How should the governments spend the money?

Some people think governments should spend as much money as possible exploring outer space. Other people disagree and think governments should use that money to solve problems and cover basic needs we have on Earth. Which of those opinions do you agree with?

Since the Cold War started, the most powerful countries over the world have used a huge part of its budgets to invest in the called “Space Race”. They have made big scientific efforts trying to discover more things about what surrounds our beautiful planet, and being the first one to find those things out. And, in order to do it, they have been spending continually more and more money in these space programs. But in my opinion, that money could be better used.

Our own world has a lot of social problems which have not been solved: poverty, lack of food, a growing population, unemployment, inequality, diseases… these are just a few of them, but they affect a lot of people all over the Earth. And for me, to solve these problems should be prioritized over all. I’m not against the exploration of the, but it is not as important as to solve conflicts that are hurting our population, that have to be solved, if we do not want to face their consequences, which will cause more problems that we have now) in the future. And it should not be that hard. The governments could start by investing in programs which have as goal the eradication of these problems and that are able to ensure the covering of the population’s basic needs, and not just on their own countries, but also on the most poor ones.

I find contradictory that we spend that much money trying to conquer other planets, while we have not been able to solve the problems we have on our own. I have always believed that you have to know how to order your own house before you can start ordering other ones and that thesis could apply perfectly in this situation. Why do not we first to fix the problems we already have, instead searching for new ones? I know that, when we finally do it, the whole world, and not just the rich part of it, will appreciate more the discoveries we will make on the outer space.

TOEFL listening lectures: An organism that generates internal heat is called what?

Is someone there who has time to correct my essay? I would really apreciate it, since i’m taking the test in a month, and I want to have a perception of how many points could I score on this task, because my speaking skills are not that good :S