NYJC_2008 CSE H1 Preliminary Exam

China Studies in English Nanyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 1 of 4 JC2 Preliminary Examination 2008 CHINA STUDIES H1 8817 China Studies in English DURATION 3 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES All answers must be fully in English, with Chinese terms Romanised. The use of Chinese characters is not permitted. Write your name and Civics Tutorial group in the spaces provided on the answer paper. Answer Question 1, Question 2, and Question 3. Note that for Questions 2 and 3, you shall answer either part of each question, but not both. Tie and submit all answers together at the end of the examination. Write your answers on the separate answer paper provided. If you use more than one sheet of paper, fasten the sheets together. You are reminded to be punctilious in your us e of proper English, and veracious in the presentation of your answers. _____________________________________________________ This question paper consists of 4 printed pages

China Studies in English Nanyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 2 of 4 SECTION A: CASE STUDY THE PROBLEM OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION 1. Read the sources and then answer the questions. Source A Due to the existing Hukou System, those surplus rural labourers had to establish their own non-agricultural enterprises in or near their villages and to wnships, which are therefore called township/village enterprises (TVEs). In the 1980s TVEs played a significant part in transferring rural labour to non- agricultural sect ors at the local level, during which the number of rural labourers w ho got into TVEs from farming increased from 29.99 million in 1980 to 92.65 million in 1990. But the capacity of TVEs will not be able to absorb all the surplus rural labour. From 1990 to 1994, on average there were only 0.12–0.14 persons in each rural household working in the TVEs; in the meantime there were about 2.87 full- or part-time labourers in each rural household. Mo re than 2.7 labourers have to either stay in the farming fields or go out of their villages or townships for non-agricultural jobs. From a publication by the United Nations’ UNESCO, 2003. Source B The migrants, estimated at between 80 and 110 million, are the muscle of the economy. They can be seen any day in east coast cities, walking along highways, squatting in construction crews, arriving from interior villa ges no one has heard of. Most work at least 28 days a month; between 50 and 70 percent of them will send their pay, called remittances, back to the family. The money is used to help build a house, to get aging parents off the farm, to make sure that a brot her can continue to study at local schools that lately require tuition, or to finance a small shop. “Without migrants, the whole structure would collapse,” says one China specialist. “T hey staff the shops, rest aurants, factories, construction.