72 You have been told that dormitory rooms at your university must be shared by two students. Would you rather have the university assign a student to share a room with you, or would you rather choose your own roommate? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.

　　I’d rather have the university assign a roommate to share a room with me. As far as I’m concerned, this is part of the university experience. Students should meet new people and be open to new experiences. I like leaving this up to chance.

　　Actually, even though the university will choose, it’s not totally a matter of chance. We all filled out information sheets. The school knows what we’re majoring in, what our interests are, and our study habits and our goals. I think they’re probably very good at matching roommates using this information. They’ve had a lot of practice. Besides, if a mistake is made, I can change my room assignment next semester.

　　If I did want to choose my own roommate, I’d first pick some candidates from the list supplied by the university. Then I’d write to them and they’d write back. Through our letters, we’d find out if we shared common interests, such as sports or movies. More importantly, we’d find out if we like doing the same things in our free time. Because my investigation, I’d probably get someone compatible with me. It’s a lot of work to go through, though. Besides, the process of finding similar interests isn’t all that different from what the university does.

　　Trying to predict whom I’m going to get along with is not a science. I might choose someone who sounds just like me and still find that the two of us just don’t get along as roommates. Besides, I think it would be boring to room with somebody who’s just the same as me. I’d rather be with someone who has different interests and likes to do different things. Maybe I’d even get a roommate from another culture. After all, one of the reasons I’m going to the university is to be exposed to a lot of new experiences. So, I’d rather have the university choose my roommate for me.

　　73 Some people think that governments should spend as much money as possible on developing or buying computer technology. Other people disagree and think that this money should be spent on more basic needs. Which one of these opinions do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

　　I realize that it’s important to stay up to date with our technology. So much, like our space and defense programs, depends on it. I’ve also read that we shouldn’t let other governments get ahead of ours in the race for better technology. This could eventually put us at a disadvantage and our whole economy could suffer. Despite all this, I think our government should spend our tax dollars on more basic items before it gets into the business of developing computer technology.

　　We have so many problems in our society, and it seems every solution needs money. For instance, we talk about getting people off welfare. To do that we need money to give them jobs until they can support themselves. That means support training, day care for their children, and probably a monthly rent subsidy. All of those things can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. However, if we could solve a major problem like, wouldn’t it improve our society even more than new technology?

　　Another problem is that our transportation system is falling apart. Bridges have cracks in them. Highways buckle. Accidents happen because of these problems. We shouldn’t put money into improving a computer chip when we have basic needs like these.

　　Besides, Why should the government be in the business of developing technology? Aren’t there several very successful corporations doing just that? Yes, it’s probably less the expensive in the long run for the government to develop the technology. Nevertheless, in the short run, there are basic needs in our society that aren’t being met. I think that’s where the money should go.