TOEFL independent essay In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. It is a well known fact that people in the 21st century have longer life expectancies. There are, in my opinion, three main reasons to why this occurs. The first one is that the general living and hygienic conditions underwent an improvement in the past decades. For example, it was normal for my gran-parents, when they were young, to have a house without a bathroom and to use the same tub water for more that one people to have a bath. The second reason that comes to my mind is the advancements that modern medicine has made not only in vaccines and antibiotics but also in the development of new and safer surgery techniques and of better imaging techniques such as CAT and MRI that help to have a quicker and more certain diagnosis. There is also an improved attention to the prevention of diseases such as cardiovascular affections. For example we now know that exercising and eating food low in animal fat can help us prevent artery occlusion and ,hence, myocardial infarction. In conclusion, I think that nowadays we can have longer life expectancies because of improvements in our general living condition and in the medical department. This was the first time I tried to write an essay in English. I hope it's not too bad. Please feel free to make corrections, it will be much appreciated. Thank you.