TOEFLライティング練習模試06

Read the passage below. You have 3 minutes to read through:

The Great Depression

Many people have heard of the Great Depression, but what caused this economic downturn? One of the great signifiers of the beginning was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. With that came the disaster of thousands of banks collapsing through the 1930’s. With the failure of financial institutions came a reduction in personal spending. These three factors helped bring about this awful disaster.

In the beginning, came Black Tuesday 1929. That day the value of shares in the Stock Market plummeted, causing people to lose fortunes. Within two months shareholders lost nearly 40 billion dollars. With no end in sight, the country braced itself for the eventual repercussions of major companies and wealthy citizens losing so much capital in such a short time.

Following the market, the crash came trickling effects of this disaster. Throughout the 1930’s, 9,000 banks failed. This means that any bank that overstretched itself through loans could declare bankruptcy. Any person with funds in that bank would simply lose their entire life savings. Also, people stopped investing their money in banks, and banks stopped offering loans creating a series of continued problems.

A final cause came because of this lack of personal and commercial investment. Whether because of a loss of personal finances or a lack of commercial options, people stopped buying things. Without money to buy things, the market continued its downward spiral, bringing banks and personal finances with it. This lack of personal spending perpetuated the problem of dwindling market values.

In the end, the causes of the Great Depression were byproducts of each other. Starting with problems of an overextended market that crashed and died quickly over a few months, the spiral began. From there the failure of banks coupled with a lack of purchasing destroyed exchanging finances. Thus the United States created and endured the greatest financial disaster of the world.

The reading passage explains the multiple factors that caused the Great Depression. The lecture then built upon those same ideas to give a more comprehensive picture.

First, the market crashed in 1929 caused by millions of shares being traded. This made the stocks eventually worthless and aside from the one-day losses, created an overall loss of millions of dollars. The loss of money also caused businesses to fail which led to high unemployment.

Next, the failing businesses led to the collapse of the banks. Banks offered loans to many people. When people couldn’t pay those back, the banks lost money. However, since the banks had loaned out the money in the first place, they lost all the money that people had invested. So many people lost everything they had.

Finally, the government created more problems. Since they wanted people to buy things they made laws about not bringing in foreign items. But since the businesses all failed, there was nothing being made in America and so nothing to buy. That means people didn’t have the basic things they needed.

Thus the reading and the lecture created a comprehensive understanding of all the factors that led to the Great Depression.

Globalization has increased opportunities in many areas, including business, travel, and education. There are many schools and universities that accept international students and help them with their education. Studying abroad has become popular for many students. I think this is because they can understand other cultures, get a better education, and have better job opportunities.

Firstly, studying abroad allows students to understand other cultures. Living abroad for years, students experience a totally different life in contact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Students are able to comprehend and learn to communicate with different kinds of people who are from different places. Therefore, students will have a chance to establish their individual networks. Furthermore, studying abroad will give a student a new perspective on life. Everything will be brand new, so everything will be exciting.

Secondly, most of the western universities, equipped with best facilities and well-educated professional teams, can help students to have easy access to the latest knowledge of this society. It will undoubtedly dedicate students to enhance their knowledge of technology and serve their homeland when they return to their home countries.

Last but not least, a degree abroad gives advantages to students, more opportunities will land in the student’s lap during their search for jobs. A degree acquired in a western university that is recognized by major countries, along with excellent foreign language skills, undeniably would guarantee a promising position in a joint venture company, which, to some extent, means high income and social status. Additionally, since there is so much culture out there, students will gain experience in communicating with those of other cultures. They will learn to understand the behaviors of people from other countries and it will look great later on when they graduate and write their resume.

To sum up, the rush of studying abroad has been gaining its popularity at an amazing rate recently. This is because they can get a better understanding of other cultures, attain a better education, and open up better job opportunities.