Basics
Migrate = to move from one country, place, or locale to another.
Migrant = a person who moves from one country, place, or locale to another.
Migration = the act of migrating.
Emigrate = to leave one’s place of residence or country to live elsewhere.
Emigrant = a person who leaves a place of residence or country to live elsewhere.
Emigration = the act of emigrating.
Immigrate = to enter a country in which a person was not born to take up permanent residence.
Immigrant = a person who comes to a country in which he or she was not born to take up permanent residence.
Immigration = the act of immigrating.
Refuge = a place that provides shelter or protection.
Refugee = a person who flees danger or persecution in one country, place, or locale to seek refuge in another.
Migration of people is occurring all over the world. Some of the main reasons people migrate include:
• For work.
• To escape.
• Overpopulation.
• Underpopulation.
Although this background information is helpful, your ability to comprehend the essentials—Main Idea, Detail, Inference—from what you are given to read is more important for answering questions than tapping into an encyclopedic memory.
Passage
A World on the Move
– United Nations Population Fund (unfpa.org)
– 2014
1 Globalization has increased the mobility of labor. And in many developed countries, declining fertility and working-age populations have led to rising demand for workers from abroad to sustain national economies. Economic migrants are the world’s fastest growing group of migrants, and many countries that once sent workers abroad—for example, Argentina, Ireland and South Korea—are now experiencing migrant inflows as well.
2 People also move to escape. At the end of 2013, some 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Some 16.7 million persons were refugees, 33.3 million people were internally displaced, and close to 1.2 million were asylum-seekers. Crises can displace large populations over very short periods: Between December 2012 and January 2013, for example, more than 255,000 Syrians had fled the country.
3 Internal migration—movement within countries—is also increasing, as people respond to inequitable distributions of resources, services, and opportunities, or to flee violence, natural disaster, or the increasing number of extreme weather events. The movement of people from rural to urban areas has contributed to the explosive growth of cities around the globe.
4 High fertility and rapid population growth in some developing countries create pressures to emigrate by straining infrastructure and social service systems. At the same time, migration has also become an important component of population growth in countries where fertility has declined. In some parts of Europe and Asia, migration is mitigating population declines related to low fertility and population aging.
Practice – Questions
1. Which of the following can you infer from the above passage?
A. Migration is for the birds.
B. Migration occurred only in the Ice Age.
C. Migration is fun for the whole family.
D. Migration can be voluntary or involuntary.
2. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Migration is fun and games.
B. Migration requires airplanes.
C. Migration of people is prevalent throughout the world.
D. Migration is a transitory phenomenon.
3. At the end of 2013, some 51.2 million people were forcibly:
A. replaced
B. displaced
C. untraced
D. realigned
4. Internal migration is:
A. movement within countries
B. movement without countries
C. movement within intestines
D. movement without borders
5. Which of the following is implied?
A. Some overpopulated countries welcome migrants.
B. Some underpopulated countries welcome migrants.
C. Some underpopulated countries are overpopulated.
D. Some overpopulated countries are underpopulated.
Practice – Answers
1. D. Migration can be voluntary or involuntary.
Inference
2. C. Migration of people is prevalent throughout the world.
Main Idea
3. B. displaced
Detail
4. A. movement within countries
Detail
5. B. Some underpopulated countries welcome migrants.
Inference