Decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

Thailand, located in the Southeast of Asia, has a total area of 513,115 sq km. It is bordered by the countries Laos in the Northeast, Cambodia in the Southeast and Malaysia in the South. The total population is about 65.5 million in 2010. Bangkok, the most populous city, is the capital of Thailand. The country’s unit of currency is the Baht, which consists of 100 Satang.

The country enjoys a tropical monsoon climate, and there are differences between the weather in the North and the South. The Northern Thai have three seasons in a year, hot from March to May, rainy from June to October, and cool from November to February. The Southern Thai have only two seasons, rainy from April to November and hot from December to March.

The national language is Thai. English is also spoken and understood by many citizens, especially in Bangkok and other tourism areas. Although Thailand has no official religion, up to 96.4% people (2002) believe in Buddhism. Additionally, there are followers of some other religions such as Muslims, Hinduism and Christianity.

Thailand is contiguous to Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

🏙 A City in the Future

1. Ideas:

• Population: About 1 million people
• Types of house: Smart houses with robots and solar energy
• Transportation: Flying cars and electric buses
• School: Online and smart schools with AI teachers
• Entertainment: Virtual reality parks, cinemas in the sky

2. Paragraph:

In the future, I would like to live in a modern city called Green City. About one million people will live there. The houses will be smart and use solar energy. Robots will help people with their daily work. People will travel by flying cars and electric buses, so the air will be clean. Schools will be online and have AI teachers to help students learn faster. For entertainment, there will be virtual reality parks and cinemas in the sky. My future city will be a wonderful and happy place to live.

I.    Read the text and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

Symbolic Meaning of Matryoshka

      Everyone knows that a Matryoshka is a nesting doll. It is a set of typically seven wooden dolls of decreasing sizes that all fit inside of each other, one by one. Each stacking doll splits in half at the midsection and opens to reveal another smaller doll nested within. Each Matryoshka is handmade, for this reason, it is unique: you cannot find two Matryoshka identical.

      Matryoshka is made by different dolls. The biggest doll is called “mother”, the smallest one is called seed. Originally, the biggest doll represents a strong female matriarch who is the main symbol of the Russian family. In itself, the doll fits inside little dolls which represent daughters and sons. For this reason, Matryoshka represents fertility and motherhood.

      The Matryoshka is also the symbol of Russia: the big doll represents Russia mother, and in itself she hosts children, women, men, but also feelings like pain, happiness, joy. It is a mother who can host all these things. Matryoshka can represent also our life: we are like a big doll with other dolls inside which represent our stories, relationships, experiences. We are one person with different experiences. The seed represents our soul which is innocent and it is the real essence of ourselves.

1.   Russian doll matryoshka is composed of dolls of different sizes fitting into each other.

2.   It is true that you can find two Matryoshka identical.

3.   Matryoshka is a symbol of motherhood and fertility of nature.

4.   The biggest doll represents a powerful woman in a family.

5.   Matryoshka shows the role of members in a family.

6.   Dolls inside the Matryoshka depict different aspects of human life, such as our stories, relationships and experience.

7.   The seed, the smallest doll, represents the purity of childhood and our nature.