47 BÀI TỰ LUẬNTHI THỬ THPT QUỐC GIA

1. TOPIC: Do we really need to have a good boss?Even though job situations can be very different, there are several qualities that all good supervisors

have in common. A good boss treats all her employees fairly. She doesn't single out one employee for better(or worse) treatment than the others. A poor supervisor has favorites.

Sometimes she'll even use her favorites to spy on other employees. She expects them to tell her whatthe others are saying about her. This can cause a lot of bad feelings among employees. A good supervisorgives clear and understandable directions, She doesn't constantly change her mind about what she wantsemployees to do. She also doesn't get angry with an employee who is confused and needs her to explain thedirections again or more fully. Delegating authority well is another quality of a good supervisor. She knowshow to use the skills of her employees to best advantage. A poor supervisor insists on doing everything herself.She is unwilling to give any authority to others.

A good boss evaluates her employees on a reasonable set of criteria, not on how she feels about thempersonally. And she lets the employees know what those criteria are, so they have a fair chance of meetingthem. She gives both praise and criticism in a straightforward manner. She also offers guidance when needed.A poor supervisor will criticize without giving any suggestions on how to improve. Most importantly, a goodsupervisor sets the standards for her employees by her own behavior. She works hard and treats employeeslike valuable assets to the company. This promotes good morale among her workers, and this is of greatbenefit to her business.

2. TOPIC: Is a child better brought up in the countryside or in the city?There are advantages and disadvantages to a childhood in either the country or a city. It's hard to say

which is better. Growing up in the country means a certain amount of isolation. You're in a small town or ona farm and not with a lot of people. Even more important, the people you meet every day tend to be just likeyou. Most will be the same race as you, have the same background as you, and will have gone to the sameschools as you. In the city, the people you meet are all different. There are different races and differentcultures. You get a more interesting mix.

City people tend to come from a lot of different places and move around a lot. So, there isn't the senseof community in the city that you have in the country. People in the city can live in the same apartmentbuilding for twenty years and never get to know their neighbors. In the country, everybody knows everybody.For a child, this means the country is more secure. A child can get lost or hurt in the city and have no one toturn to. In the country, everyone's a neighbor. People in the country feel connected to each other.

A child growing up in the city has the advantage of a lot of interesting and exciting places to visit. Heor she can go to the zoo, museums, art galleries and concerts. There are a lot of restaurants with differentkinds of food. It's easy to see every new movie that comes out. Children in the country don't have a lot of theseactivities nearby.

All in all, I think a childhood in the city is better because it prepares you more for what real life is like.

3. TOPIC: What are the factors to enable a longer life?With the development of human society, people are living longer now. Many factors interacting

together enable the longer life. There are three most important causes: the quality of food has been greatlyimproved; people could have medical services; more and more people realize that regular sports benefit theirhealth.

The improving quality of our food is the most important factor of the longer life. We could have notonly enough food as we want, but also the healthier food. When we preparing food, we no longer consider thecost, but pay more attention to the nutritions of the food. With the development of transportation systems,inland people now could also enjoy seafood and tropical fruit.

Furthermore, governments are paying more and more money on medical establishments. Citizenscould have medical services more easily. Because of the convenient medical service more illnesses could bedetected at an earlier stage. Also, many illnesses that had been considered fatal could be cured today. Thebetter detection and cures enable people's longer life.

Last but not least important is that people care more for their own health. Every morning you couldsee people doing sports outside. More and more people have realized the saying "life is locomotion". Regularsports build up a strong body. Naturally, people with stronger body could resist more diseases.

To sum up, the development of our society causes the longer life of people. People have better foodand better medical services. And people spend more time on sports to build up stronger bodies. As we couldpredict, people are going to live even longer.

4. TOPIC: Do we really need to be good at team-working?We all work with many different kinds of people. Different co-workers have different personality. To

me, my co-workers should have some important characteristics such as independence, optimism, andteamwork spirit.

I think a good co-worker must have his own opinions. A co-worker should dare to propose his ownopinions. He should not say the same as others and hide his opinions. Only everyone tries his best to analyzeevery aspect of a thing, it can be done best. So independence of thinking is important for a co-worker.

Another important characteristic is optimism. If we have some difficult problems, he must be braveand should not fear them. He should encourage others to find methods to solve problems. This point is veryimportant because one’s mood can influence others easily. Once a co-worker shows a little fear of difficulties,others may become discouraged soon. So a good co-worker should be optimistic.

In addition, teamwork spirit is an important characteristic of a co-worker. Although a co-workershould be independent to analyze a thing, he should be tolerant to the different people and their ways ofworking. He should be willing to dedicate his energy, time and knowledge to reach the goal of whole team.

Independence, optimism and teamwork spirit are important characteristics of a co-worker. If everyonein a work group has these characteristics, the group can overcome difficulties and reach its goals.

5. TOPIC: Media are said to affect us different ways. Discuss the matter in a composition.I think the media pay too much attention to the private lives of famous people. Television, newspapers,

magazines and web sites dig up all kinds of past bad actions. They say that these are true reflections of aperson's character. This may be true if they occurred only a few years before, but some of these are thingspeople did as teenagers. People in their forties are expected to explain something they did when they werefifteen. If they killed someone, obviously that's more than a youthful mistake. Usually, though, these incidentsinvolve experiments with drugs or being reckless in a car. They're not something that the public needs to know.

The media love to say that the public has a right to know. That's not true. We don't need to know if amovie star or politician has had an extramarital affair. That is something of concern only to the peopleinvolved. We do need to know if someone we're electing to public office has been involved in shady businessdeals, but we don't need to know if he or she defaulted on a loan twenty years ago.

It seems the media dig up these facts without giving thoughtful consideration to what might happen. Ithas an effect on the celebrity's family, especially the children. A celebrity's good name and credibility may beruined before he or she can prove that rumors are false. If a case goes to court, paying a lawyer can use upall their money. Even if it doesn't come to that, they may find their career ruined.

When are we, the public, going to make it clear to the media that we're tired of having to watch thiskind of thing on the news? Wouldn't it be better if they would concentrate on more important issues?

6. TOPIC: Man is the main factor to worsen the Earth.People have been living on the Earth for thousands of years. Human activity influences the Earth.

Some people believe that the Earth is being harmed by human activity. Others feel that human activity makesthe Earth a better place to live. In my opinion, the earth is being damaged by human activity. There are manystatements supporting my opinion.

Human activity has damaged natural environment and almost exhausted natural resources. Modernindustry needs more and more resources, including minerals, fuels and water. So we confront of the seriousproblems such as the lack of fuels and water. Ecological balance is damaged because factories occupy manyplaces where animals and plants live. More and more buildings are constructed and forests become less andless. If we cannot recognize these problems and solve them soon, we would finally lose the environmentsuitable for our living.

Another serious problem is "the green-house effect." Human activity decreases forests and increasesthe usage of fuels so that the gas of carbon dioxide is output more and more and there are not enough plantsto absorb it. The green-house effect is more obvious and more sensible these years. Due to the effect, icebergsin the south polar and north polar melt and the sea level becomes higher than before. I am worried about thecities nearby the sea and hope scientists find an effective method to eliminate the green-house effect.

Although we have advanced machines and our life seems more comfortable than before, we have lesschances to approach natures and less spaces to act. The cities become bigger and if we want to have a picnicwith our friends, we have to drive a long distance to find a natural place. In fact, the spaces of human activityare being damaged by the skyscrapers and factories.

From the above statements, we can conclude that human activity brings the Earth many damages.Fortunately people have recognized the point and I believe that the Earth will become a better place to livewith our ceaseless efforts.

7. TOPIC: Human are said to greatly benefit from destroying their environment. Do you really think so?The quality of human life has improved greatly over the past few centuries, but Earth is being harmed

more and more by human activity. As we develop our technology, we demand more from our planet.Eventually, this will harm people as well.

Our planet gives us everything we need, but natural resources are not endless. Strip mining devastateswhole regions, leaving bare and useless ground. Deforestation removes old growth trees that can't bereplaced. Too much fishing may harm fish populations to the point where they can't recover. We are toocareless in taking what we want without giving anything back.

There are more people than ever, living longer than ever. So is it any surprise that many areas sufferfrom too much development? Anyone living in or near a city has experienced "urban sprawl." There is a new

shopping area on every corner and new houses, townhouses and apartments everywhere. Traffic gets worseand worse because planners can't keep up with growth.

Keeping up with human demand is hard enough. Environmental concerns come in last. With growthcomes pollution. Companies and communities dump waste into water. Landfills are full of trash. Emissionsfrom factories pollute the air. Barrels of industrial waste and worse, radioactive waste, have no safe place togo. If we're not careful, we can harm our planet beyond repair.

People need to respect the Earth and try to preserve it. If we don't, what kind of future will we have?

8. TOPIC: Saving energy is saving our earning.When faced with the decision of saving your money for some time in the future or enjoying your money

when you earn it, quite a few would claim to enjoy their money, but others, in contrast, deem to save theirmoney as the premier choice and that is also my point. This quite different view is based on the every possiblereason.

For most reason for saving the money for future use is when you need a lot of money to deal with someemergent things that happen to you, you should not worry about the fund or lend some money everywhere atthat time. For example, two years ago, I spend my summer holiday in a famous scenery pot, after a wonderfultrip of the first day, I lost my wallet unconsciously, then I took out some money in the bank to finish the trip. Ifyou did not have some deposit, you can imagine how embarrassed you are.

Second, I have finished my college study, and I am going to go abroad to get a master degree toenhance the ability to face the challenge in the society. Plenty of money is very important to me, so I have tosave all the money that I economized for future use.

Third, the economy condition of my family is not so good that I decide to earn enough money to buy abig house for my deeply loving parents.

This is arbitrary to judge saving money for future use according only to the excuse I mentioned in theabove paragraph. But I do not deny that enjoying the life is also important to everyone because of brief life.That is to say, I will enjoy my money if I deposit enough.

9. TOPIC: Your thing to do in free time. Watching TV.Do you like watching TV? Do you watch it regularly? If a living performance is available what, do

you think, will you choose, watching TV or attending the performance? But if I were you I will prefer thelatter.

Watching TV is boring and exhaustive. Just sitting before the grey box will make you sleepy. Youcannot feel the atmosphere in the auditorium which makes the audiences feel refreshed and excited. You canappreciate all the programs through your own eyes not though the square glass screen.

There are many other audiences as well as you sitting there and watching the performance whichmakes you feel accompanied. And you can communicate with others about what you have just seen or thought.This gives you an opportunity to express your opinion. And you know you are not alone then.

Going to see the performance out of your house is also good to your body. For you may have a walkafter the activity even go to a good bar and find something to drink. You can also see some friends after theshow. Though I am not very sure about others I will commonly do such things after a concert. It makes me feelgreat.

So, to take part in a living show is my favorite choice. Instead of watching TV I would like to havesome performance publically. It is better than the program in TV I think.

10. TOPIC: Airlines have changed the ways we travel. Do you think so?An airplane is a form of transportation that has changed people's lives. Thanks to the plane, our lives

are now faster, more exciting, and more convenient that before.You cannot deny that a plane is fast. For example, the Concorde flies at supersonic speed. A

businessman can leave Paris at 11 a.m. in the morning and arrive in New York at 8 a.m. the same morning intime for a day's work. Many business people in Europe will fly to London for a noon meeting and then returnhome to Rome or Madrid for dinner.

It is always exciting to take a plane trip. When you take a trip by plane, you know that you might crossmany time zones, many oceans, and many countries. When you get off the plane, you could be in a place thatspeaks a different language. A plane is like a magician's trick. You get in a box and you come out somewheretotally different.

Nothing can beat the convenience of a plane. In the old days, it might take you days to do what theplane can do it an hour. Boats, for example, only leave on certain days of the week and take a long time to getto their destination. Planes give you the option to leave several times a day and get you to your destinationquickly.

Although other forms of transportation may be more comfortable, none has changed the way we dobusiness and live our lives more than the plane. Thanks to the speed, excitement, and convenience of theplanes, our lives are richer.

11. TOPIC: Discuss the role of teachers in one’s lifeMost of us can learn how to do something simple on our own with just a set of instructions. However,

to learn about something more complex, it's always best to have a teacher. Teachers bring with them variedand useful backgrounds. They've been trained to teach individuals in different ways depending on their style.For instance, some students learn better by discussing a topic. Others learn more by writing about it.Teachers can help students learn in the way that's best for each student. A textbook or a manual can only giveyou one way of learning something. Plus they're only as helpful as your ability to understand them. A goodteacher canadapt her teaching to your needs.

Teachers help you focus on what you're learning. If you're learning something by yourself, it's easy tobecome distracted and go on to other activities. Teachers keep your attention on the subject. They alsoapproach a subject logically, taking it one step at a time. On your own, it's tempting to skip parts of thelearning process you think you don't need. That can hinder your ability to really understand the subject.

Learning a subject on your own is a very narrow way of learning. You can only use the informationyou get from the textbook. With a teacher, you get the information in the written materials as well as theteacher's own knowledge of the topic. Teachers can also provide extra materials to broaden the scope of whatyou're learning.

There's nothing wrong with studying on your own, and a learner can always benefit from some quietstudy. For the best possible learning, though, a good teacher is the biggest help you can have.

12. TOPIC: Good neighbors are as good as relatives. What do you think about this?Neighbors are the people who live near us, and their behavior influence our daily life. Good neighbors

can make us feel comfortable and give us many help, and everyone will benefit from a good relationshipamong neighbors. In my point of view, these are three conspicuous aspects of the qualities of a goodneighbors.

One of the most important characteristic of good neighbors is that they have a good living habit andare friendly to others. A person with bad habit will affect your daily life. For example, children are most likelyto be influenced by bad neighbors and carry on bad habits. On the other hand, being friendly is also animportant nature of good neighbors. If neighbors are unfriendly, they are hard to approach and difficult to getalong with.

Another important aspect of good neighbors is that they should be willing to help others. In our dailylife, emergency situations may happen, and we may encounter difficulties which cannot be resolved byourselves. At this time, the quickest help we can get is probably from our neighbors. To some degree,neighbors are as important as relatives to us, because they could provide the immediate help. In the same way,a neighbor who likes to help others will get help in return. Help each others can form a friendly andharmonious relationship among the neighbors.

All in all, a good neighbor is someone who have a good living habit, is friendly and is willing to helpothers. Taking into account of all these factors, we may reach the conclusion that a good relationship amongneighbors need the maintenance from us.

13. TOPIC: Classes are really good for ones who attend? Discuss your opinion about this matter.Nowadays, it becomes a heatedly debated topic whether a student should be required to attend classes

or not. Some people hold the opinion that the university students should be required to go to classes. However,others have a negative attitude. If I were forced to agree with one of the two positions, I would stand behindthe latter. My Arguments for this point are listed as follows. I agree with the statement that going to classesshould be optional for university students without reservation since I believe a student is supposed to attendthose classes he or she is interested in.

Naturally, interest is the mother of study. When attracted by a wonderful class, you will attend itunforcedly and immediately. Nevertheless, not all classes are so popular in reality and no one has interest inevery class. Consequently, you should select the classes you like to attend for a higher efficiency of studying.It can be given a good example, in current universities, many excellent students almost have the record ofskipping some boring and undesirable classes.

Another reason that can be seen by everyone is that it contributes to build a university student's abilityof learning by himself or herself. Obviously, by choosing good and meaningful classes, giving up thoseundesirable, or studying these classes you cannot attend somehow by yourself, you will learn how todistribute your study time and acquire the capability of learning by yourself, which is tremendously importantto modern university students. Many celebrities, such as Bill Gates, have such powerful ability by notattending some classes when they were in university.

Admittedly, being required to attend classes has advantages of disciplining the student, however,considering most university students can discipline themselves on their own, I believe it is sagacious to agreewith that going to classes should be optional for college or university students.

14. TOPIC: Cooking for yourself is not only good for your health but also your pleasure. Do you agreewith this?

In the modern life now, more and more people prefer to eat at food stands or restaurants. They thinkthat will save time so that they can have enough time to do their jobs. But I still prefer to prepare and eat foodat home.

There several reasons. First of all, you can save money if you eat at home. In general, to get profit, therestaurants ask for more money on the same food you cook at home. That is the waste of money. To savemoney, you may prefer to prepare you food at home with less money.

The second, usually, the food in the restaurants is not what you are expecting. you may dislike the waythe restaurant cook the same dishes as you do at home. For example, the other day, I asked for potato in a

restaurant. After the first bite, I thought it was so awful. My mom never cooked such potato for me! The badlunch even destroyed my mood in that day.

The third, if you prepare food by yourself, you will have a happy mood when you eat it, regardless ofthe real savor of the food. It goes a saying well "labor brings happiness". In addition, you can change yourmethod of cooking considering your taste on that day. The reasons above may can answer why I prefer to eatfood at home. Cooking even has become my hobby now. Come back and have your delicious food, I'm sureyou will like it!

15. TOPIC: Living in city or countryside makes differences to anyone. What do you think about this?I grew up in a small town and then moved to a big city, so I have experienced the good and bad sides

of both. I never thought that I would like living in a big city, but I was wrong. After ten years of living in one, Ican't imagine ever living in a small town again.

Small towns and big cities both have some problems in terms of transportation. In a small town, youhave to own a car to ensure a comfortable living. You can't get around without one because there isn't anykind of public transportation. Big cities generally have heavy traffic and expensive parking, but there youhave a choice of taking public transportation. It's not free, but it's often cheaper than driving when youconsider gas and time. Especially if you don't have a car, you're better off in the city.

I love the excitement of big cities. Small towns have a slow pace. Large cities mean you have to adaptto a variety of situations, like finding a new route to work or trying a new restaurant. I enjoy that challengevery much. Another pan of the excitement of city living is the variety of cultural activities available. There is awide assortment of theatre, music and dance performances available in big cities. These things are rare insmall ones.

The final thing I like about large cities is the diversity of the people. The United States is made up ofpeople of different races, religions, abilities, and interests. However, you seldom find such a variety of peoplein a smaller town. I think that living in an area where everyone was just like me would quickly become boring.

Of course, security is a concern, and that's one area where small towns are superior to big cities. Still,I would rather be a bit more cautious and live in a large city than to feel secure but bored.

16. TOPIC: What would you like to change about your hometown?If I could change one important thing about my hometown, it would be air pollution problem, and I

will give the following reasons to explain why I want to solve the problem.The first and most important reason is that I hope that my hometown can become a beautiful city. As

an old industrial city, my hometown has made a great deal of contribution for the country’s economicdevelopment. At a result, the natural environment of the city has been badly damaged. The forest hasdisappeared; the mountains have become bald, and the most awful thing is that the air quality becomes worseand worse. People seldom see the blue sky during most time of year.

Another reason why I want to change my hometown’s air pollution situation is that the city’sdevelopment needs clean and tidy environment to attract investors. Nowadays people have come to know thatthe city’s environment, which is so called “software facility of the city”, plays an important role in the city’sfuture. For example, due to the fact that the environment of the city is very poor, many local students whopursue their study out of the city would rather find themselves a job in other cities than coming back to theirhometown after they graduated.

In addition, nowadays people have paid more and more attention to their health. If air pollutionproblem cannot be solved as quickly as possible, people’s requirement for a healthy body will never berealized.

In my mind, changing air pollution will apparently be my first choice if I can change one importantthing about my hometown. Fortunately people in my hometown are gradually aware of the serious problem.

17. TOPIC: What do you think of the changes in life?Everything in the universe is in constant change. And everything needs continual improvement if the

ever changing and increasing demands of humankind are to be met. If I am ever given the chance to changeone important thing about my home town, it would be internet service. Needless to say that nothing generallyrevolutionized the way we live as internet in the past decade. Thus, an improvement in this vital service wouldmean an even more, unheard betterment to the people in my home town.

It is said that information is power. True saying indeed! I can envision how everything in my hometown could improve dramatically if the internet service in it were made free, fast and staying out there likeelectricity, telephone or water all the time. One thing, a fast free and reliable internet service could improvein my home town is the way people work. If there is a this said service people in my home town must notnecessarily commute to a far place to do their job. This in turn would mean less traffic jams, spacious workplace, more time for family and recreation and so on.

The way people learn would be another important thing that a fast, free and reliable internet servicecould better in my home town. People will have the chance to go through tremendous and differentinformation resources in a very small amount of time. They, apparently will also take less time to share it.This assures a more fulfilled life for my home town people.

Since its advent, internet touched every part of our life. It in a dazzling way improved the way we dobusiness, learn and communicate. A change in internet service implies good way of living for everyone in myhome town.

18. TOPIC: Factories in residential areas produce both positive and negative effects to people’s lives. Doyou agree or disagree?

If a large factory is going to be built near your community, is it good or bad? It’s a quite difficultquestion to answer. Because there are many aspects to take into your consideration - the advantages and thedisadvantages. Let’s talk about that.

First, a large factory, especially a large chemical factory is quite harmful to our environment when itis built near our community. It will affect our daily life a lot. All the chemical factories will produce a lot ofwaste and most of the wastes are harmful to the environment, including poisonous gas and liquid. Some ofthem cannot be entirely broken down. If they are released into the air or the river, it will affect our health.And also the factory may produce a lot of noise. The environment we want to live in is a quiet and peacefulone, so the noise will be quite boring. And yes, noise also affects our health.

Still one thing, a factory can be very dangerous. Because a fire or a explosion may break out in thefactory. If it’s very near our home, it’s quite dangerous.

But in other hand, a factory may be a good news to us. It can provide more jobs for us, especially forthe young people in our community. Since the factory is near, it’s so convenient to go to work, and the factorywill get more chances to our area. It will help to develop our area. So if the factory can bring us a lot ofchances, we will agree to build one. But the most important things are:

1. Build the factory in a safe distance from our community, not too near.2. Make sure that the factory can deal with the waste properly. Do not release the poisonous gas into theair, and not release the waste water into the river nearby.3. Make sure the security guard in the factory works very well.

19. TOPIC: Parents are said to influence their children many different way. What do you think about this?Parents influence greatly their children for a lifetime. I think people are molded by two factors, family

and the society that they are in. From birth, humans are influenced by the surrounding people for theircharacteristics. Parents take a big role in bringing up children, which affects their lives for a long time.

In early infanthood, babies are looking to moms and dads to learn basic manners to be accepted insociety. Some of these manners include not running around in restaurants or hitting other kids. As they growup, they learn more from parents about social etiquette, which makes them more suitable to live in society.Children tend to look to their parents for role models knowingly or unknowingly.

Besides, parents can also affect children's study habits. Children of doctors, lawyers, investmentbankers, and other professionals see their mothers and fathers work a lot of time, reading books, andpunching keyboards, even at home. They are showing their children how to study by their own behavior.

However, parents can also be a bad example for their kids. It is difficult for children who have abusiveparents to lead a normal childhood and is possible that they may become similar to their abusive parentswhen they grow up. In this sense, the parents' negative role in shaping the children's personality cannot beemphasized more.

In conclusion, parents are the best teachers for their children. They leave big marks on their children'slives and are therefore more influential teachers than any others they may have in their lives.

20. TOPIC: Which is more important, knowledge from books or experiences from life?We gain our knowledge about the world and our life from two sources: from experience and from

books. These two resources are both important, but which of them is more important?Knowledge from books forms a very important part of our knowledge structure. In schools and

colleges, we learn knowledge which is fundamental to our future career. We learn knowledge from books inorder to make our contributions to this society in the future. A student learns mathematic equations and otherscientific knowledge and become a scientist or engineer. We will be illiterate and ignorant without learningknowledge from books. Moreover, we acquire knowledge about life and the world by reading books,magazines and newspapers. This is also very important as we cannot experience everything all by ourselves.Therefore books are a very important source of knowledge.

On the other hand, we can't learn everything from a book. “Experience is the best teacher” is an oldcliché, but I agree with it. The most important, and sometimes the hardest, lessons we learn in life come fromour participation in situations. We learn how to get along with others or how to have self-respect from ourexperience, not from books. We cannot learn emotional feelings, such as love and care, through books; theycome from our real life experience. Knowledge from experience is also a very important supplement toknowledge from books.

Needless to say both learning sources, books and experience, are very important to us. But in myopinion knowledge from experience is more important, because without knowledge from experience, it isimpossible to get a real understanding of knowledge from books, and how to apply this knowledge to realworld situations.

21. TOPIC: why do people want to go on university education?People study in college or university for many different reasons. I think the most important reason is

to gain more knowledge and learn more skills. Of course, there are also many other reasons that people studyin college such as to get more friends, and increase one's self-confidence.

These days, most jobs require people who are educated and have good job skills. Therefore, the peoplewho want a good job have to study hard and at least graduate with a high education. Furthermore, astechnology advances all over the world, more and more education is required of people.

Some people who study in college or university want to make more friends and increase theirinterpersonal skills. They enjoy their lives in university or college and tend to socialize a lot. They can meetmore people who have the similar interests with themselves. They can go to university after school and makemore friends who they trust.

The people who graduate from college seem more confident in our community. These people are morerespected by society. Many people want to be respected and to be important by family, friends, their bosses,and others in their lives. They find that most of them can confidently talk and do their jobs as they are moreeducated. Therefore, most people want to get the confidence through the university or college study. In today'ssociety, people need more knowledge and skills to be adapted. The university and college study is a good wayto achieve this.

22. TOPIC: Is university education the best choice for all of us?In China, more and more people try their best to attend college or university. What are the reasons

that make people long for it?First of all, in my opinion, the most important reason is to gain competence to live a better life in the

future. Competition of our days has become more and more drastic, and even a very simple job or lowposition will attract hundreds of candidates to apply for it. Only those who have a good education andgeneral knowledge can gain better work. So, we should attend college or university for better competence.

Second, attending college or university can change our life. For example, to myself, I am a studentfrom countryside. I am one of the few people who can attend college or university. Most of those who have notstudied in college or university go to work early in a small factory in a small town or on a farm in theirhometown. Just because I have taken higher education, I can get better chances to study or work in the capitalof our country where a lot of people want to go to. Why? Good education gives me chances to change my life.The third reason for attending a college is to increase knowledge. Study is a so interesting thing that it makesour life rich and colorful. It expands our eyesight by informing us with lots of new things what we cannot gainfrom our common life or experience. On the other hand, by attending college or university, you can learn theknowledge or skill necessary for your future work.

People attend college or university for various reasons. Some may attend for new experiences, andothers may think about other things. What I have mentioned is just very few of them.

23. TOPIC: In Vietnam, a university diploma seems to guarantee one’s social status. What are your pointsof view about this?

Why do people need to attend colleges or universities? Different people have different answers to thisquestion. I believe that the three most common reasons are to prepare for a career, to have new experiences,and to increase their knowledge of themselves and the world around them.

Career preparation is becoming more and more important to young people. For many, this is theprimary reason to go to college. They know that the job market is competitive. At college, they can learn newskill for careers with a lot of opportunities. This means careers, such as information technology, that areexpected to need a large workforce in the coming years.

Also, students go to colleges and universities to have new experiences. This often means having theopportunity to meet people different from those in their hometowns. For most students, going to college is thefirst time they've been away from home by themselves. In addition, this is the first time they've bad to makedecisions on their own. Making these decisions increases their knowledge of themselves.

Besides looking for self-knowledge, people also attend a university or college to expand theirknowledge in subjects they find interesting. For many, this will he their last chance for a long time to learnabout something that doesn't relate to their career.

I would recommend that people not be so focused on a career. They should go to college to have newexperiences and learn about themselves and the world they live in.

24. TOPIC: Write a letter to a pen-pal to talk about a person who has great influence on you.……………………., March 26th, 2015

Dear Linda,I am sorry for not writing to you for so long, but you know we are all busy with preparing for the

coming GCSE. I am writing today to tell you about my greatest ever idol who has great influence on me.Everyone has his variety of acquaintances, friends, relatives, teachers, or partners among whom one

may have the one that creates greatest ever impression on him. For me, I must say that my life would not havebeen as good as it is today if I did not meet Mr. Jimmy. It happened to me when I was a lower secondarystudent. I remember well that I was a very bad boy at that time. I always got bad marks for school subjects aswell as I got fined daily. My teachers got very disappointed, my parents felt ashamed as I was very oftenmentioned as a bad example at school. My classmates found ways to keep away from me. I felt so lonely andhopeless. Then Mr. Jimmy, my new Maths teacher appeared. After having had a talk with me and my parents,he agreed to be my private tutor. It was so strange that he did not teach me lessons right away, he made waysto be my friend instead. He spared time to get to know my difficulties, helped me to gain me confidence, let mebelieve in what I could do. Gradually, I realized what to do, how to do. He encouraged me when I felt tired,lonely or daunted. He gave me belief and strength to stand right on my own feet. Finally, I got to know themeaning of life.

To tell the truth, I feel so happy to have a great teacher like Mr. Jimmy. I really hope that you willspare time to let me know about your idols in life. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Love,Tom.

25. TOPIC: Write about a sporting event you saw recently.Last Sunday at our school football field, a friendly football match was held. Our school Female

Students’ Football Team played against the neighboring school’s one.It was a really nice Sunday morning then. The football field where the match took place was

previously well-decorated. Red flags could be seen along the roads from our school gate passing the schoolplay-ground to the gym then to the football ground, together with numerous slogans, posters, and of coursepictures of the two teams and individual players. Then came the most important moment of the day when thetwo teams entered the field from the changing rooms, following the two headmasters of the two schools, andthe referees. Spectators all burst into applauses to welcome the players. As soon as the game began,spectators started cheering and shouting for one side or the other. Others sang and danced, some even calledout the players’ names with love and pride. The crowd kept discussing and commentating happily. On the firsthalf, our team played much better to score two goal to lead the guest. The football field seemed to be filledwith applauses and bravos when the first and then the second goal were scored by the two different homestrikers. The players of the two teams played so well that it made spectators forget the time as the referee blewhis whistle to finish the first half. When the second half came the guest players played much better and scoreda goal. The players still played enthusiastically but no more goal was scored. The match ended with thewinning score of 2-1 for the home team.

It was a very happy weekend day for us all and it was, in my opinion, the best game I have everwatched. We all agreed that such sporting event brought us closer together, made us feel relaxed and we verymuch felt confident and proud of our school.

26. TOPIC: Write an essay to discuss the benefits of doing exercise.Health is considered to be the most valuable thing one possesses. Improving health is always a prior

task in one’s daily routine. And the simplest, cheapest, but the most effective way to better one’s health isdoing regular exercise.

One advantage of doing exercise is to reduce stress. People who exercise are likely to feel morerelaxed, healthier, and of course happier. Doing regular exercise helps the body produce happy chemicalsthat make the exercisers reduce the worries about life and work as well as forget the boredom andunhappiness.

Another benefit exercising brings us is that we will feel more energetic to face and overcome our dailydifficulties. Doing exercise helps us reduce the possibilities of being ill, protects us from some fatal diseasesas heart disease, cancers and diabetes. Regular exercisers are believed to have healthier, happier and longerlives. The other good thing is that doing exercise helps us feel more self-confident. We know exactly what wecan do or what abilities, talents we have. We will think positively, do confidently, and lead an optimistic life ifwe practice exercising regularly. Controlling our weight effectively is another value. Perspiration occurswhen we exercise, which helps our bodies get rid of bad things inside. Fats are burnt during our practicingexercise, which helps us to keep fit.

To sum up, doing exercise enables people to have good body-buildings, keep fit and brings exercisersmany benefits. Sparing time doing exercise will ensure us a longer, healthier and happier life.

27. TOPIC: Write an essay to discuss the opinion that arts should or shouldn’t be taught in high schools.There have existed debates whether arts be taught in high schools. People who support the ideals find

it necessary that high school students know as much about arts as possible. In contrast, the protestors thinkteaching arts to high school students is really a waste of time and money.

It is generally said by the supporters that studying arts benefits high school students several ways. Thefirst good thing is that arts help students have background knowledge of not only the nation but the worldcultures and history. Another benefit is that arts equip students with many necessary skills such as; creativethinking, observing, problem solving, and critical thinking. People who want arts to be taught to high schoolstudents also agree that arts are very fun and interesting to learn. We can say in other words arts areattractive to any learners. The other advantage of arts is that learning arts help students to build team spiritand community as art activities can be done in groups. Moreover, arts enable students to socialize andstudents become more and more civilized and responsible.

In contrast, protestors believe that there is not enough time for teachers to cover all kinds of subjectsat school. So they should focus on core subjects like Maths, foreign languages and physics, etc. to save timeand money arts should only be elective, not compulsory subjects. Furthermore, students can learn more aboutarts via media and arts are then their leisure activities. Additionally, arts, in the protestors’ opinion, shouldbe taught by parents as they may understand their children’s ability and talents better.

To conclude, there are different opinions that arts should or shouldn’t be taught in high schools. Eachside has reasonable explanations to convince and prove the points of view. For me, we can hardly be civilizedwithout knowledge of arts. Sooner or later, in my opinion, arts should be taught to students to help themenrich their knowledge, to discover their talents to better their own lives.

28. TOPIC: Write about the causes of the fact that families now are not as close-knit as they were in thepast.

It is widely believed that home is where love dwells and that east or west home is the best. That meansfamily is so important to any of us that we hardly grow up without the care from family members. It is alsotrue that the social, economic changes make the traditional family formulas vary. Although different peoplehave different points of view on the matters, we all agree that families now are not as close-knit as they usedto be. The causes are various, but we can count for the three main points below.

The first cause is that in our modern life we all seem to have so busy lives and dynamic lifestyles.People now are so busy with working, earning, getting promotions, taking part in social activities, etc. Peopleare likely to have longer working hours because of their demand of earning more and more. People seem tobe never satisfied with what they have. In families, under the economic pressure, both parents work so theyhave less time for themselves as well as for other family members.

Another cause is that due to the explosion of modern technologies people are more interested in theironline lives than interacting with other family members. It is sometimes thought that people seem to isolatethemselves with their mobile-phones, tablets, personal computers, and other information technologicaldevices.

Having different viewpoints is the other cause of course. The generation gaps sometimes causemisunderstandings or even debates. Information technology also brings opportunities to diverse viewpointswithin family members. Having different opinions pulls people far from one another.

Above all, though changes of traditional families are unavoidable, we are to shorten the gaps amongfamily members to be as close-knit as possible. Because family life is very important to any individual, eachmember must be responsible for bringing all family members closer together.

29. TOPIC: Write to suggest measures governments and individuals can take to reduce the global warming.It was reported recently by the U.S scientists that the volume of ice on the North Pole is now the

smallest within 36 last years. That is caused by the global warming process. Various other bad things humanbeings are now facing are also related to the warming of the Earth climate. The fact is that we are the mainagents who are responsible for the worsening of the nature. So, individuals and governments throughout theworld should co-operate to stop the natural environment worsening process.

Each individual first must be more aware of the need to protect our environment for not only our ownlives but also the next generations. The first easy thing one can do is to save the energy by using less heat andair-conditioning, using energy-efficient products, or even driving less. Another way is to recycle paper,plastic, newspaper, glass, etc. When the recycling is practiced, it helps to reduce the carbon dioxide in theatmosphere. The other thing is to plant more trees because as we know, trees can absorb carbon dioxide andgive off oxygen. The fact is that the mission is not done by one or a group of persons so we should educate thecommunity and encourage everyone to join hands to recycle and conserve energy.

Countries all over the world, rich or poor, developed, developing or underdeveloped should co-operate to better the situation. First of all, governments are better to inform their citizens about the globalwarming facts and the mishaps that people may face if the process goes on. Then, in order to reduce theemissions, governments should impose heavier taxes on the produce of greenhouse gas emissions. Factoriesand companies that over-emit may not be allowed to operate or even be closed. Moreover, bigger sums ofmoney must be spent on researches discovering the alternative sources of energy. Additionally, stricter lawson environmental problems should be passed and enforced to better the surroundings for people to live.

After all, the work to recover the environment and to stop the global warming process cannot be doneovernight or completed by one person or one nation, we, human beings all over the world, must co-act to

share the missions. Though this is the international millennium goals, each individual can do something nowto help to realize man’s purpose.

30. TOPIC: Write to describe your all-time favorite movie.In life, although I have several hobbies, watching movies is the one I am more interested in. I have

watched countless films so far, but BẾN KHÔNG CHỒNG, a product of VFC (Vietnam Film Corporation) in2001, is the one that has created the biggest impression on me ever since.

The film is set in the time of our war against the American troops in the South to unify the country andthe construction to build a communist country in the North. The ground of the story is in a tranquil poorfarming village in the North. The main characters are Mr. Van, a veteran, a secretary of the village’sCommunist Youth Union named Hanh, the two widows and the villagers. The story happens right inside thevillage to the bank of a no-name-river having a namely Khong Chong river five-step-wharf.

After serving in the army Van came back to his village in which there were only old villagers togetherwith almost widows, girls and very few disabled men. When Van returned, he was appointed head of thevillage armed group which consisted of around six armed girls including Hanh – Van’s former sweetheart’sdaughter. Van lived under the same roof with a land-lord widow and her 16 year-old son. Van was thenadmired by all the villagers, so he tried his best to meet the residents’ expectations. Though sometimes themid-forties man felt lonely, he tried not to do wrong thing especially on sex. Time passed, peace was thenestablished with the unification declaration, the village was still under the misery of the war unhappiness.Hanh married to an Army captain, but had no child for long. Debates and conflicts occurred, which madeHanh left her husband. So disappointed, and hopeless, she entered Van’s hut by a showery night. The twothirsty unhappy persons met, and then Hanh was pregnant. Unable to live with the villagers’ prejudice, Vanand Hanh left the homeland, and finally Van killed himself by the river wharf Ben Khong Chong.

The scenes in the movie are colorful and interesting, typical for a North Vietnam’s rural village. Thestory is touching and rather mournful. The acting of the main characters is excellent as they are all famousactors and actresses. The film leaves us valuable lessons in life, and helps us know more about the rural lifecourtesy. I must say that it is one of the best movies I have ever watched in my life.

31. TOPIC: Write to discuss the opinion that women make better women than men.Women for long are said to be more suited for being mothers and housewives. That means the natural

roles of women for many people are child-bearing and home-making only. That is why there exists the opinionthat women make better parents than men.

Naturally, many people agree that women have better intuitive intelligence than men. Women arebetter at reading the children’s signals, so they can easily satisfy children’s needs. They also have betteremotional understanding of what the kids are going through. In addition, women have a closer bond withtheir children. They create that during the nine months pregnancy and the early period of child rearing. It istrue that on average women spend more time than men on child rearing and care taking. Commonly, mentend to be out to work a lot and they seem to spend little time with their children. Significantly, breedingmakes the relation between women and their children more close-knit.

On the contrary, there are many single fathers who can totally dedicate their lives to their children.And, according to some researches, children of single mothers tend to have more chance of crime. It is alsotrue that no one come to parenthood and immediately knows everything. Learning and practicing can helpfathers perform as well as mothers. Moreover, men and women bring different benefits to their children.People believe that fathers can teach their children better than mothers in many ways. Commonly, childrenregard their fathers as more energetic, strong-willed, and ambitious whereas mothers as more kind-hearted,sensitive, and emotional.

To sum up, there are different good things women and men can do for their children. It is obvious thatparents who love their children can do their tasks well, and both fathers and mothers give their children goodthings to some extent. It will be lucky and far better for a child to be brought up by both good father andmother. Parents should join hands to give their children good life and education.

32. TOPIC: Write about the changes that information technology brings to your life.We are now living in the Era of the Information technology, and we feel happy to be supported by

modern technologies which make our lives more comfortable and convenient. For me, information technologybrings me so many positive changes though sometimes it does cause some troubles.

It is undeniable that information technology helps bring my family members closer together as wealways keep in touch with help of telephones, internet, and other conveniences. Beside, informationtechnology helps us stay in touch with the world around. Every day, we are well-informed by reading news,watching videos, browsing websites. We can also learn much about the entire world from our own tables oreven beds. Information technology provides us more choices of how, where, when and what to do things.Beneficially, we have more chances to earn because there are always numerous jobs available in the IT fieldthat helps us make money and shop. Moreover, information technology helps us to broaden our knowledge aswe can learn or take various online and offline courses. Socially, we seem to have more and more friends bothat home and overseas, we can also share opinions, date with the help of information technology.

On the other hand, modern technology can also make us more isolated when we are absorbed intechnological devices. We sometimes feel annoyed by bad and poisonous information, images, or websites.We are also afraid of losing confidential documents and files. Seriously, spywares are now so popular thatthey make us very much worried and we have to spend more to protect our technological products.

Good or bad, I really think I am lucky enough to live in this information age. I cannot imagine my lifewithout the help of information technology. The most important thing I need to do is to take full advantages ofthe information technology to better my life and try hard to reduce the bad effects that may bring to my life.

33. TOPIC: Write to describe your life in the 20 years’ time.It is obvious that no one knows for sure what his tomorrow will be like, but he can make guesses. For

me, it is likely that my 20 years’ time life will be very different from what it is now.Take work first for example, I think I will get a good job which I very much want to do. There is a

tendency that I will start up my own business then. I may invest in stock market and make a great fortune. Iwill at that time be satisfied with what I earn, and never worry about financial matters.

Studying will change, too. In 20 years’ time, it is likely that I will take various professional courses,and I tend to have several MA or PhD degrees in some different fields such as economy, education, andculture. I will probably enroll in different courses to get higher and higher diplomas.

For lifestyle, I hope I will have balanced diets, live healthily and actively. I may get married to the oneI love and we plan to have one or two kids. I will spend as much time for my family as possible. We will travelto different countries in the world on our yearly holiday of course. We will also afford weekly or monthly tripsto beauty spots throughout the country.

In the future, I will live in a big house with modernly-equipped living rooms, bedrooms, kitchen, toiletsand an open air space garden in front of a four-car garage. As I love animals very much, I will raise somepets in my house including some different kinds of dogs, cats, parrots, doves, and others.

Transportation means are also my concern. I will then own some most fashionable hybrid luxuriouscars to use in different occasions. I will travel by air whenever travelling in distances.

In my dream, I am likely to keep in touch with all high school and university friends. There will alwaysbe available most up-to-date means of communications for me to have good relationships with relatives,friends, colleagues, partners, or even acquaintances.

Naturally, the future is not ours to see, but we have rights lo lead our own life, to shape our thinking,to build up our future. As I am an optimistic and dynamic man, I will try my best to realize my dreams to makeour wishes become true someday.

34. TOPIC: Write a letter to pen-pal to talk about your family rules.……………, September 21st, 2014

Dear Jim,I am writing to talk about my family rules. It is an interesting topic, isn’t it? It may br obvious that

every family has its own rules. Mine has a few, apart from the traditional ones, especially for this school yearas I am in the final year.

First, I am not allowed to watch much TV, except when there is a good or very interesting film or anacademic game show, or when I have finished all my homework and exercises. And hardly do my parents letme stay up so late at night.

Next, my parents rarely permit me to go out with friends without necessary reasons for examplebirthdays or funerals.

Besides, I have to take the balanced diets to keep fit for my coming examinations. And one more thingI have to keep up is talking on the phone. That is why I have to set a limit to my using of the phone.

Furthermore, I don’t have to do much housework though we share that all together.Do you think I have a lot of rules to abide? Or I have no rights or freedom to do what I want or like?Tell me about your family rules, will you? It is much fun to hear about then.Write to me as soon as you can. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,Mai

35. TOPIC: Write a letter to pen-pal to talk about your family.……………, September 26th, 2014

Dear Michael,I am writing to talk about my family as requested in your last letter.There are four members in my family; my parents, my elder brother and I. My dad is now at his forty-

five and my mom is two years younger. My elder brother is twenty-two of age. My dad is a teacher at a localhigh school, and he has to work nearly weekdays. Very often he has extra classes on weekends, sometimes hehas evening classes. My mom is a farmer and she has to work hard in the fields nearly daily from earlymorning till dark. My elder brother is now a final year university student, so he has very little time to be athome with other family members. Although my parents are very busy, they try hard to spare as much time totake care of their children as possible.

My mom is a really caring woman who is always the first to get up to prepare for other familymembers things to start a new day, and the last to go to bed to make sure that everything is under control. Mydad is always willing to join hands to make us a nice house and a happy home. My brother and I love helpingmy parents in all sort of work whenever we have chance.

In my family, members care as much for others as possible to make a close-knit family. We areadmired so much by the neighboring residents. Whenever problems come up, we discuss the matters alltogether frankly to find out solutions quickly. We also share all happiness and worries, so we all feel happy,safe and secure at home just as the saying we love “Home is where love dwells and thrives”.

As you know, I am now in my final secondary year, preparing for the coming examinations with somuch pressure. Therefore, all members in my family encourage and give me the best to help me realize mydreams.

That is some about my family, and I would very much like to hear about yours in turn. I hope you willshare with me your family life. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,Lan

36. TOPIC: Write about the formal school education system in Vietnam.The current formal school education system in Vietnam, as we all know, consists of three levels; pre-

school, primary and secondary educations. Secondary education is divided into lower and upper stage. Now,in some provinces especially in cities, there are two parallel school systems in pre-school, primary or evensecondary education; state and private schools. Tuition fees are different very much from state to privateschools. In both systems, the academic year, from early September to late May, is divided into two semestersconsisting of four to five months each.

Children usually start their pre-school at the age of three, when they go to the nurseries but this stageis not compulsory. When children reach the age of six, they must go to primary schools. The primaryeducation lasts five years with 5 grades; from grade 1 to grade 5. After having finished primary education,children can go to lower secondary schools from grade 6 to grade 9. Children who complete lower secondarymay be accepted to upper secondary schools which last three years with 3 grades; ten to twelve. It depends onthe locality that children have to take the entrance examination to be upper secondary students. Childrenfinish the school education when they finish grade 12. Often, at the end of upper secondary education, studenthave to take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), the requirement to go to university orcollege, The GCSE used to take place in early June, but this year in early July.

37. TOPIC: Write a letter of request to UCAS to ask for information about the admission requirements tothe university.475/57 Le Thanh Ton St. District 1Ho Chi Minh CityMarch 15th, 2008Dear Sir/Madam,I’ve read a lot about tertiary study in the UK and very impressed by the reputation of many famousuniversities there. I am writing now to apply for the course and to ask for the admission requirements to theuniversity.Now, I am in the last year of the high school and will finish secondary education in 3 months. I am very muchinterested in an undergraduate course in economics in Birmingham University. At school I have learntEnglish for 7 years now, and my English is good enough to communicate with English speaking residents.Moreover, I am rather good at natural science subjects, and I am also very much interested in social activities.My family income is absolutely good enough to pay for my life and study abroad, too. I have good health andam willing to live on my own. What my family and I want to know now is the detailed admission requirementsto the university and the degrees I will be granted after finishing the course. Could you please send me some

information about the admission requirements, tuitions fees, accommodation and details of the course? I amready to supply any information about myself if necessary.I look forward to hearing from you soon.Yours faithfully,Hoang Thanh Nam.

38. TOPIC: Write a letter to Vinatour, applying for the job mentioned in the advertisement in a newspaper.Flat 3,324, Ly Thuong Kiet Street, HanoiOctober 16th, 2014Hanoi Vinatour250, Nguyen Du Street, HanoiDear Sir or Madam,I am writing in reply to your advertisement in the Vietnam News for experienced English-speaking localguides to accompany foreign visitors on trips throughout Vietnam. To tell the truth, I am very much interestedin the post and hope to get it.After reading the requirement for applicants, I can say by sure that I meet all of the qualifications that youspecify. I was awarded High School Certificate two years ago with flying colors. After leaving high school, Iworked as an accountant in a small travel agency for one year, where I was given a training course ontourism. Then I had one year of experience as a tour guide so I know many tourist areas in Vietnam arid havea basic knowledge of Vietnamese culture, history, geography and the people. Moreover, I was a good studentat English at school and achieved some prizes for English-speaking and English-in-use contests, so I can saythat I speak English fluently and be able to communicate effectively with English speaking partners. Inaddition, I am a sociable and confident person and can work hard for long hours. I would like to work for youand would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this position with you in person.I am looking forward to hearing from you at your convenience.Yours faithfully,Nguyen Quoc Anh

39. TOPIC: Write about measures to take to protect endangered animals.We now all know clearly that our environment is worsening day by day. Although countless efforts

have been made to better the situations, the matter seems not to be much improved. Thousands of species havebeen vanishing, many other thousands are being threatened to be extinct. To solve the problems, or even toslower the process of extinction, there are a number of measures that should be taken to protect endangeredanimals.

The first problem is that people do not know much about the need to rare and endangered animals.Therefore, people should be taught about the importance of the wildlife and rare animals in the ecosystem. Italso seems that projects to save endangered animals do not have sufficient funds, and that our mission is toraise enough funds to run these plans efficiently.

Another bad thing is that the habitats for wild animals are being seriously damaged or polluted. Tobetter homes for the wildlife we should protect their habitats from being degraded and then help build upgood habitats for all species to live in. Sometimes, people who live in or near the endangered species’habitats have poor living conditions and rely mostly on wildlife products for their livelihood. Urgently,governments should raise these people’s living standards by providing them with jobs, and help them to livewell with the nature.

The other reasons are that some countries do not have laws to protect the vulnerable animals, peoplekeep buying fashionable wildlife products, and there are not enough wildlife habitat reserves. To deal withthese challenges, governments all over the world had better soon pass and enforce laws to protect the nature,to make the purchasing products related to wild species and to build up more and more natural reserves forendangered ones to survive and develop.

Protecting the environment today is offering us and the next generations more prosperous future. Tosave the endangered species means to save the earth and to save ourselves.

40. TOPIC: Write to describe your all-time favorite book.In life, although I have several hobbies, reading books is the one I am more interested in. I have read

countless books so far, but THỜI XA VẮNG (THE FARAWAY TIME), a romance novel written by one of themost Vietnamese 20 century famous and beloved novelists LÊ LỰU, is the one that has created the greatestimpression on me ever since.

The story is set in the time of our war against the American troops in the South to unify the countryand the construction to build a communist country in the North. The ground of the story is in a tranquil poorfarming village in the North. The main characters are GIANG MINH SAI, a village schoolboy a veteran thena brick-works manager, a schoolgirl then a city dweller named HUONG, and some other characters.

When still school students of about grade 8 (the first year high school at that time), SAI and HUONGhad fallen in love with each other. They harbored and norished a very romantic love, but modern at the timebeing, though the two families did not want them to be. Growing up together in that poor village SAI andHUONG then chose the two different paths though their soul seemed to belong to each other. HUONGfurthered her study in a city bearing her sweetheart’s image and love, wishing to reunite one day. SAI joinedthe army, devoted his life, and love to the national ideal targets, he even got married to the girl he could notshare his bed. Then came their old age, the two lovers bitterly realized that they had forgot their preciousemotion for their day-dream goals.

The scenes in the book are interesting poetic and romantic, typical for a young couple’s enthusiastictruthful, deep love. The story is touching and rather sad. The story leaves us valuable lessons in life, and helpsus know more about the lifestyle of our ancestors. I must say that it is one of the best and most moving novelsI have ever read in my life.

41. TOPIC: Write an essay to express you wish to work for an international organization, giving thereasons why you choose the organization.

When still a little boy, I read an article about the World Health Organization (WHO), I realized thathealth is of the most important factor affecting one’s quality of life, and that helping to improve people’shealth is a noble profession. Since then, I have harbored the dream to work for the Organization for a numberof reasons as following.

First, working for the World Health Organization (WHO) gives me opportunities to live abroad, to useEnglish at work, and to have high salary. I am an active and dynamic person so I think it will be aninteresting life to have chance to travel far and wide to meet different people of different personalities andnationalities.

Second, I will be able to further my biology knowledge by doing numerous medical researches. I canalso understand more about life mechanism, the reactions of the bodies to the changes of the surroundings. Ofcourse, working for the World Health Organization (WHO) will offer me occasions to meet, to have talks withwell-known people worldwide.

As far as I can say, taking care of other people’s health is always a respectful job. Working as anofficial of the World Health Organization (WHO) helps me to be more aware of the value of life. Looking

after the ones who struggle to survive will give me strength and hope, help me think more optimistically anddo more positive things.

Living is sacrificing. I for long have considered this proverb as one of my life approaches. I will try mybest to realize my dream some day in the future.

42. TOPIC: In today’s competitive world, many families find it necessary for both parents to go out to work.While some say the children in these families benefit from the traditional income, others feel they lacksupport because of their parents’ absence. Discuss both these views and give your own opinions.

In the business-driven culture nowadays, in order to adopt all of the so-called symbols of advancedlife, in many families; both parents have to work hard all day long for their children to enjoy the best. It’s truethat those children benefit from the joint income and the same, those grew up lacking parental support, andthis practice is creating a negative feedback loop.

On the first note, one of the external influences on a child’s development is economic status; childrenin impoverished or low-income families are, often times, more prone to emotional difficulties than otherchildren because parents have limited resources to address the children’s needs as an asset to a child’soverall development. Therein, the income of parents is directly influential in the quality of care as well as oflife a child has. So out of the love for their children, willy-nilly, both parents have no choice but work outside.

However, gaining higher economic status does not guarantee better child development, in return tothis, something must be lost. Parents with the help of close emotional bonds with children will be able toenhance a child’s motivation to comply with rules and requests and is associated with positive long term-outcomes so that they will grow up more independent, emphatic, and socially competent. Secure attachmentsto parents will underpin a child for positive, self-fulfilling expectations about other people which he will takeinto future relationships.

In an evolving culture where parents spend more time working and less time with their child, thechild’s overall development is the one to suffer- the long-term implications of which not yet fully realized. Yet,it is important to step back and consider the quality of the current cultural environment and the ill-developedchildren it may produce, obviously this leads to the disability to handle relationships and the child fail tofunction better both socially and professionally, and this may impact generation after generation.

Children need their parents to be affectionate, caring beings, whether working parent or stay-homeparent; it doesn’t matter much. What really counts is that the parent loves the child, fosters secureattachments with her child and fathoms of what the child’s needs are. Otherwise, it is society that bears theconsequences; its citizens are all ill- developed ones.

43. TOPIC: Write a letter to recommend a significant place to visit in Vietnam to your foreign friend.Vietnam, in worldwide people’s eyes, is the countries of landscapes, beauty spots, tourist attractions,

and of course historical addresses. That means one can easily choose a destination for his journey to this verybeautiful country. Of all the sights, I would very like to recommend visitors a tourist destination of HUONGPAGODA.

Located in the North, about 30 kilometers south-west of Hanoi capital, Huong Pagoda has long beenknown as one of the most beautiful sights, the most important religious place to visit. It was once named“NAM THIEN DE NHAT DONG- THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CAVE IN VIETNAM” by one of the NguyenDynasty Emperors.

After about 40 minutes driving or riding from the centre of Hanoi Capital city, we will then arrive at alarge stream (namely SUOI DUC) water wharf. Catching one of numerous waiting boats, we can travel as faras 3 kilometers to meet with the hillside ramps. While on boat, we have chance to enjoy the very beautifulsights of hills, caves and enjoy the pure environment of water reflecting sky.

Climbing up thousands of stone ramps on foot or taking cable-cars uphill, we then face the mainpagoda building. Along the hillside path to the top, we absolutely forget all tiredness to be deeply stimulatedby the natural beauty and fresh surroundings. Stood on the top of upfolded hills the primary pagoda istogether with supporting temples and other religious constructions.

Millions of home and foreign visitors come to HUONG PAGODA yearly to make it one of the mostbeloved tourist attractions not only in Vietnam, but the continent as well. With the country’s promisingeconomic development, the explosion of science and technology, the great attention to care for by thegovernments and people, HUONG PAGODA is more and more attractive to both Vietnamese and overseastourists.

44. TOPIC: Write a paragraph of about 140 words to tell about your family.There are four people in my family: my parents, my younger sister and I. My dad is forty-nine and my

mom is four years younger. My younger sister is ten years old. My dad works for a local company and mymom is a doctor. My younger sister is in grade 5. Both my parents work from 7:30am to 5pm everyday exceptSaturday and Sunday. Sometimes they have to work at night and go away home for a few days. Although myparents are very busy with their work, they always try to spend much time for the family. My mother is acaring person. She always gets up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for everyone. My dad is alwayshappy to give a hand with the housework such as cooking meals or cleaning the floor. Because I am in grade12 and I will have taken the national exam by the end of June, my parents let me have a lot of time for mystudy. However, I always try to help my mom and dad with the household chores. My main responsibility istaking out the garbage, washing the dishes after meals and helping my younger sister with her study when Ihave time. We are a close-knit family and we always share our feeling, happiness, or sadness with each other.I love my family so much.

45. TOPIC: Write a letter of request (about 120 words) to ask for the information about the admissionrequirements to the university you want to apply.

5 Bao Son street, Lien Bao district,

Vinh Yen cityDear Sir/ Madam,I have read the advertisement of your university in our local paper, and I am very much impressed by its

reputation, especially the Department of Accountant.I will have finished my secondary education by the end of May and taken the national exam and I am

very interested in an undergraduate course in your university.Would you please let me know the admission requirements to it and will you send me the information

about the course: tuition fee, its details and accommodation as well?I would be happy to supply further information about myself if necessary.I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Nguyen Van A

46. TOPIC: Write a paragraph (120 words) about measures to protect endangered species.Nowadays, a lot of species in the world are in danger of extinction. Therefore, we should take some

measures to protect them from becoming extinct. First, we should organize different activities such asinternational seminars or forums to raise people’s awareness of the need to protect rare and endangered

animals. Second, we should raise sufficient funds for projects to save endangered animals. Third, we shouldkeep water, air, and land clean to preserve natural habitats for wild and endangered animals. Next, we shouldhave a good policy to improve the life of people who live in or near endangered animals’ habitats have poorliving conditions and rely mostly on wildlife products for their livelihood. Furthermore, we should build morewildlife habitat reserves to protect endangered animals. Finally, we should enact laws requiring somecountries to protect endangered animals and ban people to exploit and sell fashionable wildlife products.

47. TOPIC: In about 140 words, write a paragraph about the kind of job you would like to do after youfinish your education.

Having a job nowadays is very important to everyone. By the end of this month, I will have left my highschool, so I also would like to choose a suitable job for myself.

Unlike other students, I live in a poor village in the remote and mountainous area where there is alwaysthe lack of everything such as schools, teachers, electricity and water, the living conditions are low andchildren do not go to school regularly. Now I am a student and I am going to leave my school to attend auniversity, so I hope to make my home village more developed and bring knowledge to the children. Besides, Ilove teaching and I love children and want to give comfort and care to them. Therefore, I would like to workas a teacher. Working as a teacher would be a fascinating and challenging job because I would have achance to bring education to difficult places with poor children and living conditions. That’s the reason why Ihave applied to Hanoi National University of Education to meet my dream.