Man's careless attitude is the main cause for the destruction of the environment. Discuss.

You should write at least 350 words. (60 marks)

Below is a good sample answer written by Franky, my 2013 lower 6 science student.

In this modern civilization, man struggles to survive the high cost of living
expenses, which significantly increases with each passing year. This
causes them to use any method available that generates income and they
start to sideline the importance of preserving nature. This is due to
mankind realising the potential of economy that can come from nature.
So, I strongly believe the destruction of nature is mostly caused by man's
careless attitude whereby they prioritise their greed for money and the
development of civilisation. Let us analyse this phenomenon in terms of
the country's development, illegal activities of exploiting nature and the
job opportunities.
First of all, many nations try to achieve the title of the most leading nation
in economy or infrastructure. So in order to compete with other countries,
most nations try to explore any available land in their country for
development such as industries, tourist spots and many other purposes
that are related to money. Whenever they see the potential of a certain
piece of land, they tend to develop it despite some of these places might
still be uninhabited or the home for many wildlife. Sometimes, they would
also plod through jungles or level the mountains for road development
which severely changes the landscape of nature. As a result, this selfish
and careless act will cause the deforestation and global warming. For
example, Indonesia has become quite careless with their handling of these
problems. In Kalimantan, Indonesia, the forest is being severely
deforested by their people for land development. And to make matters
worse, they even choose the fastest and cos-saving method of
deforestation which is by burning down the trees, the mass release of
carbon dioxide from the mass burn down of trees lead to ozone thinning
and greenhouse effect. Also, the haze problem is another negative side
product. As for the real victims of these acts, they are the neighbouring
nations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippines especially
as haze causes many health issues such as lung cancer and breathing
problems. Therefore, these careless acts and greed not only cause the
destruction of nature but also endanger many lives, both man and
animals.
Secondly, some people's greed for great fortune and easy life make them
become selfish and careless by over-exploiting nature. They willingly do
illegal activities such as cutting down trees or animal hunting, seeing the
high demand for these materials. It will slowly cause the depopulation of
different kinds of flora and fauna. In China, these activities of eating inner
organs of animals such as tiger or bear and they even use these animals'
body parts for economic purposes such as tiger skin, crocodile skin and

elephant teeth and tusks by exporting it to those who pay a high price for
it. This has a serious effect on the ecosystem which is the extinction of
animals. In Indonesia, trees are being cut down for making expensive
house furniture made of material such as teak wood. In fact, these trees
require a long period of 10 to 20 years to mature. Thus, the continuous
cutting down of trees will eventually lead to its extinction. These activities
are illegal by law and still occurs widely despite many countermeasures
that have been taken by the authorised organisations such as World
Wildlife Fund (WWF). Somehow, these criminals are able to slip through
the organisations's enforcement laws of protecting the wildlife and
nature. Plus, most society are careless to even take notice of these
problems because they have yet to come to awareness of the dangers that
would happen from these illegal acts. If only they had given more
attention and cooperation to the authorised organisations, these problems
might have been able to be prevented.
Lastly, to survive in this modern world, every person needs to be able to
make a living for themselves of their family, but many people with low
education level cannot get high salary jobs, even university scholars are
yet to be certain of getting a proper job after their graduation despite
their high level of education. The competition is just like the survival of
the fittest among these graduates and people with low qualifications.
Therefore with the growing demand for more natural materials such as
petroleum gas and minerals from the earth as well as a high demand of
smuggled goods, people are willing to pay high prices to have employees
do their job of exploiting nature because these jobs are high risk. So
people that are desperately in need of jobs are usually tempted with the
pay and they would take up the call. This situation had opened up a lot of
job opportunities, but they are careless to not realise that these jobs are
the main cause of nature's destructtion because they are being pinned
down by the pressure of high living cost in this modern world that they
have forgotten the importance of preserving nature.
In a nutshell, I still strongly believe in my opinion that nature's
destruction is mainly caused by man's careless attitude. They strive to
make a living in the world so desperately that some eventually deny the
truth that it is their own fault for nature's destruction. If no serious and
proper actions are being taken immediately by many wildlife and nature
preserving organisations or authorised organisations such as WWF,
UNESCO and ASEAN to prepare an effective strategy or blueprint to
prevent this problem, there probably won't be any jungles or wildlife left
in the future and our young generaton will have to live in a polluted
world.

Will this student get a high band? Why?

Leave a comment below mentioning what

aspects of this essay will be awarded high
band marks.
For example, the concrete examples of
various countries being 'careless' in treating
the environment will definitely earn him more
merit/bonus marks.
What else?

Dearest students,
This is one of the sample essays for one of the MUET Topics a few years ago. The title is: People
commit crimes for selfish reasons. Do you agree? Discuss.

People commit crime for selfish reasons. Discuss

It is normal for people to describe the world now as a dog eat dog world where we
sometimes need to literally hurt or harm another just for our own survival or good.
Hence, it is not surprising for us to see an increase in crime and lawlessness in our
society as we see people harden themselves to commit bad deeds against their fellow
humans. Thus it is not wrong to say that most people commit crimes for selfish reasons
as most crimes are caused by selfish desires like greed, lust, anger or jealousy.
Many people commit crime for their desire for money. Everyday, we read reports of
increase in the number of cases of snatch theft, armed robbery and burglary,
embezzlement of funds, and cheating. These criminals selfishly think of their own needs
and wants, and in order to get easy money without working hard to earn their own

money, they selfishly force or coerce and trick others to part with their hard-earned
money and possession. They dont care if other people or families are affected or do
not have enough, they just focus on themselves, what they want to do with the money
they have taken by force. Sometimes, because of their love of money, they might just kill
their uncooperative victims.
In addition, many people commit heinous crimes out of lust. They just want to satisfy
their sexual desires and as a result they might force another unwilling party to engage in
sexual acts. It hurts our heart when we read of rape cases that happen, especially when
they involve young children or even mentally handicapped victims. These victims whole
lives are destroyed, and they are traumatized for a long time, but these rapists have no
regard for all that. They were too selfish to think about other people except themselves.
Lastly people also commit many other crimes for selfish reasons like anger or jealousy.
We read reports of how people commit murder during fights or commit road rage or kill
someone just to silent those who know their secret or have something that they covet
for. Some even kill their lovers who have a change of heart. These murderers are very
selfish because they deny someone else the chance to live just for their own interest,
survival or anger. They dont think of the hurt and harm they cause to those who might
lose their loved ones because of their actions.
Thus, the main driving force behind crimes is indeed selfishness. Although we are
imperfect and would definitely seek our own interest, we must not deaden our
conscience. If we are so self centered until we are willing to sacrifice others for our own
good, we will reap the consequences one day.