You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Longer life spans and improvements in the health of older people suggest that people over the age of sixty-five can continue to live full and active lives. In what ways can society benefit from the contribution that older people can make?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample answer 1:
Generally speaking that older generation over sixty-five years old can do certain activities and can contribute to a great extent. I am quite sure that they could participate in some activities not only in the formal range but also in the informal area. I will outline two ways in which people can get benefits of this interest.
Becoming involved in family’s special occasions is one of the ways in which the elderly can contribute. The woman older relatives could share the recipes of traditional meals and the men could share their opinions and interests in traditional games that they used to play in the past. Hence, the younger relatives will be happier because they might feel more complete. The marriage couple could get some tips on how to build a happy family from them. Gathering with whole family members can increase happiness.
Another way is the elderly can participate in the school. For instance, the school can contact local retired people for sharing their experience to pupils. I am quite sure that the children will be fascinated by the older people’s story about the circumstances in the past. They could give information about the vital links between previous live and present time. On the other hand, children can ask their grandparents for replacing their parents, due to families now more mobile, on career days.
Some professions like teaching, research, writing, mentoring requires experience and the older people can contribute in these professions. For instance, an old professor can be a great resource for the research department in a college or university.
In short, the older generation can bring some benefits to society. As our life expectancy improves, the need for the older generation’s contribution also should be increased. Making elderly more active in society not only bring positive impact for them, but also for the young generation.
[ Written by – Nurul Izzah ]
Sample answer 2:
With the tremendous advancement in heath care and medical science, people’s life expectancy has become longer than ever before and it is believed that older people can now have a more active life than they had in the past. Some people opine that senior people can still have productive and active lives and the following essay will discuss how they can have positive contributions to the society.
Firstly, it is a fact that people are now working longer than ever before and government in many countries has been forced to increase the retirement age. Thanks to the latest healthcare facility and scientific advancement for that. Furthermore, it is also noticed that instead of becoming a housewife, many women choose to work nowadays. Consequently, working parents are leaving their children either in a daycare centre or to a babysitter. Having healthy and active grandparents will be beneficial for these families, as they could help by taking care of their grandchildren. Grandparents take great care of their grandchildren and this strengthens the family tie.
Secondly, healthy and productive senior citizens can make contributions to the societies through volunteering jobs. It is a fact that many public facilities such as local libraries need some people to do volunteering jobs. Many of the senior people love to do these kinds of activities, as they give them a chance to socialise and interact with other people. And then, by having more volunteer employees the operating cost will be reduced and the fund could be allocated for other important matters.
Thirdly, there are many professions where experienced and older people can contribute far better than young people. For instance, politicians, teachers, researchers, historian, doctors often need time to produce their best output. Thus older people can remain in these types of professions and serve the people and country for a long.
In conclusion, it is true that as the health and medicine sectors have developed, people’s life span have become longer. Most of the retired people are still in healthy and active conditions. I personally believe that these people can give positive contributions to societies. They could assist their children by taking care of the grandchildren, and they could do volunteering jobs in the neighbourhood. Some of them can even serve the country in different important professions.
[ Written by – Darwin Lesmana ]