Part 1:

Do you enjoy dancing? [Why/Why not?]

Has anyone ever taught you to dance? [Why/Why not?]
Tell me about any traditional dancing in your country.
Do you think that traditional dancing will be popular in the future?
Part 2:
Describe someone in your family who you like.
You should say:
how this person is related to you.
what this person looks like.
what kind of person he/she is.
and explain why you like this person.
Part 3:
Family similarities.
In what ways can people in a family be similar to each other?
Do you think that daughters are always more similar to mothers than to male
relatives?
What about sons and fathers?
In terms of personality, are people more influenced by their family or their friends?
In what ways?
Genetic research.
Where can people in your country get information about genetic research?
How do people in your country feel about genetic research?
Should this research be funded by governments or private companies? Why?

Part 1:
Do you enjoy dancing? [Why/Why not?]
► Yes, I find dancing really interesting. Every dance has its own specialties which
distinguish it with others. In my opinion, one of the most outstanding things of
each dance is that each goes along with different kinds of music, which makes
dancing more attractive. As I see it dancing not only makes your soul more
romantic and relax but also makes your body more flexible and fit. Besides,
dancing helps your health better. Therefore, if I have a chance to learn dancing, it
is certain not just a piece of cake for me and very difficult to learn but I will try to
study well.
Has anyone ever taught you to dance? [Why/Why not?]
► Yes. Although I have not ever participated in any class of dancing, I could be
proud to say to you that I used to be taught to dance by my teacher. I had a
memory happening about three years ago related to dancing. I did not remember
clearly how it happened. I supposed that as we were studying in her extra class,
inadvertently the power was cut. Therefore, instead of waiting for power, she
decided to teach us some basic dancing. It is the first time that I knew what
dancing is. It is a good memory in my heart that I cannot forget.
Tell me about any traditional dancing in your country.
► One of the unique traditional dancings in my country is Southern Lion Dance,
which means “múa lân”. It originated from China. Lion Dance is usually
performed in Mid – Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year. As an art, Southern
Lion Dance has its principles and rules. A Lion dance usually lasts from 20 to 25
minutes. A lion dance cannot lack the Earth God which means “Ông Địa”. A
Southern Lion Dance performance is very animated with instruments such as
drum, firecrackers. It is really interesting. It is performed to welcome good things
and wipe out all bad things.
Do you think that traditional dancing will be popular in the future?
► I concur with you. In my opinion, traditional dancing is a precious thing of a
country. Therefore, they need to be preserved and popular in the future. It is likely
that the government will have plans to make Southern Lion Dance more popular in
our country so that Southern Lion Dance will be a vital part of Vietnamese culture.
Southern Lion Dance will probably appear more frequently in special ceremonies.
It is worth being preserved.
Part 2:
In my family, the person I love most is my grand father who passed away about six
years ago because of cancer. When I was just a child, my parents usually went to
work. Therefore, I stayed at home with him and our relationship was quite good.
He was very friendly and helpful. Whenever my friends came to my house, he
usually greeted them with cordiality. He liked growing flowers very much. It was
the reason why there were flowers galore in my garden. Every morning I tried to
get up early to garden the flowers and enjoy the fresh atmosphere with him. He
loved me very much and I was an apple of his eyes. When I went to primary
school, it was he that rode me on his bike to take me travel back and forth between
my house and school. When he passed away, I felt like having a broken heart. I
was sad and cried so much. I missed him. I missed every time we had been
together, missed his gentle and righteous smiles. From that time, I became reserved
and did not want to talk to anyone. A long time passed. I realized that I could not
continue living like this. I could not be a coward person. I must be strong despite
the tragedy in life as what he had advised me to. I decided to dance to another tune
to live well as my grand father hoped.
Part 3:
In what ways can people in a family be similar to each other?
► In my opinion, people in a family can have a resemble to each other in two
basic ways which are their appearance and their characters. As I see it, there are
two main reasons why people in a family can have similarity to each other. The
first is their gene and the other is the environment of living together which makes
them similar to each other.
Do you think that daughters are always more similar to mothers than to male
relatives?
► I do not have the same opinion to you. As far as I know, sex just partially plays
an important role in this matter. The similarities can originate from other reasons
such as environment of living together. Take myself, for example. I am resembled
to my father more than to my mother in both my appearance and my personalities.
What about sons and fathers?
► As I have mentioned, sex just partially plays an important role in this matter.
The similarities can be traced from other reasons such as environment of living
together. Take my father, for example. My father is similar to my grand mother in
his appearance and to my grand father in most of his characters such as strictness
and deservedness.
In terms of personality, are people more influenced by their family or their friends?
In what ways?
► In my opinion, we cannot say that people’s personality totally depends on their
family or their friends. Two ways affect people’s personality simultaneously.
However, I divide two periods of time which they influence most. The first is when
they have not gone to school. At that time, the behaviors of their family play a vital
part in their characters. The other is when they go to school. At that time, they will
meet their friends even more than their family. Therefore, their friends will
influence them more than their family during this period.
Where can people in your country get information about genetic research?
► As far as I am concerned, people in my country get information about genetic
research through books, magazines or newspapers.
How do people in your country feel about genetic research?
► It is quite new to Vietnamese people. There are many people in my country who
still live in destitute so their knowledge is not high. Therefore, they cannot realize
the importance of this matter.
Should this research be funded by governments or private companies? Why?
► I think government should have main responsibility in this research. Besides,
private companies should participate in this important research if they want.

Musical instruments:
Q.  Which instrument do you like listening to most? [Why?]
Answer: I like listening to the tune of the guitar the most primarily because this
versatile musical instrument is able to play any kind of my favourite songs at very
ease. Besides, listening to the guitar helps me to get in the positive frame of mind
when I feel little “depressed”.

Q.  Have you ever learned to play a musical instrument? [Which one?]

Answer: I learned to play the guitar as a high school student almost 10 years ago,
and I became reasonably good at playing it. I even played this great musical
instrument in subsequent years at some parties with my friends. But, as I got older
and became busy with other priorities of life, I now pay it only once in a blue
moon. 

Q.  Do you think children should learn to play a musical instrument at school?
[Why/Why not?]
Answer: Children should learn to play a musical instrument because it would help
children develop math skills, quick thinking, and creativity. In fact, understanding
the relationship between different musical notes and chords is pure math. Besides,
it would actually help bring out the musical talents, hidden in children, and turn
them into some very famous and world-class musicians in future.

Q.  How easy would it be to learn to play an instrument without a teacher?

 [Why?]
Answer: I personally think that without the guidance and supervision of a mentor,
learning a musical instrument and being good at it is pretty impossible. This is
primarily because the teacher can always correct us when we do something wrong
and can motivate us to a great extent. Without the guidance of a master, we might
even lose our inspiration to continue learning. 
Part 2 - Cue Card
Sample Answer 2:
You should say:
 what you do
 where you do it
 who you do it with
and explain why you think that doing this is healthy.

I wake up early in the morning and then walk for an hour every day. After that, I
swim in the nearby river for about 30 minutes and then I start my day. Waking up
very early and then doing the physical exercise is the healthy habit I have
developed from the early stage of my life.

I remember my father insisting us to wake up very early and then took us to the
nearby high school ground for exercise. Nowadays, I wake up from bed at around
5:30 am and wear my exercise trousers and a pair of shoes. Then I start walking
along with the road that has passed beside the river. The fresh air in the morning is
very healthy for health. Sometimes I take my bicycle and instead of walking, I ride
my cycle. I started doing this early morning exercise and swimming a few years
back but nowadays 2 of my friends and cousins accompany me almost every day.
They enjoy doing exercise very much.

The morning is a time when the air and environment remain fresher than at any
time of the day. So breathing the fresh air, doing the exercises and finally
swimming in the freshwater is definitely a very healthy habit. A sound mind lies on
a sound body and this habit that I adopted is pretty helpful for keeping sound
health and a sound mind.

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Keeping fit and healthy:
Q.  What do most people do to keep fit in your country?
Answer: Most people in Germany try to remain fit by exercising at local gyms,
walking in parks and swimming in the pool. Besides, it’s the very lifestyles of most
people in Germany which help them to remain fit. In fact, walking and cycling in
my country to get around are very common, with footpaths and cycle routes (more
than 46,000 miles of cycle routes) all over the country, making it really easy to
travel between the towns without a car. On top of that, most people in Germany are
health-conscious, and as a result, they are very particular about their food and diets
they choose to eat on a regular basis. 

Q.  How important is it for people to do some regular physical exercise?

Answer: In my opinion, it is absolutely important for people to do some regular
physical exercise in order to remain physically fit and healthy. Physical activity or
exercise can improve our health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases
like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, a minimum of 30
minutes of regular activity can improve our quality of life by helping us manage
our weight better as well as having stronger bones, muscles and joints. Besides,
regular exercise will make us feel better with more energy, better mood and better
sleep.
Q.  Why so many people these days suffer from stress-related issues?
Answer: Even a few decades ago, very few people knew about stress the way we
do today, and the reasons behind this are rather simple. Before a few decades, our
family relationships and community ties were relatively stronger. Besides, back
then, we were not exactly so much focused on goals such as money, fame, and
self-image. Finally, our expectations are probably just too high from our lives these
days, as opposed to a few decades ago, because we think that life is too short, and
we will have to get everything right here and right now. 

Health and modern lifestyles:

Q.  Why do some people think that modern lifestyles are not healthy?
Answer: Many of us, rather than just some of us, in my country think that modern
lifestyles are not healthy because we have compromised “quality” over “quantity”
in a massive way. In our modern world today, we see no problem in sitting in front
of our TV and computer for hours for no obvious benefits and reasons, and yet, we
suddenly feel very “busy” to walk to a local store just for 10 minutes. We spend
tons of money everyday eating “junk” food with almost no or very limited
nutritional value, and yet, we suddenly become very “economic” when it comes to
buying some fresh fruits and vegetables. So, yes, modern lifestyles may have given
us a lot of things, but “health”, be it physical or mental, is probably not one of
them. 

Q.  Why do some people choose to lead unhealthy lives?

Answer: Some people choose to lead unhealthy lives either because they don’t
understand the “value” of living a healthy life or they are just too “lazy and
arrogant” to get out of their comfort zone in order to find out how leading
unhealthy lives will affect their health and minds in the long run. Besides, some
people, because of being unhappy with nothing to look forward in life, also choose
to lead unhealthy lives. Then, finally, there is another group of people who choose
to lead unhealthy lives because they are just “brought up” that way, and they
consider that leading unhealthy lives actually make them look “cool” to others.

Q.  Should individuals or governments be responsible for making people’s

lifestyle healthy?
Answer: What kind of lifestyles people should choose in order to remain healthy
should be a personal and individual responsibility. What a person should eat and
drink, and when a person should sleep, or how long a person should exercise every
day should be entirely up to the person involved. If a person doesn’t understand
what it takes to live a healthy lifestyle, the government can’t really do much about
it except raising a certain level of awareness among its citizens about the benefits
of living a healthy life as well as the harms of living an unhealthy one.
However, the government can run some campaigns and advertisements to aware
people about the importance of a salubrious lifestyle and can build more parks,
sports centre and medical check-up points to help people lead a better life.

Q.  What could be done to encourage people to live in a healthy way?

Answer: The best way to encourage people to live in a healthy way is to teach
them from a very early age, both at home and school, about the benefits of living a
healthy life. Some kind of incentives and rewards, such as tax breaks or
“certification”, can also be arranged for the “healthy families” in all communities
so that the people there really feel “pumped up” and compete with each other in
order to become “healthier” than others. Finally, at least one sports centres and one
park/garden can be provided in close proximity of each community so that people
there can go to those places and spend some times “working out and sweating” a
little every day.
PART 1: Traffic where you live
How do most people travel to work where you live?
What traffic problems are there in your area? Why?
How do traffic problems affect you?
How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area?
PART 2: Describe a game or sport you enjoy playing.
You should say:
What kind of game or sport it is
Who you play it with
Where you play it
and explain why you enjoy playing it
PART 3: Children’s games
How have games changed from the time when you were a child?
Do you think this has been a positive change? Why?
Why do you think children like playing games?
Games and competition
Do you think competitive games are good or bad for children? In what ways?
How can games sometimes help to unite people?
Why is competition often seen as important in today’s society?
PART 1: Traffic where you live
1.How do most people travel to work where you live?
Most people in my area usually travel to work by motorbikes. It seems that the
motorbikes are the vehicle that are popular in my country because of its flexibility.
Besides, although affluent persons can use individual cars in order to travel to
work, it is really not common in my country as other developed countries.
2.What traffic problems are there in your area? Why?
There are two important and common traffic problems in my area. They are traffic
jams and traffic accidents. In my area, traffic jams are problems that are frequent
and popular, especially in rush hours. Vehicles in rush hours can hardly be
accommodated. Moreover, because of bad awareness of drivers, there are many
accidents happening frequently in my area year in year out.
3.How do traffic problems affect you?
As you know, traffic problems directly affect our lives everyday. I am also not an
exceptional case. When I take buses to go to school everyday, I feel very angry
because the traffic jams happen frequently. The traffic jams often make me late for
the classes. My Dad is also affected directly. My Dad is sometimes late for work
because of the traffic jams. Therefore, he must go to work early. Besides, although
the government provides the sanctions to persons who break traffic laws, the
accidents still occur regularly.
4.How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area?
In my opinion, there are many ways to reduce the traffic problems in my area but
the individuals hard carry out. I think that the government should have directly
methods to reduce the traffic problems in my area. Firstly, about the traffic jams,
the government should provide more and more buses and encourage people to use
the buses frequently to mitigate the traffic jams. Secondly, about the accidents, the
government has to prohibit heavily towards persons who break traffic laws. And
last but not least, we need to add the traffic problems to children’s curriculum in
order that the children can acquaint with the traffic problems. This is an efficient
way for the children to set up their awareness about the traffic problems.
PART 2: Describe a game or sport that you prefer playing
The sport that I like to play most is swimming. Swimming is the best sport that is
suitable for both children and adults.As you all know, following scientific research,
if you swim from thirty minutes to sixty minutes everyday, you can wear out 790
calories. If you practice swimming everyday, you can have a permanent elegant
figure year in year out. Moreover, swimming frequently will bring you a good
heath, comfortable mind and body beauty. Although swimming has just been
introduced into Viet Nam, it proves its benefits for protecting heath. It also helps
us to prevent the cardiovascular disease. In my free time, I usually go swimming
with my friends in the pool which is a stone’s throw away from my house. Day by
day, I feel healthier, more comfortable and more optimistic. Simultaneously,
swimming is a good sport which does not make many traumas like other sports
such as, volleyball, jogging, basketball and so on. I am sometimes yellow, but
thanks to this activity, I feel more self-confident. This is what I like most. The
swimming helps me to lose pressure in my study. Thanks to swimming, I become
heathier and happier.
PART 3: Children’s games
How have games changed from the time when you were a child?
When I was a child, games were different from now. As you all know, in the past,
the games were very simple and easy to play. Compared with the games in the
past, the games in the present are more and more modern, difficult and attractive.
Moreover, you can find a virtual world in those games in which the characters have
their own lives. This is what the games in the past did not have.
Do you think this has been a positive change? Why?
As I have seen, this change has been both positive and negative because of many
reasons. In good ways, this change brings us more attractive games which help us
to relax and enjoy ourselves. In addition, the games that are complicated will bring
us keen intelligence. In bad ways, if you are attracted into those fascinating games,
they can turn you into a game addict. Moreover, you may become a rude person
day by day because of the violent actions in the modern games.
Why do you think children like playing games?
Personally, I think there are several reasons why children enjoy playing games.
Firstly, they like playing games because of the games’ attraction and flutter.
Secondly, this is a cheap pleasure and easy to play with the graphic sounds and
images which are lively, new and suit the characters of the young. Thirdly, playing
games helps children to satisfy their curiosity and hunger for success. This is the
children’s psychology enjoying discovering new things. And last but not least,
games help them to relax after the stressful classes.
Topic: Games and competition:
Do you think competitive games are good or bad for children? In what ways?
In my point of view, competitive games are both good and bad for children. In
good ways, there are many benefits that those games bring to us. Firstly, playing
competitive games develop natural reflex abilities and help players to be quicker
on the uptake year in, year out. Secondly, playing those games are good for not
only the young but also the old. It makes them develop their aptitudes and
memory. More importantly, playing those games regularly helps children to
develop IQ and English in games. Finally, games help children to escape heavy
subjects in school and enjoy themselves. On the contrary, playing competitive
games excessively make children become addictive and affect to the players’
health. In other words, they go gaga over the games, neglect their study and spend
all time playing games. Consequently, their study is neither fish nor fowl. More
dangerously, they can become rude persons because of the violent actions in the
games. In conclusion, depending on the measure of players, playing those games
may be good or bad for children.
How can games sometimes help to unite people?
As we all know, community of game players sometimes make positive aspects for
games. Apart from the entertainment purpose, playing games also helps us to
enlarge friendly relations, especially the online games. We can make friends with
strange persons through games. The members in games also join together in social
activities, such as charitable organizations.
3. Why is competition often seen as important in today’s society?
As you all know, the law of development is competition. I think that there are two
reasons that competition is often seen as vital in today’s society. Firstly, in a
society which is more and more modern and advanced, people always exert
themselves very much to catch up with the development of the society. As a result,
they have to compete with others to gain good things. For instance, nowadays,
there are many rival companies because they want to achieve profits, market,
customers, upper hand in the society and so on. Secondly, thank to this
competition, the society is more and more developed, advanced and perfect. If
there are not competitions, human beings are always behind the times. Therefore, I
confirm with you that competition is really necessary in the society nowadays.
Part One - Introduction
Traffic where you live:

Q.  How do most people travel to work where you live?

Answer: Transportation in Iran is easy and accessible from almost every point
since Iran has a long paved road system linking most of its towns and all of its
cities. Anyway, where I live in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, most people travel
to work by buses. However, a great many people travel to works by using the
“Metro” or the Tehran subway system as well.

Q.  What traffic problems are there in your area? [Why?]

Answer: Even though Iran has a long paved road system linking most of its towns
and cities, the problem is that there isn’t just enough public transportation in the
streets. As a result, a city like Tehran with almost 14 million populations suffers
from bad traffic congestions pretty much all the times, but worse during the
morning peak hours, as many people use their “automobiles”. 

Q.  How do traffic problems affect you?

Answer: Because of the really bad traffic situation in Tehran, I usually face a
tough time in “managing” my time since I don’t know for sure how long it will take
to go to my work or come back from there. Besides, because of spending long
hours in the city traffic congestion most of the days, my social life has also been
somewhat affected since I don’t get enough time to spend with my friends and
cousins.

Q.  How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area?
Answer: I would recommend updating and enhancing the existing roads and the
introduction of a more robust metro rail system in the country. Besides, I will
improve the public transportations so that people are discouraged to use their
private cars, which is one of the main contributors to the unbearable traffic
congestion in my city.  
Part 2 - Cue Card
 Describe a game or sport you enjoy playing.
You should say:
 what kind of game or sport it is
 whom you play it with
 where you play it
and explain why you enjoy playing it.
Sample Answer 2:
I've played several games throughout my young age, both indoor and outdoor
games, and I try to play whenever I get time. Among those games, I enjoyed
playing chess more than others. Chess is an indoor game where two players
participate. This game does not involve any major physical movements like other
outdoor games but a chess player has to use his/her brain and make game plans
to defeat the opponent.

I mostly play this game with my friends and cousins. Sometimes I play it with my
father and senior relatives. Since playing chess requires only placing the board
on a surface and sitting position of the two participating players, it is convenient
to play chess almost anywhere. I mostly play it at our veranda, garden or
bedroom. I enjoy this game because I have a fascination for this game from my
childhood and I really like the overall theme and barnstorming involved in this
game. It's a thought-provoking game that gives the participating players to use
their brains. A player can apply his/her strategy, and then allure the opponent to
fall into a trap which is much like a real battlefield.

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Children’s games:
Q. How have games changed from the time when you were a child?
Answer: Games have changed a lot from the time when I was a child. For
example, there were very few or no computer, online or video games during the
days of my early childhood. Nor there were many interesting game toys or
puzzles to encourage children to play indoors, as we have today, with which we
could play any games. In fact, during my childhood, the only way, we could play
any sports was to hit the outdoors. But these days, more and more children are
choosing to play their games inside their own homes.
Q. Do you think this has been a positive change? Why?
Answer: No, I wouldn’t really like to think that these kinds of changes affect
children that positively. Children these days don’t become encouraged to go
outside of their homes and become physically active which is absolutely
important for children’s physical and cognitive growth. Besides, children are not
getting enough chances to socialize with their friends and peers, and, as a result,
not developing many good social and communication skills that are necessary to
succeed in their lives as adults. Of course, by playing some of these online or
video games, children do develop their “intelligence”, but they also make children
“violent and aggressive” at the same time. 

Q. Why do you think children like playing games?

Answer: Children just like to play, whether they are playing a certain sport alone
or playing with their peers, primarily because it is just their nature to be “playful”
as long as they remain young. But, if we want to be more precise, I would say
that the children like playing games because they love challenges, and they
“learn” new things as well as new skills by playing different kinds of games. But,
above all, children have a lot of fun when playing any sports, and the studies
show that there is no better way to teach children than having them play games
which they really enjoy. 

Games and competition:

Q. Do you think competitive games are good or bad for children? In what
ways?
Answer: In my opinion, competitive games, depending on, of course, what kinds
of competitive games they play, are good in general because they teach children
how to become tough, careful, intelligent and positive when facing any difficult
situation in life. Besides, playing competitive games usually help us identify what
kinds of particular skill sets, talents or potentials the children have so that they
can work even more on them in order to improve themselves even further.
However, we will have to make sure that playing competitive games doesn't
make children competitive so much so that they develop “jealousy” and “hatred”
for their “opponents”.
Q. How can games sometimes help to unite people?
Answer: Games do sometimes help unite people, from different countries and
backgrounds, in some common causes such as when playing any game to raise
funds in order to help some people during their time of distress. Even the little
drinks, that we enjoy after finishing a game, help us share us some laughs and
funs among each other, no matter how ‘different’ we are from each other.
Besides, when playing any sports by inviting and bringing different kinds of
people together, we usually develop a kind of social bond and friendly relations
with each other that may prove out to be vital for the unity and benefits of our
society as a whole. 

Q. Why is competition often seen as important in today’s society?

Answer: We are living in a materialistic and capitalistic society where everybody
is competing fiercely with each other in order to get his or her ‘fair share’ of the
world. And, that’s exactly why our world is moving forward. In fact, as a result of
this competition, we come up with better ideas, better products and better
services which help improve our living standards even more. It is the
“competition” which helps us hope to have even a better future for our children in
this world. So, no wonder, “competition” is seen as important in today’s society. 

IELTS 6, SPEAKING TEST 4

Part 1:

Do you prefer to have one particular friend or a group of friends? [Why?]

What do you like doing most with your friend/s?

Do you think it’s important to keep in contact with friends you knew as a child? [Why/Why not?]

What makes a friend into a good friend?

Part 2:

Describe an important choice you had to make in your life.

You should say:

when you had to make this choice

what you had to choose between

whether you made a good choice

And explain how you felt you were making this choice.

Part 3:
Important choices

What are the typical choices people make at different stages of their lives?

Should important choices be made by parents rather than by young adults?

Why do some people like to discuss choices with other people?

Choices in everyday life

What kind of choices do people have to make in their everyday life?

Why do some people choose to do the same things every day? Are there any disadvantages in this?

Do you think that people have more choices to make today than in the past?

►►►►►►►►►►►

Part 1:

22000 TỪ

IDIOMS

Do you prefer to have one particular friend or a group of friends? [Why?]

►Personally, I prefer to have one particular friend. Firstly, it is quite hard for us to find people who

have the same hobbies, thinking and attitudes to us and will be next to us rain or shine. Secondly, if I

have a particular chum, it will be easier for me to share my sorrow and happiness than having a group

of friends. Lastly, I suppose friendship between one – to – one outlasts more than that in a group of

friends.

What do you like doing most with your friends?

►I have activities galore to enjoy with my friends. Firstly, I like chatting with them to share

everything such as sorrow, happiness, the news of famous people and so on. Secondly, I prefer to

spend my time going to the cinema to enjoy our favorite movies. Lastly, I love having vacations with

them, especially on beaches. At that time, it is nothing but fun and games.

Do you think it’s important to keep in contact with friends you knew as a child? [Why/Why not?]

►In my opinion, it is essential for us to keep in touch with friends we knew as children. Firstly,

friendships from childhood are worth being preserved because they are very pure and contain many

beautiful memories. Secondly, it is not harmful to have more friends because friendship is the gift

which God gives human. Therefore, I prefer to have as many friends as possible.

What makes a friend into a good friend?

►In my opinion, what makes a friend into a good friend depends on individuals’ attitudes. In my

opinion, one of the factors which make a good friend is great understanding. You cannot be a good

friend if you do not understand your chums well. Secondly, it is generosity. There is always dispute

between friends. Therefore, if you are not generous enough to forgive your friends, your friendships
will be fragile. Lastly, it is care that makes you a good friend.

Part 2:

In my opinion, during our daily days, we have to give many important alternatives. I had made a vital

choice in my life about 2 years ago. At that time, an entrance examination to the university was

approaching and I had to give my decision of universities between Banking University and University

of Social Sciences and Humanities. One side was my dream of being a journalist but I found myself

not suitable for it. The other was a vocation with high salaries, positions and suitable for my ability.

After careful consideration, I decided to choose Banking University, which is famous for its training of

Banking and Finance. You have to fulfill certain criteria to become a student of Banking University.

Notwithstanding having a little hesitance when making this choice, year in year out I realize that I had

made a judicious choice. The studying environment here is very good and professional. The teachers

always teach us with cordiality and dedication. In my opinion, we should think carefully before making

important choices so that we will not regret after that.

Part 3:

What are the typical choices people make at different stages of their lives?

►I divide our lives into three major periods. The first is when we are little children. During this period,

our choices are quite simple so choices are made by adults for us. The second is when we are

teenagers. The alternatives in this period are much more complicated and important than those in the

first period such as what school to go, what to wear beautifully, what is delicious to eat. These choices

require us to be astute and careful to make. The last is when we are adults and we have to make

decisions comprising choices about husbands, wives, children and so on.

Should important choices be made by parents rather than by young adults?

►As I see it, important choices should be made by both parents and young adults. Each generation

has their own advantages and shortcomings. Therefore, before we make important choices, it is

indispensable for us to consider both opinions of parents and young adults to make the best choices.

Why do some people like to discuss choices with other people?

►In my opinion, firstly, it is quite hard for us to know whether the decisions we make are right or

wrong. When discussing with others, we can have their objective comments to help us make the best

choices. Secondly, we can have their advice to decide what the best is; even we can discover other

better choices.

What kind of choices do people have to make in their everyday life?

►In my opinion, there are various choices we have to make in our daily lives. They are what to wear,

what to eat, where to go, what to play, etc. They are quite familiar to us that some people are bored
of making these choices. However, life is a chain of choices and making choices is for a living and

surviving. Therefore, we should adapt ourselves to choices.

Why do some people choose to do the same things every day? Are there any disadvantages in this?

►In my opinion, some people choose to do the same things every day because their current lives are

so smooth that they do not want any changes and want to remain what they are possessing.

Secondly, they are scared of changes. They think they cannot be strong enough to bear new things

and new challenges.

►There are some disadvantages in this. The first is their lives are not absorbing and just chains of

boring days. Secondly, they will be fragile and coward when facing with new challenges while life

means waves.

Do you think that people have more choices to make today than in the past?

►I concur with that statement. Firstly, the society now is more developing than that in the past.

Therefore, people are given more alternatives to make. Clear evidence of this statement is food,

beverages, schools, clothes, etc. Secondly, people have more abundant physical and spiritual lives. It

is the reason why choices now are more complicated and plentiful.

Part One - Introduction

Q.  Do you prefer to have one particular friend or a group of friends?
[Why?]
Answer: I prefer to have a group of friends, as opposed to having just one
particular friend, since more friends usually mean more chances of getting help
and advice when I would be in need of some. More friends also usually mean
more fun and more sharing in order to make us happy in our lives. 

Q.  What do you like doing most with your friend/s?

Answer: I like doing pretty much everything with my friends, depending on our
moods and times, but I mostly like to hang out with my friends at a local coffee
shop. I sometimes enjoy our lively conversations while enjoying some drinks like
ca phe da (cold coffee) and sharing some “fun and exciting” news among each
other until we get tired! By the way, we, Vietnamese, are probably the most
“talkative” people in the world! 

Q.  Do you think it’s important to keep in contact with friends you knew as a
child? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Friendship, to us Vietnamese, is a lifelong thing, no matter where or
when we made the friendship. So, if we ever made some friends during our
childhood, we would certainly try to keep in contact with them because childhood
friends are even more special since this kind of friendship is usually born out of
no “expectation” and no “worldly-gain”.  

Q.  What makes a friend into a good friend?

Answer: There is a saying that "A friend in need is a friend indeed". A good friend
will always be on our sides through thick and thin in order to support us in
whichever capacity they can. A good friend will not only help us to move along in
the right direction in life but also prevent us from getting “astray”.  
Part 2 - Cue Card

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics:

Important choices:

Q.  What are the typical choices people make at different stages of their
lives?
Answer: Life is full of many choices that we have to make from time to time in
order to keep going. When we are students, we decide whether to study at a
school close by or far away from home. We also have to decide whether to go for
general education or a more specialized field of education as students. When
choosing a career, we also have to decide whether to go for a job or have
businesses of our own in order to earn a living. When we become adult and
ready to settle down in life, we also have to decide whether to marry early or late,
depending on our personal circumstances. And we also make so many small and
major decisions in different stages in our life that greatly influence our life.
Q.  Should important choices be made by parents rather than by young
adults?
Answer: Important or less important, young adults should be able to make their
own choices. Of course, they can seek advice from their parents and other
persons in order to make “informed” decisions, but the ultimate choices should
be made by the young adults themselves since they will have to live on their own
at some points of their lives. Once the young adults learn to make choices on
their own, they will be able to prepare the plans for their lives better and execute
them according to the demands of the situations. Besides, making important
choices will also help young adults become more confident in their lives.

Q.  Why do some people like to discuss choices with other people?

Answer: People like to discuss their choices with other people primarily because
they are not too sure about the choices they are about to make, and, as such,
they are seeking some good advice to help them make a good decision. In fact,
having discussions with others will almost always open up the doors of new ideas
and opportunities since we all are different, and we all have different ideas on
how to face life. Then, of course, there is another group of people who like to
discuss their choices with other people simply because they are just not
confident enough to make any choices in their lives even though the choices may
be very ‘obvious”.

Choices in everyday life:

Q.  What kind of choices do people have to make in their everyday life?

Answer: People make different kinds of choices in their everyday life from
deciding what to wear for works to whether to eat vegetables or meat. Depending
on how far we live from our works, we also have to make choices between
whether to take a bus or metro subway in order to arrive at our workplaces. We
may also need to make choices between how much money we should spend
daily for buying our groceries and milk, and how much to spend in buying our
favourite energy drinks when we are tight on our budget.

Q.  Why do some people choose to do the same things every day? Are
there any disadvantages in this?
Answer: We, as humans, just never really like to get out of our “comfort” zone. As
a result, when we get used to doing the same things every day, we just don’t like
to try anything else new simply because we fear in our minds that they may pose
a different kind of challenges in our daily lives. But the problem or disadvantages
of such “crippling” thoughts are that trying new things may actually improve our
living standards in many ways. Besides, trying new things may also make our
lives more fun by easing unnecessary pressures on us. 
Q.  Do you think that people today have more choices to make than in the
past?
Answer: Yes, I do think that people have far more choices to make in the present
days than in the past primarily because our lives have become more
complicated, and our expectations from life have increased in many folds. As a
result, we are not exactly content with simple choices of life, such as going to
work and spending time with families, but other choices like whether we need to
buy an iPhone, iPad or smartphone also come into play. Also choices like
whether to watch a movie at home or movie theatre become a “headache” these
days while in the past, we could simply visit a friend and spend some quality time
with him or her.