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The ASEAN

Read the passage and do the task that follows/do the tasks that follow

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PRD and Myanmar on 23 July 1997 and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

As of 2006, the ASEAN region has a population of about 560 million (one of every ten persons in the world today is a Southeast Asian), a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of almost US$ 1,100 billion, and a total trade of about US$ 1,400 billion.

The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nation Charter.

The ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted by the ASEAN Leaders on the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN, agreed on a shared vision of ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies.

In 2003, the ASEAN Leaders resolved that an ASEAN Community shall be established comprising three pillars, namely, ASEAN Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

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The United Nations

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In one very long sentence, the introduction to the U.N. Charter expresses the ideals and the common aims of all the peoples whose governments joined together to form the U.N.

The name "United Nations" is accredited to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the first group of representatives of member states met and signed a declaration of common intent on New Year's Day in 1942, completed at Dumbarton Oaks in 1944. These proposals, modified after deliberation at the conference on International Organization in San Fransisco which began in April 1945, were finally agreed on and signed as the U.N. Charter by 50 countries on 26 June 1945. Poland, not represented at the conference, signed the Charter later and was added to the list of original members. It was not until that autumn, however, after the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the U.S.S.R and the U.K. and the U.S. and by a majority of the other participants that the U.N. officially came into existence. The date was 24 October, now universally celebrated as United Nations Day.

The essential functions of the U.N. are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, to cooperate internationally in solving international economic, social, cultural and human problems, promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and to be a centre for co-ordinating the actions of nations in attaining these common ends.

No country takes precedence over another in the U.N. Each member's rights and obligations are the same. All must contribute to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, and members have pledged to refrain from the threat and use of force against other states. Though the U.N. has no right to intervene in any state's internal affairs, it tries to ensure that non-member states act according to its principles of international peace and security. UN members must offer every assistance in an approved U.N. action and in no way assist states which the U.N. is taking preventive or enforcement action.

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Canadian Women

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A. In 2000, 60% of Canadian women aged 15 and over were in the Canadian labour force, up to 42% in 1976. Between 1976 and 2000, the number of women in labour force grew from 3.6 million to 7.4 million, an increase of 106%. Over the same period the number of women in labour force grew by only 40%, from 6.2 million to 8.7 million.

B. The largest participation rate increase has been among women with pre-school children. Between 1976 and 1999, the participation rate of women with a youngest child aged 3 to 5 grew from 37% to 66%. The increase was even more dramatic among women with a toddler or infant: the rate for women with a youngest child under 3 more than doubled, from 28% in 1976 to 61% in 1999.

C. Work continuity is important to career development, future employability and current and future earnings, but the majority of women experience significant breaks in employment. Nearly two-thirds of women (62%) who have ever held paid jobs have experienced a work interruption of six months or more. In contrast, only one quarter of their male counterparts (27%) have had a work interruption lasting six months or more. Marriage, maternity leave and care of children account for 62% of women's work interruption.

D. In spite of remarkable growth in their participation rate, women with children are still less likely to be in the labour force than those without. In 1999, 76% of women under age 55 without children under 16 at home were in the labour force. This compares to a participation rate of 69% among women with children under 16.

E. The vast majority of employed women with children work full-time (30 hours or more per week). In 1999, 71% of employed women with at least one child under age 16 at home worked full-time, as did 68% of employed women with one or more children under 3 years of age.

F. A nationally representative employees survey conducted by the Conference Board of Canada in 1999 indicated that the proportion of employees who both care for elderly family members and have children at home is now 15%, as compared to 9.5% a decade ago.

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Extreme Sports

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Summer's just around the corner, encouraging some to dust off the tennis racket or rummage round the cupboard for the cricket bat. But for some in Britain traditional outdoor pursuits are just not enough. So how do extreme sports devotees ?

Extreme sports are about , skill and danger. They do not normally involve teams and there are very few rules. People who take part use their skills and experience to control the risks. That control is what makes them sports and not just dangerous behaviour.

Here are just some of the extreme sports which are popular in Britain:

Kitesurfing: a growing band of enthusiasts have been discovering the thrilling combination of , board and waves. These kites can be up to 17 metres long. Catch a gust and you're motoring - up, down and across the . British Ladies kitesurfing champion Jo Wilson says: "It's always . It's unpredictable. You could jump 5ft or 35ft. You never know if you're going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom all the time."

Coasteering: this is exploring the  without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky cliffy cove blocking your route. You climb, dive, swim and clamber from A to B. There are about 15 operators in the UK offering coasteering.

Sky diving: traditional parachuting just doesn't sound risky enough, does it? So now skydiving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart  as you hurtle towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment. Once you've got a few jumps under your parachute you can  some extra risks, for example try a 'hook turn'. Dean Dunbar is a participant of extremedreams.com and his first sky dive was in 1998. Since then he's been hooked on the buzz of the extreme, saying: "Every so often I have to go out and do something scary."

Mountain biking: it's been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Nowadays thrill seeking mountain bikers want a big slope to go down very, very fast. "It's pure mad, downhill," according to Dean Dunbar. "People go to old ski resorts, take the chair lift to the top then  - amazingly not killing themselves."

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The Olympic Games

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In ancient Greece athletic festivals were very important and had strong religious associations. The Olympian athletic festival, held every four years in honour of Zeus, eventually lost its local character, became first a national event, and then, after the rules against foreign competitors had been waived, international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go, but some official records date from 776 B.C.

The Games took place in August by Mount Olympus. Many thousands of spectators gathered from all parts of Greece, but no married woman was admitted even as a spectator. Slaves, women and dishonoured persons were not allowed to compete. The exact sequence of events were uncertain, but events included boy's gymnastics, horse-racing, field events such as discus and javelin throwing, and the very important foot races. There was also boxing and wrestling and special tests of varied ability such as the pentathlon, the winner of which excelled in running, jumping, discus and javelin throwing and wrestling. The evening of the third day was devoted to sacrificial offerings to the heroes of the day, and the fourth day, that of the full moon, was set aside as a holy day.

On the sixth and last day, all the victors were crowned with holy garlands of wild olive from a sacred wood. So great was the honour that the winner of the foot race gave his name to the year of his victory. Although Olympic winners received no prize money, they were, in fact, richly rewarded by their state authorities. The public honour also made the strict discipline of the ten-month training period worthwhile. In spite of the lengthy training, however runners were known to drop dead from strain at the winning post. How their results compared with modern standards, we unfortunately have no means of telling.

After an uninterrupted history of almost 1,200 years, the Games were abolished in A.D. 394, the Christian era, because of their pagan origin. It was over 1,500 years before there was another such international athletics gathering. The Greek institution was revived in 1896 and the first small meeting took place in Athens. After the 1908 London Olympics, success was re-established and nations sent their best representatives. In times of peace, the Games have taken place ever since at four-yearly intervals. In Munich in 1972, competitors from more than 120 countries were watched by huge crowds.

Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. The host country provides vast facilities, including a stadium, swimming pools and living accommodation, but competing countries pay their own athletes' expenses. Athletic contests are still the main feature, but now many more sports are represented, women compete, the ancient pentathlon, for example, has been modified into a more comprehensive test, and the marathon races, initiated in 1896, are now a celebrated event.

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Koalas try suburban jungle

Fill in each gap with one word from the table below

monitor lizards	so far this year	reptile rescue expert
early last century	in 1997	eucalyptus leaves
arms sliced off	destroying trees	more vegetation

In search of the perfect suburban lifestyle as well as plenty of , koalas are deserting woodlands for backyards, bathrooms and cars in Adelaide.

Local conservationists have rescued 105 koalas from the suburban jungle  compared with just 20 sightings of the bear-like marsupial in the city six years ago.

Cleland Wildlife Park's operations manager, Gary Fitzpatrick, said Australia's furry grey icon, a protected species and a rare sight in the wild, had flourished in the Adelaide Hills area since its introduction .

"With high numbers of koalas, competition for territory is increasing and male koalas are moving towards urban areas," he told the Adelaide Advertiser. "There is also much  in the metropolitan area now, which is attracting them."

But life in the suburbs is not all snoozing on garden gum trees. Instead of contending with bushfires, dingoes, pythons and the suburban koala must keep a beady eye out for dogs, roads and railways.

"There was one koala found on the South Eastern freeway - they just seem to skip across there without any fear," Mr Fitzpatrick said. But he also reported another case of a koala discovered dead on a railway line with its .

The cleaning of native woodland has removed more than 80% of the koala's natural habitat, but in some areas where they were introduced to help preserve the species they have swiftly reached plague proportions,  with their voracious appetite for eucalyptus leaves.

Hundred of koalas were airlifted off Kangaroo island in southern Australia  to save rare trees, birds and wildlife in the national park.

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