Many candidates were disappointed because they lost points on questions related to English idioms.
This afternoon, June 29, candidates completed the high school graduation exam in foreign languages, which was also the last exam for most of the candidates.
At the exam site of Ban Co Secondary School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), N.D Tram Anh, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (District 3), assessed the 2023 English exam as being within her ability, "even easier than the exam at school" and confidently scored over 9 points.
Parents were excited when they heard that their children had done well on their tests.
"I have an IELTS score of 5.0 or higher, but because I used English to apply for the veterinary program at Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, I still took the exam. In the exam, I was most concerned about the questions about English idioms, such as 'below the belt' and 'buy a pig in a poke'. After today, I really want to sleep because I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping recently. I also want to learn more French," Tram Anh confided.
Truong Ha Vy, who studied at the same school and has IELTS 6.0, also found the test to be within her ability but also had difficulty with two questions related to the idioms "below the belt" and "buy a pig in a poke".
What does "Below the belt", "buy a pig in a poke" mean?
According to Mr. NTP, who achieved 8.5 IELTS and has many years of experience teaching at English centers, "below the belt" originates from boxing, in which punching an opponent below the belt is illegal. "In daily life, this idiom refers to dirty, unfair actions or sarcastic, insulting words," said Mr. P.
According to the male teacher, "buy a pig in a poke" can be understood as "buy a cat in a bag", meaning being in the dark about the purchased goods or buying something without carefully considering or considering, leading to unexpected results.
Agreeing, Master Do Nguyen Dang Khoa, a graduate of English teaching at Warwick University (UK) and a 2021 Hornby scholar, further explained that the idiom "below the belt" originated around the 19th century, when the Marquis of Queensbury banned hitting opponents below the belt in boxing.
"A pig in the poke" is recorded to have appeared since the 1500s in England. At that time, when buying and selling piglets at the market, people would put them in a sealed sack (poke, or more commonly, sack). Because of the sealed bag, many traders often replaced them with small animals of lower value, such as cats.
"My impression of the exam is that the reading passage mentioned methods that helped Japanese inventors come up with unique ideas. One day, I think I will try to apply one of the methods mentioned," said the female student who aspires to study graphic design.
Parents record the moment their children officially complete their final exam
Questions about English idioms were also the reason why Vu Hoang Quynh Anh, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, was "far from a perfect score". "At that time, I was 'frozen' because I didn't understand what the idiom said, so I was only confident about getting 8 points. This year's reading passage mentioned social networks and modern devices, which are very familiar to young people and I think this is the 'bright spot' of the question because it helps me visualize it better", Quynh Anh expressed.
Quynh Anh had difficulty doing questions about English idioms.
Similarly, male student Ngo Gia Kiet was also very interested in the reading, and said that this year's English exam for high school graduation had a lot of content about the younger generation, especially the message about how to use time effectively and advising students to participate in extracurricular activities. "The exam was generally quite easy, there were no difficult questions," Kiet added.
Lam Tuong Vy, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, said that the difficulty of the 2023 exam is not much different from previous years. "Even though I have 6.5 IELTS, I still took the exam because I wanted to evaluate my own ability. The most difficult part for me was stress, but overall the exam was easy. After today, I will participate in scouting activities to learn more soft skills and 'upgrade' my communication skills," the female student said.
Even though she has the right to be exempted from the English exam thanks to her IELTS score of 6.5, Tuong Vy (left) still took the exam to assess her own ability.
Source link
Comment (0)