Writing test 1
Task 1: Write a letter to an employment agency (công ty môi giới việc làm) to find a job. You
should mention the reason why you choose to work, type of work you prefer and your
experience, your qualifications and English level.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to express my interest to get registered with your employment agency as I am
looking for a suitable part-time job. I am hoping you would enlist me in your database and notify
me of suitable job announcements and forward my resume to prospective (có tiềm năng)
employers.
I am Hansen Lee, an international student at the University of Westminster and my major is
Business Administration. I am originally from Japan and will be staying in London for the next
couple of years. To support my education cost and to gain some job experience, I am seeking =
finding a suitable part-time position. (reason for finding the job – lý do xin việc)
I can work as an administrative assistant, customer experience manager or as a salesperson in a
retail (bán lẻ) shop. I can spare time from 4.30 pm onwards on weekdays and full-time on
weekends. (vị trí mong muốn)
I have previously worked as a customer support officer in a call center (tổng đài) in Japan and as
a sales executive (giám đốc quản lý bán hang) in a superstore in London. I have attached my
Curriculum Vitae with this letter for your kind consideration which further details my education
and work experience. (kinh nghiệm)
I look forward to hearing from you and getting the details process to register with your job
agency. Thank you in advance. (= beforehand: trước).
Yours faithfully,
Hansen Lee
Task 2: Phones at primary schools should be banned. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
The advent of information technology has exerted (tạo ra/ gây ra) a certain implication in
people's lives, especially young students. Whereas some individuals believe in the usefulness of
using phones in class, others may hold an opposing viewpoint. In my opinion, students’ use of
mobile technology in school lessons provides a wide range of benefits despite a couple of
disadvantages.
On the one hand, children’s use of gadgets (thiết bị) in the process of learning may be negative to
some extent. First, individual mobile utilization (=use) makes it hard for teachers to take control
of what each and every student is actually doing during school time. This means they can spend
time on irrelevant (không liên quan) activities such as playing games or surfing the internet,
which is paradoxical (nghịch lý) to the original purpose of the implement (sử dụng). Second, the
more young children use phones in their class, the more dependent on technologies teachers
become. As a result, the educational labour force may fail to deliver lessons in traditional
methodology applying almost no use of top-notch (=modern) devices.
On the other hand, allowing young learners to use mobile phones in class brings some good
indeed. To begin with, a simple click on the phone offers adolescents (trẻ vị thành niên) to get
access to a great deal of information available online. It has recently become unnecessary to
spend time travelling to libraries to find the needed materials, which is doubtlessly
(=undoubtedly) time-saving. Thanks to the given convenience, they are enabled (có thể) to
obtain (=get) a vast array of useful knowledge at a time. In addition, the application of
technological advancement in education has created a new opportunity for teachers to try a
modern method of teaching. To be more specific, (cụ thể là) state-of-the-art (kiệt tác) digital
services are what many people who pursue a career in the educational sector are taken
advantages of. For example, a variety of online informative games, such as bamboozle or
Kahoot, are designed along with lessons to captivate learner’s attention (thu hút sự tập trung)
during their study process.
All in all, permitting the young generation to use cellphones is more of a wise decision for a
large number of adults to make. Although the widespread use of mobile phones is likely to
involve certain difficulty in management along with over-reliance on machinery, it actually
opens door to more informative knowledge and a new teaching method as well.
Writing test 2
Task 1: Write a letter to ask an exchange program about its schedule, teachers, facilities.
Task 2: In modern society, women and girls do not need to learn cooking and doing housework.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Nowadays, an ever-increasing number of women work full time, and in this reality it is widely
believed that house chores should be shared between men and women equally. I strongly agree
with this statement.
On the one hand, there are obvious merits of this trend. One of the reasons for sharing
housework between males and females is to promote gender equality (tang cường bình đẳng
giới). A stereotype (thực tế) that has existed a long time is that females ought to stay home,
taking care of the family once they got married. This includes looking after the children and
doing all of the housework, which is fairly labour-intensive (lao động nặng nhọc). However, this
approach could have quite a few disadvantages. It would render women less able of keeping
abreast of what is happening in the job market, thus forming a lifestyle where they might find it
arduous (e dè) to step into the society again. To avoid this, many women are willing to get back
into the workforce soon after their maternity leave (nghỉ sinh), and once they do, it makes sense
that their husbands should share part of the household chores, to fulfill (=complete) their family
responsibilities.
Nevertheless, we cannot be oblivious of several drawbacks of this trend. One potential downside
is that men are less experienced (ít kinh nghiệm) in dealing with household tasks. This is because
many seldom take an active role in doing housework, according to customs (truyền thống) of
many countries. As a result, they may end up doing household tasks in a less than perfect way,
which could contribute to some unnecessary (không cần thiết) quarrels (tranh cãi/ cãi nhau)
between partners, hindering (cản trở/ rào cản = prevent = barrier = interfere) their family bond
(mối quan hệ). However, the likelihood of this happening isnot very high, because wives can
offer some tips or guidance to their husbands when they learn how to share house chores such as
mopping (lau) floors or doing laundry (giặt giũ).
To sum up, although some conflicts might be triggered when equally sharing the duties of
household tasks, the benefits of this trend are relatively oblivious.
Writing test 3
Task 1: Write a letter to an English center where you want to take a course and ask about its
timetable, teachers and programs, location and costs.
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is _________ (Name) and I am persuing ________ (Course) from ________ (School/
College Name). I am a resident of ____________ (Location).
I am writing this letter to you in order to enquire about the English course that you offer. I would
like to state that I am looking for an English course that would be helping me in the coming
future with ___________ (Foreign Education/ Professional Life – Benefits). Your institute is
reputed and well known for good courses, I am willing to apply to your institute.
Therefore, I would enquire about the following information. Firstly, I would like to know where
the center is located in order to come there in time. Secondly, can you tell me about the timetable
of the classes so that I may arrange my schedule to join your classes. Thirdly, I would like to
know in details about the charges, programs, teachers and all other relevant information. Kindly
guide me through the admission and other procedures. I shall be highly thankful.
I look forward to your kind response. You may contact me at __________ (Contact Number).
Yours Truly,
____________ (Name),
Task 2: Reducing air pollution is the responsibility of the government. To what extent do you
agree or disagree?
People hold different views about whether the government should shoulder the responsibility of
preserving the environment or each person is responsible one. From my standpoint, it will
be more beneficial if both the country’s authorities and individuals share the responsibility.
On the one hand, the government may play a pivotal role in maintaining the environment safe
and healthy. It is authorities that should introduce the legislation in order to mitigate
environmental problems, such as air pollution and more. To illustrate, there should be some laws
encouraging factories to move to the country sides rather than staying in cities. This could help
urban areas to be further protected from the poisonous fumes, which are always discharged from
firms. Another prominent role the government could play would be creating TV programs to
educate citizens, and to persuade them to care the nature more. Being informed of the
consequences of their activities, individuals may endeavor to alter their ways, to avoid harming
the environment.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that each person can play an important role in protecting their
own neighborhood. Cars are considered to be a major source of air pollution. Their exhaust gases
contaminate the air, ranging from carbon dioxide to unburnt carbon. Therefore, by using their
own vehicles only in rare cases, people would be able to protect the environment. Another
opportunity available to individuals is recycling. By stopping plastic waste from entering and
contaminating waterways people are able to conserve drinkable water and its inhabitants.
In conclusion, due to the large amount of work involved, mobilizing all the possible forces is a
more sensible approach. It is, therefore, likely that joint efforts of both the governments and their
citizens would result in the most effective way of preserving the environment.
Writing test 4
Task 1: Write a letter to a friend and say about watching TV. You should mention how much you
like it, your favorite TV program, details about your hobby.
Dear John,
I'm very happy when I received your letter. I know you have just joined a film club! That's great.
I'm writing this letter to tell you about my favorite kind of film I like watching.
I'm very interested in Comedy films on TV. As you know, there are many forms of expression
inside of everybody; however, the most common form is laughter. The sound of laughter can be
heard all around the worlds every second, it helps us relieve stress and makes us feel better about
ourselves. Comedy films play such an important role in helping us laugh. There are many forms
of films out there today. In spite of the recent incline in action and horror films today, comedy
films have always been my number one choice because it gives people an opportunity to look at
humor in life, it usually has a pointless, useless moral that we can relate to, and it allows you to
look at things in a new light and possibly expand your horizon to become a more optimistic
person. All comedies always have one essential ingredient to make it a great comedy, humor. All
comedies give people an opportunity to look at humor in life and laugh at it. Comedies usually
show a hilarious scene for people to enjoy and laugh at. Many scenes which has an outburst of
crazy and ridiculous moments will not usually happen in our daily life, but it’s fun to enjoy . I
often watch comedies when I get upset, have stress because, laughing help me relax và bring
balance back to me. My favorite actors and actress are Xuan Hinh, Hoai Linh, Cam Van, Van
Dung, etc. I can't help laughing when I watch their comedies or hilarious sitcoms. It's really fun
and very helpful to relieve stress. That's the reason why I love watching comedy films.
That's all for now. I hope to see you soon.
See you,
Task 2: Nowadays, women decide to have children later in their life. What are the reasons
for and the impacts of this trend?
In modern society, there is an upward tendency in the trend of becoming parents later of many
couples. From my perspective, it gives more disadvantageous than advantageous influences.
With regard to benefits, there are two main points that people make a decision to give birth
at later stages of life. Firstly, they have more time to enjoy their life when they are young. It is
understandable that when they have babies, most of time for personal hobbies and passions
usually reduces and instead they spend this time raising their children. The second point is
ensuring finance that supports for their children to live in a better condition. More often than not
they just start their career and have lower income so they decide to focus on earning money until
they have strong finance enough to take responsibility of their children.
However, it is undeniable that drawbacks of having babies later bring to family life and
society. The more time they spend delaying to have babies, the more negative the impact on both
giving and raising babies. In fact, it is hard for mothers over the age of 35 to ensure health for
both mothers and babies in the prenatal and postnatal period. Because at that ages, the health and
physiology of women are not as good as when they were young. Therefore, their babies being
born may be less physically healthy. In addition, the choice of having children later usually make
an age gap (khoảng cách tuổi tác) between two generations. This creates a barrier (rào cản) to
understand and communicate with their offspring in parenting.
In conclusion, there are some reasons why current people prefer to have babies when being
older, but I believe that makes more negative than positive impacts on family life.
Writing test 5
Task 1: A friend of yours choose to present about a festival in your country. Write a letter to a
friend about the most important festival in your country, time, age group of people taking part in
this festival, activities in the festival and how important it is to local people and culture.
Dear Ann,
Thank you for your email. I hope you and your family are fine. I am very happy to know that you
are planning to travel to Vietnam during Tet holiday.
You asked me some information about Tet holiday in Vietnam. You know, it’s a chance for
family reunion. I mean that on this special occasion, everyone tries their best to come back home
to celebrate the event with their families no matter how far or busy they are.
Before Tet, people make lots of preparations such as shopping for new clothes, furniture; having
their houses painted or decorating their homes with kumquat trees and peach flowers. On New
Year’s Eve, we often make offerings to our ancestors and people often go to watch the fireworks.
After that, many of them go to pagodas to pray for their good luck, health and business for the
upcoming year. On the first days of Lunar New Year, people usually visit their grandparents,
close relatives and friends and give them the best wishes. Besides, children and elderly people
often receive lucky money. Regarding several dishes for Tet, it’s common that people make
plenty of traditional dishes, for example, Banh Chung or Spring rolls.
That’s all for now. Please write back to me and tell me about your plans. Hope to see you soon!
All the best,
Task 2: To solve traffic problems, sky trains are invested in big cities. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of sky trains in cities?
Traffic congestion has become the bane of citizens in many parts of the world. In order to
mitigate this problem, some suggest that public transportation, such as trains and subway lines
should be constructed. Meanwhile, others are firm in their belief that building wider roads makes
more sense. Both of these methods will be analysed below.
On the one hand, building trains is an effective method to improve traffic condition. There is
compelling evidence to support investment in public transportation. In countries where subway
systems are up to standard, the number of private vehicles that participate in traffic is small, and
city dwellers can save hours of delay and also thousands of dollars on travel expenses. That is
not to mention a significant number of gallons of fuel saved, which means slowing down the
exploitation of natural resources.
There are, however, others who express doubts on this approach. Their suggestion is that a better
way to alleviate traffic jam is to make bigger road systems. The undeniable fact is that in many
developing countries today, roads are narrow and in a desperate state of disrepair, which greatly
obstructs the travels to their destinations. Someone’s small accidents, a flat tyre, for example, can
bring traffic to a halt, which is a commonly-seen problem in roads that have only two lanes.
To conclude, both methods discussed above provide sustained relief on our roadways; however,
it is my opinion that the method to build trains and subway makes more sense in terms of
environmental protection.
Writing test 6
Task 1: A friend of yours choose to study piano after class but she is still wondering about it.
Write a letter to your friend and ask her what she enjoys playing, encourage her to play the piano
and give her advice on balancing the time for study and piano class.
Dear Sam,
Thanks a lot for your letter. I was very glad to receive your letter and know that you are in good
health. I am sorry I haven’t written to you for so long because I have been really busy with my
study.
In your letter you told me about whether you should study the piano after class. I am going to
share my opinion on this. I'm sure your piano lessons are very interesting. What is your favorite
piece of music that you enjoy playing?
Playing musical instruments can help you relax after hard working hours at school. Please take
your time to learn it carefully. Do not give up.
As for the question of how to balance the time for schoolwork and learning piano. I think you
can finish your exercises at school first, then, you can go on learning piano. You can take piano
lessons after school 2 days a week or at the weekends. I am sure you will do well on both
studying and playing piano.
Please do write to me again if you need more information. I am always happy to hear from you,
so please write again soon!
Love
Nicole
Task 2: What are the benefits of unpaid community service to teenagers and society?
Human start to learn from the very first day of their birth, however, the lessons at the tender age
are helpful for the entire life. A handful of people consider that volunteer works by the teens for
the community during free time is ideal and, I completely agree with this fact and will discuss in
the upcoming paragraphs.
The unpaid community deeds help youngsters to utilize their time in a productive manner which
would lead them to get life time skills. For instance, if a youngster will have some work which is
totally his/her responsibility and they need to finish within a specified timeline, these will help
them to learn time management and the task done for the community will be done by not
spending extra expenses to a paid worker and help community to save the money. Hence, these
works help teens to get away from the bad doings and community get a good citizen.
Furthermore, the experiences and references can also bring positive repercussions. To illustrate,
these communities always have the connections with the people who work for the higher reputed
companies, which can help teenagers by giving references and can help to find a prestige job.
Moreover, these volunteer works give the experience to the youngsters which can benefit them,
in case, they start to work in similar work replaced organization.
To conclude, unpaid work can help teen to get experiences and references which may help them
to get brighter future and by learning social skills they can be a good person.
Task 2: In recent years, many young people choose to quit their jobs and do start-up. What do
you think are the causes of this trend?
Task 2: Do the benefits of tourism outweigh the drawbacks? Give your opinions.