society and economy, more people can approach education services; as a result, the number of people who can write and read are is increasing, and if people do not know about them (whom? or what?), their lives will be difficult. Without reading and writing skills, they cannot find good jobs or improve their abilities; consequently, people who do not have abilities to write and read will be difficult to get aspect from ahead of others in society.

In conclusion, writing and reading are always are important skills to all ages. However, nowadays, they become extremely vital abilities, because they have become basic skills of all people, and we can work and live better thanks to them.

Tung Lam,

Very nice work. Your English is pretty good, and you're not far away from mastery.

Here's a bit of advice:

Your thesis statement is not quite clear. It becomes clear after reading into the essay a little bit, but it's better if it is 100% clear to the reader what you're trying to say right from the start.
How do you do that?
Keep it simple:

Reading and writing weren't as important to the people of the past as they are to modern people. The people of the past relied on professional experience that was handed down person to person. However, the skills of reading and writing have become essential in today's world, and without them a modern person will barely survive.

Hope this helps,

Phil
www.300easywords.com