Layout 1 1 IELTS Masterclass © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Reading Passage 2 Complete the summary below using words from the box Singapore When Singapore became an independent, self sufficie.
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Reading
Passage 2
Complete the summary below using words from the box.Singapore
When Singapore became an independent, self-sufficient state it decided to build up
its 14 , and government organisations were created to support
this policy However, this initial plan met with limited success due to a shortage of
15 and land It was therefore decided to develop the
16 sector of the economy instead
Singapore is now a leading city, but planners are working to ensure that its economy continues to grow In contrast to previous policies, there is emphasis on
17 In addition, land will be recovered to extend the financial
district, and provide 18 as well as housing The government
also plans to improve the quality of Singapore’s environment, but due to the shortage of natural landscapes it will concentrate instead on what it calls
19 .
decentralisationfuelindustrytransport
hospitalsloansderegulationservice
tradetransportentertainmentrecycling
labourtourismhygienebeautification
agriculture
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
Write Trueif the statement agrees with the information
Falseif the statement contradicts the information
Not Given if there is no information on this.
20After 1965, the Singaporean government switched the focus of the island’s
economy
21The creation of Singapore’s financial centre was delayed while a suitable site was
found
22Singapore’s four regional centres will eventually be the same size as its central
business district
23Planners have modelled new urban developments on other coastal cities.
24Plants and trees are amongst the current priorities for Singapore’s city planners.
25The government has enacted new laws to protect Singapore’s old buildings.
26Singapore will find it difficult to compete with leading cities in other parts of the
world
Questions 14–19
Trang 2IELTS Masterclass 2
PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University PressBritish merchants established a tradingpost in Singapore in the early nineteenthcentury, and for more than a centurytrading interests dominated However, in1965 the newly independent island statewas cut off from its hinterland, and so itset about pursuing a survival strategy.The good international communicationsit already enjoyed provided a usefulbase, but it was decided that ifSingapore was to secure its economicfuture, it must develop its industry Tothis end, new institutional structureswere needed to facilitate, develop, andcontrol foreign investment One of themost important of these was theEconomic Development Board (EDB), anarm of government that developedstrategies for attracting investment Thusfrom the outset, the Singaporeangovernment was involved in citypromotion
Towards the end of the twentiethcentury, the government realised that,due to limits on both the size of thecountry’s workforce and its land area, itslabour-intensive industries were
becoming increasingly uncompetitive Soan economic committee was establishedwhich concluded that Singapore shouldfocus on developing as a service centre,and seek to attract company
headquarters to serve South East Asia,and develop tourism, banking, andoffshore activities The land required forthis service-sector orientation had been
acquired in the early 1970s, when thegovernment realised that it lacked thebanking infrastructure for a moderneconomy So a new banking andcorporate district, known as the ‘GoldenShoe’, was planned, incorporating thehistoric commercial area This districtnow houses all the major companies andvarious government financial agencies
Singapore’s current economic strategyis closely linked to land use and
development planning Although it isalready a major city, the currentdevelopment plan seeks to ensureSingapore’s continued economic growththrough restructuring, to ensure that thefacilities needed by future business areplanned now These include transportand telecommunication infrastructure,land, and environmental quality A majorconcern is to avoid congestion in thecentral area, and so the latest plandeviates from previous plans by having astrong decentralisation policy The planmakes provision for four major regionalcentres, each serving 800,000 people,but this does not mean that the existingcentral business district will not alsogrow A major extension planned aroundMarina Bay draws on examples of other‘world cities’, especially those withwaterside central areas such as Sydneyand San Francisco The project involvesmajor land reclamation of 667 hectaresin total Part of this has already beendeveloped as a conference and
exhibition zone, and the rest will be usedfor other facilities However the need forvitality has been recognised and a mixedzoning approach has been adopted, toinclude housing and entertainment.
One of the new features of the currentplan is a broader conception of whatcontributes to economic success Itencompasses high quality residentialprovision, a good environment, leisurefacilities and exciting city life Thus thereis more provision for low-density housing,often in waterfront communities linked tobeaches and recreational facilities.However, the lower housing densities willput considerable pressure on the verylimited land available for development,and this creates problems for another ofthe plan’s aims, which is to stressenvironmental quality More and more ofthe remaining open area will bedeveloped, and the only naturallandscape surviving will be a small zone
in the centre of the island which servesas a water catchment area.
Environmental policy is therefore verymuch concerned with making the builtenvironment more green by introducingmore plants – what is referred to as the‘beautification’ of Singapore The planfocuses on green zones defining theboundaries of settlements, and runningalong transport corridors The incidentalgreen provision within housing areas isalso given considerable attention
Much of the environmental provision,for example golf courses, recreationareas, and beaches, is linked to theprime objective of attracting business.The plan places much emphasis on goodleisure provision and the need to exploitSingapore’s island setting One way ofdoing this is through further landreclamation, to create a whole new islanddevoted to leisure and luxury housingwhich will stretch from the central area tothe airport A current concern alsoappears to be how to use the planningsystem to create opportunities for greaterspontaneity: planners have recently givenmuch attention to the concept of the 24-hour city and the cafe society Forexample, a promotion has taken placealong the Singapore river to create a cafezone This has included the realisation,rather late in the day, of the value ofretaining older buildings, and the creationof a continuous riverside promenade.Since the relaxation in 1996 of strictguidelines on outdoor eating areas, thishas become an extremely popular area inthe evenings Also, in 1998 the UrbanRedevelopment Authority created a newentertainment area in the centre of thecity which they are promoting as ‘thecity’s one-stop, dynamic entertainmentscene’
In conclusion, the economic
development of Singapore has been veryconsciously centrally planned, and thelatest strategy is very clearly oriented toestablishing Singapore as a leading‘world city’ It is well placed to succeed,for a variety of reasons It can draw uponits historic roots as a world tradingcentre; it has invested heavily intelecommunications and air transportinfrastructure; it is well located in relationto other Asian economies; it has