4.+Ranking+countries+newsweek+ agree+or+disagree+survey

**Rough Draft** Top Ranking Countries: are they calculable? By: Tsai- Wei Chen, International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park Nicholas Murray Butler, an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator once said “America is the best half-educated country in the world.” What he said may have been true during his time on earth. However, things have now changed. According to “The World’s Best Country List” on Newsweek.com, Denmark, which has a 69.7% literacy rate, currently ranks 6th best country in the world, while the United States of America, with a literacy rate of 99%, is ranked 11th. When calculating the top ranking nations, Newsweek.com not only considers a country’s education and political environment, but also its education, health, and life quality. Many delegates agree that the best country in the world, Finland, which has a 100% literacy rate, a life expectancy of 72 years, and a total of 45.7K per capita, “is indeed the best country”, as Jae Ook Lee, from the Korean International School, puts it. Following Finland from 2nd to fifth place were Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, and Luxembourg, respectively. Although this method of ranking countries covers the main aspects of a country, Kristen Wu, a delegate from the International bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park (IBSH), says that “adding all the scores up may not be the best way to rank countries, [as it only] gives a vague idea of how well the country is faring in general...this system of ranking [ignores] too many of the other details about the country. Therefore, this method is effective on the vague macro view, [but] ineffective otherwise.” However, Yue- Ting Cheng, another delegate from IBSH, disagrees and says that “ranking countries based on their overall health, education, and living environments seem very appropriate as these are necessities that every person considers as they search for new homes” Looking forwards into the future, Kenny Kim from the Korean International School believe that in the next “ 10-30 years, these rankings will change significantly. The next top five will be some of the lower countries today, such as India and China due to their brute economic force, [and] their large amount of natural resources.” Even so, the advancing of countries shouldn’t be seen as a competition or a race, but rather a development in the well-being of citizens.


 * 1st Revision**

Top Ranking Countries: Are They Calculable? By: Tsai- Wei Chen, International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park Nicholas Murray Butler, an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator once said “America is the best half-educated country in the world.” What he said may have been true during his time. However, things have now changed. According to “The World’s Best Country List” on Newsweek.com, Denmark, which has a 69.7% literacy rate, currently ranks as the 6th best country in the world, while the United States of America, with a literacy rate of 99%, is ranked 11th. When calculating the top-ranking nations, Newsweek.com not only considers a country’s education and political environment, but also its education, health, and quality of life. Many delegates agree that the best country in the world, Finland, which has a 100% literacy rate, a life expectancy of 72 years, and a total GDP of 45.7K per capita, “is indeed the best country,” as Jae Ook Lee, from the Korean International School, puts it. Following Finland from 2nd to fifth place were Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, and Luxembourg, respectively. Although this method of ranking countries covers the main aspects of a country, Kristen Wu, a delegate from the International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park (IBSH), says that “adding all the scores up may not be the best way to rank countries, [as it only] gives a vague idea of how well the country is faring in general...this system of ranking [ignores] too many of the other details about the country. Therefore, this method is effective on the vague macro view, [but] ineffective otherwise.” However, Yue- Ting Cheng, another delegate from IBSH, disagrees and says that “ranking countries based on their overall health, education, and living environments seems very appropriate as these are necessities that every person considers as they search for new homes” Looking forwards into the future, Kenny Kim from the Korean International School believes that in the next “ 10-30 years, these rankings will change significantly. The next top five will be some of the lower countries today, such as India and China due to their brute economic force, [and] their large amount of natural resources.” Even so, the advancing of countries shouldn’t be seen as a competition or a race, but rather a development in the well-being of citizens.

**2nd Revision**

**Final**