Global Breaking News - Sunday, April 28, 2024

 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People are not satisfied with what they have; they normally want something more or something different. Use specific reasons to support your answer.

 There is an old saying that states ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. No matter what we have, we always want more. I agree that people are not satisfied with what they have because of two different factors: inner and outer factors. That is, part of human nature is to want more than we have, and the media and advertisements we see daily constantly try to convince us that we want more.

* old saying = 속담 / state = 말하다, 진술하다 / grass = 잔디, 풀 / fence =울타리, 담장 / be satisfied with = ~에 만족하다 / factor = 요소 / advertisement = 광고 / constantly = 끊임없이 / convince = 납득시키다, 확신시키다

One reason is that it is part of human nature to want more. One of the base biological characteristics for any animal is comfort. People are not different in that they try to accumulate more possessions in order to feel comfort, security and convenience of having them. In modern society, there are two more characteristics of humans that feed this urge: greed and boredom. Greed drives people to have an overabundance of possessions and boredom pushes people to accumulate material items just for something to do. The mix of the natural drive for comfort and security with the human characteristic of greed and boredom causes people to want more because they will never be satisfied with what they have.
* human nature = 인간 본성 / biological = 생물학적인 / characteristics = 특징, 특성 / comfort = 안락, 편안함 / in that = ~라는 점에서 / accumulate = 축적하다 / possession = 소유물, 재산, 부 / security = 안전, 무사 / convenience = 편리함 / modern society = 현대사회 / urge = 욕구, 충동 / greed = 욕망, 탐욕 / boredom = 지루함, 권태 / overabundance = 과다, 과잉

Another reason is that the media and advertising that we see everywhere try to convince us that we need more than what we have. We cannot get on the bus or subway, turn on the TV or open a newspaper without seeing an advertisement for something that we really do not need. We constantly hear and read that our lives will be so much easier and more complete if we buy a certain product. Besides, all of our friends are buying it, so why don’t we? At least that is the angle that advertisements use on people in order to get them to buy more, and it works. After a long period of time of hearing and seeing these messages, people are inclined to believe what the media and advertisements are telling them.

* get on = ~에 타다 / turn on = ~를 켜다 / certain = 어떤, 특정한 / besides = 게다가 / at least = 적어도 / angle = 각도, 시각, 관점 / work = 효과가 나다, 있다 / be inclined to = ~하는 경향이 있다

To sum up, people are usually never happy with what they have. We have the natural human characteristic of greed and boredom in addition to a natural wish for comfort driving us to want more. There are also the media and advertising companies that spend millions of dollars a year convincing us that we need their products. Wouldn’t it be easier if we could simplify our lives and be happy with what we have without excess?
* in addition to = ~에 더하여, ~일 뿐 아니라 / million = 100만 / simplify = 간단히하다, 단순화하다 / excess = 초과