TPO47 IndependentDo you agree or disagree with the following statement?It is important to know about events happening around the world, even if it is unlikely that they will affect your daily life.Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Globalization is an overwhelming world trend. Walking the streets of Seoul, Madras, Cairo, and Shanghai, we see people wearing jeans, hear familiar pop music, and read advertisements for many of the same products. Thus, some argue that it is important wo know about events happening around the world, despite the fact that they can barely affect our daily life. I fundamentally agree with this view that we should be aware of global affairs because they can expand our outlook and actually have a long-term influence on our everyday life.

First, knowing about what is going on around the world help people to broaden their horizons. In the past, people had narrow prospect due to the limitation of transportation. Inhabitants in some western countries could never image the taste of tea and the clothes made of silk; while eastern world people could not understand how to use forks and knives to cut a steak. However, today due to the coverage of mass media, we can easily have access to abundant information about foreign culture and custom, even though many of us may have never stepped out of our home countries. For example, although people living near the equator might never have a chance to enjoy skiing in the local community, they can appreciate a range of winter sports, including snowboarding, ice hockey, speed skating, etc., by watching Winter Olympics on the TV or via the Internet. Therefore, global events enable people to expand general knowledge of various subjects - the rule of a winter sports game, the damage of an earthquake, the coronation ceremony of a queen.

Moreover, it is essential to be aware of foreign affairs because we need to communicate with people in other parts of the world. The unprecedented booming of technology, e.g. airplanes, the Internet and satellites, are making the world a small village where we often need to exchange ideas with different people frequently. Today more than ever, we can see businessmen negotiating with international clients, scientists from different regions conducting an experiment together, and students taking online courses taught by an overseas professor. How can one meet new people from other countries and communicate with them if he is so close minded without knowing anything that happening around him? He would be extremely ignorant and feel lost in the multicultural world as he could not learn from others' experience, opinion and advice.

Admittedly, sometimes a worldwide event can cast little impact on our daily life. My opponent might argue against me that he would take the same subway line to go to work at the same company after knowing that some international companies gone bankruptcy. The influence of such events, however, would affect our life in an indirect and long-term way. Take my major, computer science, for example. Ten years ago, the number of students choosing this major surged due to the booming computer industry; then suddenly this figure dropped because students were worried about outsourcing to distant regions as IT engineers; but now with the supportive policy to computer engineers, IT industry thrives again. Therefore, global events and policies can have a profound influence on our career perspective and our daily life as a whole.

In the final analysis, although events occurring around the world seldom affect our life immediately, it helps us to gain international insight and facilitate cross-country interaction and communication. So I believe that knowing about things happening around the world is of great significance.