I. Choose the correct answer A, B, or C to fill in each blank in the following passage. ⇱
I live in a small village in Ninh Binh. I love the ___(1)___ peace and quiet of my village. The air is unpolluted, and the ___(2)___ of life is slow. The people in my village are friendly and hospitable. They are always willing ___(3)___ each other. We cultivate mainly rice and beans. We raise cows and buffaloes too. We can also enjoy ___(4)___ in the nearby area. It is actually a national park, so the wildlife there can live and move about ___(5)___. All these things make me love my village more, and I intend to live here my whole life.
II. Read the passage about the countryside in Britain and choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to each of the questions. ⇱
Besides its beauty, the countryside of Britain is well known for its many contrasts: its bare mountains and moorland, its lakes, rivers and woods, and its long, often wild coastline. National parks which are protected from development by the government have the most beautiful and picturesque scenery. British people often associate the countryside with farmland, open spaces like fields of wheat and barley, green fields enclosed by hedges or stone walls in which cows or sheep are raised. Most farmland is now owned by individual people or independent companies. However, the government has built a network of public footpaths across the farmland.
Many British people enjoy the peace and relaxation of life in the countryside where they can spend their free time walking, cycling, or going for a picnic or a pub lunch. In summer they can pick strawberries and other fruit in fruit farms. Nowadays, few rural people work on farms. Many of them commute to work in towns. Many others wish to live in the countryside so that they could have a better and healthier lifestyle.
III. Read the passage about the countryside in America and tick (✓) T (True) or F (False) for each sentence. ⇱
Few Americans live in the areas of wild and beautiful scenery, like the Western states of Montana and Colorado. We often see small farms surrounded by hills and green areas in the New England states, such as Vermont and New Hampshire. In Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other Midwestern states, there are very large fields of corn or wheat with great distances between towns.
About a quarter of Americans live outside cities and towns because life there is harder. Shops, post offices, hospitals, schools, etc. may be further away and it takes rural people a very long time to get there. However, many people choose to live in the countryside because of its safe, clean, and attractive environment. But their children often move to a town or city when they grow up.