1. We eat plenty of rice in England, but we don’t grow it. The true reasons for this are:

• It's too hilly in England for rice seedlings to take root.
• We don't get enough rain.
• Our climate is too cold in winter.
• Summer temperatures in England are too low for the grain to ripen.

The statements on the worksheet that are true but irrelevant are:

• There's no fertile volcanic soil in Essex.
• Production costs are lower in the Philippines.

The statement that is (probably) false and is anyway irrelevant is:

• English chefs only like to work with exotic ‘eastern’ ingredients.

Activity 2

There are large numbers of Filipinos working around the world, often in temporary jobs. This pattern is relatively rare among other nationalities in South-East Asia.

Men from the Philippines commonly work on ships, as labourers on construction sites in the Middle East and much of Asia, and in parts of Europe and North America. Young Filipino women also work in these countries - often as maids, waitresses and nurses.

Some of the reasons for this are:

• There is much rural poverty in the Philippines, and in most countries of South-East Asia.
• There are not many large- or medium-sized cities in the Philippines for families to migrate to.
• Urban areas in the Philippines lack the employment opportunities found in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. (International finance, tourism and manufacturing are less well developed.)
• Few Filipino workers have migrated because they have been persecuted at home or want to escape the political system (unlike many Chinese migrants who have left communist China for political reasons).
• It is common for Filipino migrants to send large proportions of their earnings back home to support their families.

The true but irrelevant statements are:

• The climate in the Philippines is tropical and humid.
• Manila is the largest city in the Philippines.