controversial but interesting book

America: Imagine a World without Her 

1 To the moral credit of America, she ended slavery
the British and French did end slavery before America did, but the difficulty in America was that slavery was critical to the economy because of the Industrial Revolution.
2 America was the only country to fight a great war to end slavery.
3 EMERSON said: THIS IS NOT THE REVOLUTION OF THE OPPRESSED, BUT THE REPENTANCE OF THE TYRANT....MEANING: 300 000 northern soldiers died on the battlefield to secure the freedom of the slaves, that the slaves themselves were not in a position to secure for themselves.

why is america still important in the world

1 From the dawn of humanity, the CONQUEST ethic prevailed. eg colonialism - creation of wealth by taking land and wealth from someone else
2 America invented a rival ethic : WEALTH CREATION
3 IF THE WORLD DID NOT HAVE AMERICA RIGHT NOW, THE CONQUEST ETHIC WOULD RETURN WITH A VENGEANCE
4 The Russians and Chinese are using wealth creation - but they still believe in conquest...eg russia has just annexed crimea from ukraine and china has declared much of the south china sea as her territory.
5 all the commerce of the globalised world would be unsafe if not for the American navy...

so we still need america now as much as in the past

do we emulate finland or are we finished...ok ok...

Why We Can’t, and Shouldn’t, Copy Finland

A popular infographic praising Finland’s education system and beliefs has been circulating around the Internet and popular social media networks. Many commenters became self-acclaimed education experts and decided to impose the Finnish education system into the States and Canada to improve our graduation rates. Through illustrations and somewhat elaborate explanations, it will be easy to see how we cannot, and should not, adopt Finland’s system.

Let’s say you designed an Android app, but you want to earn some money from the Apple market too. You figure that the Apple market has a bigger fanbase, and that means more users would buy your app, hence you can earn more from Apple. Your Android app isn’t selling very well, but you know for sure that Apple fans would buy it like hot cakes. You press Ctrl C from your Android programming code, and you Ctrl V it into the Apple app’s programming code window. After all, you want your app to do the same function on the iOS as it did on Android systems. If you’re aiming for the same goal, why not use the same plan?

Here, you may say that they are completely different systems. The Android system functions differently from the iOS, and hence, will have different programming for each to function properly, even if it  is towards the same goal. This is the same for any social reforms.

You cannot pluck a social system from one country and Ctrl V it into another country. Social systems are created for the country it is housed in: the system Finland has created, and worked (in the sense that they scored well on PISA), targets the problems that Finland had in their previous education system. Finnish education problems are completely different from problems in Canadian or American education. To copy and paste the Finnish system into a foreign country will only incur more disappointment from the public, and further the image of education as a joke and a failure.

Some problems that North America, as a continent, is facing include: poverty, racism, language barriers, social welfare, abortion and other politics of the body, sexism, health care, and same-sex marriages, just to name a few (although the last part mostly pertains to the States). Scandinavia is very advanced in most of the above mentioned issues. Social welfare systems are elaborate and trust-based. They are very open to talk about sexuality and rights of an individual to their own body. Same-sex marriage was legalized long before it was even an issue in the States.

And what of racism and language barriers?

Finland, like other Scandinavian countries, have little to no language problems. This may sound like a utopia, but it does not come for free. Finland’s population is composed of a people (yes, a people) who look alike to each other, and have very similar beliefs and values, especially religion. Many Scandinavian people have similar physical characteristics of the Aryan type. They speak one language as the vernacular: Finnish. They do know English, but Finnish is used the most often, similar to how French is one of the two national languages in Canada, mais il n’y a pas beaucoup de personnes qui parlent en français couramment en Ontario. Finnish and Swedish are the two national languages of Finland, with Finnish being spoken almost everywhere with the exception of Âland.

And what about racism?

Some of you may notice that the picture I have chosen for this post seems to have nothing to do with Finland. He is certainly not Caucasian, nor does he have blonde hair or blue eyes.

Because Finland is ethnically and visually homogeneous for the most part, people of colour, or of any visible difference, are viewed with a more-than-sceptical eye. Although Scandinavia is very progressive in most social aspects, multiculturalism and pluralism of society are not their strong suit. Finland is notoriously known for being xenophobic, particularly the older generations. Younger generations have adopted a more open-minded view on multiple ethnicities, but there are still many under the influence of their elders. The ethnics groups that are most targeted negatively are Black Africans, particularly if they are Somali.

The thumbnail for this post is of a Somali child. This child would not be well-received. However, through my research, I have discovered that the narrow-minded Finns are usually the loudest, while the more open-minded ones are quiet. Openly hostile acts are associated with drunkenness and extremism, so Finns do know how to censor themselves in public.

The treatment of this Somali child in Finland serves as provoking food for thought.

Another implication with this infographic is the statement “Teachers in Finland are all required to have a Master’s degree. Only the top 10% of graduates are accepted into teaching programs”.

The first statement implies that all teachers are made for university and post-grad. However, a teacher who can practice his or her art excellently might only have a B.A., but does this mean that they are substandard? Many excellent, amazing teachers are not doctorates, but they are good teachers because they know the art of communicating effectively so that their audience understands the content. None of this implies that the teacher has an expensive degree in their field. Teaching is about guiding the student so that they can discover the content themselves, and to adopt a way of understanding that benefits them.

What good is a teacher who has a PhD in English, but cannot explain to his or her students their way of thinking? This is the type of system that Americans are currently using: Post-grad students are being prioritized for programs like Teach for America (TFA), but how does that mean that they can teach well? Teaching is about passion, communication, and knowledge, the former two being the most important factors. Teachers do not need to know everything about algebra to teach algebra. Teachers need to use effective communicating strategies that are inclusive to everyone in the classroom.

I am not asserting that a teacher does not need to know anything. Certainly, teachers must have at least basic knowledge in their field for their teachable. However, passion and communication obviously outrank fancy degrees.

Moreover, many people who strive for post-grad do not have teaching in mind. It is difficult to guide someone who is nearly clueless to the field (compared to you and your knowledge) through the basic steps. After all, these basic steps are mundane. Not all post-grads have the personality characteristics to be a teacher either, patience being the biggest one. People who want a post-grad are mostly pursuing the degree for their own benefit to stand out, and not so much to act as a supporter. Teachers are supporters. Teachers need to know when to step back from the action to let the student fall and learn to stand up, and to provide support when the student is unable to do so himself. Post-grad degrees don’t cover this at all.

I have said earlier that we should not copy Finland’s system and put it into Canada and America without tweaking. Each country has their own problems to work out. Canada has a good reputation in the sphere of multiculturalism: our immigration policies are welcoming, and we have many social programs to help immigrants settle and find employment. Finland does not. Many Canadian schools have teachers who promote pluralism and acceptance of other cultures in their classrooms. Finland mostly does not.

Yes, Finland may seem to be nearer the top of the social ladder, but are they? Every country’s education system has flaws, but the difference is how heavily we value these flaws and accomplishments. Canada has multiculturalism to boast of. Finland has high test scores to boast of (although personally, test scores are not the best assessors of student learning at all in my opinion). We need to embrace our achievements and stop seeing ourselves as a country wrought completely with flaws.

We can learn several things from Finland. The infographic states that teachers are as esteemed as their doctors or lawyers. Recognition for one’s work is a powerful motivator, much more than the salary. Reputations of the teaching profession in the UK and US are abysmal: teachers are seen as scum and treated like dirt. The community does not want to partner with the school, and vice versa. Administrations are trying to outdo each other in test scores. Teachers are seen as slaves who should be grateful they have a paycheque at all for teaching 30 kids for 6 hours every weekday. And when they ask for collective bargaining rights, or just their way of handling a classroom? How dare they!

Parents are worried that their child is not receiving the best. And it is true. Their children are not receiving the best because the community and school are not partners in the student’s growth and development. Both parties should sit down and discuss a growth plan that is beneficial for the students as a whole. Treating teachers as partners (rather than as the Devil’s advocates) can only deepen the students’ understanding and further their personal growth.

An interesting point to think about is the reason behind the social face of teachers. Is it because they only accept the top 10% of graduates for teaching programs? We have already discussed these problems earlier. Perhaps we need to figure out another way to boost teacher reputation in society.

Another thing we can learn from Finland, aside from recognizing teachers as partners, is to reduce the emphasis on testing, especially the idea of using tests as assessments of teaching quality. It is ironic at best that a teacher has finally earned his or her B. Ed.,they are still being questioned for their capability in the classroom, with society demanding for more testing. Do we question doctors’ abilities to cure our diseases, even knowing that they are recent graduates? Do we question the plumber working on our pipes, or do we trust them that they know what they are doing?

So why are we not trusting the teachers to know what they are doing, even after obtaining their B. Ed.? A B. Ed. is just as difficult to earn as any other degree that has a practical component, like being a M.D.

Copying Finland is not the answer. We can refer to their model, but we need to either tweak their system to the country’s context, or create a system that addresses to our problems.

After all, it seems useless to try and put an Android app on an iOS.

instead of north korea .... cite this as an example

Zarechny: a rare glimpse into one of Russia's last closed cities

Photographer Ksenia Yurkova provides intimate portraits of life inside a relic of the Soviet era; secret cities. Under Communism these cities were home to sensitive strategic facilities meaning most were wiped off the map, and movement was heavily restricted. Today some, like Zarechny, are gradually opening up, but dozens remain closed to the outside world, The Calvert Journal reports

1 Under Communism, closed cities were usually home to sensitive strategic facilities. Most were not shown on maps, and freedom of movement was heavily restricted.

2 Even today, Zarechny is full of out-of-bounds areas, most notably Rosatom, a state-owned corporation that manufactures parts for nuclear weapons; photography is banned there. 

3 It was only in 1986 that Russians were officially told of the closed cities in their country. More than one million people lived in them.

4 Visitors to closed cities had to be invited by residents, and even then it wasn't guaranteed they would be allowed a permit to enter

5 Zarechny’s 62,000 inhabitants are now free to come and go, but still live encircled by barbed wire fence

6 Closed cities were nicknamed “post boxes” because mail for the inhabitants would have to be sent to special post boxes in nearby towns rather than delivered directly. 

7 With cheap food and low salaries and the absence of political tensions either with nationalists or the opposition, Zarechny looks like a model Socialist wonderland

8 Though closed cities like Zarechny have gradually been opening up, dozens of others remain disconnected from the outside world.

9 “As long as Russia remains the target of aggression, we will need to test our rockets and keep the tests behind the wall to provide secrecy,” Sergey Markov, a former Duma deputy, said in 2009. 

hope the cartoonist does not mind...for the sake of education...the syrian conflict

myanmar

1. Myanmar’s reintegration into the global economy promises a better future for its people
2.  The new government of Thein Sein has initiated historic political and economic reforms that are reintegrating Myanmar into the global community
3.  Political reforms since March 2011 

•   the release of political prisoners, 
• relaxation of media censorship, 
• a new labor law that allows for labor unions, 
• and several cease-fire agreements with ethnic minorities. 
• A more visible sign of this political process is the most famous new member of parliament, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who until late 2011 was under house arrest. 
•  the United States, the European Union, Canada, and Australia agreed to suspend most of their economic sanctions against Myanmar, although U.S. markets remain closed to Myanmar’s exports. 
•  

4  Myanmar is rich in natural resources, including natural gas, gems, minerals, and forestry products, and it has a young labor force. Its membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Myanmar will chair in 2014, and its proximity to India and China make it a strategic bridge in one of the most dynamic regions in the world 

5 Economic

• hotels in Yangon are already full of foreign businessmen exploring entrepreneurial possibilities
•  Many large foreign companies, including Coca-Cola, Chevron, and General Electric, have announced plans to invest in Myanmar.
•  
• 6 Daily electricity cuts are routine not only in the commercial center, Yangon, 
• challenges 
• Roads are poor, 
• financial services are rudimentary, 
• and living standards remain among the lowest in the region. 
• The lack of skills in younger generations points to the erosion of human capital caused by the poor education policies over the past few decades.
•  And sectarian and ethnic conflicts continue to flare up in some regions, underscoring risks to the reform process. 
•  
• 6 but
•  myanmar’s economy still depends largely on agriculture and energy and remains relatively closed to the rest of the world

women - may your future get brighter

Afghanistan is the most dangerous country for women, an international poll of experts on gender issues says.

High levels of violence, poor healthcare and poverty make Afghanistan the worst place for women, the study by the Thomson-Reuters Foundation says.

The survey places the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan in second and third positions.

India is rated the fourth most dangerous country due to high levels of female foeticide and sex trafficking.

Somalia ranked fifth in the survey.
'Hidden dangers'

"Ongoing conflict, Nato airstrikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," said Antonella Notari, head of Women Change Makers, a group that supports women social entrepreneurs around the world.

"In addition, women who do attempt to speak out or take on public roles that challenge ingrained gender stereotypes of what is acceptable for women to do or not, such as working as policewomen or news broadcasters, are often intimidated or killed," she added.

The poll asked 213 experts from five continents to rank countries on issues like overall perception of danger, access to healthcare, violence, cultural discrimination and human trafficking.

"This survey shows that 'hidden dangers' like a lack of education or terrible access to healthcare are as deadly, if not more so, than physical dangers like rape and murder which usually grab the headlines," Monique Villa, chief executive of Thomson-Reuters Foundation, said.

Pakistan was included in the list for having "some of the highest rates of dowry murder, so-called honour killings and early marriages".

India ranked fourth primarily due to female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking, the report said.

A BBC correspondent in Delhi says India's inclusion among the worst five countries in the world is bound to raise eyebrows here.

The report quotes some experts as saying that "the world's largest democracy was relatively forthcoming about describing its problems, possibly casting it in a darker light than if other countries were equally transparent about trafficking".


mag - wonder what i would have been doing if i had been born in india
cecelia - working as a maid in singapore?
sane thomas - no comments

lead poisoning

China has been accused of trying to cover up the extent of lead poisoning among children, and of blocking effective testing and treatment.

A report by Human Rights Watch says local authorities in heavily-polluted industrial areas have been sending sick children back to contaminated homes.

It says that in these areas - Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Hunan provinces - anyone who complains is being harassed.

China has promised to clean up chronic pollution from heavy metals.

But reports of poisoning remain widespread - hundreds of thousands of children are suffering from lead poisoning,

mag - first you tell them to have only one child...then you slowly kill them
cecelia - have a conscience please
sane thomas - the price of unfettered progress....sad

DO U THINK CHINA WILL FACE THE SAME PROBLEM THAT WESTERN COUNTRIES HAVE EXPERIENCED?

With more than 160 million people over the age of 60 and its ageing rate gaining pace, China is facing a curious problem: It is greying while still in development - a challenge other economies have only had to face at a more advanced stage.

The speed at which the number of elderly in China is increasing has alarmed both the government and demographers about the future, with the nation's health-care system already straining and two-thirds of rural workers without pensions.

'Population ageing is going to be a big social problem in China,' said Ms Wang Xiaoyan, the founder of Community Alliance, one of the few non-governmental organisations in China that addresses the needs of senior citizens.

The first generation of parents affected by China's population control policy put in place in 1979 - which the government says has averted 400 million births - is now hitting the age of 60.

The tens of millions of one-child homes, coupled with mass migration of students and workers to urban areas, has destroyed the traditional nuclear family model.

Instead, ordinary Chinese are coping with a 4-2-1 inverted pyramid - four grandparents and two parents, all the responsibility of an only child.

As a result, half of China's over-60s - 80 million people - live in 'empty nests' without their children, who are unable to assume responsibility for their ageing parents.

'This is why we have problems now,' said demographer Wu Cangping, 88, who still teaches at Renmin University. 'Children do not have enough money to take care of their parents. We're getting old before we are getting rich.'

The thorny problem of a greying population has not escaped notice in the corridors of power in Beijing.

The authorities have put in place a system effective this year that will give pensions to 10 per cent of rural workers. In recent years, they have also been raising health-care allotments for the elderly.

The government wants to allow 90 per cent of older people to receive family care with welfare assistance, 6 per cent to receive state-backed community care services and the other 4 per cent to move to nursing facilities.

But the country's 40,000 retirement homes have only 2.5 million beds - enough for a little more than a quarter of the eight million it needs.

privacy and security

Google Threatens Pullout From China After E-Mail Accounts Are Hacked

Google threatened to end its operations in China after it
discovered that the e-mail accounts of human rights activists
had been breached.

The company said it had detected a "highly sophisticated and
targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating
from China." Google says further investigation revealed that
"a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail
accounts of Chinese human rights activists." Google did not
specifically accuse the Chinese government. But the company
added that it is "no longer willing to continue censoring our
results" on its Chinese search engine, as the government
requires. Google says the decision could force it to shut
down its Chinese site and its offices in the country.

Best Counties to Live: List of Countries for 2009 compiled by the United Nations

as of 5th October 2009

Norway tops the study, which ranks countries on their education, infrastructure, wealth, social facilities and life expectancy, using figures compiled by the United Nations Development Programme. Australia moved up to No. 2 and Canada remain at no. 4. For the first time the USA slipped out of the top 10 and the United Kingdom out of the top 20! China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy. Niger is the worst country to live in. Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten.


The complete list of the best countries to live for the year 2009:

Norway
Australia no 2
Iceland
Canada
Ireland
Netherlands
Sweden
France
Switzerland
Japan
Luxembourg
Finland
United States 13
Austria
Spain
Denmark
Belgium
Italy
Liechtenstein
New Zealand
United Kingdom 21
Germany
Singapore number 23
Hong Kong, China (SAR) 24
Greece
Korea (Republic of) 26
Israel
Andorra
Slovenia
Brunei Darussalam 30
Kuwait
Cyprus
Qatar
Portugal
United Arab Emirates
Czech Republic
Barbados
Malta
Bahrain
Estonia
Poland
Slovakia
Hungary
Chile
Croatia
Lithuania
Antigua and Barbuda
Latvia
Argentina
Uruguay
Cuba
Bahamas
Mexico
Costa Rica
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Oman
Seychelles
Venezuela (Bolivarian Rupublic of)
Saudi Arabia
Panama
Bulgaria
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Romania
Trinidad and Tobago
Montenegro
Malaysia66
Serbia
Belarus
Saint Lucia
Albania
Russian Federation
Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of)
Dominica
Grenada
Brazil
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Colombia
Peru
Turkey
Ecuador
Mauritius
Kazakhstan
Lebanon

Armenia
Ukraine
Azerbaijan
Thailand
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Georgia
Dominican Republic
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
China 92
Belize
Samoa
Maldives
Jordan
Suriname
Tunisia
Tonga
Jamaica
Paraguay
Sri Lanka
Gabon
Algeria
Philippines
El Salvador
Syrian Arab Republic
Fiji
Turkmenistan
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Indonesia111
Honduras
Bolivia
Guyana
Mongolia
Viet Nam
Moldova
Equatorial Guinea
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Cape Verde
Guatemala
Egypt
Nicaragua
Botswana
Vanuatu
Tajikistan
Namibia
South Africa
Morocco
São Tomé and Principe
Bhutan
Lao, People's Dem. Rep.
India 134
Solomon Islands
Congo
Cambodia
Myanmar
Comoros
Yemen
Pakistan
Swaziland
Angola
Nepal
Madagascar
Bangladesh
Kenya
Papua New Guinea
Haiti
Sudan
Tanzania, U. Rep. of
Ghana
Cameroon
Mauritania
Djibouti
Lesotho
Uganda
Nigeria

Togo
Malawi
Benin
Timor-Leste
Côte d'Ivoire
Zambia
Eritrea
Senegal
Rwanda
Gambia
Liberia
Guinea
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Guinea-Bissau
Burundi
Chad
Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
Burkina Faso
Mali
Central African Republic
Sierra Leone
Afghanistan
Niger

Burma’s “Saffron Revolution,”

The 2007 Burmese anti-government protests were a series of anti-government protests that started in Burma (also known as Union of Myanmar) on August 15, 2007. The immediate cause of the protests was mainly the unannounced decision of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council, to remove fuel subsidies which caused the price of diesel and petrol to suddenly rise as much as 100%, and the price of compressed natural gas for buses to increase fivefold in less than a week.
Led by students and opposition political activists, including women, the protest demonstrations were at first dealt with quickly and harshly by the junta, with dozens of protesters arrested and detained. Starting September 18, the protests had been led by thousands of Buddhist monks, and those protests had been allowed to proceed until a renewed government crackdown on September 26Some news reports referred to the protests as the Saffron Revolution.


other possible reasons

the present military dictatorship of the reclusive General Than Shwe is right up there when it comes to world-class tyrannies.

It’s also a fact that Burma enjoys one of the world’s lowest standards of living. A dramatic collapse in purchasing power resulted from the ill-conceived 100% to 500% price hikes in gasoline and other fuels in August.

Inflation, the nominal trigger for the mass protests led by Saffron-robed Buddhist monks, is unofficially estimated to have risen by 35%. Ironically, the demand to establish “market” energy prices was implemented under the helm of the IMF and World Bank.

The UN estimates that the population of some 50 million inhabitants spends up to 70% of their monthly income on food alone. The recent fuel price hike, which was a direct result of the IMF sponsored reforms, makes matters unbearable for tens of millions.

Myanmar is also deeply involved in the world narcotics trade, ranking only behind Hamid Karzai’s Afghanistan as a source for heroin. As well, it is said to be Southeast Asia’s largest producer of methamphetamines

the georgian crisis

just some info on this

it is said that russia was not happy that georgia
was about to to join NATO
and that it was becoming too blatantly pro-western

russia is showing her military might again - the beginning of the second cold war?
let's hope not


please do ignore the religious overtones - purely for information

TENSIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA

All eyes were on South America last week, after the Colombian military attacked a rebel camp in Ecuador. Colombia has fought antigovernment rebels for 40 years, but attacking them on Ecuador's soil was a bold move. Leaders of Venezuela and Ecuador called on the international community to condemn Colombia's actions. Both countries sent troops to the Colombian border.
Colombian officials issued an apology, but also claimed that evidence found after the raid connected Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to the rebels. Chavez denied the charges.
On Wednesday, the Organization of American States held a meeting in Washington, D.C. The group aimed to calm the hostilities.

TIBETAN PROTESTS 2008

China tightened its grip on Tibet last Wednesday, in an effort to halt weeklong protests. Tibet is a region of China near the Indian border. Tibetans have long struggled against China's strict rule. China's leaders say Tibet is part of their nation. They have cracked down on Tibetan language, culture and Buddhist religion.

The protests began peacefully on March 10. On that day in 1959, Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule. The rebellion failed, and Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled. He has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, ever since.

On March 14, this year's protests turned violent. Tibetans in Lhasa started attacking Chinese residents. Chinese troops quickly moved into the capital city. The Dalai Lama's government received reports that 80 Tibetans had been killed. Chinese officials said the riots killed 16 people. No one knows for sure. The area is closed to visitors.

Still, the world is watching. As host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, China does not want more attention on its troubling human-rights record. Chinese officials blamed the Dalai Lama for the violence. The Nobel Peace Prize winner denied the charge and called for peace: "I say to China and the Tibetansódon't commit violence."

Smallest Countries

Later this month, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to the U.S. from Vatican City for the first time. His country is so small, its population of 800 could fit inside a concert hall. These are the smallest countries on the planet.

(1) Vatican City 0.2 square miles
(2) Monaco 0.8 square miles
(3) Nauru 8 square miles
(4) Tuvalu 10 square miles
(5) San Marino 24 square miles


NOTE SOME SOURCES DO NOT RECOGNISE THE VATICAN CITY AS A COUNTRY
SO THEY SAY MONACO IS THE SMALLEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

SOURCE: CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

World Report: April 4, 2008 Vol. #13 Iss. #23

the vietnam challenge

1. Two-thirds of Vietnam's people earn a living by doing which of the following?
a. Fishing
b. Farming
c. Manufacturing goods for other countries

2. Which is the capital city of Vietnam?
a. Hanoi
b. Ho Chi Minh City
c. Danang

3. Which of the following countries took control over Vietnam in 1883?
a. The U.S.
b. It is half the size of the U.S.
c. France

4.. To boost its nation's economy, the Vietnamese government is encouraging people to pursue jobs
in which of the following areas?
a. Computers and technology
b. Constructing buildings
c. Mining














baca