BÀI 16: THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS

Reading The ASEAN Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PRD and Myanmar on 23 July 1997 and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. As of 2006,...

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BÀI 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Reading Canadian Women Read the passage and do the task that follows A. In 2000, 60% of Canadian women aged 15 and over were in the Canadian labour force, up to 42% in 1976. Between 1976 and 2000, the number of women in labour force grew from 3.6 million to 7.4 million, an increase of 106%. Over the same period the number of women in labour force grew by only 40%, from 6.2 million to 8.7 million. B. The largest participation rate...

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BÀI 14: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Reading The United Nations Read the passage and do the task that follows In one very long sentence, the introduction to the U.N. Charter expresses the ideals and the common aims of all the peoples whose governments joined together to form the U.N. The name "United Nations" is accredited to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the first group of representatives of member states met and signed a declaration of common intent on New Year's...

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BÀI 13: THE 22TH SEA GAMES

Reading The Olympic Games Read the passage and do the task that follows In ancient Greece athletic festivals were very important and had strong religious associations. The Olympian athletic festival, held every four years in honour of Zeus, eventually lost its local character, became first a national event, and then, after the rules against foreign competitors had been waived, international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic...

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BÀI 12: WATER SPORTS

Reading Extreme Sports Fill in the blanks with words from the Reading Quiz Summer's just around the corner, encouraging some to dust off the tennis racket or rummage round the cupboard for the cricket bat. But for some in Britain traditional outdoor pursuits are just not enough. So how do extreme sports devotees ? Extreme sports are about , skill and danger. They do not normally involve teams and there are very few rules....

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BÀI 11: BOOKS

Reading Restaurant Guide Books Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow The annual flood of restaurant guides has once more hit the shops, covering a thousand good - and not so good - places to eat out. Alexander Hunt tries them out. A. The Good Food Guide The Good Food Guide, for years the trusted book for food lovers, covers the whole of Britain's restaurant scene, with over 1300 reviews. This year's edition...

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BÀI 10: ENDANGERED SPECIES

Reading Koalas try suburban jungle Fill in each gap with one word from the table below monitor lizardsso far this yearreptile rescue expert early last centuryin 1997eucalyptus leaves arms sliced offdestroying treesmore vegetation In search of the perfect suburban lifestyle as well as plenty of , koalas are deserting woodlands for backyards, bathrooms and cars in Adelaide. Local conservationists have rescued 105 koalas from the...

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BÀI 9: DESERTS

Reading Sahara Desert Read the passage and do the task that follows The Sahara Desert is located in the northern portion of Africa and covers over 9,000,000 sq km or roughly 10% of the continent. It is bounded in the east by the Red Sea and it stretches west to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north, the Sahara Desert's northern boundary is the Mediterranean Sea, while in the south it ends at the Sahel, an area where the desert landscape transforms...

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BÀI 8: LIFE IN THE FUTURE

Reading Tomorrow's World Read the passage and do the task that follows Aircraft capable of flying at ten times the speed of sound are being designed for the future. They will take off from an ordinary runway, climb through the atmosphere to the edge of their destination. One day in the 21st century, people will be landing in Tokyo just one hour after taking off from Heathrow Airport in London. Most of our energy comes from coal, oil and...

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BÀI 7: ECONOMIC REFORMS

Reading Economic Reforms Read the passage and do the task that follows The July 13, 2000, signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the U.S. and Vietnam was a significant milestone for Vietnam's economy. The BTA provided for Normal Trade Relations (NTR) status of Vietnamese goods in the U.S. market. Access to the U.S. market will allow Vietnam to hasten its transformation into a manufacturing-based, export-oriented economy....

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BÀI 6: FUTURE JOBS

Reading The Pros and Cons of Freelancing Read the passage and do the task that follows If you've considered a career change, then you may also be planning on going it alone and freelancing. Freelance opportunities have rocketed in the past decade, with the Internet making remote working more viable than ever. Depending on the profession, freelancers can also work on a contractual basis on site. Whichever mode of freelancing you're thinking...

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BÀI 5: HIGHER EDUCATION

Reading Higher Education in the USA Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow There is no national system of higher education in the USA. Basically American higher education developed its own pattern by the adaption of two traditions: the collegiate tradition of England and the university tradition of the continent. In the USA there is no consistent distinction between the term "college" and "university". The...

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BÀI 4: SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM

Reading Education Read the passage and do the task that follows Is it any wonder that there are teacher shortages? Daily, the press carries reports of schools going on four-day weeks simply because they cannot recruit enough teachers. But why? There is no straightforward answer. For a start, fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school. But can you blame young people after the attack faced by the teaching profession...

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BÀI 3: WAYS OF SOCIALISING

Reading Speak English with Body Language Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow When we speak, we use much more than just words. We also use a kind of communication called "body language" or "non-verbal communication". Non-verbal communication not only includes how we move our body, but also hand gestures, facial expressions including eye contact, and how we use our voice. Psychologists estimate that between...

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BÀI 2: CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Reading Wedding Custom Read the passage and do the tasks that follow Marriage is an ancient religious and legal practice celebrated around the world. Although the reasons that people marry are similar in many places, wedding customs vary from country to country. In many countries, it is customary for the bride to wear a white dress as a symbol of purity. In traditional Japanese wedding ceremonies, the bride wears a white kimono. The...

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BÀI 1: HOME LIFE

Reading Care of the elderly - A family matter Read the passage and do the task that follows Many people wrongly believe that when people reach old age, their families place them in nursing homes. They are left there in the hands of strangers for the rest of their lives. Their grown children visit them only occasionally, but more often, they do not have any regular visitors. The truth is that this idea is an unfortunate myth; a fictitious...

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BÀI 16: THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD

Reading Angkor Wat   Read the passage and do the tasks that follow Visit Angkor Wat Siem Reap is a small town near the world famous temple of Angkor Wat. The town is charming and worth exploring, with some fine examples of Khmer and French colonial architecture set among the more modern developments. Nowadays, visitors are flocking in, using it as a base for visits to the nearby temples. A Carved City From the 9th to the 14th...

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BÀI 15: SPACE CONQUEST

Reading Shuttle Discovery launches successfully Read the passage and do the tasks that follow The 114th Space Shuttle flight has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. America’s mission to explore space is now back on track. The shuttle Discovery is 25 years old but carries the hopes of all Americans and the lives of seven astronauts. It is America's first manned space mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster. NASA...

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BÀI 14: RECREATION

Reading How We Spend Our Leisure Time Read the passage and do the tasks that follow If life seems more rushed than ever, you might be surprised to learn that we Americans don't have less leisure time than we did 40 years ago. We actually have more leisure time, and quite a bit more. What counts as leisure is up for argument, but under every definition the numbers have gone up. We get about 45 minutes a day of extra leisure.Then why...

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BÀI 13: HOBBIES

Reading Gardening Read the passage and do the tasks that follow Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about a residence, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located in a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a window box, or on a patio or vivarium. Gardening...

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BÀI 12: THE ASIAN GAMES

Reading Asian Games Read the passage and do the tasks that follow The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1982 Games. Since the 1982 they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), after the break-up of the Asian Games Federation....

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BÀI 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY

Reading Sources of energy Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow Scientists often divide resources into two groups: renewable and non– renewable. When a resource is used, it takes some time to replace it. If the resource can be replaced quickly and easily, it is called renewable. If it can not be replaced quickly and easily, it is non-renewable. All fossil fuels are non-renewable resources. Solar energy, air,...

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BÀI 10: NATURE IN DANGER

Reading Wild Animals In Danger Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow Wild animals (and wild plants) and the wild places where they live are seriously threatened almost everywhere. One species has become extinct in each year of this century. But many hundreds are now in danger. Lack of attention would lead to the rapid advance of the process of extinction. Already many kinds of wild animals have...

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BÀI 9: THE POST OFFICE

Reading IT and People Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow The last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are affected by IT. Twenty years ago, few people had access to a computer while today most people use them at work, home or school and use of e-mail and the Internet is an everyday event.These developments have brought many benefits to our lives. E-mail makes communication...

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BÀI 8: CELEBRATIONS

Reading Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow As Christmas evolved in the United States, new customs were adopted and many old ones were reworked. The legend of Santa Claus, for example, had origins in Europe and was brought by Dutch settlers to New York in the early 18th century. Traditionally, Santa Claus - from the Dutch Sinter Klaas - was depicted as a tall, dignified, religious figure...

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BÀI 7: WORLD POPULATION

Reading Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow The world's population increased from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion by 1999, a doubling that occurred over 40 years. The Census Bureau's latest projections imply that population growth will continue into the 21st century, although more slowly. The world's population is projected to grow from 6 billion in 1999 to 9 billion by 2042, an increase...

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