Speaking b2 c1 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

SPEAKING CODE 01 Part 1 1) What did you do on your last holiday? - My most memorable holiday is the last one with my family/ friends/ colleagues in...... We did.../ played.../ ate.../ visited..... It was a good time for us to share the feelings, experience and understandings and improve the relationship/ friendship among us. 2) Who do you prefer spending your holiday with? Relatives or friends? - I like being with my friends, because we have a lot in common, so we can share our hobbies and interests. - Spending holiday with the family makes me happy because I love my family. It’s a good chance for all family members to be together, take care of one another and enjoy the cozy and close atmosphere. 3) Do you prefer going on holiday abroad? - Of course, going abroad on holiday is really an excellent experience when we can see new things, meet new people and know more about another culture, habits and customs of different nations. Moreover, it’s also a good time to learn a language, make new friends and improve communication. - No, I’ve never thought about going abroad on holiday, because I can’t speak a foreign language. Furthermore, travelling abroad is too expensive and sometimes dangerous for young and inexperienced people. In my view, domestic holidays are better in term of safety, expense and convenience. 4) How many hours a day do you watch television? - I rarely watch TV, because I don’t have much time/ I’m always busy. At weekend I spend about one or two hours watching TV with my family members. - Watching TV is my favourite pastime. I watch it whenever I have free time. I often watch three or four hours a day. 5) Which programmes do you like? - There are a lot of good programmes on TV these days and the one I like most is Discovery. This channel provides me with interesting knowledge of the world. I never feel bored watching this programme.

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- The News is my favourite programme because it provides me with useful knowledge and information of all fields. You can sit at your comfortable armchair but know everything happening in the world. 6) Do you prefer watching television alone or with other people? Why? - I prefer watching television with other people because we can not only share our feelings and information, but also discuss together on what is watched on TV. Additionally, it’s a good time for us to promote understandings and relationship among us. Part 2: Situation If you won the lottery of 1 billion VND, what would you do with the money? - Buy a new house. - Start a business. - Deposit the money in the bank. a) If I won a lottery of one billion dollars, I would buy a house, because I haven’t got one now. I am living with my parents, but I prefer an independent life. After I buy it, I will have my own house and I will be able to do whatever I want with it. b) If I won a lottery of one billion dollars, I would start a business. Firstly, having my own business is my dream. I want to make money by myself and to stand on my feet. If my business ran well, I could buy a house, deposit money in the bank, do charity and other things. c) If I won a lottery of one billion dollars, I would deposit money in the bank. In my view, it’s the safest way to keep money while I can get monthly interest to spend. I’m not young so I want stability and safety. Part 3 Topic: Online courses have changed the way people learn - Provide new learning experience - Be more convenient to study - Be independent in learning - Your own ideas a) Provide new learning experience: Instead of going to school, college or university, people learn anywhere via the Internet with a laptop. In traditional learning, the teacher teaches students particular subjects in class on schedule. 2

In contrast, with online courses learners can learn anytime, any subjects they want. Instead of taking exams in the class, people can do online tests and get the results after they click “submit” button without waiting for weeks. b) Be more convenient to study: Learners do not have to go to class because they can stay at home or at work, learn online with a cup of coffee. They can listen to the lectures again and again. They do not have to meet teachers faceto-face to submit assignments or get feedback from them. All they need is a laptop connected to the Internet. c) Be independent in learning: When learners attend an online course, they must follow the rules and study by themselves because there are no teachers in front of them to explain what the learners do not understand. They do not have classmates to discuss together. d) Your own ideas: Online courses are economical in terms of time, expense and physical effort. Learners do not have to go to class so they do not have to spend time travelling from one place to another and attending classes. They do not have to pay for transportation. Moreover, they listen to lectures whenever they can, this makes their timetable flexible and they can do lots of things when learning. Follow up questions: 1) What advice would you give someone on how to study English? - There are many ways to learn English depending on learner’s conditions, interests and proficiency. The best way is that you put yourself in an English speaking environment. You can listen to English songs, see English films. Furthermore, communicating with a native speaker, participating in an English speaking club are very good to improve your English as well. 2) Do you think being a student is the best time of your life? Why/ why not? - In my opinion being a student is the best time of one’s life because we have an exciting, wonderful time with friends at university. At that time, people are young, strong, carefree and eager to explore new knowledge. They are willing to do voluntary work without thinking about themselves. 3) Should a student’s university education be free or should the student have to get a loan? Explain your choice.

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- In my view university education should be free for some specific majors, such as police, military education because those are demanding jobs. People who are devoted to them may sacrifice their life to defend the motherland. However, most fields in education should not be free. Students should understand the value of their education in order to try harder. The money should be paid for training facilities, materials, administration and education affairs. CODE 02 Part 1 1) When is your birthday? - I was born in (month/ year). My mother told me that it was a very hot/ cold day in summer/ winter. I was the first child in my family so I got love and care from my grandparents, parents and relatives. 2) What do you usually do on your birthday? - On my birthday, I often prepare a good meal and invite some close friends to my house for dinner. We eat together and chat in a cosy atmosphere. - On my birthday, I often invite some close friends to a restaurant for a small party. I blow off the candles on the birthday cake, and my friends wish me good luck, good health and success. I get some gifts from them. Then we sing Happy Birthday song. We chat and enjoy ourselves. 3) What is your favourite family celebration? Why? - There are a lot of celebrations my family has; however, Lunar New Year celebration or Tet holiday is the most special time not only for me, but also for Vietnamese people. We have much time together to prepare for our holiday. We clean the house; decorate it with nice flowers and plants. At New Year’s Eve all family members get together to enjoy traditional food and give the best wishes to everyone. Children and old people receive lucky money. That is my most preferable celebration. 4) What is the best way to travel in your town/city? - In my opinion a bicycle is the best way to travel in my town. Firstly, the town is small and the streets are narrow, so it is easy and convenient for a bicycle to move to every corner of the town. Secondly, it helps to protect the environment and it’s cheap. 4

5) What is your favourite means of transportation? - My favourite means of transportation is a motorbike, because it faster than a bicycle. It is not too big to move in narrow streets, and it is not as expensive as a car to buy and drive, either. 6) Do you think people should use public transportation more? Why? Why not? - In my view, public transportation should be used more for some reasons. Firstly, it is cheap and safe. Secondly, it helps to reduce traffic jams and accidents. Thirdly, we can protect the environment when using less private cars. Part 2: Situation You have just received a sum of money from your father as a birthday present. How would you use the money? - To buy a laptop for your study. - To buy a fashionable smart phone. - To save up for future. a) If my father gives a sum of money as a birthday present, I will buy a new laptop for my study. The reason is that it is really necessary for me to learn and work. It can help me to search for information, documents and references. I can send and receive emails, messages from other people. Additionally, I can relax with music and games, and read e-books with the laptop. b) If my father gives a sum of money as a birthday present, I will buy a smart phone. The reason is that I have already had a laptop, and it is not small enough to take with me to everywhere. A smart phone is useful for my study as well as for my job. I can talk, chat, and send emails, messages to others conveniently. I can also listen to music, play games or read e-books with a smart phone too. c) If my father gives a sum of money as a birthday present, I will not buy a laptop or a smart phone, because it’s a waste of money. The reason is that I have had both. I will save up for the future. Running a business is my dream, but I cannot start a new business without the capital. Now I do not have enough, but I believe that if I save money gradually, I will have my own. Part 3 5

Topic: Examinations are not necessary - Time-consuming - Unfair - Costly - Your own ideas a) Time-consuming: Examiners have to design, deliver and evaluate students through the test. Whereas, students must revise their lessons, take the test and wait for the results. b) Unfair: Examinations are not always truthful and the feedback about students’ study based on test results sometimes invalid. Students sometimes cheat or copy other’s answers at examinations. If examiners lack responsibilities, the test results will be invalid c) Costly: A big sum of money has to be spent on preparation for the test regarding facilities, equipment, materials, papers…. In addition, we should pay for administration, evaluation of the tests. Obviously, students have to pay fees, which is a burden on their shoulders. d) Your own ideas: Exams are still important. On the one hand, via examinations teachers/examiners can evaluate students’ abilities so as to adjust teaching methods properly. On the other hand, students are be aware of their own abilities to have effective ways of learning. Follow up questions: 1) Do you think schools are necessary? Why? Why not? - In my opinion schools are necessary. Firstly, they are the place where students can get knowledge of all fields and be educated. They are also the place where students can make friends, learn useful skills for their life, such as communication skills, problem-solving skills, soft skills...Secondly, students can learn how to behave and develop their personality in a good way when following the school rules 2) How do modern technologies change the way people study? Modern technologies help people to study faster, more active and effectively. people do not have to go to class because they can stay at home or at work, learn online with a laptop connected to the Internet. They can search information and download documents from the Internet. Furthermore, it is possible for them to listen to the lectures again and again. They do not have 6

to meet teachers face-to-face to submit assignments or get feedback from them. 3) Do you think that traditional schools will disappear in the future because of the development of modern technology? I don’t think so. Traditional schools are always necessary, because they are the place where students can learn not only knowledge, but also social lessons of how to behave and how to become good citizens. Schools are the place for children to develop and improve their personalities. CODE 03 Part 1 1) Do you like music? If yes, what kind of music do you like best? Why? If no, why not? - I am interested in music because of its rhythm and lyrics. I feel relaxed when listening to music. Music is a good way to nurture my soul and emotions. 2) What is the most popular kind of music in your country? - Pop music is very popular in my country. It is said that it is the music of the young which makes people love life more. It gives people more energy to live and work. - Traditional music is the most popular in my country. It helps people to relax, nurture our love for the country. Listening to traditional music, people feel proud of the history, culture and customs of our country. 3) How is music good or not good for people? - In my opinion, music is good for people. When you listen to music, you can feel your happiness or sadness in the rhythm and lyrics. Moreover, music makes you relaxed and comfortable after a hard working day. A joyful song can cheer you up and change your mood. It is the reason why when you are happy or in troubles, music is always your good friend. 4) Did you learn English at secondary school? - No, I didn’t learn English at school. I studied Russian/ French. It was interesting but difficult. I started learning English when I was at high school. - Yes, I did. English was a compulsory subject in my school. I knew that English was necessary for my study and my future job 7

5) What do you think about how English is taught at school now? - Now English is taught in a traditional way at school. It means that students learn grammar, vocabulary and how to make correct sentences but not how to communicate in real life situations. English is considered as a compulsory subject rather than an interest. As a result, most students are reluctant to learn English. 6) In what ways has children’s English much improved nowadays? - These days children learn English from very young age. They start learning English at Kindergarten and can access a lot of resources in English. They can listen to English songs, watch movies in English, and participate in English speaking clubs to improve their language proficiency. Some parents send their children abroad, so they have chances to live and study in an English speaking environment. Part 2 An optional subject will be added to the curriculum for secondary students in your city. Three options are suggested: - photography - swimming - dancing a) If I have the right to choose an optional subject to add to the curriculum for secondary students in my city, a swimming course is my first choice. In reality, Vietnamese students have a sedentary lifestyle and they seldom do physical activities to make them strong. They study at school during the daytime and go to extra classes in the evening. Whenever they have free time, they play games, see films or listen to music. Additionally, according to some statistics, the main reason for the high rate of drowning deaths in Vietnam is that children do not have swimming skills. Therefore, a swimming course is necessary for them in terms of health and safety. b) In my opinion a photography class is interesting and necessary. Vietnamese students study most of their time: they go to school during the daytime and go to extra classes in the evening. Therefore, a photography class can make students relax after hard working hours. It also helps them to enjoy the beauty of life. With a camera, they can keep their most memorable moments in life with their family and friends for the whole life. 8

c) In my opinion a dancing class is interesting and necessary. Vietnamese students study most of their time: they go to school during the daytime and go to extra classes in the evening. Therefore, a dancing class can make students relax after hard working hours. It also helps them to make friends. Dancing practice help students improve their physical and mental heath, be more energetic and active in real life. Part 3 Topic: It is good to learn about a culture when you learn a language. - Language: the best means of culture - Better communication - Culture shocks - Your own ideas a) Language - the best means of culture: A language is a system of grammar, meaning, sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing; whereas, cultures refer to social patterns of behaviours, beliefs, attitudes and values. We know more about a nation’s culture via traditional lullabies, legends of folklore which are expressed by language. Language is the medium to convey cultural values from generations to generations. Without a language (in oral or written forms), people cannot express their ideas; therefore, cannot communicate and pass their cultural beliefs, attitudes and values to descendant generations. b) Better communication: As said, language is a system of grammar, meaning, sounds, and written symbols that are standardized enough to be used by people to transmit information and ideas from one to one another; whereas, communication is any form by which people exchange information and ideas.  They can use language, but they can also use gestures, facial expressions, signals, or any other medium to express that information. However gestures, facial expressions and signals are not informative and expressive enough to convey the information and ideas successfully. In that case, language is the best way to pass on and discuss ideas or information. c) Culture shocks: Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from his/ her own; it is also the personal disorientation, anxiety a person may feel in unfamiliar 9

surroundings. One of the most common causes of culture shocks involves individuals in a strange environment, even in a foreign language course. Values, behaviours, and social customs we routinely take for granted may no longer serve us in our new environment. By adapting to a foreign culture, you can overcome your culture shock and develop relationships with those around you. d) Your own ideas: Learning a new language is challenging for almost everyone. Sometimes you may feel depressed when coping with lexicology, phonology and grammar....You may get shocks because of differences between different cultures in eating, shopping, travelling habits etc. However, it gives you new knowledge and experience of new cultures and peoples. Additionally, you may get a better job, have a higher salary or promote in your career if you can speak a foreign language. Follow up questions: 1) Do you think it’s good to understand other people’s cultures? Why? - In my opinion, it’s great to understand other’s people’s cultures. If you know other’s culture, you may not get cultural shocks when you communicate or have a transaction with them and you can avoid embarrassing situations. Furthermore, understandings of different cultures enrich your knowledge and experience, which make you more active and dynamic in real life. 2) What would you introduce first to a foreigner about the Vietnamese culture? - Vietnamese people have different traditional songs, dances, festivals as well as historical monuments throughout the country to introduce to foreign friends. However, if I had a chance, I would introduce “quan ho Bac Ninh”- a traditional type of music originated in Bac Ninh province - to a foreigner who first visit Vietnam. It is intangible cultural heritage which was recognized by UNESCO. 3) What would you like to learn about English-speaking cultures? - There are a lot of thing I would like to know about English-speaking cultures, such as peoples, their cultural values and heritage. Those understandings enrich my knowledge and experience, which make me more knowledgeable, active and help me avoid embarrassing situations in real life. 10

CODE 04 Part 1: 1) Where do you usually go when you have spare time? - I’m always busy with my work. However, when I have free time, I often go a coffee shop to relax with my friends. Spending time with friends in a cosy atmosphere is my preferable enjoyment. There we can listen to music, chat with them about our daily life and enjoy our favourite coffee with some snacks. 2) Are there many interesting places where you live for people to go at weekends? - Yes, there are some nice places in my hometown to go, such as Coc lake, Museum of Ethnic Minorities, ATK- capital of the resistance against French colonialists... Coc lake is an amazing place with artificial caves and a large natural lake for adults and children to explore. Besides, Museum of Ethnic Minorities can give visitors valuable understandings about lives of different ethnic groups in Vietnam. Historic lessons can be gained from a visit to the resistance capital ATK. 3) In what way is café a great place for people to enjoy their free time? - A cafe is an ideal place for people to relax and meet friends. It is the place where you can sit and chat with your friends about everything in life when listening to favourite music. The cosy atmosphere at the cafe can take you away from your worries. You can enjoy a cup of coffee while you are surfing on the Internet. You are also able to negotiate with your partners at a cafe. 4) What subject did you like most when you were at school? - When I was at school, I liked Maths most, but I was not every good at it. Maths is the father of most sciences. Math helps people think logically. When you learn Math well, it is easier for you to learn subjects like Chemistry, Physics and others. Maths is also necessary when you study at university. 5) Do you think English is a good subject for all students to learn at school? Why?

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6) English is an international language in our modern world. Nowadays English is not only good, but also very necessary for students at school. It enriches their knowledge of the world, gives them opportunities to communicate with people of different cultures. If students can use English well, they are able to learn new things, and work with foreign companies to get high salary. They can even have chances to go abroad to work or study. In short, English provides them with a lot of opportunities to have a better future. 7) Do you think students are learning too many subjects at school now? - Frankly speaking, Vietnamese students are learning too many subjects at school now. They have too many lessons on too many subjects at school. They spend most of their time going to school or extra classes. As a result, they don’t have enough time to relax and do physical exercising. Although each subject is important in its own way, students don’t have to study all such subjects. They should have time to take part in physical activities to keep fit and stay healthy. Part 2: Situation You are going to take your secondary students to a private cinema. Three options of movies are suggested: - cartoon - action movie - detective movie I think a detective movie will be the best choice. Secondary students are curious, they want to explore and investigate everything. They try to guess and share ideas or comments on what they have seen. As a result, they will be attracted to the detective movie. Moreover, it is also a good way for them to learn how to think logically. A cartoon is no longer suitable for secondary students. On the other hand, an action movie has too many violent scenes which may affect their behaviors. Part 3: Topic: Punishment by teachers at school is good for students - Obey teachers - Minimise misbehaviours 12

- Concentrate better on study - Your own ideas Some people say punishment by teachers at school is necessary, others think that it may cause emotional and mental suffering in children’s heart. In my opinion, punishment makes students obey teachers and minimize misbehaviours, as well as concentrate more on their study. Teachers deal with 30 or more students in each class, so students surely misbehave sometimes. It is the teacher’s job to make them obey the discipline. If the teachers do nothing, then the children see no consequences for bad behaviours. As a result, the classroom will be in disorder and confusion. However, punishment should always be fair and appropriate so as students can see their faults and adjust themselves. There are many ways to punish a child: writing an essay, doing more exercises, cleaning the classroom. The purpose is to educate students with acceptable behaviours. Follow up questions: 1) Do you think punishment by teachers to students at school should be encouraged? - No, in any case, being punished is a negative experience for a child. It’s the reason why punishment should be fair and in a suitable way. It is better if teachers inform parents about their children’s misbehaviours and co-operate with the parents to educate their children. 2) Do all students obey their teachers whenever they receive punishment? - No, it depends on each student’s character. There are many students who obey teachers, because they are afraid of teachers and punishment. However, there are some students who are stubborn and difficult to control. Teachers should know their students well enough to apply different ways to educate them. 3) What are the downsides of overuse of punishment at school? - Overuse of punishment can lead to negative feelings and emotions in children. It may make them more stubborn and restive. On the other hand, they can be afraid of going to school or keep doing bad things. CODE 05 Part 1 13

1) Where do you come from? - I come from ....and I lived here all my life. It’s a peaceful town in the North of Vietnam which is ..... kilometres from Hanoi. It has lots of green fields and mountains and hills. 2) Do you like living in... (candidate’s hometown)? - Yes, I do. I love my hometown very much, because it is the place where I was born and grew up. This place nurtures me to become a good citizen. There are a lot of wonderful things about my hometown, but one of the best things is that the people here are honest, hard-working and friendly. 3) What is it famous for? - My hometown is famous for tea. People often buy tea as presents when they visit Thai Nguyen. They say the flavour of Thai Nguyen tea is unforgettable. 4) What is your job? - I’m a worker/ an officer/ a teacher of maths/ English/ literature.... I really have to study very hard to become a good worker/ officer/ teacher. I love my job and I’m proud of it very much. 5) How long have you been working as ......... (candidate’s job)? - I’ve been working as a worker/ an officer/ a teacher for .... years since I graduated from college. I will never change my job because it is a rewarding job which is highly respected by society. 6) Why do you like your job? - I love my job because it is a rewarding job which is highly respected by society. I work with children of different characters, which makes me happy and excited each day. Moreover, I have a good salary. Part 2: Situation Your school, college or workplace is organizing an Open Day. When visitors come to see and find out about the place, people will be asked to help with various aspects of the event. There are three options for you to choose: - A tour guide - A traffic instructor - A master of ceremony

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I think being a tour guide will be the most suitable for me. I can speak English so I want to make use this chance to practice English. Furthermore, as a citizen of the town, I know its history very well, so I can tell visitors about the events which happened in the past. I can take them to the scenic spots of the town. Being a traffic instructor is good; however, I am not healthy enough to stand out all the time showing ways for people. Being a master of ceremony is great, but I am not confident enough to speak in front of the audience. Part 3: Topic: Smoking should be banned in public places -

Smoker’s health

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Second-hand smoker’s health

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Financial burden

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Your own ideas

a) Smoker’s health: Cigarette smoking causes a number of health problems for smokers. It is a major cause of respiratory diseases such as asthma, lung cancer and bronchitis. It also leads to heart disease. b) Second-hand smoker’s health: Smoking also affects the health of nonsmokers and unborn babies. Non-smokers soften suffer from eye and nose irritations, allergies and headaches as a result of inhaling second-hand smoke. There is also evidence to suggest that passive smoking may cause lung cancer. Smoking during pregnancy can hinder to growth of the foetus and may even result in death.  c) Financial burden: Smoking is also a financial burden for smokers and non-smokers. Firstly, cigarettes are addictive because of nicotine they contain, so smokers have to pay a lot of money to buy them; Secondly, the cost of medical treatment for the diseases caused by smoking is very high. As a consequence, non-smoking taxpayers have to pay for the health costs of smokers, which is unfair. d) Your own ideas: Everyone knows that smoking is harmful to our health. However, we live in a democratic country where everyone has the right to do whatever he likes within the laws, so we cannot ban smoking completely. We are able to raise awareness about health problems when smoking, and prohibit smokers from smoking in public places. We should have warnings 15

and raise the price of all smoking products. This will help to decrease smoking. Follow up questions 1) Do you smoke? - No, I don’t. I used to smoke when I was younger, but I gave it up some years ago. Smoking is very bad for health so people should not smoke. 2) Why do many people want to smoke? - Many people smoke because they want to reduce stress and focus on their work, especially people who have to work at night or under pressure. Moreover, there is cocaine in cigarettes, so smoking can be addicted easily. 3) What should you do to prevent smoking in public places - Firstly, people should be given information and educated about bad consequences of smoking. Secondly, we should have rules to ban smoking in public places, then we hang signs “No Smoking” there. Smokers should pay a penalty if they break the rules. CODE 6 Part 1 1) What do you like doing in your free time? - I usually spend my time on reading books or listening to music. 2) Why do you like doing it? - I like reading books and listening to music because I want to relax after working or just like a routine. 3) How much time do you spend doing that? - I often read books and listen to music whenever I am free: on my way to my office, cooking or going to bed. Sometimes, when I am unhappy I also read a book to make me feel better. My favourite book is ‘the last leaf’, written by O’ Henry. 4) Do you like English? - Yes, I do. I like English because it is an international language, it is spoken all over the world and I really need it for my work in the future. Moreover, I can use English to communicate with foreigners from different countries. 5) When did you start learning English? 16

- I started learning English when I was 10. In other word, I have learned English for over 16 years. 6) How do you improve your English? - Well, I often use many methods to improve my English skills. The most effective way is watching films. There are a lot of movies which are suitable for me to learn English. I usually watch American films with English subtitle to enrich my vocabulary, my listening skill and my pronunciation. Besides, I also read English magazines online or English short stories. I always choose kind of books, according to my hobby because I cannot read books which I do not like. Part II: Situation Your family is making a plan for this weekend. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Going to the cinema - Having meal in a restaurant - Going to the beach Which plan do you think is the best choice for your family? - This weekend I do not have free time, so I plan to have a dinner out with my family. My children love hotpot, so I intend to have a chicken hotpot in a restaurant near the city centre. It is a famous restaurant and we have to make a call to book a table before coming. Last week, we went to the cinema to watch ‘Kungfu Panda 3’ so I am not going the movie this weekend. I can watch films on the Internet or TV at home with my family. We are planning to go to the beach this summer when my children have a long holiday after a school year. Part III Topic: Describe a teacher who has influence you - His/ her appearance - His/ her personality - His/ her influences - Your own ideas The teacher who influences me most is my former teacher in grade 10. Her name was Hong, she was 32, and she looked quite younger than her age. She taught us Literature. My classmate and I loved her so much because she 17

taught very well, and she was very kind. We often shared our ideas and problems with her. She rarely told our secrets to our parents but tried to talk to us and suggested ways to solve. Follow up questions: 1) When did she/ he teach you? - My teacher taught me when I was in grade 10 at high school. She taught me for three years until I graduated. 2) Do you still in touch with him/ her? Yes, I do. I sometimes phone and talk to her, I want to know about her health and we recall all our memories. She is retired now. 3) How often do you see him/ her? Sometimes, you know, I am very busy now with my family and my job, and now I live far from my hometown, I really want to see her very often but I can only do this when I have a lot of time. CODE 07 Part I: 1) When is the best time to come to your hometown? Why? - The best time to come to my hometown is in the summer. You can go all over my country and my hometown ti visit the beautiful views, specially a lot of wonderful beaches. 2) What do you like best about your hometown? - I like best about my hometown is the people, they are very honest, hardworking and friendly, and they can help you whenever you need a hand. Besides I also like many interesting places and the traditional food… 3) Do you think your hometown is the best place to grow up? Why/ Why not? - Yes, I do. I think my hometown is the best place to grow up because I used to live there and I love it. Moreover, the air here is fresh and the people-my neighbors are very helpful and friendly, the food is very delicious. It is a good environment to grow up. 4) What does your best friend look like?

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- My best friend is tall; she is beautiful, kind-hearted and has long black hair. Her name is Mai, she is thirty years old, she works as a doctor in the hospital where is not far from my house. 5) How did you meet your best friend? - I met her ten years ago. It was the first day of the beginning of term at university. We started talking and became friends when we sat next to each other to wait for the formality proceeding. 6) In your opinion, what is the best quality of a good friend? - The best quality of a good friend is loyalty and honesty. You can’t share anything with a person who can give up on you easily, and of course, you can’t trust anyone if you realize he or she is dishonest. This kind of friend will give you the feeling of being unsafe. Part II: Situation Your friend is going to have his first date this weekend. He would like you to give advice on where to go. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Restaurant - Cinema - Shopping malls Which do you think is the best place for the first date? - I think he should take his girlfriend to a restaurant to have a meal. They can talk and share the time while having meal. There is a variety of places for him to choose. He should ask the girl about the dish she like and pick her up. When they are having dinner, they could talk to know each other such as hobby, his or her family, work or something like that. That is a amazing evening to move the next step in their relationship. If they want to have a next date, going to the cinema or going to shopping malls will be better instead of the first date. Part III: Topic: Airplane is the best transport means to travel long distance - Time-saving - Save - Comfortable - Your own ideas

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I think that airplane is the best means of transport to travel long distance for some reasons. Firstly, it is the quickest way to travel. It takes you only 30 minutes to travel from Vinh city to Hanoi capital. The second reason is that traveling by airplane is safe and comfortable. You will not be stuck into the traffic jam like traveling by cars, you just need to sit and enjoy your journey. Follow up questions: 1) Do you think airplane is the most important transport means of all time? Why/ why not? I think it is one of the most important means of transport of all time because it can save us a lot of time and energy. If we want to travel thousands of miles, it may take you days or even weeks if you use trains or cars and after such a long journey people are often exhausted and tiring. But it takes you just several how if you choose travelling by plane. 2) Are there any disadvantages of traveling by airplane? - You must follow the time table and the ticket is expensive. Besides, there can be some accident, and of course, accidents for planes are very serious. Moreover, some people can suffer from jet-lag because of the change of time. 3) What are some ways that airlines could improve the flying experience for passenger? - They should give passengers the best services to enjoy their trip. For example, the flight attendants can give passengers instructions to help them avoid all drawbacks as possible. CODE 08 Part 1 1) What do you often do in your free time? - It depends, when I have free time and I am feeling tired, I just want to stay at home, listen to some of my favorite songs take a deep sleep. When I am feeling good, I often go out for a meal or do some shopping with my friends. 2) Have your leisure time activities changed since you were a child? - Yes, they have. When I was a child I often played rope-skipping and played marbles, I think these games are still popular. Now I often play

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football, watch T.V, listen to music and sometimes play games on my computer or on the Internet. 3) Do you prefer to spend you leisure time alone or with other people? Why? - I prefer to spend my leisure time alone listening to music. I don’t want to join activities with other people or requiring physical. But sometimes I go out to join some activities with other people such as: playing fooball, watching T.V, shopping... 4) What kind of books do you like to read? - I often read reference books, especially books about English grammar and other cultures beacuse they help me have a wide knowledge and know a lot of news and information about the outside world. Reading newspapers also makes me relaxed and comfortable. Besides, buying books is not very expensive. 5) Do you read the same kind of books now that you read 5 years ago? - No, I don’t because 5 years ago I had much more free time than I have now so I often read romantic novels because reading these kind of books takes a lot of time. Now when I have time I read science books or newspapers... They help me enrich my knowledge and it is good for my job. 6) When do you think is the best time to read? Why? - I think the best time to read is before going to bed because reading books makes us relaxed, comfortable and forget a hard-working day then easy to fall asleep. Part II: Situation: Your parents’ wedding anniversary is coming. You and your sister are thinking of giving them a great present. There are THREE options for you to choose: - A wedding cake - A 5-day tour to the beach - An album of the whole family Which do you think is the best present for their wedding anniversary? I will give my parents a three-day tour on the beach. My reason is very simple. My parents have always loved the beach, and they love going there for a holiday but they haven’t made it because they are so busy with their 21

kids. I am sure that my gift will make them extremely happy and they will hav the moments of their life. Another reason is that a wedding cake can’t be kept for memory. And the album of family is not necessary because we have already had 2 of it. Part III: Topic: Traditional festivals present important values - Honor community strength - Improve spiritual life - Teach history and culture - Your own ideas Traditional festivals have many advantages. They show their strength in the relationship between people in the community. Also, traditional festivals are good chances for children to learn and the adults to teach their kids about histoty and culture, and these festivals help to improve people’s spiritual life. Follow up questions 1) What local festival in your area or country would be the most intersting for a foreign guest, do you think? - Flower festival in Da Lat is the most interesting one. Foreigners can enjoy hundreds of kings of beautiful dlowers with different lovely colours. Meanwhile, tourists can visit some of famous and romantic places in this wonderful city, such as Love valley and Complaining Lake. 2) Do people nowaday appreciate public holidays like they did in the past? - No, they don’t. People are busy with their work, so they rarely have time to appreciate public holidays like in the past. Publi holiday is just the time they are off work, they only consider it the chance to get toghether drinking and eating, they don’t care much about celebrating the events. 3) What are some ways that the government should do to preserve traditional festivals? - The government should preserve traditional festivals by giving information about them widely on TV, on the Internet, etc, so all citizens will know about these festivals. Besides, the government should have rules about making use of traditional festivals to earn money because this can damage the value of culture.

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CODE 09 Part 1 1) Do you like social networks? - Yes, I do because they can bring us many benefits in communication, education and business. Thanks to the connection of social networks we can do these things faster and more effectively. 2) What kind of social networks are you using now? If yes, which social network are you using? Why? - The social networks which i am using now are Facebook, Email, Chat voice…. Because they can bring me many benefits : Social networks are good for people. They connect people and they help people to share information and feelings. Social networks also help people to keep themselves updated. 3) What is your advice for social network users? - My advice for social network users is using a suitable way of social network if not it will make us get addicted. 4) How important is fashion to you? - I think the fashion is very important not only me but also everyone because it makes us more beautiful, luxurious and elegant. 5) What sort of clothes do you prefer to wear? - I often like wearing dress sometimes I put on jean and T-shirt because it makes me feel comfortable and confident. 6) Do you ever have to wear things you don’t really like? If so, when, and why? - Yes, I do. When I was a teacher at … high school. Other teachers and I had to wear long dress “ao dai” during winter. Because the winter is very cold and “ ao dai” is very thin so that we must wear coat to cover. I looked like very ugly and untidy that made loosing the beauty of “ao dai”. Part II: Situation: You were a lottery winner. You won one billion VND. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Put all in a bank to receive monthly interest - Bought some valuable things such as a car, a house or a piece of land - Gave some to a charity organization. Then, went travelling with your family or friends with the rest. 23

Which will you choose? - If I won the lottery of 1 billion VND, I would deposit all the money in the bank to get the interest rate in banks in Vietnam increases day by day. I can stay at home or do leisured work, and take some money more from bank’s interest. I can earn some money without doing anything from early morning to late night! It’s so interesting! Part III: Topic: How important are your friends to you? - Share life - Help - Get together (have fun) - Your own ideas There’s an old saying “Tell me about your friend and I will tell you who you are”. And of course, nobody can live without family and friends. Friends are these ones who you share everything in life, and the ones who help you when you have troubles. Whenever you have ones you can confide in your friend and when you do that you can reduce your stress and it can help you out of your problems with suitable solutions. And you can have a lot of fun with your friends when you take part in outdoor activities or go to some interesting places to stay and explore. Sometimes you can organize a party to create a chance to connect everyone together and have fun. Follow up questions: 1) Do you think you make friends easily? Why? / Why not? - Well, I feel easy to make a new friend because I am a exalted person. But in my point of view, to have a close friendship that is not easy. 2) What is the most important quality to you in a friend ? - Personally, I think loyalty is the most important quality in a true friendship. 3) Do you sometimes get on with your friends better than with your family? Why?/ Why not? - Yes, of course. When I get into trouble or when I am upset, I often talk to my best friends because they could give me their useful advice which my parents sometimes cannot understand and tell me what exactly I should do.

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CODE 10 Part 1 1) Which indoor games do you play regularly? - I often play chess with my son sometimes play game on internet. 2) Which indoor games are common in your hometown? - Badminton is the most popular indoor sport in my hometown. It is the simple sport because of playing easily. It makes people healthy and funny. Most of the people love it very much. 3) Do you take part in any outdoor sports regularly? (Which?) - Yes, I do. The outdoor sports which I regularly play is soccer. 4) How often do you do any exercise? - I do exercise everyday in the early morning because it makes me feel stronger to start a new day. 5) Do you prefer to exercise alone or in a class? Why? - I prefer to exercise in a class because when many people doing exercise makes me excited and doing better. 6) What do you think is the best type of exercise? Why? - I think the best type of exercise is yoga because both the old and the young can do. Yoga is very light and easy to do. After doing yoga, people feel better and free in mind. Part II: Situation: You are invited to a new working place. You have decided to go. There are THREE reasons that make you go: - You go because you are paid much higher than the old working place - You go because you are respected (needed) in a positive work environment with high salary - You go because it is simply that you will be paid higher and can do whatever you want in a competitive work environment. Which will you choose? - I am an educated person and I am an expert in my field so I am going to get a new job in a new working place where I will be paid higher and I can do whatever I want in a competitive work environment. People just improve their skills when put them in a active work environment. So I can create in

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work or give ideas to develop my ability. In addition, I will devote all my knowledge to my working place. Part III: Topic: Crimes are increasing in modern society? - Unemployment - DVD - TV programmes - Your own ideas In the modern society, there are more and more crimes. Unemployment, DVD, TV programme and the lack of education are the causes of crime. We can see crimes everyday on TV, on newspaper and they are increasing seriously. Moreover, the crime is younger than before. They are not aware of their behavior and have no responsibility for what they do. So the government should have better rules to reduce crimes. Follow up questions: 1) What do you think are the causes of crime? - People who are not well educated and are not taken care of often do crime. 2) Do DVDs and TV programmes about violent crime help to cause more crime? Why?/ Why not? - They are sometimes the cause of more crime because people imitate things they watch from movies. 3) Is prison really the answer to crime? Why? - Partly, prison is the answer to crime. Because the government bans the strict laws to reduce crime. But we need to improve people’s awareness and have policy to decrease the rate of unemployment. Speaking test 11 Let’s talk about rooms in your house Which room in your house do you like best? B1: I like the bedroom most because that is where I can relax after long working day B1: There are 5 rooms in my house including 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. My favourite room is a living room because this is a place where I can meet my friends and all my family members to chat and talk about all things in life. 26

B2C1: Well, I live in a small house which is about 2 kilometres from the city centre. There are 5 rooms in my house including 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. My favourite room is a kitchen because this is a place where I can meet all my family members to chat and talk, and about all things in life during the meal. It’s also a good time for all the members of my family to share the feelings and improve the better understanding among us. Examiner speaking: What do you like doing there? B1: Just lie on my bed watching TV or read books to take a rest B2C1: I like chatting with my family members in my kitchen. I think it’s a good chance for all members of my family to be together and preseve the cozy and close atmosphere of the family. To be honest, I release that I have a highlymotivated feeling with all my heart for my family. Examiner speaking: Do you like having guests in your room? Why? Why not? B1: In fact I am not really like having guests in my personal room as I cannot do what I usually do. B2C1: In my opinion, my own room is a personal space that I want to keep for myself so that I rarely invite guests to my room except some special situations like sickness, injuries… Now, let’s talk about sports Examiner speaking: Do you play any sports? You know, playing sports is very important to our life because it helps us to have good health and reduce stress after work. Moreover, sports make us become more active and dynamic in our job and our life. Last but not least, playing sports is considered as the best way to improve the good relationship with other people. Recognizing the importances of sports, I often play badminton at my school after I finish my work in the afternoon. Examiner speaking: What sports do you enjoy watching? There are many kinds of sports that are often shown on TV everyday, but my favourite is watching football because it is the most popular sport all over the world and it is considered a King sport that is favoured by most people. This kind of sport praises the strength of community and honors the solidarity among the members of the team. Finally, it is easy to play and suitable for both male and female. Examiner speaking: What sports do you enjoy playing? PART 2 Situation: Some of your friends are visiting you this weekend. You would like to do something fun with them. What will you do? There are THREE options for you to choose: - Cook a meal together in your apartment. - Go to a local restaurant together. Take your friends out for sightseeing.

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C1: I am a quite good cook so whenever my friends visit me, they always want to enjoy the food I prepare. Therefore I think we will cook a meal together in my apartment. Going to a local restaurant is also a good choice, but my friends usually prefer to stay at home so that we have more time together while still save money. I also like taking my friends out for sightseeing but the weather at this time of the year is not really beautiful, therefore I think I will choose the first option. C2: In my opinion, there are some factors that affect job satisfaction including qualifications, attitude to work and relationship with colleagues. The first thing I want to talk about is qualification, which is one of the key for anyone’s job satisfaction. When we are well-qualified, we feel so confident to perform our work effectively and we can meet all the requirements of the job. The next point is attitude to work, which plays a huge role in how you perceive your job and your life in general. If you are depressed, angry or frustrated, you're much less likely to be satisfied with anything. Making a change to a positive attitude is a complex process that requires a lot of work and a strong commitment. However, over time, you can turn your internal dialogues around and start to see most events in your life as positive and worthwhile. The last factor to bring the job satisfaction is relationship with colleagues. If I have a good relationship with my colleagues, they are willing to share and support me in the best way for my job. Our job satisfction may be broken when we have to work with unhelpful or inactive and uncooperative colleagues. I think the success or failure depends much on the combination and the great effort of the team. Thus, good interaction with colleagues is one of the most important parts that help us feel satisfied with our job. PART 3 Topic: Things that affect people’s job satisfaction? Qualifications

Attitude to work

Job satisfaction

Your own ideas

Relationship with colleagues 28

Do you think companies should promote workers who are experienced? Do you think that workers should change companies often? Why? Why not? What is better motivated for workers? Salary or working condition? There are a lot of factors that affect people’s job satisfaction. The first factor is the qualifications workers own. If they have to do something that they are not trained, it is difficult for them to do the job well. Secondly is the attitude to work. If people can do the job they like, they will become dedicated to it and always feel willing and happy. Another factor that affects people’s job satisfaction is the relationship with colleagues. Once they have good working environment with helpful and friendly colleagues, people love their jobs more. Last but not least, the working condition is also important in raising people’s job satisfaction as I think every employee likes to work in modern office building with enough equipment to support their job. Do you think companies should promote workers who are experienced? C1:Yes I think it’s a good idea to promote workers who are experienced because they better understand their jobs and know how to deal with various situations. C2:I think one of the most essential requirements for workers who want to perform their jobs effectively and succesffuly is “working experience”. The more experienced workers are, the more accomplisments companies can make because the wokers who have a lot of experience have a good sense of responsibility for their work and they seem to have a good awareness of performing effective work and save much money for the company. Thus, promoting workers who are experienced is considered as a good recognition for their effort and provides them motivation for their good performance in work and this thing should be added to one of the strategies for any companies’ development. Do you think that workers should change companies often? Why? Why not? No I think workers should work in the same companies to contribute more efficiently. Changing jobs so often usually makes people distracted and so not enough time to adapt. What is better motivated for workers? Salary or working condition? I think both salary and working condition are important and equally motivating. However, if I have to choose which is better motivated, working condition is my preference because when I have a good working condition, I can dedicate all my talents and ability for my job that brings me a lot of chances to earn much money and get higher promotion. 29

Speaking test 12

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Let’s talk about your reading habits Examiner speaking: Do you enjoy reading? Why? Why not? Examiner speaking: What types of books/magazines do you enjoy reading? Examiner speaking: Where do you prefer reading? Oh yes, I really love reading because it helps me not only widen my knowledge but also relax after a hard-working day. I read many sorts of books. I am really interested in economical books because it’s really useful for my presentation in my classroom. Moreover, when I want to relax I find a lot of novels especially romantic ones, bit of love with a happy ending. Normally, everyone wants to go to library to enjoy reading because you know there are a lot of books there, but I nearly always read at home, especially before I go to bed in order to concentrate on reading. Now, let’s talk about your free time Examiner speaking: What do you like doing in your free time? I do a lot of sport actually. I play volleyball mostly at the weekend with my local team. You know I work quite hard at the moment, so I don’t get a lot of free time except the weekend. Examiner speaking: Who do you enjoy spending your free time with? Certainly with my friends. You know I really hate to be alone so it’s good to hang out and meet friends or play sport. Examiner speaking: Where would you prefer spending your free time? Indoor or outdoor? It depends on my mood really. After hard working, I just want to get home and read a book or something to relax but sometimes I like to go out and meet friends in the evening or play volleyball in a team at the weekend. Situation: You are about to study at university. Which of these is most important? There are THREE options for you to choose: Cost of the course Reputation of the university Distance from home C1:I will choose a university because of its reputation. A university which is well-known must have good teaching and learning. So I can enjoy good study environment. If the cost of the course is high, I will try to afford by doing some part-time job. Distance from home is not very importance because nowadays the traffic is much better, making travelling around easier and more convenient. C2; In my opinion cost of the course and distance from home are not as important as reputation of the university because if I have a chance to study at a well-known university, I will have a lot of opportunities to get a good job with 30

high salary after graduation and I can afford to pay for tuition fee I get loan during the university’s time. Moreover, I am an active and independent student, so the distance from home is not important at all because it will challenge me and train me to become more confident and more dynamic to deal with all the problems in my life.

Phần thuyết trình C1:City lives have many disadvantages. Firstly it is not easy for a person to find jobs although many companies have offices in the city, they are also more populated than in the countryside and the number of jobs created are, therefore, not enough to for everyone. Secondly, accommodation is another problem due to the population density. Hence, people usually have to live far from their office. The traffic jam also causes big problems to citizens. It often takes long time to travel short distance. Another problem is crime. In the cities, there are much more criminals than in the country side. Therefore, citylife, in fact, is not 31

really safe. To sum up the problems for people living in cities include traffic jam, crimes, lack of accommodation and jobs. C2: There are many difficulties for people living in cities. First, finding accommodation is hard because there are many people in the city and the supply of housing is limited. Second, finding a good job in cities is not easy, so you have to compete with many other people. Last, travelling around in cities is a big problem. There are many cars, motorbikes, buses and people in the city streets, making traffic very bad. In conclusion, you have to think carefully before you decide to where you live. Phần trả lời 3 câu hỏi 1. Is it a good idea for universities to be located in big cities C1: It’s not a good idea for universities to be located in city centres. Travelling around in cities is a big problem. There are many cars, motorbikes, buses and people in the city streets, making traffic very bad. So it’s not convenient for students. C2: In my opinion, it is a good idea for universities to be located in big cities because of the following reasons. The first reason is that it is convenient for students to travel by public transport which is available in a big city. The second reason is that the modern facilities in a big city can meet all the requirements for students to enjoy a good study environment and living condition. Why do young people want to live in a big city? B1: Many young people like to live in the city because they have more chance to find a good job and to have better living condition B2C1: Most young people want to live in a big city because they have a lot of chances to get a good job with high salary and higher promotion. The city brings them a good working condition to express their ability and their personality. Moreover, living in a city is very exciting to provide the young people with good service related to education, health care, entertainment that can satisfy their demand. Last but not least, the public transportation in a big city is always available and makes their travel more convenient and easier. Do you think the quality of life in big cities will be better in the future? B1: Life in the city will be better in the future if we can solve the problems of pollution, traffic, and social evils. B2C1: The rapid development of economy with the help of modern technology brings the people in big cities a lot of benefits related to good working condition, higher standard of living, better service of education, heathcare and entertainment. Thus, I know for sure that the quality of life in big cities will be better in the future. However, as well as advantages of living in a big city, the people’s life is dealing with some problems such as pollution, traffic jam, obesity and violent crime…. I hope that all these social problems will be considered by the government to make the city become ideal places to work and to live. Speaking 13: 32

Let’s talk about ways of relaxing Examiner speaking: What do you do to relax? I usually stay at home to read some fantasy cartoon books or something or only sleep to relax after a hard – working day. Examiner speaking: Where do you want to go to relax? I and my friends always go to the cinema to enjoy new films at the weekends and after that we go to the cafeteria and discuss about this films. You know, it’s really good way to relax. Examiner speaking: Do you like relaxing on your own or with other people? - It depends on my mood really. After hard working, I just want to get home and read a book or something to relax but sometimes I like to go out and meet friends in the evening or play volleyball in a team at the weekend. Now, let’s talk about rooms at home Examiner speaking: Which is the most important room in your house? - It’s definitely my living room. Examiner speaking: What make it important? - Because of some reasons following. Firstly, it’s the room which is decorated most beautifully in my house. Secondly, it’s is the place where my family sit together to watch a TV after a long day. Thirdly, when my friends come to see me, I can introduce to them a lot of family pictures with a lot of family events in the living room Examiner speaking: What do you do in the room - In my living room, I always watch TV with my family at the weekend evening. Moreover, it’s the place where I and my sister help each other to play the piano. Situation: Your university offers free courses for graduate students. Which would you choose? There are THREE options for you to choose: - A time-management course. - A public speaking course. - A team work course. If I have a chance to join a free course that my university offers, a public speaking course and team work course are not my choice because when I study at university, presenting a project in front of my classmates and working in groups or teams are considered usual and regular tasks I have to perform, so they are very interesting and good but it is not as necessary as a timemanagement. I want to join this course because, to me, time is the most important and valuable property that people often waste for useless activities. How to manage and use the time effectively and efficiently during 24 hours is very necessary and if I can manage the time suitably, I can do any things successfully and perfectly.

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C1: There are a lot of things causing stress in life. Among those, the biggest burdens for many people are job security, financial problem and family life. For most people especially the young, finding a permanent job is not easy. Sometimes they like the job but the salary is not enough for their daily expense, sometimes though the payment is good, they still decide to give up because it is too stressful or too dangerous. Finance is also another big problem especially for married people as they need to earn enough to support their family. Besides, family life sometimes causes stress when the members of the family can’t share the feelings and emotions with each other and they don’t spend enough time to be together to do the same things. Last but not least, people today are dealing with other stress in big cities like; pollution, traffic jam, limited accomodation….. C2: There are many stressful things in our modern life. First, money can make us very tired because we have to think of how to earn money to feed our family and how to keep and spend money reasonably. Second, problems in our jobs can be a source of streess. If our company has trouble, or our boss or workmates are not friendly, we’ll feel unhappy. Last, family life can sometime be stressful. We often get tired when we have problems with our partner or when our children do not behave well. In conclusion, we are easy to get stress in modern life, so we need to balance money, job, family life and our own interest. What do you think is the best way to deal with stress? 34

C1: There are many ways to reduce stress for people in modern society but I think the best way to deal with stress is relaxing whenever you have free time. C2: The best way to deal with stress is to think positively. If we have good mind, we feel happy and we can forget about worries and pressure. We can overcome difficulties and live better. Do you think life was easier in the past? C1; Yes, I do. Life in the past seems to be easier. People in the past seem to be happier with their life. They don’t expect too much, so they do not suffer from stress. C2: It depends on the way of thinking of each person. Life in any time past or present contains both advantages and disadvantages. However, in most situations, we should have a postive side in life and always feel to have a motivation in a better future. Do you think people should take regular break during work hours? C1: Of course not, although you have to spend a lot of time on working but I think it should have fixed time to have a break. If not, it affects the process of working. C2: Yes, I do. People should have some kind of regular breaks during working hours so that they have more energy to work better later. SPEAKING 14 Let’s talk about films Examiner speaking: Do you like films? - Oh yes, I really like watching movies especially cartoon movies. Examiner speaking: What type of films do you like? - As I said, I really like cartoon movies because it helps me to relax after working hard Examiner speaking: Who do you enjoy watching films with? - I always watching film with my children because they are interested in cartoon movies like me. Now, let’s talk about mobile phones Examiner speaking: Do you use a mobile phone? Yes, of course. It’s one of the most important equipment to me. Examiner speaking: What are the good points of mobile phones? There are a lot of advantages of mobile phones. Firstly, it’s a good way to communicate with distant people. Secondly, mobile phone is very useful because you can access the internet, check your email or even listen to music or watch movie. Examiner speaking: What are the bad points of mobile phones? You know, nowadays there are a lot of people much depend on mobile phones. So I think it wastes a lot of time phoning and messaging on mobile phones and 35

many people are wasting much money buying fashionable smart phone in order to satisfy their tendency’s demand or their interests. Moreover, the wave of mobile phone, according to statistics, is not good for our health if we use it continously and regularly. Situation: A student wants to do a part-time job where he can practice his English. Which job would be best for him? There are THREE options for you to choose: - A job at a souvenir shop - A job at a travel agency - A job at a take-away shop There are a lot of part time jobs for example student can work in a souvenir shop or a travel agency or a take-away shop… However, if he wants to practice his English, I think a job at travel agency is the best suitable for him. You know, working at travel agency, you can be a temporary guide in English. For example, guiding a group of Australian tourists visiting Hanoi, you can practice English to describe and present about Hanoi’s sightseeing…

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C1; Fastfood is now really popular in the modern world. Though it has some benefits like helping people save time, it has a lot of disadvantages. Firstly, family gathering may become less than before as family members do not need to help each other prepare food. What’s more, people eating too much fastfood risk losing appetite due to the similar flavor of different fastfood. In addition, fastfood makes people forget their regular eating time which may causes some disorder of the digesting organs. Thus, it can be seen that fast food is not good for our health. C2: There are many negative effects of fastfood. First, we may lack of family gathering when we do not spend enough time eating at home but fastfood restaurant. Second, if we eat a lot of fastfood, we may loose our appetite because it has a lot of oil and artificial spices. Last, we may have irregular eating time, so it’s not good for our health. In conclusion, eating too much fastfood can have some bad effects, so we should avoid eating lots of fastfood. Cau 1: C1: Nowadays, People eat fast food because of some reasons. Firstly, it’s very convenient because they can save time make dinner after a hard working day. Secondly, fast food is usually much cheaper than homemade meals and have a meal in restaurants. Moreover, Fastfood is decorated very colorfully and its flavour is very attractive and delicious. C2: People eat fastfood because it’s fast and convenient. It’s suitable for busy people in our busy modern life. Cau 2: However, fastfood menu items are high not only in fat but also in sugar. Most fastfood are cooked in fat like French Fries and Donuts… Moreover, it takes in large amounts of sugar. It leads to undesirable weight gain and many other health issues. Last but not least, fast food is often stored for a long time with a lot of presevation so that it can have a bad effect on people’s health. Cau 3: I think people should be aware of the disadvantages of eating from fast food. We should be careful before considering fast food as a best choice for their menu. Fast food is convenient in modern society but it also contains a lot of negative sides that damage people’s health if we use it regularly. Speaking 15 Part 1: Let’s talk about sports. Examiner speaking:Do you prefer indoor or outdoor sports? Why? I like outdoor sports because it has more exciting atmosphere Examiner speaking: Which sports do you like best? Why? I like football because each match brings a lot of surprises Examiner speaking:Do you know why people like to play sports? 37

It is good for their health and helps them feel relaxed Now, let’s talk about fast food. Examiner speaking: What kind of fast food do you like best? I like chicken best Examiner speaking: Is fast food good for your health? Why?/ Why not? Of course not I think. It is not organic food and may result in obesity Examiner speaking: In your opinion, why is fast food popular? it helps people save time. PART 2 Situation: Your friend is going on a long journey by train on his own. Which do you think is the best way to pass time on a long journey? There are THREE options for you to choose: - Talking to other people - Reading books - Sleeping In my opinion, the best way to pass time on a long journey is to talk to other people. When talking you may forget everything around you and just focus on your chat. I don’t think that reading books is good because on a journey as our eyes may become tired. Moreover, we can get train-sick because of concentrating on reading. Sleeping is also a good way to pass the time but we cannot socialize with others while sleeping. So for me talking to other people is the best choice

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There are many ways to stay healthy. Firstly people can do physical exercises at home or go to the gyms to practice with different equipment. People should also pay attention to their diets. Having good diets help them get enough nutrition for their daily work and therefore feel energetic and never be distracted by hunger. Another contribution to healthy lifestyle is sufficient relaxation which helps people release stress and feel happy all the time. So, having good diets, doing physical exercises frequently and having enough relaxation play important roles in keeping our life healthy. - Do you think people today care about their health more than they did in the past? Yes I think so. I agree that people today pay more attention to their health than in the past because the standard of living is much more improved than in the past. Moreover, recognizing the importance of health in our life is very inportant and people’s life in modern society is facing many serious diseases like cancer, obesity, stress….so that people nowadays usually go to hospital to check their health regularly. - Do you think happy people are healthier than angry people? Yes, sure. Happy people are more relaxed and they usually have an optimistic view about life. When we have a positive thinking about life, we become 39

healthier. In contrast, angry people tend to make their life become worse and they always feel stressful and feel uncomfortable about life. This thing leads to some serious problems to their health. - Could you recommend some kinds of exercises that are good for health? I think all forms of exercise are good for people but I prefer sports like swimming, badminton, tennis. SPEAKING 15 Let’s talk about sports. 1. Do you prefer indoor or outdoor sports? Why? To be honest, I prefer spending all my leisure time playing outdoor sports because outdoor activities will help me become more healthy, bring me be closer with nature and expand my relationships. 2. Which sports do you like best? Why? Football, of course, to me, this is the best team sport and it teaches me to be responsible and try my best for the whole team. 3. Do you know why people like to play sports? Well, I think people are keen on playing sports because it’s fun, it helps them to relax after a long day working and it’s great to enjoy the feeling of a winner. 4. What kind of fast food do you like best? To be honest, I’m not a fan of fast food. But I love hamburger.  It is so tasty with a hunk of ground beef served between two pieces of bun-configured bread and a variety of toppings and condiments. 5. Is fast food good for your health? Not really, fast food contains large amounts of carbohydrates, added sugar, fats and salt. But I eat it anyway because it’s tasty and convenient. 6. In your opinion, why is fast food popular? Well, people now are so busy at work that they can hardly prepare a meal by themselves. That’s why fast food is much preferred. Not only does it taste good but it also helps people to save time and energy for other things. PART II: Situation: Your friend is going on a long journey by train on his own. Which do you think is the best way to pass time on a long journey? There are THREE options for you to choose: - Talking to other people - Reading books - Sleeping Part II: Talking: More positive experience about journey, makes new friends, more social, break out of your comfort zone, enjoy the journey more Sleeping: tired Reading book: tired Getting a long train on your own can be kind of tiring and boring; therefore, you may probably prefer to find something to do to pass the time. Talking to other 40

people, reading books or sleeping are some options that, to some extent, are good to be chosen. As far as I’m concerned, I would rate communicating with others higher than either reading books or sleeping because of a number of its benefits. Firstly, in spite of just isolating yourself from others, talking will help you get more positive experience about your journey. It’s when you can share all about your life, your job or your ideas with a stranger. And in fact, we often feel comfortable to openly tell a person we’ve never met before our stories either the bad or good. By this, we can relieve our stress and become happier. By communicating, we can spice up our tedious moments on the train. Besides, talking is prerequisite for a friendship to flourish. Obvious as it is, no friendship can be built in silence; and all of your friends were once strangers. Breaking out your comfort zone and starting a conversation with a stranger may probably bring you a soul mate that you’ve found for long. In contrast, sleeping and reading book are by far less favorable. Focusing hard on a book when the train is moving can cause and tiredness. The story conveyed will then be less appealing and barely completely understood. On the other hand, after sleeping during the whole long journey, you may feel weary to wake up with a possible pain in your head. The longer you remain apart from others, the less you can enjoy. In a nutshell, I think it is highly recommended that people open themselves to talk with other so that they can greatly relish their long journey on the train and make new friends and turn on their excitement.

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PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins)

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Part III: Keeping health at a good level is of the most significant things that people pursue in lives. Being healthy, however, is not merely physical problem but the combination of physical, mental and emotional y. To remain a fresh life, it is a good idea to do regular exercise, relax and be happy, have balanced diets and keep good health. Your eating habit should be mentioned as the first factor that can influence your health. A balanced diet should include dairy, grains, protein, fruits, vegetables and even good fat. An equate proportion of these kinds of food, will provide you with necessary minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients enabling you to have a healthy heart, healthy brain, and a fully functional immune system, which, altogether helps you prevent potential diseases and cancers. Not only is food crucial but what you drink can also affect your body. Drink a lot of fresh water and reduce soda, wine or beer would be recommended. For maintenance of perfect health, exercise is no less important than diet. These physical activities are essential for maintaining the fitness levels of the body and also for improving the immunity system of the body. Exercises are very similar to the regular cleaning that you do to keep your house clean from dust and other harmful particles. Through exercises the body flushes out some of the harmful toxins and energies from the body and thus our internal system is able to work much better. Through exercises blood is pumped to the heart and other organs and thus the body has better flow of oxygen, which is another advantage for your health. Eventually, regular exercise will improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. This is also a beneficial way for you to stay mentally healthy. Moreover, the best medicine for a mental health that is worth to mention is relaxing and being healthy. Happiness has been correlated with better health, both in individuals and communities. Some studies have even suggested that states of happiness may be associated with lower stress-related hormones and better immune function. There is no doubt that happier people can live longer and healthier lives. Good diets and regular exercise without good mood will also be unavailing. Finally, managing your personal hygiene is important not only to look and smell your best on a daily basis, but also to prevent the onset and spread of infectious diseases. Taking the proper precautions can help you avoid getting sick and passing illnesses on to those around you. For example, washing your hands can prevent the spread of germs from one person to another or from one part of your body to another. Flossing and brushing your teeth can reduce the likelihood of oral and other diseases. In conclusion, good health is the most precious gift that God bless human. In order to enjoy the beautiful life as much as you can, you should try to stay healthy by building good eating habits, regularly exercising, relaxing and being happy and keeping hygienic. 1

1. Do you think people today care about their health more than they did in the past. Yes, I do. Nowadays, human knowledge is much wider than ever before. The more knowledgeable they are, the better they can realize about the importance of health. Besides, in spite of the higher living standards, human’s bad habits lead to more risks of diseases and cancers. This causes more human’s worriness and concern about heath. 2. Do you think happy people are healthier than angry people or stressed people? As far as I’m concerned, happy people definitely have better health condition as compared to angry or stressed ones. Spirit and health have strong correlation with each other. Happy people often smile a lot which is considered as best remedy for diseases or illness. Besides, it is nature of these people to be positive in all situations, even the worst ones. Positive and happy attitudes make great contribution to anti-aging and prolonging life. The past has witnessed that a number of positive cancer patients had more chance to recover than the pessimistic ones. In contrast, anger and stress can be potential reasons for high blood pressure or heart-attack and other illnesses. 3. Could you recommend some kinds of exercises that are good for health. I would recommend swimming as the first priority. This is the perfect workout, helping you to keep fit and increase your height. It can also improve your mental state and put you in a better mood. Besides, walking is a good choice for its simplicity but efficiency.  It can help you stay trim, improve cholesterol levels, strengthen bones, keep blood pressure in check, lift your mood and lower your risk for a number of diseases (diabetes and heart disease for example). A number of studies have shown that walking and other physical activities can improve memory and resist age-related memory loss. SPEAKING TEST 16 Let’s talk about your habits. Examiner speaking: What is your typical day like? I get up at 7 o’clock then go to work at 7:30. I will be ready at my own desk at about 8 o’clock. At 12, I often eat my lunch box prepared from home. After finishing work at 5 pm, I head home. I have dinner with my family at 7 pm. Before going to bed at 10 o’clock, I take a shower, watch TV and read my favorite book. What a boring day, isn’t it? Examiner speaking: Do you have any habits that annoy other people? I think my habit of keeping the TV volume a bit too loud annoys my family. They often shout “turn it down or I’ll break it!” at me. Examiner speaking: What do you usually do when you are upset? Sometimes I listen to upbeat music to cheer myself up, but sometimes I like to listening to sad songs that really suits my mood at that time. Examiner speaking: What’s the weather like today? Today it’s a bit too cold and windy. Elderly people and children can easily get sick these days. Examiner speaking: Do you prefer hot or cold weather? Why? 2

I prefer cold weather to hot weather. Because in hot weather I feel very uncomfortable. I hate sweat. Moreover, in winter, my skin becomes prettier. I love winter fashion too. Examiner speaking: Could you recommend some activities to do in different kinds of weather? In hot weather, you can go swimming, play beach volleyball, or play in waterparks. While in cold weather, you can go to the gymnastics, go jogging and running in the morning. You can even go skating.

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PART II: Situation: A group of people is planning a trip from Thai Nguyen to Ha Giang. Could you suggest the best means of transport? Which do you think is the best choice? There are THREE options for you to choose: - Train - Boat - Coach I choose coach because coach is safe, cheap and comfortable. The distance from Thai Nguyen to Ha Giang is about 250 km and it takes about 4.5 hours or 5 hours to travel. Going by coach is relaxing and the cheapest among the three options. You can even sightsee through the coach window. Moreover, you can reach almost exactly where you want to arrive at by coach because it is easy to travel in roads. Travelling by train is noisy and more costly and boats can give you seasickness which is really awful. More importantly, you have to take taxies or buses from train station or boat port if you want to reach the place. PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Reading should be encouraged among teenagers. - What is the difference between the kinds of books read by your parents’ generation and those read by your generation? - Do you think that governments should support free books for all people? - In what way can parents help children develop their interest in reading? PART III: Reading is an important skill that all parents need to encourage their children to master. A person who can read well is more likely to perform well in school, graduate from college, and get a higher paying job. Obviously, reading expands a child’s vocabulary, introduces them to different writing styles and techniques, requires them to understand complex ideas, and exposes them to new ideas and knowledge that covers a wide variety of topics. - What is the difference between the kinds of books read by your parents’ generation and those read by your generation? Due to different time and circumstances, our parents’ generation and our generation have distinguised kinds of book to read. My parents often read books about Vietnamese histories, about Uncle Ho, feng-shui, about how to do proper offerings to the ancestors, while I like reading romantic, detective novels, newspapers on economy, technology, entertainment, celebrities, etc.. My parents’ generation tends to like Vietnamese traditional things or something in the past while my generation loves books about updated and modern things. - Do you think that governments should support free books for all people? Not really. I think governments should support free books for poor people in difficulties, for those who can just afford their basic needs. For other people, 4

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books should not be free because books are of precious intellectual property, people should pay to read and master the knowledge. - In what way can parents help children develop their interest in reading? Parents can provide a good role model by reading themselves and reading often to their child. They can provide varied reading materials: some for reading enjoyment and some with information about hobbies and interests, for example, about animals, drawing, cooking, etc.. They can encourage activities that require reading, for example, cooking (reading a recipe), constructing a kite (reading directions), etc.. Establish one evening a week for reading (instead of watching TV).

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SPEAKING TEST 17 Let’s talk about your cooking. Examiner speaking: Who does the cooking in your family? Everyday, my mother and I do the cooking in my family Examiner speaking: Do you think cooking is a task that only women should do? Why?/ Why not? In my opinion, cooking is a task that both men and women should do because the men should help the women cook whenever they are busy in their jobs or assist them for the family’s parties or celebrations Examiner speaking: Do you like cooking by yourself? Why?/ Why not? I strongly like cooking because it helps me to improve my own skills of cooking and I am very glad when I try my best to cook for meals for my family. I think all members in my family are also happy to enjoy them. Now, let’s talk about TV programs. Examiner speaking: What’s the worst TV programs you’ve ever seen? - I find TV programs very interesting and useful so I think they are not too bad. Examiner speaking: How much TV do you watch every day? - Because I am very busy in work so I don’t have much time to watch TV. I only wacth TV in the evening with my family. Examiner speaking: What are some advantages of watching TV? Nowadays, television has become the most popular media of human. There are many advantages of watching TV. At first, TV programs provide us with useful information about science, nature, society, entertainment, etc. Secondly, by watching TV, we can see many things happened all over the world. Finally, watching TV helps us relax after strained working hours.

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PART II: Situation: Your brother is going to hold his wedding. He would like you to give advice on who should be invited. Which do you think is the best choice? There are THREE options for you to choose: - All acquaintances - Only close people - Only the ones that invited you to their weddings The answer: In my opinion, only inviting close people is the best choice for my brother’s wedding. As you can see, the wedding is seemed to be the most important event in life, therefore, inviting close people such as relatives, neighbors or close friends to the wedding has become a general rule. The presence of close people will make you happy from their congratulations and they may help you to prepare for your wedding. Two left choices are really unreasonable. Inviting all acquaintances may make your family confused. Your family can not control the number of guests invited to the party and accommodate them considerately. Inviting only the ones that invited you to their wedding makes your wedding no longer significant in the event that you don’t want to invite them for any reason. Moreover, there is a bad case that they come to the party as a duty or responsibility when they only give you an envelope with money and come back home. PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Examiner speaking Topic: Too much TV can harm children. Affect children’s behaviour

How much TV is enough for children? Do you think that governments should limit the programs for children? Why?/ Why not? How can parents control what their children watch on TV? 2

There are some negative sides of watching TV a lot among children. The first point I want to say here is that watching TV can affect children’s behavior. Nowadays, TV programs show a lot of violent scenes that make children tend to imitate their actions and become more aggressive. This is very dangerous because the children’s behavior becomes out of control and they can break the laws. Moreover, watching TV a lot can make the chidren’s eyes tired because they have to look at the screen for a long time in a short distance. This thing can cause some problems to their eyes. Next, the children who spend much time sitting in front of TV become more passive and lazier. They rarely move their body parts and they become a coach potato that is one of the main reasons for over weight problems. Besides some disadvantages of watching TV such as affecting children’s behavior, causing eye-diseases or overweight problems, I think watching TV too much result in poor social development. Children who watched excessive television as less cooperative, less imaginative, less enthusiastic about learning, and less happy than those who watched little or no TV. How much TV is enough for children? In my opinion, children should spend less than one hour watching TV in their free time. Do you think that governments should limit the programs for children? Why?/ Why not? Government should develop the useful programs that help children develop comprehensively and some entertainment programs should be encourage for relaxing them after strained studying hours. Government should limit violent programs that are not good for children because those programs affect their behavior. How can parents control what their children watch on TV? I think there are some ways that help parents control what their children watch on TV. The first way is that parents should choose the suitable channels that are appropriate for children’s age and give them the fixed time to watch everyday. Moreover, parents should find the ways to lock the bad programs that can have a bad effect on chidren’s development. More importantly, parents should create healthy enviroment for chidren to play and study from the outside world by encouraging them to take part in outdoor activities that make children heathier and more active, dynamic rather than watching TV at home. Finally, parents should give some punishment to chidren if they don’t obey parents’ rules.

SPEAKING TEST 18 Let’s talk about money. Money How much did you spend last week? 3

As usual, I spend 300,000vnd per week. But last week, I had to buy a gift for my mother for her birthday. Therefore, the total amount of money I spent last week was 800,000vnd. What do you spend most of your money on? I spend most of my money on books because I like reading. Each month, I use the considerable amount of money to buy some books of my favorite authors. Can money buy happiness? Why?/ Why not? In my personal opinion, money cannot buy happiness. Money can buy things that make us feel good in the short time. Money just helps us cover our needs. For example, when we are hot and we need an ice cream, we can use money to get it, then we feel happy. However, when we don’t feel hot, eating an ice cream will not make us happy anymore. Shopping What is your favorite place to shop? I like to go shopping at a small shop near my department because it takes me few minutes to go on foot and it has reasonable prices. What was the last thing you bought for someone else? Where and why did you buy it? Last Saturday was my mother’s birthday. Because it’s winter, I bought her a wool scarf of a famous brand at the mall. It was blue, which was my mother’s favorite color. Having seen this gift, she was extremely happy. Do you prefer going shopping on your own or going with other people? Why? I tend to go shopping with my friend especially whenever I go to buy clothes. We go window shopping before deciding what we buy. She is really an expert in shopping. She gave me a lot of useful advice. I am very excited to go shopping with her.

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PART II: Situation: Your brother would like you to give him some advice on how to lose weight. Which do you think is the best choice? There are THREE options for you to choose: - Skip meals - Use drugs - Exercise regularly PART II The best way to lose weight is to exercise regularly. Firstly, doing exercises helps reduce belly fat and strengthen the muscles. Moreover, exercises allow more energy released and help us stronger and healthier. Jogging or going to the gym every day is the good method. Nowadays, some people often skip their meals or use drugs as the ways to lose weight. These are acceptable in a short time because they can have negative influences on our health. If people don’t eat any of three meals in a day, they tend to die of eating and therefore they can eat much more in the next meals without control. As a result, they become fatter. Using drugs can be able to affect negatively to center nervous system and social activities such as low thinking and memory, ineffective work, easy mistake making,… In conclusion, it is necessary to exercise every day to maintain a nice and healthy body.

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PART III: Topic: Online shopping is a convenient way for people to buy things.

Have you ever bought something online? Which? Do you think that online shopping will be more popular in the future? Why?/ Why not? Are there any disadvantages of online shopping? PART III Hello Ms/Mr… Today, it’s my pleasure to be here and talk to you about the topic: online shopping – a convenient way to buy things. My talk will be divided into four parts according to four reasons why people like online shopping. People like to buy things through online shops for some reasons. Firstly, online shopping helps people save time. Instead of walking along the street and going to the many shops to choose the satisfying things, we now just stay at home and select products very fast through online shopping. Moreover, there are thousands of products available in the online shops. We just go to the website, type key words, then we can see the images and information of products we need. Another reason that makes online shopping more popular is competitive price. Because of the availability of products in the Internet, shoppers set their prices in the most reasonable way to gain most profit and catch much attention of customers. Based on the price set, customers can easily compare the prices of each product and choose the one they prefer. Finally, online shop’s owners don’t need to charge rent so the price of products in online shops tend to be cheaper than that of products bought in the other shop. That’s all of my talk. Thank you for listening. Answering the questions: Have you ever bought something online? Which? 6

I usually visit online shops to buy clothes, shoes or accessories. I am a worker so I don’t have much time to go window shopping. Do you think that online shopping will be more popular in the future? Why?/ Why not? I believe that online shopping will be more popular in the future because of its all advantages. Online shopping helps people save time selecting thousands of products and purchase the things at the cheap and reasonable prices. Are there any disadvantages of online shopping? When buying something online, customers only look at the images of products, customers cannot try them before buying. So if they decide to buy and this product does not fit, they cannot be repaid money. There are a number of unreal online shops. When customers buy products online and pay on the credit card, they receive products with lower quality than these they see on advertisement. Even worse, they can receive nothing at all. Therefore, when buying online, customers should take care of such situations. SPEAKING TEST 19 Let’s talk about museum. Examiner speaking: Do you like visiting museums? If yes, how often do you visit museums? If no, why not? Examiner speaking: What are usually displayed in the museum where you live? Examiner speaking: How is visiting museum good or not good for young people? Now, let’s talk aboutspecial events of your country. Examiner speaking: What are important events of your country ? Examiner speaking: Can you name one or two things in common that people in your country celebrate all events? Examiner speaking: Do you think it is a good idea to celebrate all such events in the same way?

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PART II: Situation: An optional subject will be added to the curriculum for secondary students in your city. Which do you think is the best option for secondary students? THREE options are suggested: - cooking - swimming - sewing I will choose cooking because: + It helps them to cook for themselves + Children will know how hard their parents are to cook +cooking make them appreciate the food more I don’t choose swimming and sewing because: + It might be dangerous for children to do these PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins)

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Part 3: I think knowing a new language is really good. Firstly, language and culture are closely related. When you know a new language, you know a

new culture also. You understand what people like to do or hate to do. You are living another life. Secondly, you can get a lot of information easily. Therefore you can show your own ideas and become smarter. - If I introduce to foreign learners, I will introduce them our poems because I like it so much - No, British and Vietnamese behave differently SPEAKING TEST 20 Let’s talk about secondary schools around where you live. Are there many secondary schools where you live? Yes there are. Exactly 3,my neighborhood is quite populous, so there are a lot of children. Therefore, there is a need for schools, especially secondary schools. And a new school is now being built, which will be a modern school in both facilities and teaching methods. What do these schools have in common? Well, they are all newly built and equipped with modern facilities, such as new desks and chairs, televisions, air-conditioners, projectors, and so on. In addition, the teachers are quite young but well trained. They are very lovely and enthusiastic.

In what ways do you think schools play an important part in the Vietnamese educational system? Schools do play an important role in Vietnamese educational system. Schools provide talented people. As we all know, in Vietnam education mostly means schooling. We have kindergarten, primary schools, secondary schools, high schools, universities and colleges and even higher levels. Schools are the main source of talented personnel supply. Of course, there are many talented people who do not receive schooling, but the number of these people is too small. When did you start learning English? I started to learn English when I was young, exactly when I was in grade 3. I first had English lessons then. Do you think English is a good subject for students to learn at school? Why/ Why not? I think English is definitely a good subject for students to learn at school, and even the best. English has so many advantages and applications in future job and without English people will have a lot of difficulties in the current context of integration. Do you think that students are learning too many subjects at school now? Yes, I do. There are too many subjects that they have to take. Especially primary school students have to learn so many subjects, a lot of which I think are useless for them. And students need time for relax and playing, but entertainment time is quite out of their reach now. PART II: Situation: You are planning to take your students to participate in outdoor activities. Which do you think is the most suitable one for your students? THREE options of activities are suggested: - visiting the zoo - camping - drawing I am planning to take my students to participate in an outdoor activity and I plan to take them to the zoo. I know my students really like animals. Going to the zoo helps them to widen their knowledge and satisfy their interest. And I think Thu Le Zoo is quite suitable a place for us to go to. It is quite large with a lot of games for children to play. But most importantly, there are a lot of cages of animals which students cannot see at any other places. And my plan for that day is that we will start off in the morning, go around the zoo and sightsee and play games for about three hours, then at noon we leave the zoo for a restaurant for lunch. While having lunch, I will ask students to talk about their feelings after the trip. This is really necessary, giving them an opportunity to express themselves, talking about what they have learned from the trip, and especially enhancing their love for nature and animals. I hope the trip will raise their awareness of protecting nature

Motivate students to and animals and at the samelearn time, provide them with interesting and enjoyable moments. PART III: Topic: Marking by teachers at school is good for students.

Create a competitive learning environment

Teachers’ Marking

Your ownideas

Facilitate students with better teaching methods - Do you think marking by teachers to students at school should be encouraged ?

- Do you think teachers’ marking at school always work ? What are the downsides of overuse of punishment at school? Marking by teachers at school is good for students. In my opinion, this is true in four aspects. First, marking motivates students to learn. Students always want their efforts to be recognized and marking is an effective method to do so. If s student gets a good grade, which means their achievement is recorded, he will tries his best to have good results again and again. Second, marking creates a competitive learning environment. When a student in class gets good grades and is praised before the class, others definitely want the same. And they will make continuous efforts to have good results, too. Third, marking facilitates students with better teaching methods. Traditional teaching methods do not always work and there are needs for better ones. And marking makes it easy for students in learning. Finally, my own opinion is that marking is a mirror of student’s capabilities. Though this is not absolute, to some extent marking reflects a student’s efforts and is a measure to evaluate their abilities. Anyway, marking is effective. Do you think marking by teachers to students at school should be encouraged?

Yes, I do. Marking will help reinforce students’ studying morale. And without marking, a big number of students will not pay attention to studying, no pressure and then no efforts made. Do you think teachers’ marking at school always work? Not always. Sometimes marking causes pressure on students, and so many students as well as parents are stressed and even obsessed to try to get good marks. What are the downsides of overuse of punishment at school? Overuse of punishment has some drawbacks. Punishment makes students lose their interest in studying. Punished students get bored and depressed, so they cannot concentrate to continue to study. Punishment also makes students afraid of studying. They will look at studying with a pessimistic view that studying is stressful and full of punishment and no joy at all. In conclusion, I think punishment should be abolished SPEAKING TEST 21 Let’s talk about health. Examiner speaking: What do people where you live do to keep fit? They often play sport to keep fit. Examiner speaking: Do you think that they are practising in the right way? Yes, I do. Examiner speaking: In what ways is doing gyms good or not good for old people? Doing gym everyday enables older men and women to not only live longer, but also to extend their active involvement in all levels of society. Lots of older people use gyms and feel better for it. Doing gym is an effective intervention for improving physical functioning in older people, including improving strength and the performance of some simple and complex activities. It had a small but significant effect on improving physical ability and on reducing some pain on old people. In fact, gym is good but the elder should choose suitable type of exercise to their physical ability. Now, let’s talk about healthcare service where you live. Examiner speaking: What do people in your area usually do when they have health problems? People often talk to friends, family, and coworkers to find out the best doctor who can treat them, after that they go to see him/her for checking their health problems as well as asking for recommendations. Some others can check with their insurance plan for a list of doctors in the area. Then they go to a local hospital, medical center, or nearby medical school. Examiner speaking: Do you think that it is good to open private clinics ?

In addition to public health care providers such as primary care doctors and hospitals, many private clinics offering specialized services also operate. I think that it is good to open private clinics because they typically offer services with reduced wait times compared to the public health care system. Moreover, in private hospitals your treatment is usually in a private room which has hotel type services such as TV, menu choices etc., at a time to suit you. Examiner speaking: What are the downsides of having too many private clinics? It makes more and more people confused about the private health care choices available to them. People tend to compare hospitals relative to infection rates, degrees of surgical success, and many other metrics. When we are able to do this, hospitals will be driven by quality, service, and cost — all of which will be necessary to compete. Therefore, too many private hospitals means that there is an open competitive market. We know what happens in this environment. There are winners and losers. As a result, many clinics with expensive and modern equipment will be closed which wastes a lot of money.

PART II: Situation: You are planning to take your secondary students to participate in outdoor activities. Which do you think are the most preferable to them? THREE options of dressing for girls are suggested: - uniforms - selected tops and shorts - skirts I think that selected tops and shorts and skirts are popular costumes that make students more active and dynamic but they are not suitable male students. Uniforms may be the best choice because of the following reasons. The first reason is that uniforms highly appreciate the community. All the rich and the poor are the same. There is no difference and unequality between male and female. Moreover, when students put on uniforms they feel so proud of their school and have a sense of responsibility to keep their school’s reputation. Finally, uniforms make all students look more formal.

PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins)

At several universities worldwide, staffs are required to wear university uniforms. Wearing uniform does have its advantages. One of the main advantages of uniforms is the reality that every staff looks the same so they are easily recognized. Staffs who don’t have enough means to buy expensive and fashionable clothes can surely benefit from this. They also save quite a bit of money, not having to buy the latest clothing to wear. University uniforms are a form of unity in the school, wherein the staff wears the same uniform that gives them the identity. This surely gives them the identity from other school and they will look good. If they are wearing the uniform that identifies them with a certain university or school, people will able to distinguish them. Another advantage of wearing university uniform is the staff can feel proud because of the feeling that they belong to a certain university. Just wearing the uniform together with its logo can provide them the best chance to feel proud of their university. Wearing uniform is also important for staff to save time changing clothes or outfits because they are trying to figure out the right combination of shirt, pants, blouse or skirt. This makes it easy for them to save time because they just need to wear their uniform when going to university. Staffs don’t have to compete with their colleagues because everyone wears the same thing. In order to “fit in” many people feel pressured to buy expensive clothing. In conclusion, for all the advantages above, we should have uniforms for staffs at university.

SPEAKING TEST 22 Now, the test begins. Let’s talk about happiness. Examiner speaking: What do you think happiness is? C1: It is difficult to define happiness and each person has his own opinion. For me, when thinking about happiness, I often remember a saying that “If I was in my perfect place, would someone else there make it better?”. Therefore, in my point of view it’s simple that the person who is always with you to share and to love whenever you need makes you happy! C2 : It is difficult to define happiness and each person has his own opinion. For me, happiness is that I can do whatever I want. Examiner speaking: Do you think that rich people are always happy? I don’t think that they are always happy because I think there are more important things than money in our life. Love is one of them. Although rich men can buy almost all things that they want, they can never purchase a good human relationship based on love. In particular, when they became elder people, if they are alone, they must feel miserable. In conclusion, I disagree that rich people are always happy. Examiner speaking: What do you do to make yourself happy? Happiness is so interesting and I would love to be happier. To make myself happy, I often spend time with my friends and family because I think that we are only happy when we have family and have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends. Moreover, for me helping others with a smiling on lips can make us feel better since smiling is one way to reduce the stress caused by an upsetting situation. Alright. Thank you. Now, let’s talk about money. Examiner speaking: Do you think money is more important than any other aspects of life? Money is important because it means being able to give your children the best – the best education, the best health care, the best start in life. Of course, when it comes to kids, money can also greatly spoil them, so it’s up to wealthy parents to find a way to give their kids the best, while still teaching them the value of money and not giving them so much excess that their view on life is forever skewed. Examiner speaking: What would you do if you had a lot of money? Examiner speaking: What are the downsides of having too much money? PART II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: You are planning to take your students to participate in outdoor activities. Which do you think are the most preferable to them? THREE options of dressing for girls are suggested: - uniforms

- selected tops and shorts - skirts

PART III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Disadvantages of owning a car. Expensive

Cars

Your ideas

Not green

Stuck (traffic jam) - What are advantages of having a car?

Do you think it is better to use a bicycle than a car? How do you think traffic jam can be solved with the increased number of cars ? In our lives, we travel from one place to another for a great variety of reasons and while traveling we greatly depend on cars, whether it is a private car or a public bus. The number of car-owners increasing everyday because every person expects the freedom to travel and comfort while

traveling. And that is why most of us want to own a car. However, owning a car has many disadvantages. Firstly, owning a car is very expensive. The price of the car, the cost of the tax, insurance cost, fuel-cost, driver' salary, car repairing etc. all must be considered before buying a car and that is why it is out of reach of the middle class people. Not all families can afford it. Private car is more expensive than the public transportation, people have to pay more for using of car. Moreover, private cars can not carry many passengers at a time yet occupy spaces in the street. As the number of car is increasing in the road so does the traffic jams. City travellers have to spend longer hours on traffic jams. Using more private car, the density of traffic has been increased phenomenally and citizens have had to stay longer time on traffic load. Perhaps the major disadvantage of cars in general is the huge damage they do to the human health and to the environment. More cars mean more pollution. The consumption of fuels to run the car is contributing to the rise if global warming and affecting the ozone layer. The environment pollution is a serious issue today and in any cost we must reduce the amount of pollution. And if we consider it, then owning a car is never a good idea. To sum up, having a car gives someone freedom but if public transportation system is easily accessible, safe and efficient, then the idea of buying and owning a car should be abandoned. Cars have increased the level of air and noise pollution in cities, causing more humans to suffer from respiratory, heart diseases, or cancers. Further questions: 1. The main advantage of owning a car is it gives the freedom to travel. If you have a car then you don't need to be limited to fixed routes and timetables. Moreover, a car-owner can take his/her family members with him/her and other necessary goods whenever he/she wish which might have been impossible otherwise. In addition, personal cars give comfort while traveling on the contrary to the public buses which are so crowded and disgusting. You can read books, listen to music or even can play with kids while you are in your own car but those all seems to be impossible in a public transport. SPEAKING TEST 23 Let’s talk about restaurants. Examiner speaking: Tell me about your favourite restaurant. Examiner speaking: What is your opinion of foreign food? Examiner speaking: Why do people like to eat out? People eat out for many reasons. Some people like to eat out because they do not like to cook and do the washing up on their own. Some people like to eat out because they can have food they do not know how to cook at home. People might go out to eat if they are in a hurry. At some restaurants, food is prepared quickly or comes already prepared and ready to eat. If a person

does not have the time to cook a meal, he may go out to eat. Many people go out to eat for special occasions. If a person has a birthday, for example, she may invite her friends and family to a restaurant for a meal. By going out, the person and her friends can enjoy a birthday celebration without having to worry about preparing food or washing up. Now, let’s talk about relaxation Examiner speaking: What activities can people do to relax? Listening to your favorite song is one of the best ways to relax. Sometimes belting out the lyrics to a favorite tune makes everything seem all right and classical music can be especially relaxing right before bedtime. Talking to a friend is also a good way to reduce stress. When something’s really bothering you, it can help to share your feelings with a pal. In fact, more talkative folks tend to be happier in general. So people tend to go to a coworker or call a close family member and spill. Examiner speaking: Tell me about how you like to relax. Examiner speaking: In what ways can you relax without spending any money?

Situation: You are planning a holiday and you will be staying in a hotel. You will decide which feature you consider to be the most important when choosing a hotel to stay in. There are THREE options for you to choose: - The location of the hotel. - The comfort of the hotel room. - Reasonable price. When having a holiday, your accommodation choice is very important because it can make or break your holidays. In my opinion, the location of the hotel is not very important because I will go by my private car so I can travel everywhere I want without any worrying about the distance. Costs are another important consideration here but I have affordability so I do not care about the price. I only want to make sure to check whether the hotel prices are all-inclusive or not. I consider the convenience of the hotel the most important when choosing a hotel to stay. Travelling, either by land or air, can be exhausting. So I would be looking forward to a comfortable and convenient stay when I arrive in my destination. Therefore, my hotel should have the amenities that would help me relax and unwind. Things like a cozy room, a soft bed, or a pool spa are a big plus. I can check these, as well as the type of service they give, by reading reviews or guest testimonials on the Internet. Also, safety and security should not be overlooked when selecting accommodation.

PART III: Topic: Living in the countryside?

Do you think companies should promote workers who are experienced? Do you think that workers should change companies often? Why? Why not? What is better motivated for workers? Salary or working condition? Living in the countryside has a lot of advantages. As the advantage we can consider the fact that the country is less polluted and the traffic isn't so heavy. You are fit and you don't need to worry about your health condition, because in the countryside the air and water are so clean. In the country there are many plant species. In the country you are free to admire the breathtaking landscapes such as huge meadows, peaceful hills or forests. You can enjoy walking in the forest and picking mushrooms or hunting. Moreover, living in the countryside is cheaper than it is in the city, so you probably may afford many other things, because the prices are lower. What is more, you can invite your friends to the barbecue organized in your garden. It would be great! The other positive side is the safety. In the rural area the crime rate is much lower. There aren't a lot of housebreaks and the possibility of burglary is also lower. In the countryside people usually and keep eyes on neighbour's estates. They always react when something strange is happening. Country life is very peaceful and silent. You will enjoy the feeling of peace. You also feel closer to nature in the country, you are woken up by the singing of the birds rather than by the noise from the traffic. Homes in the countryside are surrounded by nature which has a soothing effect on both

the mind and the body. In the country, you do not have to leave your home to feel closer to nature because here, the nature comes to you and it is quite common to see wildlife such as birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, foxes, rabbits and even deer from your backyard. Living in the countryside, you have good neighbours. In the country, everyone knows everyone and people actually say ‘hello’. Communities in the country are much smaller but they are more connected and open. People in the country are really friendlier and are prepared to help without asking anything in return. To sum up, I think that living in the country may have a lot of advantages such as fresh air, breathtaking landscape, comfort and lovely neighbours, but a lot of people decide to stay in the city, due to the fact that the life in the town is easier. SPEAKING TEST 24 PART I: SOCIAL INTERACTION (~ 3 mins) Let’s talk about housework. Examiner speaking: How do you share housework in your family? ( nữ trả lời) In my family I often prepare meals and wash clothes while my husband does some technical work like repairing things. However sometimes when I am busy, my husband helps me to cook. ( nam trả lời) In my family my wife often prepares meals and washes clothes and I some technical work like repairing things. However sometimes when my wife is busy, I am willing to help her to cook. Examiner speaking: Do you think children should help with the housework? Yes, I totally agree that children should help their parents do the housework that are suitable with their ages Examiner speaking: What are some of the things that your family usually do together? We usually watch TV together in the evening. Sometimes at weekends we go out to eat in a restaurants or travel to some new places

Now, let’s talk about fashion.

Examiner speaking: Do you try to follow the latest fashion? Not usually but sometimes in fact. Although I am not really fashionable, I think that I should keep up to date with new fashion to keep my image in other people’s eyes. Examiner speaking: What kind of clothes do you like to wear? in fact I like dress most as I think I look more attractive when wearing dress Examiner speaking: Which do you prefer, shopping in a small shop or a supermarket? In fact I like shopping in a supermarket more because I think it’s more convenient. There are lots of things in a supermarket so I can buy almost everything I want without having to travel to different places.

Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Examiner speaking: Alright. Thank you. That is the end of Part I. Now let's move to Part II. In this part of the speaking test, you will be given a situation with THREE options. You have to choose ONE to argue on. You will have to say which option you will follow and explain why. You will also have to say why you haven't chosen the other two options. You have ONE minute to prepare your talk and TWO minutes to talk. Here is the situation. Situation: You are giving a short talk on language learning. You will decide which activity is the best way to learn a new language. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Join a class. - Self-study. - Talk to native speakers

In learning a language, there are many different options such as joining a class, learning by oneself and talking to native speakers. In my opinion, talking to native speakers is the best way to acquire a new language. Communicating with native speakers can help people make sure whether they can make themselves understood. What is more, it is a great chance for language learners to practise their pronunciation and sharpen their communicating skills. Besides, having talks with foreigners can act as a motivation for language learners. Joining a class is also a good way but looking for a good classroom is not an easy job. Self-studying is necessary in language learning, however it is more suitable for language learners of high level than low level ones. All things considered, I believe that talking to native speakers is the best way to learn a language.

Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Being famous?

- Which qualities should a famous person have? - Why does the young generation copy them? - If you had a chance to become famous, who would you like to become? Being famous, in fact, is not always advantageous. Famous people usually feel stressful as they need to meet people’s expectations. Sometimes they need to try their best to keep their image good and therefore do not dare to show their real feelings. Being famous means being followed by many people. This naturally put pressure on famed people, they need to perform well every time, everywhere and are easy to be depressed once they cannot do their job perfectly. The biggest problem is that famous people normally lose their privacy. Nearly every thing that they do can be released on newspaper. Thus, not only famous people but also their family members are irritated sometimes. So, I think, being famous is, in fact, not always good. - Which qualities should a famous person have? I think they should have good communication skills because they need to work with a lot of people and keep their image good. - Why does the young generation copy them?

Young people are usually affected by their idols. They tend to try to imitate their idols’ styles and actions. I think it’s because young people think famous people have fashionable styles and they look more modern if wearing similar to them. - If you had a chance to become famous, who would you like to become? I would like to become Taylor Swift. She’s smart, elegant and does not have any scandals.

SCRIPT FOR SPEAKING TEST 25 LEVELS 3 – 5 PART I: SOCIAL INTERACTION (~ 3 mins) Let’s talk about friends. Examiner speaking: Could you tell me about your best friend? My best friend is Trọng. He’s a very good friend. He shares with me everything in life and gives me a lot of useful advice. Examiner speaking: What is important about a friend for you? I think a true friend is someone who understand me and I can trust, who share my happiness and my sorrow Examiner speaking: What kind of people do you like to spend time together with? I would like to spend time with optimistic people as they seem to be happy all the time. Spending time with them makes me feel relaxed

Now, let’s talk about houses. Examiner speaking: Would you rather live in a big city or in the country? Why? I would like to live in a big city because it is very convenient. There are a lot more hospitals, schools, universities in big cities so we do not need to

travel too far to get those services. Things are also more available in big cities than in the countryside so it’s easier to find what we need in the cities. Examiner speaking: Could you describe your house/flat and the rooms in it? My house is quite small with only two bedrooms and a living room. My bedroom is what I like best in my house because it has enough appliances such as TV, air conditioner, DVD player, computer which helps me deal with my job and entertain in my free time. Examiner speaking: Which is your favourite place at home and why? In fact my house has a small garden with a lot of flowers and this is the place I Iove most as looking at the flowers after coming back home help me release stress I get during the working day

Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: You have been asked to give a presentation in your English class on a famous city. Decide which aspect you think is the most important one to focus on in your presentation. There are THREE options for you to choose: - History of the city. - Tourist attractions in the city. - Famous citizens of the city. If I have to make a presentation about a famous city, I think my emphasis will be put on the tourist attractions of the city because it seems that this is the information that most listeners want to know. People are usually interested in the beautiful places in a city so that they can come when they have time. The history of the city is also important as it provides people with the knowledge that they may know little about, but it should be brief as history is not always interesting. I will not say much about famous citizens of the city except that one has special contribution to the city Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMNT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Benefits of zoos

-

What wild animals do you like?

-

Do you like visiting zoos?

Do you think we should teach children something that is related to wild animals? Many people think that we should not keep animals in the zoos but I think zoos have a lot of benefits. Firstly zoos are the places where people can keep and protect endangered species. Many endangered animals even have given birth in zoos. Secondly, zoos also serve education especially for small children as they do not have opportunities to see wildlife if there is not a zoo in their places. In addition, zoos are the places for entertainment. Going to the zoo is a way to refresh with many families and couples at the weekends. So, we can see that zoos play a quite important role in our life. -

What wild animals do you like?

I like panda because they look so cute -

Do you like visiting zoos?

Yes I do. I like visiting the zoo with my children, spending time with family and watching the animals’ life is a good way to relax after work

Do you think we should teach children something that is related to wild animals? Yes I totally agree that children should be taught about wild animals. It is quite interesting knowledge and also helps them broaden their minds.

SPEAKING TEST 26 Let’s talk about schools. Examiner speaking: What were your favourite subjects/lessons at school and why? - My favourite subject at school is English because my English teacher is the person I admire most and I want to be an English teacher like her. Examiner speaking: What is an ideal teacher like for you? I think an ideal teacher has to good qualification, good characteristic such as love teaching, love students, care about students… and especially be ready to further study to enhance their knowledge. Examiner speaking: What are some of the best memories of your school years? -I have a lot of best memories in high school. I took the first award for the singing contest and have a boyfriend after that. Now, let’s talk about jobs. Examiner speaking: Could you tell me about the job you would like to have in the future? - I always want to be an English teacher like my mother. Examiner speaking: Would you like to be self-employed or an employee? Why? - Actually I always want to be self –employed because I want to be independent and don’t be controlled by others. Examiner speaking: Have you ever had a summer job? If yes, could you tell me about it? / If no, would you like to have one this summer? Why/Why not? No, actually. I have never had a summer job. But maybe I try this summer because I heard that a part time job is very useful for the future job. Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: Your local council has been allocated money to add one new entertainment facility to the community in your area. Decide which one you would choose. There are THREE options for you to choose: - A sports centre - A park with a lake. - A children’s playground. I think it should be a park with a beautiful lake because you know in my town there are a lot of private sport centres and a children’s playground. Firstly, having a park will make a town beautiful. Secondly, people can go there to relax or doing morning exercises or just to see a lake.

Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMNT (~ 5 mins) Examiner speaking: Alright. Thank you. That is the end of Part II. Now let's move to Part III. In this part of the speaking test, you will have to present on a topic that you will see in the outline below. After your presentation, you will be asked THREE follow-up questions related to the topic. You have ONE minute to prepare and THREE minutes to complete this part. Here is the outline of the topic. Topic: Disadvantages of tourist developments

- Why do you think people like to travel to different places in their free time? - Should your government invest more money in attracting tourists? - How do you see tourism changing in your country in the future? Examiner speaking: OK. Thank you. That is the end of Part III and also the end of the speaking test. Good luck! Presentation: Tourist development has a lot of disadvantages. First, there are a number of ugly hotels complexes because of their degradations. Second, another problem due to tourist development is destruction of natural habitat. Finally, it also destroys traditional ways of life. For example an peaceful environment nowadays is replaced by noisy resorts, so the way of life has to change too. In conclusion, Tourist development has cause a lot

of troubles such as ugly hotels complexes, destruction of natural habitat and destruction of traditional ways of life. - Why do you think people like to travel to different places in their free time? People like to travel to different places in their free time because each place has famous sightseeing and people want to discover them. - Should your government invest more money in attracting tourists? Yes, of course because tourist is one of the most important part of economy which contributes to increase GDP. How do you see tourism changing in your country in the future? I think tourism in the future will be more invested and change in a positive way. SPEAKING TEST 27 Let’s talk about food. Examiner speaking: What do you normally have for your breakfast / lunch / dinner? I usually have hamburger for breakfast because it is easy to go fastfood store and take it instead of cooking at the kitchen. Examiner speaking: How healthy is your diet? My diet includes much vegetable and a little bit meat and I think it is healthy. Examiner speaking: Where do you like to eat? Why? I really love to have meal at home because I can eat with all of my family after a long day. Now, let’s talk about sports Examiner speaking: What do you do to keep fit? I always do a gym or go swimming to keep fit. Examiner speaking: How important is sport to your family members? Sport especially team sport is very important to my family members because it ‘s the time my family gather together and play sport to keep our heath better. Examiner speaking: What sports are you interested in? Why? I really enjoy swimming because it helps me to keep fit and relax after hard working. Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) . Situation: You have been asked to advertise a play which is being produced by your school or college. Decide which way you will choose to use. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Local television. - Leaflets. - Websites.

I think using local television and leaflets take me a lot of money and time to advertise. So I will use websites to advertise a play. I have an own page so I put it on my page and share it everyone thorough a click. It is very convenient and quite cheap. Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Solutions to improving educational system in your country?

Is a good education more important to a boy or a girl? Why? Do you think schools should teach subjects like arts, music and dancing? Why (not)? Is the Internet a valuable education tool? Presentation: There are a lot of solutions to improving educational systems. Firstly, revised curriculum and text books should be used in schools because we need use a suitable curriculum for children and revised text books instead of wrong and uninteresting ones like in the present. Secondly, they also neend to improve facilities in schools such as standard desk and table or modern equipment of teachings… Thirdly, the best way to improve educational systems is that teacher has to improve their knowledge and professional. In brief, solutions to improving educational systems include revised curriculum and text, improved facilities and better teachers. Is a good education more important to a boy or a girl? Why?

I think good education is important both for a boy and a girl. Because both of them need to fully develop their knowledge and the way to treat other people. - Do you think schools should teach subjects like arts, music and dancing? Why (not)? Of course because there are very practical for their imagination. - Is the Internet a valuable education tool? Sure because you can search a lot of information you need in internet. Examiner speaking: OK. Thank you. That is the end of Part III and also the end of the speaking test. Good luck!

SPEAKING TEST 28 Let’s talk about watching TV. Examiner speaking: Could you tell me about your family’s TV viewing habits? We always watch television together in the evening after a long working day. Examiner speaking: What are your favourite TV programmes and why? It’s cartoon network because it helps me to relax and laugh a lot. Examiner speaking: Which do you prefer, watching a film on TV or going to the cinema? Why? I really prefer going to the cinema to watching a film because of their large screen and new films. Now, let’s talk about transport. Examiner speaking: What’s your favourite means of transport and why? It’s motorbike because it’s very convenient and I don’t have to wait if I want to go anywhere like public transportation. Examiner speaking: What do you think of the traffic in your area/town? Because the traffic in my town is improved a lot so I think it’s quite convenient. Examiner speaking: Could you give me directions to the nearest shop from here, please? You turn left right here and go straight to the end of the road. Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: Your local council wants to make your area more environmentally friendly. Decide which way you would choose as being the best one to make your area greener. There are THREE options for you to choose: - Recycle bins in public places.

- Plant trees. - Educate the people on the environment I think it should be educate the people on the environment because it’s the most effective way to protect environment. Moreover, although there are a lot of recycle bins in public places and a many trees planted around the city, people still put rubbish into the road.

Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMNT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Reasons why some couples choose not to have children? Too much responsibility

High cost

Reasons for not having children

Your own ideas

No freedom What morals and values do you think children should learn? Should these be taught at home or at school? “Children should be given whatever they want.” Do you agree? What responsibilities do children have towards their parents? There are many reasons for not having children. First of all, having children means that you have too much responsibility. Then, the cost of living will be significantly high because of their clothes, their food… Next, you don’t have free time because of taking care for your children. To sum up, too much responsibility, high cost and no freedom are factors for not having baby. - What morals and values do you think children should learn? Should these be taught at home or at school? First children should learn how to greet the adult people whenever they meet someone. And it is convenient to teach at home because they will be remarkable affected by their parents. - “Children should be given whatever they want.” Do you agree? I disagree with this statement because if children are given whatever they want, they will be dependent. What responsibilities do children have towards their parents? I thinks that is obeying their parents in all things.

SPEAKING TEST 29 Let’s talk about holidays. Examiner speaking: Could you tell me about a holiday you enjoyed a lot? This is my family trip to Nhatrang beach. You know I can go with my family and enjoy the fresh air and eat a lot of seafood that I like. Examiner speaking: What kind of holiday do you prefer and why? I prefer relaxing holiday than adventurous one because I just want to relax instead of discovering sth. Examiner speaking: What way of travelling do you prefer when you go on holiday? Why? I really like travelling by car because it’s active and convenient. Alright. Thank you. Now, let’s talk about transport. Examiner speaking: What’s your favorite means of transport and why? I really love bicycle because it’s a friendly mean of transport to the environment Examiner speaking: What do you think of the traffic in your area/town? I think it’s very terrible because of much traffic jam Examiner speaking: How do you travel to work/school everyday? I always travel to work by motorbike because I work quite far from home. Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: You have been asked to give a presentation in your English class on a famous city. Decide which aspect you think is the most important one to focus on in your presentation. There are THREE options for you to choose: - History of the city. - Tourist attractions in the city. - Famous citizens of the city. - I think I choose to present tourist attractions in the city because there are a lot of famous sightseeing in the city. If I choose history or famous citizens of the city I think I can’t do it because I have a little time to prepare.

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Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) High salary Topic: An ideal job?

Long and paid holidays A comfortable reliance working on memory environment

An ideal job

Your own ideas

What skills do you think are needed to get a good job? How has technology changed the way we work? “Work is becoming more stressful and pressurized”. Do you agree?

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An ideal job is a job that you can have a comfortable working environment for example friendly colleagues, kind boss..Secondly, you have high salary to support for your needs in your life. Finally, you can long and paid holidays with their colleagues after working hard. - What skills do you think are needed to get a good job? You should have good qualification, good English and skill of using computer. - How has technology changed the way we work? It makes work faster and more effectively. For example instead of take note their advices, you can record them. “Work is becoming more stressful and pressurized”. Do you agree? I think so but work more stressful and pressurized makes me high effectiveness in working. SPEAKING TEST 30 Examiner speaking: What do you like doing when you are on holiday? I enjoy staying at the hotel near the beach to see beach view and eating seafood or walking along the beach. Examiner speaking: Could you tell me about your dream holiday? It ‘s a family trip to Nhatrang beach. We can enjoy the fresh air and sea food together and have best memories with each other. Examiner speaking: How do you prepare for a holiday? I prepare clothes for the whole trip, book the room hotel, the ticket… and money to buy present for my beloved people. Alright. Thank you. Now, let’s talk about food. Examiner speaking: What does your family usually eat and drink on special occasions (e.g. Christmas, Easter, birthdays)? At Christmas we usuaslly go to the familiar restaurant to enjoy fried chicken. Examiner speaking: Where do you like to eat? Why? I always like to eat at lotteria because its food is quite delicious and the price is reasonable Examiner speaking: Do you prefer traditional restaurants or fast-food places? Why? I like fastfood places because it’s very convenient and I am really lazy to cook a meal. Part II: SOLUTION DISCUSSION (~4 mins) Situation: The government is going to give an award to individuals from different professions who have contributed positively to your country. Decide which category most deserves to receive an award. There are THREE options; - Scientists - Politicians - Teachers ---------40

I think it should be scientist because nowadays scientist create something which is very useful for people. I think they have a lot of contribution to my country. Politicians and teachers maybe have contribution to one part of education or politic Part III: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT (~ 5 mins) Topic: Solutions to transport problems

What forms of transport do you use? Do you think that transport problems are worse in urban or rural areas? Has the way people travel changed much in the last few decades?

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There are a lot of solutions to transport problems. Firstly, we need to widen roads in order not to have traffic jams. Secondly, we need to use more public means of transport instead of private transportation. Thirdly, Maybe the local government should be introduce flexible working hours to solve transport problems. In conclusion, solutions to transport problems include widen roads, use more public means of transport and introducing flexible working hours What forms of transport do you use? I think it is public means of transport because it reduces traffic jams and it’s quite convenient Do you think that transport problems are worse in urban or rural areas? It certainly in urban because there a lot of people and means of transport than rural areas. Has the way people travel changed much in the last few decades? Yes, of course they usually travel by plane nowadays instead of car in the last few decades. ---------41

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