Global Breaking News - Tuesday, September 29, 2026

  Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Only people who earn a lot of money are successful. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

One of the greatest influences of society is money. Wealth has become a common measure of success. However, I strongly disagree that wealth is an accurate measure of success. There are many ways of evaluating success. Two methods of evaluating someone's success are by their accomplishments and whether they have contributed to society.
* wealth = 부, 재산 / measure = 측정, 척도 / strongly = 단호히, 강하게 / accurate = 정확한, 틀림없는 / evaluate = 평가하다, 가치를 어림하다 / accomplishment = 성취, 성과, 업적 / contribute to = ~에 기여하다, 공헌하다 

First, success can also be measured by one's accomplishments. Wealth is not always someone's primary goal or course of action. For example, Albert Einstein was brilliant physicist known through out the world for his theory of relativity. He is famous because of his theories and his developments in the field. While working on physics he was a patent clerk, a position that would never supply him with financial wealth. His example can be seen through out the world. University professors and researchers would simply not exist if everyone was concerned with wealth. Success is not only measured by wealth but in accomplishments, such as Einstein's theories or new drugs developed through research.
* success = 성공 / primary goal = 주 목적, 제 1의 목표 / brilliant = 명석한, 훌륭한 / physicist = 물리학자 / theory of relativity = 상대성 이론 / physics = 물리학 / patent = 특허, 특허권 / clerk = 점원, 직원 / be concerned with = ~에 관계가 있다

Second, one's success can be measured by whether they have contributed to society. While people such as Bill Gates may donate millions to charities and foundations, but there are other people that donate their lives. Mother Teresa was a nun that devoted her entire life to helping the poor in India. She won many awards for her struggle in trying to help the poor, but never kept any of the money awarded for her own personal gain. Her example is also followed by many people in social services. Working for the government, especially in social services, will never make anyone millions. However, many university graduates willingly dedicate their careers to helping children. The feelings of abused children or those getting out of helpless situations are a contribution that should not be ignored. Whether someone earns a million dollars a year or more is a very shortsighted method of evaluating success.
* donate = 기부하다 / charity = 자선단체 / foundations = 재단 / nun = 수녀, 여승 / devote A to B = A를 B에 바치다, 헌신하다, 전념하다 / award = 상 / struggle = 투쟁, 고투 / social services = 사회복지 사업 / willingly = 기꺼이, 자진해서 / dedicate = 바치다, 봉헌하다 / abused children = 학대아동 / helpless = 무력한, 의지할 곳 없는 / ignore = 무시하다, 돌보지 않다 / shortsighted = 근시안적인, 근시의

In short, while rich people are often judged as being successful, many of them shouldn't be considered so. I think a more appropriate method of evaluating success is by one's accomplishments or contributions to society.
* judge = 판단하다 / appropriate = 적합한, 적당한