As South African President Thabo Mbeki said in his 1998 ‘African Renaissance’ speech:”In our world in which the generation of new knowledge and its application to change the human condition is the engine which moves human society further away from barbarism, do we not have need to recall Africa’s hundreds of thousands of intellectuals back from their places of emigration in Western Europe and North America, to rejoin those who remain still within our shores! I dream of the day when these, the African mathematicians and computer specialists in Washington and New York, the African physicists, engineers, doctors, business managers and economists, will return from London and Manchester and Paris and Brussels to add to the African pool of brain power, to enquire into and find solutions to Africa’s problems and challenges, to open the African door to the world of knowledge, to elevate Africa’s place within the universe of research of information and new knowledge.
“The movement of professionally trained people – knowledge workers as they have come to be known – from one country to another is not a new phenomenon. During the colonial period the flow was primarily from the metropolis to the colonies. In the new international order that has been emerging since the end of the Second World War – when many colonies became independent but described as “developing countries” – there has been a reversal of the flow. Now, knowledge workers migrate from the developing countries to the developed ones, from the poor countries to the rich ones, to be more honest. It is this flow that has widely come to be known as “brain drain”*.
The phenomenon is now quite familiar, but a few statistics may still be useful. A 1994 study estimated that out of the annual output of highly qualified young men and women in India, 7.3 per cent in engineering, 2.8 per cent in medicine and 2.1 per cent in the natural sciences move to other countries in search of better earnings and conditions of work than would be available in India.
With globalisation, and the relatively freer mobility that is now becoming possible to highly skilled persons in practically all walks of life, brain drain could become even more pronounced. There is a natural explanation for this. Governments of developing countries attach a great deal of importance to higher education, especially in the sciences and in technology. Developed countries find in such trained people a ready-made recruitment pool. The poor spend on training and the rich make use of that training – at relatively low cost.
Regardless of the type of migrant – educated or not – reports clearly show the money the migrants send back home does help alleviate poverty in their former home. Close to 200 million people are living outside of their home countries, with remittances estimated to reach about US$225 billion in 2005, according to a forthcoming Bank publication, Global Economic Prospects 2006.
Adapted from: “The Migration of Knowledge Workers” by Binod Khadria
Parag.1 and Parag. 4 adapted from: http://wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brain_drain&action=edit§ion=13
C O M P R E H E N S I O N (15 Points)
A. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT:
1) Why does Thabo Mbeki want to have African intellectuals back in Africa? Give two reasons.
2) Why do Indian qualified people immigrate to richer countries?
3) What good effects does brain drain have on poorer countries?
B. ARE THESE STATEMENTS ‘true” OR “false”? JUSTIFY:
1) There are very few African skilled people living abroad.
2) Skilled people started moving towards developed countries before the Second World War.
3) Hiring or employing skilled people from poor countries cost the developed countries a lot of money.
C. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS:
1) raise (Paragraph 1)
2) make less severe (Paragraph 5)
3) sent money (Paragraph 5)
L A N G U A G E (15 Points)
A. GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE ITEMS IN BRACKETS:
1) My sister can’t stand (watch) horrible films.
2) There must be a (understand) between us. I’m sorry for that.
B. ANSWER AS SUGGESTED:
1) Scientists believe that the dinosaurs disappeared before a million years.
The dinosaurs…
2) Burglars have broken into the old lady’s house.
The old lady’s house…
3) “How about going to the cybernet?”
Sam suggested…
4) Susan didn’t make a shopping list, and she forgot to buy some coffee.
If…
5) They travelled to Europe by car; so the journey was long and tiresome.
They wish…
6) They will open a new international airport sometime this month.
By the end of this month,…
C. COMPLETE WITH THE APPROPRIATE ITEMS FROM THE BOX:
in the bag – dead loss – with flying colours – go cold turkey – a piece of cake – cram –– cats and dogs – odds and ends – ups and downs – pros and cons
1) Mrs Palmer is certain about her son’s success in the exam. He’ll pass it ________________.
2) This mock exam is ________________. I’m sure most of my students will get high marks.
3) Julie is busy these days. She has been ________________ for her exam.
4) We’ve forgotten to take our umbrellas with us; it’s raining________________.
D. WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES EXPRESS?
1) Could you be more explicit, please?
2) Sorry to have to say this, but you’re bothering me with your endless questions.
W R I T I N G (10 Points)
*You received an e-mail from your Nigerian e-friend informing you about his intention to immigrate to Europe to work for a foreign company.
Write him / her back an e-mail to convince him / her to remain in his country and try to find a job there.
C O M P R E H E N S I O N
A. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT:
1) a) to add to the African pool of brain power
b) to enquire into and find solutions to Africa’s problems and challenges
to open the African door to the world of knowledge
d) to elevate Africa’s place within the universe of research of information and new knowledge
2) in search of better earnings and conditions of work than would be available in India.
3) reports clearly show the money the migrants send back home does help alleviate poverty in their former home
B. ARE THESE STATEMENTS ‘true” OR “false”? JUSTIFY:
1) F: to recall Africa’s hundreds of thousands of intellectuals back from their places of emigration
2) F: since the end of the Second World War
3) F: the rich make use of that training – at relatively low cost.
C. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS:
1) elevate
2) alleviate
3) remittances
L A N G U A G E
A. GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE ITEMS IN BRACKETS:
1) watching
2) misunderstanding
B. ANSWER AS SUGGESTED:
1) The dinosaurs are believed to disappear before a million year
2) The old lady’s house has been broken into
3) Sam suggested that we should go to the cyber net
4) If Susan had made a shopping list, she wouldn’t have forgotten to buy some coffee.
5) They wish they hadn’t travelled to Europe by car
6) By the end of this month, they will have opened a new international airport
C. COMPLETE WITH THE APPROPRIATE ITEMS FROM THE BOX:
1) with flying colours
2) a piece of cake
3) cramming
4) cats and dogs
D. WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES EXPRESS?
1) Asking for clarification
2) Complaining
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