今回の Topic は、英検準１級２０１７年第１回の問題です。

１. Topic      

     Agree or disagree: Japan should become a completely cashless society.

     Points

     Crime, Effect on business, Effect on consumers, Privacy

２. Structure

a) Thesis Statement    

     I disagree with the statement that Japan should become a completely cashless society since some people might prefer using cash to digital money, private information should be protected, and Japan would still be vulnerable to massive natural disasters.

b) Body の部分を構成する３つの Paragraph の Main Idea は、

第１ Paragraph　一部の人々、とりわけ高齢者は、日常生活を管理する手段として電子マネーは馴染まない

第２ Paragraph　キャッシュレス社会では個人情報が一部の企業に集中し、プライヴァシー保護の点で問題がある

第３ Paragraph　大規模地震が一定の頻度で発生する日本においては、キャッシュレス社会のインフラとなるインターネットが使えなくなる危険性が常に存在している

３. Sample

     I disagree with the statement that Japan should become a completely cashless society since some people might prefer using cash to digital money, private information should be protected, and Japan would still be vulnerable to massive natural disasters.     

    To begin with, some people would prefer cash as a way of managing daily life to digital money although they might understand the benefits of cashless society.  They, especially elder people, have been accustomed to buying commodities or various services they need, spending cash.  They would feel secured or comfortable if they had a certain amount of cash at hand.  Therefore, they should not be forced to use digital money they are not familiar with.      

    In addition, in cashless society, there should be serious risk that private information might be abused by the small number of corporations, and then governments.  In order for a society to be cashless, all business and private transactions need to be done online.  In the process, almost all human activities should be recorded in databases residing on large global corporations.  By analyzing digital transactions people make, their most important aspect of private life, such as financial situations, become available to those corporations which might end up abusing private information.         

    Finally, Japan has been so vulnerable to massive natural disasters that it would be almost impossible to maintain the Internet, the single most critical infrastructure of digital transactions, throughout Japan all the time.  If another huge earthquake since the Grate Kanto Earthquake in 1923 hit Tokyo area and destroyed the physical networks in the near future, our economy would stop functioning completely.  People would also find themselves in trouble because they couldn’t buy anything due to the unavailability of the Internet.    

    It is true that cashless society would make it possible for businesses to boost productivity.  However, I disagree with the statement because of the three reasons I mentioned above. 

 

To be continued.