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Asiaishometomorethanhalfoftheworld'spopulationandthreeofthefourmostcrowdedcountriesarein

Asia.ChinaIndiaandIndonesiaalonehavemorethan2.5billionpeople.

UntilrecentlymostAsiannationsfellbehindthewesterncountriesinmanyfields.Governmentreform(改革)

howeverhasledtoimportantprogressineachoftheseAsiancountries.Acrosstheareaeducationsystems

havebeenimprovedandeconomies(经济)havebeengrowing.MostAsiancountriesnowhaveasystemof

compulsory(义务的)education.Manycountrieshaverecentlyallowedprivateuniversitiestobebuiltwhich

wasnotallowedbefore.Therearemorechancesforstudentstogotouniversitynow.

HoweverinAsiatherearestillnotenoughchancesforstudentstogethighereducationandmanypeople

prefertogoabroadforfurtherstudy.AsaresultIndiaChinaSouthKoreaJapanandotherAsiancountries

sendthousandsofstudentstostudyintheUnitedStatesandEuropeeachyear.

PartofthepeopleinAsiancountriescanspeakEnglishandEnglishhasbecomethemostimportantlanguage

forbusinessacrossthearea.Thepercentage(百分比)isthelargestinJapanSingaporethePhilippines

SriLankaandSouthKorea.ManypeopleinChinaIndiaandMalaysiacanalsospeakEnglish.Somecountries

havemadeEnglishpartoftheprimaryandsecondaryeducationprogramme.Insomecountrieschildrenbegin

tostudyEnglishevenattheageof4or5.

1.ThepopulationofAsiaisabout .

[ ]

A.2.5billion

B.halfoftheworld'spopulation

C.1.3billion

D.6billion

2.MostAsiancountries thewesterncountriesinmanyfields.

[ ]

A.arebetterthan

B.aremorepowerfulthan

C.getgreaterprogressthan

D.arenotasgoodas

3.Inthepast wasnotallowedinmanyAsiancountries.

[ ]

A.speakingEnglish

B.movingtoothercountries

C.buildingprivateuniversities

D.buildingmiddleschools

4.WhydosomanystudentsinAsiagotostu