Level III

Chapter 1
Reading

IC3

IC3 | IT | TOEFL | Best Answer
Language Lessons
Assessment

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Topic: Identity / Bản sắc

Who in the World Am I?
Câu hỏi hướng dẫn:

Skills:

In this chapter you will do these things:

English Language Skills:

• Anticipate and Form Predictions for Reading
• Reading “In Context”
• Vocabulary: Farm Life & Identity
• Guessing meaning in context
• Review of Identifying Topic Sentences
• North American Styles of Writing vs. Vietnamese Styles of Writing

IC3 Skills:

An Asian View of Cultural Differences

Taking It Further:

• Write in a journal of your childhood experience as stimulated by this chapter’s reading passage.
• What is the Vietnamese style of writing?

Intercultural Communicative Competence

It is generally accepted that people from the East think in different ways than people in the West. One Vietnamese scholar wrote this poem describing the differences:

An Asian View of Cultural Differences
Dr. Mai Van Trang
(Published in Reasons for Living and Hoping, p. 64—but cannot find the reference)

We live in time. We are always at rest. We are passive. We like to contemplate.	You live in space. You are always on the move. You are aggressive. You like to act.
We accept the world as it is.	You try to change it according to your blueprint.
We live in peace with nature.	You try to impose your will on her.
Religion is our first love. We delight to think about the meaning of life. We believe in freedom of silence. We lapse into meditation.	Technology is your passion. You delight in physics. You believe in freedom of speech. You strive for articulation.
We marry first, then love. Our marriage is the beginning of a love affair. It is an indissoluble bond. Our love is mute. We try to conceal it from the world.	You love first, then marry. Your marriage is the happy end of a romance. It is a contract. Your love is vocal. You delight in showing it to others.
Self-denial is a secret to our survival.	Self-assertiveness is the key to your success.
We are taught from the cradle to want less and less. We glorify austerity and renunciation.	You are urged every day to want more and more. You emphasize gracious living and enjoyment.
Poverty is to us a badge of spiritual elevation. In the sunset years of life we renounce the world and prepare for the hereafter.	It is to you a sign of degradation. You retire to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Discussion Questions

1. If you are Vietnamese, do you agree with this characterization of Vietnamese thought? What details are true? Are there parts with which you disagree?
2. If you are North American or of Western culture(s), do you agree with this characterization of Western thought? What details are true? Are there parts with which you disagree?
3. Can these views co-exist? How?

Mọi người đều cho rằng người phương Đông nghĩ khác với người phương Tây. Một học giả Việt nam làm bài thơ dưới đây diễn tả sự khác biệt đó:

Sụ khác biệt văn hoá trong mắt một người chấu Á
Giáo sư Mai Văn Trang
(In trong “Lí do để sống và hi vọng, trang 64 – nhưng chưa tìm thấy sách)

Tôi sống trong thời gian	Bạn, trong không gian
Tôi lúc nào cũng đủng đỉnh	Bạn lúc nào cũng vội
Tôi thụ động	Bạn năng nổ
Tôi thích trầm ngâm	Bạn thích hành động
Tôi chấp nhận thế giới	Bạn cố thay đổi nó theo ý mình
Tôi hoà đồng với thiên nhiên	Bạn đòi đứng lên trên nó
Với tôi tôn giáo là tình yêu đầu	Công nghệ là niềm say mê của bạn
Tôi ưa suy nghĩ về ý nghĩa của cuộc sống	Bạn ham thích vật lí
Tôi tin vào tự do của im lặng	Bạn, tự do ngôn luận
Tôi sa vào trầm tư mặc tưởng	Bạn gắng nói rõ ý kiến của mình
Tôi cưới trước yêu sau	Bạn yêu trước cưới sau
Đám cưới tôi là bắt đầu một mối tình, sự ràng buộc vĩnh viễn	Đám cưới bạn là kết thúc có hậu cuộc tình lãng mạn, một hợp đồng
Tình yêu tôi thầm lặng	Tình yêu bạn đầy thanh âm
Tôi giấu tình yêu đi	Bạn vui sướng khoe nó ra với mọi người
Bí quyết sống còn của tôi là tự phủ định thành công	Với bạn tự khẳng định là chìa khoá của
Tôi được dạy từ trong nôi phải có ngày càng ít nhu cầu	Bạn được hối thúc phải muốn càng nhiều hơn nữa
Tôi ca ngợi khổ hạnh và quên mình	Bạn đề cao đầy đủ và hưởng thụ
Với tôi nghèo là biểu hiện của tâm hồn trong sáng	Với bạn nghèo là dấu hiệu của sự suy tàn
Cuối đời tôi rút về ở ẩn và chuẩn bị cho kiếp sau	Bạn rút về hưởng thành quả lao động của đời người

Câu hỏi thảo luận

1. Nếu là người Việt nam, bạn có đồng ý với những đặc điểm suy nghĩ trên của người Việt nam không? Những chi tiết nào là đúng? Có phần nào bạn không đồng ý không?

2 .Nếu là người Mỹ hoặc thuộc văn hoá phương Tây, bạn có đồng ý với những đặc điểm suy nghĩ của người phương Tây ở trên không? Những chi tiết nào đúng? Có phần nào bạn không đồng ý không?

3 .Những cách nghĩ trên có thể cùng tồn tại được không? Tại sao

Taking It Further

Journal Writing: Perhaps the reading passage, The Land that I Lost, described life in the countryside in a way that was very familiar to you. Perhaps your experience was very different than the one expressed by the author. This could be because you grew up in the city or in another part of the country. This could be because it was written about a time many, many years ago. Write in a journal about your experience. Notice how the author used detail. Write about the details of your everyday life.

Styles of Writing: It is a Western characteristic that everything is analyzed. North American Styles of Writing are described in thousands of books and textbooks. Not much has been written about Vietnamese styles of writing. How would you describe the style?

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Information Technology

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TOEFL Exercises

Directions: In this section you will read a passage followed by several exercises. Choose the ONE best answer, A, B, C, or D. Answer all questions or exercises based on what is stated or implied in the passage.

These exercises were adapted from the article Villages of Hope: The Ricemakers of Vietnam
18 October 2005, http://www.iaea.org

Villages of Hope
The Ricemakers of Vietnam

Thousands of kilometers apart, near the northern and southern curves of Vietnam's S-shaped land, four villages share a common bond. Thanh Gia near north Vietnam's Red River Delta and Dong Tien in south Vietnam's ethnic uplands are villages of hope. So are Bau Don and Cu Chi villages nearer the bustling economic centre, Ho Chi Minh City.

Village farmers there team with scientists called "ricebreeders" to improve their harvests and livelihoods. Working together, the farmers and breeders form a modern legion of "ricemakers", helping to shape the future for 82 million Vietnamese men, women, and children.

For village families, rice fills their lives and feeds their hopes and dreams. Life is hard but looking up. Over the past decades, many families have almost doubled their incomes. They still live on less than $2 a day, but are aiming for three. The country’s per capita income is about $550 a year, and rising incrementally.

Though poor in income, the village families are rich in impact - their work feeds a country, and more. In little more than a generation, Vietnam has become one of the world's top rice producers. Today the nation exports rice to Switzerland and two dozen other countries around the world.

Fears of food shortages have given way to strategies for greater food security and markets. Through it all, the Vietnamese remain among the world's most optimistic people. A 2005 UN survey of Vietnam's households found that eight of ten families say their living conditions are improving day by day.

Nuclear Science & Changing Fortunes

Nuclear science is among reasons why fortunes are turning. It is helping to accelerate the age-old process of plant breeding that leads to better crops.

Farmers in Vietnam and other countries of Asia live in the cradle of rice cultivation. Rice farming started there thousands of years ago, when wild rice was first domesticated. From season to season, farmers improved their harvests, by selecting and saving the best seeds from the highest yielding crops in their fields.

Today more modern tools and methods accelerate nature's way. Rice breeders often apply a process that includes the laboratory irradiation of seeds and plant tissue cultures - usually called induced mutation breeding - to alter plant traits and characteristics. Research yields promising lines of new crop varieties - some that tolerate drought or poor soil conditions, others that resist disease, and still others that meet quality standards for export. In Vietnam, the best are screened and selected in field trials at agricultural stations and in villages like Thanh Gia, Dong Tien, Bau Don, and Cu Chi.

The IAEA - through its technical cooperation programme, scientific laboratories, and joint research division with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization - has played a strong catalytic role in Vietnam and other countries. Worldwide since the 1960s, plant breeders have won approval for more than 2300 mutant varieties of crops, including nearly 440 varieties of rice.

Joint IAEA/FAO projects fund, equip, and train scientists in crop production and improvement, as well as in soil science and other areas. Over the past 15 years, more than 30 national, regional and interregional projects have helped improve rice varieties and production systems in poor countries. The assistance is timely and needed – at a time when agricultural land use is shrinking, experts project higher demand for rice to feed growing populations in developing countries.

Vietnam 's progress points the way forward to greater food security. From the north's Red River valleys to the south’s Mekong Delta, 21st century ricemakers achieve results entire villages can see. They help to feed a nation and its hopes and dreams.

This feature story was originally in IAEA Bulletin, Volume 47, Number 1.  

1. The phrase “common bond” in paragraphs one and two suggests that the two villages in North Vietnam and the two in South Vietnam	2. The idiom “looking up” in paragraph 3 suggests that
A. are made up of groups of people who are related to each other B. share agricultural tools C. are working on similar projects D. are struggling to product enough food for their families	A. the rice fields are planted at a higher elevation B. the families are having a harder time making a living C. they are becoming more hopeful D. the families must work harder to earn a living
3. The term “per capita” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to	4. According to paragraph 3, all of the following are true except
A. a cone shaped hat B. for each person C. income in the capital cities D. income for a family	A. families are earning less than they did several decades ago B. families are earning more than they did several decades ago C. rice is an important part of their lives D. the countries per capita income is below $700 a year

 

5. The word “impact” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to	6. According to paragraph 4, all of the following are true except
A. crash B. collision C. bang D. effect	A. Vietnam exports rice to Switzerland B. Vietnam ’s production has increased mostly during the past ten years C. Vietnam produces more rice than most of the countries of the world D. Dozens of countries benefit from Vietnam’s rice production
7. What can you infer from the first 5 paragraphs?	8. The word “accelerate” in paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to
A. Vietnamese farmers see little hope of improving their situation B. Vietnamese farmers farm in much the same way they have for generations C. Working together with scientists, farmers have improved their level of production D. Rice growers have little influence on the economic health of the country	A. slow down B. speed up C. divide D. complicate

 

9. According to paragraph 7, all of the following are true except	10. According to paragraphs 8 through 11 all of the following are true except
A. Vietnamese have been farming rice for thousands of years B. Vietnam is not the only countries included in “the cradle of rice cultivation” C. Selecting the best seeds to save for planting helped to improve their crops D. Wild rice was more productive that domesticated rice	A. The old methods of farming rice are adequate for the future needs of the country B. many more varieties of rice have been produced C. some varieties of rice are less likely to become diseased D. food security for the future of Vietnam is becoming more hopeful

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