IELTS Essay: Australia, December 2011
海外大學教師謝振禮投稿

Richness is an important factor in helping people. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Richness is not everything that can help people, although it can always make a difference. Charity only sends a loaf of bread to keep the starving people alive in their wretchedness, so besides money there must be other factors as well that can cause them to get out of their poor conditions. While the importance of financial aid cannot be over-estimated, it is crucial not to ignore the value of encouraging people to hope and dream.

Acknowledging that there are things money cannot buy, money is by far the most effective factor that can directly come to the rescue of people in extreme poverty. Money can buy many things--food for the hungry, clothing for the freezing, medicines for the sick, schools for the young, housing for the homeless, to name only a few. It seems that cash contributions are so vital in helping people that apparently not enough is being done for that matter. Therefore it is the obligation of the rich to help the poor, if only on moral or humanitarian grounds. For all things that money can buy in helping people in any way, richness is an essential means to that end. In some critical situations concerning money or rather the lack of it, richness can certainly make change happen, and may even help save human lives.

Often a person in want of help is not so much the one without a cent as the one without a dream to become hopeful. It goes without saying that not only the wealthy but people in all walks of life are able to help other people keep their hopes alive, one way or another. Teachers teach skills and doctors cure diseases and preachers inspire faith, and what not. In a certain sense, doing well one's job is of great help to society as a whole. Giving away money being a virtue, not everyone should wait to become a Bill Gates before doing good deeds that would benefit people in general. Obviously, what this great philanthropist, as an example, is up to is building hopes for the very desperate and providing love for the very poor because for hopes people can dream and for being loved people would not give up hopes for better lives.

Enabling oneself to help people generate hopes and dreams had better be considered as a noble mission in life, money always being an important factor. However, that mission should go beyond charity because richness alone cannot solve all problems affecting the less fortunate people. Nevertheless, without such donations from the rich, many problems associated with poverty could only become worse.