Culture gives us a (2)_____ starting point when beginning to search for our roots.

Why is culture important and how does it answer the question “What is cultural identity? ’? Culture is the underlying foundation of traditions and beliefs that help a person relate to the world around then. It is the basis for any superstitions they may have. It is the aversion to (1)_____ types of meat, or which days you can work on. Culture gives us a (2)_____ starting point when beginning to search for our roots. Knowing (3)______ a person comes from will help to define how they look at their family obligations as well as how they celebrate important milestones in life. As a person has given up their cultural identity, they no longer can identify themselves with the things that were (4)______ the most important things in their lives. They lose direction. As time (5)______ by and they continue to forget about their past and their natural traditions, their identity becomes less and less pronounced.

Before the 1960’s, Singapore was essentially a trading nation. Since (1)_____ , it has developed a more (2)_____ economy and has become an important financial, trade, and transportation center. Singapore has many banks, (3)_____ firms, and finance companies, as (4)_____ as a stock exchange. Tourism is also important to the economy of Singapore. There is little unemployment in Singapore. The country’s annual
income per capita (per person) is one of the highest in Asia. The government of Singapore plays a major role in the country’s economy. For example, it decides what benefits, such as vacation time and sick leave, must be provided for workers by employers. It also operates an employment agency to help people find jobs, and it provides (5)______ for retired workers

MODERN SCIENCE
It seems entirely natural to us that there are teams of scientists in universities and (1)_____ institutions around the world, attempting to
discover the way the world works. (2)_____ , it hasn’t always been that way. Although the scientific method is now four or five hundred years old, the ancient Greeks, for example, believed that they could (3)_____ the causes of natural events just by the power of thought. During the 17 century, more and more people began to realize that they could test their scientific ideas by designing a relevant experiment
and seeing what happened. A lot of (4)_____ was made in this way by individual scientists. These men and women often worked alone,
carrying out research into many different areas of science, and they often received very little (5)_____ for their hard work. At the start of the
20 century, thought, it became clearthat science was becoming more complicated and more expensive. This individual scientist disappeared,
to be replaced by highly qualified teams of experts. Modem science was born.

Knowing (3)______ a person comes from will help to define how they look at their family obligations as well as how they celebrate important milestones in life.

As a person has given up their cultural identity, they no longer can identify themselves with the things that were (4)______ the most important things in their lives.

CRITICISM
It can take a long time to become successful in your chosen field, however talented you are. One thing you have to be aware of is that
you will face criticism along the way. The world is full of people who would rather say something negative than positive. If you’ve made up your (1) to achieve a certain goal, such as writing a novel, don’t let the negative criticism of others prevent you from reaching your target, and let the (2) criticism have a positive effect on your work. If someone says you’re totally lacking in talent, ignore them. That’s negative criticism. If, (3) , someone advises you to revise your work and gives you good reasons for doing so, you should (4) their suggestions very carefully. There’re many movie stars who were once out of work. There’re many famous novelists who made a complete trash of their first novel – or who didn’t, but had to put off approaching hundreds of publishers before they could get it published. Being successful does depend on luck, to a (5) . But things are more likely deal with well if you persevere and stay positive.