ASSIGNMENT 1 (30 points)

1.1 Background knowledge development (20 points)

Complete Unit 13 – Trends, graphs and figures in the Business English Handbook
13.1
1g 2c 3h 4a 5b 6e 7d 8f
13.2
1d 2e 3a 4f 5b 6c
13.3
1. bring … down
2. put … up
3. bottom out
4. bounce back
5. pick up
6. take off
7. level off
8. slip back
13.4
1. grow 2. Cannot 3. Cannot 4. First two examples
13.5
1. Yes 2. No 3. No 4. Yes 5. Yes 6. No
7. No 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes 11. No 12. Yes
13.6
1. Shrinking 2. Expanding 3. Growing 4. Rising 5. Soaring
13.7
1. rapidly 5. Marginally
2. gradually 6. Significantly
3. steadily 7. sharply
4. slightly 8. Dramatically
13.8
1. yes 2. No 3. No 4. Yes 5. No
13.9
1. cut 5. Half
2. deterioration 6. Improvement
3. fall 7. Increase
4. growth 8. Recovery
9. reduction 10. Rise
13.10
1. slight fall
2. steady rise
3. gradual improvement
4. sharp reduction
13.11
1. pie chart 2. Heading 3. Title 4. Labeled with 5. Steep
13.12
1.i,k,p 2.c,e,f 3.a,l 4.m 5.j 6.b,d,g,h,n,o
13.13
1. from/to/of 7.in
2. in/of 8.in/with
3.at 9. to
4.in 10. on
5. no 11. down
6.between 12.into

1.2 Application (10 points)

Write a short report (200 words max.) based on the following graphs on Vietnam
labor force participation rate and Vietnam unemployment rate.

Graph 1: Vietnam Labor Force Participation Rate

Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam

Graph 2: Vietnam Unemployment Rate

Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam
The two given charts illustrate the relations between the percentage of people
entering the labor market and the unemployment rates in Viet Nam within the same
time.
Overall, the number of workforce members showed signs of decrease over the
years whereas that of unemployed people experienced a remorseless rise.
In terms of the first graph, it is noticeable that the participation rate levelled off
with 76,5% on average in seven consecutive quarters. However, this figure
dropped significantly in the second quarter of 2020, continuing this pattern to the
end of this year. The number slightly increased to 70.3% at the beginning of 2021
but quickly backed to the steep to 68.5% in October 2021. Besides, during 2016-
2021, the peak was 77.5% while the minimum was 67.2%.
The other graph shows the contradictory tendency. Commencing at 2.19% in
January 2019, the unemployment rates had little change until the first half of 2020.
In the third quarter of 2020, nevertheless, it witnessed a significant growth to
2,73%. The figure suffered from minor fluctuations before peaking with staggering
3.72% at the end of 2021. Moreover, the data collected from 1998 to 2021
indicates that the highest number was 4.50%, 3 times higher than the lowest.