Toefl writing: Do awards and prizes serve a useful purpose?

Topic:

Awards and prizes are given for excellence in various fields. Do these awards and prizes serve a useful purpose?

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Sample Essay:

A prize or award, whether it’s the Noble Prize, the Academy Award, or Best Handwriting Prize, is important. Such prizes can have economic, personal, and social effects that enrich the life of the recipient.

Prize like the Noble Prize can be a cash award. But ever for prizes that don’t, like the Academy Award, an actress who wins best actress will be offered more roles and a higher pay than actresses who don’t win the award. Even for the elementary student who received the school’s Best Handwriting award may get a congratulations gift from proud grandparents.

The personal benefits of receiving any award are evident. Any award winner is pleased that be or she has been recognized for his or her work. When people receive the Academy Award, they often cry they are so happy.

Everyone likes to be with a winner. A person who gets a prize often has many new, best friends. A winner’s social life is much better than a loser’s social life. The winner of the Best Handwriting prize may not be very popular with his or her jealous classmates, however.

Awards serve a very useful purpose in that their economic, personal, and social benefits add to the recognition.