Test Yourself is where you can improve your reading skills. Whether it’s for tests like University Entrance Exams or IELTS and TOEFL, or even just for fun, these pages help you to read, understand and improve your English.
Read the following story by Tanyatorn Tongwaranan from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Barriers and inefficiencies in the migrant labour system are preventing ASEAN from reaping all the benefits of economic integration.
WE CAN WORK IT OUT
In contrast to the global trend, the movement of people across national borders within Southeast Asia has been increasing significantly over the past two decades. This intra-regional migration is a result of rapid economic development, demographic diversity and the mismatch in supply and demand for domestic labour.
However, most countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) still have inappropriate and restrictive migrant policies, as well as a lack of institutions and infrastructure that can manage labour migration efficiently.
WORKERS OF THE WORLD
Barriers and weaknesses in the labour system are causing ASEAN to miss out on the opportunity to accelerate economic integration, which allows skilled and low-skilled workers to move freely across borders.
“Income disparity is an important driver of the migration flow in ASEAN. There are huge economic gaps in the region where the wealthiest country is 25 times richer than the poorest,” said Philip O’Keefe, Lead Economist in the Social Protection and Labour Global Practice at the World Bank.
According to the United Nations, the share of intra-regional migration in ASEAN between 1995 and 2015 increased significantly by almost 10 percent while the rest of the world experienced a negative trend. In South Asia, intra-regional migration decreased by 25 percent over the same period, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (13 percent) and Europe and Central Asia (9 percent).
Demographic differences - which have caused a mismatch of supply and demand in the labour market - are important contributing factors encouraging people to seek employment in different parts of the region, said Mr O’Keefe.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR
“Ageing populations are another key factor. While there are labour shortages in many ageing societies, some countries are still struggling to produce adequate employment for a large pool of young workers,” said Thai Labour Minister Pol Gen Adul Sangsingkeo.
The mobility of the workforce brings benefits to the citizens of both countries that receive and send labour, he said. It helps bring back capital, knowledge and skills when migrants return home. Thailand, for example, has become the regional migration hub where migrant workers are a contributing factor in economic growth.
Together, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore receive 96 percent of all intra-regional migration. Thailand receives 55 percent, Malaysia 22 percent and Singapore 19 percent.
Countries supplying migrant labour, such as Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia, have made huge economic gains from remittances from their workers abroad, helping to improve the quality of life of their families. In Singapore, for instance, the average wage is at least five times higher than that of any other ASEAN country, while Cambodian migrants can earn three times more in Thailand than they can at home.
WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
Remittances sent to ASEAN countries from their nationals working all over the world totalled US$62 billion (about 2 trillion baht) in 2015, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Remittances account for 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the Philippines, 7 percent in Vietnam, 5 percent in Myanmar and 3 percent in Cambodia.
“Labour migration helps to ease a shortage of skilled labour in the receiving countries, which consequently boosts production and stimulates their competitiveness,” Pol Gen Adul said.
SECTION 1
Read through the story and answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. What is the article about?
a. How to build unity among ASEAN countries.
b. Government policies and economic trends in Asia.
c. Obstacles to the development of the ASEAN labour market.
2. What are the major barriers to improving ASEAN’s migrant labour system?
a. Restrictive immigration policies.
b. Inefficiency of border policing.
c. Both a and b are correct.
3. Which organisation does Philip O’Keefe work for?
a. The World Bank.
b. The United Nations.
c. The International Monetary Fund.
4. According to Adul Sangsingkeo, what is one advantage of labour migration for the receiving countries?
a. It can improve the quality of life of their workers.
b. It can boost production and simulate competitiveness.
c. It can improve diplomatic relations.
5. What does GDP stand for?
a. Gross domestic purchases.
b. Gross domestic processes.
c. Gross domestic product.
6. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the article?
a. Cambodian migrants can earn five times more in Thailand than they can in their own country.
b. The average wage in Singapore is three times higher than that of any other ASEAN country.
c. A mobile workforce gives advantages to both sending and receiving countries.
7. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the UN’s data on intra-regional migration?
a. The data was collected between 1995 and 2015.
b. Europe’s intra-regional migration increased by 9percent.
c. Intra-regional migration in South Asia declined by 25 percent.
SECTION 2
Match each of the following words used in the story with the correct definitions from the choices given.
| 8.mismatch | a. having enough ability, experience and knowledge to be able to do something well |
| 9. shortage | b. a combination of things or people that do not go together well or are not suitable for each other |
| 10. skilled | c. to obtain something, especially something good, as a direct result of something that you have done |
| 11. wage | d an amount of something that is provided or available to be used |
| 12. reap | e. a regular amount of money that you earn |
| 13. supply |
f. a situation when there is not enough of the people or things that are needed |
SECTION 3
Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
By …..14….. the remaining barriers to integration and employment, ASEAN countries will be able to enjoy …..15….. boosts to GDP, exports and total employment. Studies have shown that immigration has a positive impact …..16….. the economy and …..17….. increases a country’s GDP. In Malaysia, for instance, a simulation found that a 10 percent net increase in low-skilled immigrant workers increases real GDP by 1.1 percent. In Thailand, a recent …..18….. found that without migrants in the labour force, GDP would …..19….. by 0.75 percent, according to the World Bank.
14.
a. remove
b. removing
c. removal
15.
a. significantly
b. significance
c. significant
16.
a. from
b. with
c. on
17.
a. directly
b. direction
c. direct
18.
a. analyse
b. analysis
c. analyses
19.
a. fell
b. fallen
c. fall
SECTION 4
Write down the noun forms of the following words used in the story.
20. encouraging
…………………
21. accelerate
…………………
22. economic
…………………
23. stimulates
…………………
24. improve
…………………
Answers
Section 1
1. c.
2. a.
3. a.
4. b.
5. c.
6. c.
7. b.
Section 2
8. b.
9. f.
10. a.
11. e.
12. c.
13. d.
Section 3
14. b.
15. c.
16. c.
17. a.
18. b.
19. c.
Section 4
20. Encouragement.
21. Acceleration.
22. Economy/economics.
23. Stimulation.
24. Improvement.
SCORE
21-24: Excellent!
17-20: Good.
13-16: Fair.
12 or fewer: You'll do better next time!
