Independent Writing

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Today, there are so many sources of news and information that it is difficult to know
whom to believe or who is telling the truth.

The concept of news has solidified as a very important source of information in the current
generation where the degree of information and knowledge we obtain is soon the power we
have. Moreover, on a worldwide national level news firms have a responsibility to provide the
most credible yet accurate and precise information with respect to the timeline in order to
maintain their ethos. But with so many different sources, it may be hard to rely on the credibility
of some of the news and the information they deliver towards the audiences. Therefore, I agree
with the statement and it is difficult to track the credibility amongst diverse sources published in
our society.

Portraying information in a certain way can be extremely influential towards the consumers.
News firms are a type of oligopolistic firms where they compete with each other by
differentiating such as different script quality, branding and advertisement. One of the most often
ways these big firms differentiate themselves is by satisfying the primary consumers of a certain
political aspect. These firms address objective facts and information however when the issue of
politics arise, they may be very skewed or one sided portraying the information in a specific way
with a purpose and intention. This creates the gap between a “biased” and a “non-biased” news.
Providing a biased point of view may be influential towards the audiences and adding few lines
as a finishing sentence with a potential outcome or any interpretation limits the audience's
scope with such thoughts clearly having an effect on them. Furthermore it satisfies the audience
with what they want to hear and think which may be a strategic move as a firm to secure their
part of news consumers; however it contradicts with the philosophical question of “to what
extent are they meeting the fundamental yet essential qualities a news requires?”

Until 2022 Politics may be considered the main cause raising most of the biases and credibility
issues of news but since 2022, artificial intelligence has faced a significant amount of
innovation. In our current era, AI is a subject that appears everywhere in our daily lives, being at
its peak of many people's interest. It holds great potential and the magnitude of its possibilities.
However there are recent news reports that AI technology has been exploited in producing fake
news for diverse advertisement purposes. News is symbolic of its credible and informational
traits however it is so ironic where we are living in a world where we cannot take for granted
everything the news says. For such crucial reasons not just only news but any knowledge of
information we consume, we should doubt and confirm every knowledge we encounter using
deductive logic and thinking to some extent to really question if this knowledge is legitimate.

Therefore there are so many sources of news and information that it is difficult to know whom to
believe or who is telling the truth.
Integrated Writing

Many Americans choose to retire in their late fifties instead of mid-sixties as people would
normally do. This phenomenon is called “early retirement” and according to recent studies held
by sociologists, this trend will continue for a couple of reasons.

Paradoxically, “vast working experiences”, which were believed to be the precious assets of old
workers, were turned against them. This is because after many decades of working on the same
position and dealing with similar situations, employees in their fifties feel bored of going to
offices every day. Therefore, retiring early seems to be a luring remedy for exhausted old
workers.

Also, older employees then to have greater difficulties in dealing with younger colleagues. After
twenty or even thirty years of career life, many senior workers find out that most of their former
working fellows have either retired or transferred to other companies. Getting familiar with
younger colleagues usually takes longer and appears to be more difficult for senior workers,
which further explains why many staffs decide to retire early.

In addition, as their age furthers up the ladder, older staffs usually undergo tougher experiences
to keep up with the “work pace” of their younger coworkers. Feeling stressed and frustrated,
senior workers may also desire a less demanding after-retirement lifestyle.

Summarize the points made in the lecture, make sure to use the points specifically stated in the
lecture to contradict the reasons in the reading passage.

Integrated Writing 150 ~ 225

Both the lecture and the passage deal with the social issue of “early retirement”. While the
reading passage claims that this Early retirement will not be stoppable, the professor in the
lecture gives possible solutions to the problem with proper measures.

Firstly, the author mentions that “vast working experience” allows the elderly workers to feel
repetitive, bored and stressed about working in the same place for a sustained period of time.
On the contrary, the lecturer argues that an employer and the government should provide
workers a diversified work training. In this way, the old workers will be able to update their skills
and will not feel that they are stuck in the same place.

Secondly, the passage maintains that senior employees struggle to get along with younger
colleagues. In contrast, the speaker argues that this issue can be resolved through grouping or
teaming workers together. This provides the elderly and younger workers a chance to socialize
and get along together. Moreover it establishes a cozy working atmosphere allowing the team
as a whole to perform better.

Lastly, the author finally asserts that the senior workers lack working pace compared to the
younger employees. Diametrically, the speaker claims that iit does not mean that they have to
quit completely. He adds that old employees do not have to work at the same pace with other
workers. Instead, to take the best advantage of older workers' work experience, the employers
can create some part-time jobs.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

People will reduce car use in 20 years.