Living in the 21st century offers certain advantages,such as a higher standard of living, but it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted environment.

　　To begin with, most people now have more money for less hard work. They earn higher salaries than before and enjoy better social security, such as social welfare for laid-off workers and disability insurance.

　　Secondly, because of the advance in medical technology which leads to better medical care and treatment, people’s life expectancy is longer. Moreover, most people now can afford to buy foods of high nutrition and enjoy their leisure time.

　　Thirdly, modern conveniences such as radio, TV, internet, various vehicles and labour-saving machines in the home, all greatly facilitate human communication, transportation and housework as well.

　　Nevertheless, living in the 21st century also has its disadvantages. The most serious one is the increasingly polluted environment; air is filled with smog and water is contaminated by iehemicals from factories.Another main disadvantage is the personalization of human relattonships which mostly result from people’s ever-increasing contact with machines and numbers. Still one more disadvantage is the weakening of spiritual values. An undeniable fact is that a large number of people are solely interested in materialistic culture,while neglecting spiritual civilization. Limited by space, we have to skip the examples.

　　In conclusion, although the 21st century has indeed given us a lot of advantages, it may not have made us wiser, because it has also made our earth dirtier, our people less humane, and our spirituali iife poorer, We shpuld continue to enjoy the benefits of technological advancement,however, we must

　　make a concerted effort to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Moreover, we should take the time now to make our lives more meaningful in anihcreasingly impersonal, computerized world.

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）