Read the text and do the task below.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Willow basket making is the oldest traditional craft in Somerset.

Read the passage, and do the tasks that follow.

Bat Trang Pottery Village

Bat Trang, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Ha Noi that tourists should not ignore.

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying beside the Red River, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Viet Nam during the 15th -17th centuries. Bat Trang's ceramics were favourite products not only in the domesticmarket, but also foreign ones thanks to Japanese, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasties, it was difficult for pottery products in Viet Nam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau (Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been paid to the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang's ceramic products.

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bows,cups, plates, pots, bottles…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products' features, so many new products have been made, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market making a souvenir for their families or friends.

Read the passage again, and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

Bat Trang pottery has been developed since the 7th century.

Read the passage, and do the tasks that follow.

Bat Trang Pottery Village

Bat Trang, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Ha Noi that tourists should not ignore.

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying beside the Red River, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Viet Nam during the 15th -17th centuries. Bat Trang's ceramics were favourite products not only in the domesticmarket, but also foreign ones thanks to Japanese, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasties, it was difficult for pottery products in Viet Nam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau (Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been paid to the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang's ceramic products.

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bows,cups, plates, pots, bottles…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products' features, so many new products have been made, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market making a souvenir for their families or friends.

Task 1: Match a word in column A with its definition in column B, writing the answer in each blank.

Question 1: Rich

Read the passage again, and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

Bat Trang Pottery Village

Bat Trang, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Ha Noi that tourists should not ignore.

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying beside the Red River, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Viet Nam during the 15th -17th centuries. Bat Trang's ceramics were favourite products not only in the domesticmarket, but also foreign ones thanks to Japanese, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasties, it was difficult for pottery products in Viet Nam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau (Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been paid to the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang's ceramic products.

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bows,cups, plates, pots, bottles…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products' features, so many new products have been made, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market making a souvenir for their families or friends.

Bat Trang’s pottery products were exported to foreign markets during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Bat Trang Pottery Village

Bat Trang, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Ha Noi that tourists should not ignore.

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying beside the Red River, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Viet Nam during the 15th -17th centuries. Bat Trang's ceramics were favourite products not only in the domesticmarket, but also foreign ones thanks to Japanese, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasties, it was difficult for pottery products in Viet Nam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau (Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been paid to the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang's ceramic products.

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bows,cups, plates, pots, bottles…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products' features, so many new products have been made, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market making a souvenir for their families or friends.

Task 2: Read the passage again, and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

Its location beside the Red River has provided an enormous source of fine clay as ingredient for pottery making.

Bat Trang Pottery Village

Bat Trang, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Ha Noi that tourists should not ignore.

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying beside the Red River, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Viet Nam during the 15th -17th centuries. Bat Trang's ceramics were favourite products not only in the domesticmarket, but also foreign ones thanks to Japanese, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasties, it was difficult for pottery products in Viet Nam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau (Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been paid to the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang's ceramic products.

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bows,cups, plates, pots, bottles…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products' features, so many new products have been made, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market making a souvenir for their families or friends.

Task 2: Read the passage again, and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

Artisans in Bat Trang village have always kept the traditions without any changes.

Read the text and do the task below.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

The presence of plastic products did not affect the growth of the basket making industry in the area in the 1950s.