Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, has one of south-east Asia's fastest-growing economies and has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020. It became a unified country once more in 1975 when the armed forces of the Communist north seized the south.
Vietnam is located on the eastern Indochina Peninsula. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety in topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November to April, the monsoon winds usually blow from the northeast along the Chinese coast and across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture. Consequently, the winter season in most parts of the country is dry only by comparison with the rainy or summer season.
In 2014, the population of Vietnam is standing at approximately 90.7 million people. The population had grown significantly from the 1979 census, which showed the total population of reunified Vietnam to be 52.7 million. In 2012, the country's population was estimated at approximately 90.3 million. Currently, the total fertility rate of Vietnam is 1.8 (births per woman), which is largely due to the government'sfamily planning policy and the two-child policy.
The official national language of Vietnam is Vietnamese a tonal Mon–Khmer language which is spoken by the majority of the population.Vietnam has an extensive state-controlled network of schools, colleges and universities, and a growing number of privately run and partially privatized institutions. General education in Vietnam is divided into five categories: kindergarten, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities. A large number of public schools have been constructed across the country to raise the national literacy rate, which stood at 90.3% in 2008.
Vietnam has become a major tourist destination since the 1990s, assisted by significant state and private investment, particularly in coastal regions. About 3.77 million international tourists visited Vietnam in 2009 alone.Popular tourist destinations include the former imperial capital of Hue, the World Heritage Sites of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Hoi An and My Son, coastal regions such as Nha Trang, the caves of Ha Long Bay and the Marble Mountains. Numerous tourist projects are under construction, such as the Binh Duong tourist complex, which possesses the largest artificial sea in Southeast Asia.
1. What does the word “It” in paragraph 1 refer to?
2. Why does the climate of Vietnam tend to change significantly from region to region?
3. How many people were there in Vietnam in 2012?
4. Why is the present fertility rate of Vietnam 1.8?
5. How many levels are there in the education system?
6. The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to _______
7. Which of the following words does the word “extensive” have closest meaning to?
8. Which of the following words does the word “assisted” have closest meaning to?
9. How does the author illustrate the development of Vietnam tourism?
10. What is the writer’s purpose in writing this text?
