HỘI THI HÙNG BIỆN TIẾNG ANH TP NAM ĐỊNH NĂM HỌC 2021- 2022

CHỦ ĐỀ HÙNG BIỆN VÒNG CHUNG KẾT

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(SPEAKING TOPICS FOR THE FINAL ROUND)

CHỦ ĐỀ DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH THCS

(TOPICS FOR LOWER – SECONDARY STUDENTS)

1. In your opinion, which of the inventions in the twentieth century has been the most significant for the
world? Why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.

2. Do you think teenagers nowadays suffer from more stress and pressure than teenagers in the past?
Why? Why not?

*OUTLINE:

1.Opening:

There has been a statement affirming that the juvenile nowadays are coping with more pressure than those
in the past. FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, I strongly agree with this opinion. AS YOU KNOW, It is a fact that
teenagers and young adults have to deal with much stress from academic work, family, friends as well as social
preconception. In this presentation some suggestions will be given in order to tackle the problem.

2.Body:

- To begin with, family with school need to keep up with what their children are going through in their life
so as to help them overcome the hardships :

+Mature adults should put themselves in the young’s shoes to understand them better so that they can
give appropriate advice without triggering their self-esteem

Example: When children receive bad grades, it is essential that parents not scold and punish them with violence.
They can help by giving them advice for a better result next time

+Parents and teachers sometimes should be teenagers’ friends. It might be a great idea for them to just
listen to their children’s opinion and not judge or have any attitude so as to gain trust from them

- In addition, boosting the young’s confidence is equally vital:

+ Unassertive teens usually get oppressed by their peers. They become an easy target since they are too
afraid to speak up. To build teens’ self-esteem, adults need to let them know that their view worth being heard
and supported if it is right

Example: When teenagers are bullied, they need to report this to their parents or other people with authorities so
they can step in and end this unwanted situation before things get out of control

+ Juvenile should occasionally be allowed to make their own decisions with guidance from the
experienced. Others can give them compliments if necessary and support them along the way
-Last but not least, the society need to help teenagers to open up to be more social towards other people:

+ They should be encouraged to seek for as well as accept others’ help and not to suffer alone
whenever they are stressed out so as not to result in any serious consequences

+ There ought to be people who are willing to listen to their friends’s difficulties and the troubles they
are dealing with.

3.Conclusion:

To sum up, it is undeniable that youngsters these days have to face more and more hardships than ever
before.THEREFORE, It is my frim belief that the mentioned measured can help in solving it/ TO SOLVE IT

GOOD

3. “Public speaking boosts the confidence of students”. Do you agree or disagree?

Many people feel that public speaking does not contribute to effective communication, and hence, it is not
important. Parents continue to pay attention on the academics and extra-curricular development of their wards.
But, they do not realize how important the development of effective communication and public speaking skills
is for their children. It is true that academics and extra-curricular activities are important, but students should
not overlook the significance of public speaking.

In the first place, public speaking plays the critical role of equipping child with the skills to analyze a topic,
think logically, form meaningful sentences, and present their thoughts in front of the audience. By learning how
to speak in public, students will be able to build their self-confidence. For most individuals, public speaking is
one of the most ubiquitous fears. Mastering their skill in this difficult task can help them in gaining the
confidence they will need to face future challenges. Speaking regularly in public will make students
comfortable around other people, including strangers. Once an individual starts expressing their views in front
of many people (including some strangers), they will feel comfortable and can open up in front of many people.
Regular public speaking sessions will make individuals feel that it is nothing to smile, shake hands, and meet
and greet new people. It will make them confident and they will find interviews and group discussions easy to
handle in the future.

Secondly, public speaking helps individuals to brush up their verbal and non-verbal communication skills.
It assists them in converting a written content into compelling, meaningful, and vocal message. As result,
people with the ability to dive into public speaking and related communication skills become popular among
prospective employers. Moreover, better communication skills also help one to grab a promotion opportunity in
organizations. Most of the leading business schools in the world pay utmost importance to oral communication
as one of the top skills relevant to overall job success.

Finally, while speaking in public, people will be accustomed to speaking up their thoughts and be confident
to follow their dreams. By sharing their ideas and opinions in public, people can inspire others to take necessary
steps to make their dreams come true and their lives better. When an individual understands the importance of
public speaking, they also understand that they can better persuade people when they are able to appeal to them
just like any normal human being. The key to effective public speaking is distinguishing the audience, i.e.,
bosses, employees, clients, and so on, and thinking them as people with real problems, hopes, and fears. This
will overcome one’s nervousness, and help them to tackle the situation at hand. By learning the art of public
speaking, individuals can boost their value and performance in any arena ranging from schools to homes.
In conclusion, parents, teachers, and students should give great importance to public speaking. It plays a very
important role in boosting one’s confidence, enhances interaction, and improvement of people’s pronunciation,
sentence formation, and so on. It helps individuals to grow as a person, not only for educational and
professional growth, but for personal and spiritual transformation as well.

office, events, and so on. Mastering public speaking skills unlocks doors of greater opportunities in the field of
education, occupation, business, and more.

4. People say that smart phones and the Internet are the reasons for breaking communication among
family members. What’s your opinion?

Today, as society is developing more and more, the Internet will play an important role in our lives. The
Internet will bring a lot of profit in our daily work. We will gain a lot of information and new knowledge from
other people in our work, and we will communicate with our friends to exchange our many experiences
together. However, in my opinion, I partly agree with the statement that the Internet has destroyed
communication among family members. Several reasons will illustrate my point of view.

To begin with, as the Internet is developing more and more, it can keep members in a family apart. Most
young people will spend a lot of time playing different games on the Internet without communicating with
families. Consequently, they will be alone and won’t care for everybody in their surroundings. For instance, my
younger sister always reduces stress by listening to music on the Internet after finishing her class without
talking with my family and taking care of her parents She doesn’t prefer to visit or go for a short picnic with her
family on the weekends.

Secondly, using a cell phone during family time can increase distress and strain on a family. While using
their cell phones, parents talk to their kids less, respond more slowly, and overreact to being interrupted. And
snubbing your partner while on the phone is linked to lower relationship satisfaction among couples.

However , Internet or smartphones are also essential to good family communication in today’s society.
The Internet also offers many new avenues for social interaction through social networking sites, online support
groups, and chat rooms. Many families find email and chat rooms useful for keeping in touch with family
members who live far away or even for keeping better tabs on those who live nearby.
In conclusion, Smart phones and the Internet bring family members together online. At the same time though, if
we overuse the Internet every day, it will destroy communication among families in society.

5. Should cell phones be used during class? Why or why not?

It has been a controversial debate whether learners are allowed to use phones at their schools or not. From my
perspective, I firmly think that cell phones should not be used at educational environment by student.

First of all, bringing smart phones to schools might affect pupils’ academic performances. As a matter of
fact, the number of learners addicted to their phones nowadays is not small. They can be distracted from school
work when they have cell phones at class since it would be the only thing they think about. Hence, students will
lose their interest in the lecture and be distracted by a huge number of attractive websites and platforms on the
 internet. Those who do not pay full attention to the lessons will find it hard to comprehend and consequently
receive poor grades at school.

Additionally, scientists have warned that using mobile phones for too long affects individuals’ health
negatively. The average time students spend time on their electronic devices in this era of technology is 6 hours
not including any of this time at school and that is already alarming to parents and teachers. Prolonged
exposure to technological screens may have disastrous impacts on juveniles’ physical health for instance short-
sightedness, far- sightedness, autism and even cancer because of the toxic radiation released by devices.

Last but not least, banning phones at academic environment will help learners reduce cyber bullying. Kids
should feel safe at schools without worrying being harassed on the Internet by mean people. The relationships
between people nowadays are continually reducing, especially among adolescents. One of the main causes of
this phenomenon is that they are in disagreements with the others and use unsuitable words to attack each other
on social platforms. This can result in the antisociality, nervousness and depression of an individual.

In conclusion, it is my strong belief that allowing students to use cellphones at school is unadvisable.

6. What are challenges students face with online learning and how to solve them?

In this day and age, it is a fact that online learning becomes a popular part in everybody’s life. However, besides
the advantages this way of learning can bring about, there are many problems associated with it. To begin with,
online student feedback is limited. In traditional classrooms, teachers can give students immediate face-to-face
feedback, which is impossible in an online lesson. Moreover, sometimes the Internet connection is not good so
that every question of the student cannot be answered. Secondly, online learning takes self-discipline.
Irrefutably , some disobedient pupils may take advantage of online learning to do other things. In comparison to
the learning process at classes which is under control of teachers, studying at home is believed to be beyond
control as the mischievous ones are highly likely to quit the learning apps and use other recreational tools to
play computer games or watching videos. Therefore, they can easily be distracted from their academic
performance. Last but not least, online learning is not good for their health. Obviously, sitting in front of a
computer all day can cause many potential health problems such as short-sighted, tiredness, obesity, etc. In
conclusion, as far as I have concerned, beside advantages, online learning also brings about an array of
drawbacks . Thus, it is necessary to balance the amount of time for learning online and offline.

7. Competition is necessary in regards to the learning process. What’s your opinion?

 The present world can be said to be world of competition. In every field, one has to clear the competition
to prove the capability. Some believe that competition is necessary for the learning process. I totally agree
with this ideas for somr of following reasons

I believe that competition acts as a motivational factor. It allows the person to work hard to get effective
results. competition in learning process will be beneficial to students. It makes students
more enthusiastic as they will have to prove their skills against the best talent from other classes or
schools.Competition will act as a booster and will create a hard work ethic amongst the students. Seeing
that they need to stay ahead of the race, students will run against the clock to finish a task, thus improving
their performance. It will be a healthy rivalry that will prepare them for the outside competitive world
where everyone is fighting to prove their worth. Furthermore, a competitive classroom environment will
trigger bright and innovative ideas from the students. A student will definitely feel the need to contribute
 to a classroom session or a lesson if his/her peers are doing the same. This kind of peer pressure works for
the development of knowledge.
 Secondly, Competitive structure of education will keep teachers motivated. Teachers will not only work
hard but also go out of their way to make sure that their students enjoy a clear advantage over their
competitors. The spirit of competition will prepare better and more competent classroom sessions with
innovative and fresh ideas of teaching being devised in the pursuit of excellence, involving methodical
planning of lessons, and adopting efficient, well-organized teaching strategies and tactics.

Nevertheless, competition can only be effective if it is building students, not tearing them down.
Unhealthy competition can easily affect the morale and confidence of the students. For example, some
students feel insecure about their performance, and are not given any inspiration by their fellow students,
they instead step on each another while on the ground. Moreover, The wrong kind of competition can
easily cause stress and depression amongst students. Students will spend a lot of time trying to stay at the
top, forgetting to do essential things, like take care of themselves health-wise. Thus, not achieving a set
goal might send them into a mental state or depression. At times when students are consumed by another
classmate taking their position, it becomes their only agenda. They forget that the most important thing is
to help and support each other to attain a similar goal, which is academic excellence.

To conclude I would say competition is not only necessary in learning process it is itself learning. It helps
us learn how to improve from our mistakes and how to appreciate others then we will be ready to win all
the race and competition of this world.

8. Is online learning equal to traditional education in schools? Why or why not?

Distance learning – is a set of technologies that provide students with the basic delivery of study material,
interactive communication between students and teachers in learning process, providing students with the
possibility of independent work on development of study material, as well as in the learning process. Now the
term distance learning has become synonymous with e-learning or online learning, meaning, in fact, not only
learning via the Internet.

Firstly, a benefit to taking online courses is that they offer flexibility to the student. This is a great option
for those who already have time commitments with family and work. Online classes will mold with your
schedule—and allow you to log into your online course at a time that works best for you, as opposed to having
to attend a lecture at a specific time. Most online courses will follow a weekly format where students are
expected to log in, read course materials, contribute to online class discussions and complete assignments prior
to the beginning of the next week. You’ll still have plenty to do for each class—but you’ll have more options
for fitting this work in around other commitments.

Secondly, the increased flexibility of online learning comes with a bit of a trade-off because you’ll need to
be highly self-motivated. All college classes require students to keep up on reading and assignments, but some
students may struggle to stay motivated when learning from the comfort of their home. The best online students
develop strategies for staying up to date on their coursework. Things like setting aside time every week for
studying and creating a work space with minimal distractions can help enormously.

Finally, social interaction with instructors and other students, while not as common in online courses, still
happens regularly. The biggest difference is in the form it takes, with many online student interactions
happening via video chat or through online discussion platforms. Some courses may also offer pre-recorded
videos of the same lectures given to traditional, on-campus students. If you’re a social learner who likes to ask
questions and pick the brains of your instructors, these video lectures can help you earn a deeper understanding
of assigned reading materials.

In conclusion, as an online student, you’ll get in the habit of learning quite independently, which prepares
you for the type of learning you will likely encounter in the workplace. Many jobs require training in an online
format, as well as some independent research to supplement new skills or advancements in technology. With
experience in both regards, you can impress future employers with your ability to learn and continue to grow
while on the job. Many online graduates find that since they were already in the habit of learning and working
as a student, they are better prepared to continue to learn as an employee when the time comes.

9. Should students attend classes in the afternoon? Why or why not?

Nowadays, Vietnamese students have classes at school both in the morning and the afternoon. In other words,
they have a full-day schooling. I think it’s a necessary thing to do for some of these reasons.
Firstly, Full-day schooling is implemented to deal with the deficiency in instructional time. As you know that,
in Vietnam each lesson lasts only 45 minutes. I think that short time is just enough for teacher to cover the
knowledge in textbook. Meanwhile, there is less time for revision or practice. Full day school helps provide a
child's longer learning time. teachers have more times to give children an insight about the studies. Students
have more time to practice skills or expand the lesson that they have learned in the morning. Hence, afternoon
class improves student learning progress
Secondly, afternoon class matches the class schedule to a parent's work schedule. Nowadays, most parents have
to work for at least 8 hours a day so it will be a challenge if their children have no afternoon class. They have to
find another person to help them or even stay at home to take care of the children. This is really a burden on
working parents. Therefore, the afternoon class is a good solution. They don’t have to worry about their
children while they are at work in the afternoon because they know that their children are learning at school.
However, attending too much afternoon class brings about some drawbacks. It leads to the lack of time for
other activities. For example, if students have to study in the afternoon all week, they don’t have enough time
to relax by taking up an interesting hobby such as learn how to play an instrument or playing popular sports
which can improve their physical health as well as their mental health. In addition, due to the lack of time, kids
are no longer hanging out with their friends or taking part in any outside activity. As a result, their ability to
communicate with others and the lack of social skill now. Furthermore, Spending all day at school for whole
week might bring additional pressure for children that make them be more prone to certain detrimental mental
syndromes, such as stress, depression,
The conclusion is the implementation of Full Day School has many benefits, which are not only felt by students
and teachers, but also families. However, schools should consider the suitable time for class in the afternoon.

10. What will you do to protect yourself and your family members from the Covid-19 epidemic?
 As coronavirus epidemic is a major global problem nowadays, it is essential that we take actions to protect
ourselves as well as our relatives from it. Firstly, gaining knowledge of this virus is the best way to avoid it. We
should surf the Internet and watch TV everyday so as to know what we ought to do to prevent COVID-19. As
we know well about this disease, we can make timely vital preparation. Secondly, we had better limit our
personal exposure to others. In fact, this disease can easily spread when a person has close contact with infected
patients. Therefore, it is advised that we should not go out except in necessary situations and wear face masks
outdoors. Finally, we need to make improvements in our health status. One good way is to provide ourselves
with lots of fruits and vegetables everyday to enhance our body resistance. Also, we ought to wash our hands
regularly with clean soap to prevent mild diseases. In brief, I believe all the ways mentioned above are
relatively helpful for a person to avoid COVID-19 pandemic.

11. “Real-life skills should be mandatory in schools.” What’s your opinion?

12. Which is more important, life skill or academic knowledge? Why?

From my perspective, I think life skills are of greater significance than academic knowledge because of
several reasons. Firstly, these abilities enable people to make dramatic improvements on their tasks at school as
well as at work. It should be noted that with assistance from a life skill known as teamwork, group collaboration
is promoted which creates a wide variety of ideas to make projects completed more comprehensively. Besides,
skills like cognitive skills and time management support people in improving their productivity. Secondly, the
application of life skills has positive influences on humans’ daily life. For example, being good at socializing
ability allows a person to maintain harmonious relationships with others so that they will be willing to offer him
help whenever he needs. Also, housekeeping and self-care skills are helpful to facilitate independent life since
almost everyone has to experience living on his own someday. Finally, having good life skills is advantageous
to people’s career. Nowadays, it is not uncommon that some applicants having recognized qualifications do not
manage to get jobs since their CV is lack of practical experience. In short, it is essential that besides academic
knowledge, people should try to make progress in their life skills.

13. “Prevention is better than cure.” What’s your opinion?

Prevention is better than cure is a most popular and old proverb related to our health and healthy life. Good
health becomes the valuable present for human life. We can earn lots of money, make houses, achieve luxurious
things, and so on in life. However, we cannot buy good health once it got declined by some serious diseases.
The meaning of each and every luxurious thing will be zero immediately after we get some diseases. The
proverb “prevention is better than cure” is a best advice to us in life. People should distract their mind from
costly treatment towards spending time on health education, and preventative measures.

Firstly, most of the people suffer from various fatal diseases which have almost no cure or impossible to
cure. Some of the diseases have very expensive treatment. People suffering from such diseases are cured by
using very hard medicines having lots of side effects in present or in near future. In order to remain away from
such diseases, prevention is a great key we can be safe from deadly diseases. Prevention is very cheap and save
lots of money, time and effort of us.

Secondly, if prevention methods are followed by the people, they remain safe and happy forever. Poor
people cannot afford costly medical treatments. So, we should take care of us all through proper prevention
methods so that we can be away from cure. We have only one life which is very important to all of us. We
should live it, not destroy by inviting various problems and difficulties. Life can be happier and more peaceful if
we become disciplined and follow principles of this proverb.
 Finally, prevention measures help us to avoid difficulties in life and give us a peaceful happy life. Our life is
full of numerous difficulties and if we are not disciplined, we have to suffer too much. Therefore, this proverb
suits a lot to us all through the life. Wise people must follow this technique in their daily life to be healthy,
wealthy and happy. In this polluted environment, anyone can be deceased anytime with any big or small health
disorder. And any disease require proper cure which is very costly and doesn’t give surety of wellness.

In brief, prevention is much cheaper technique than cure to be safe and peaceful. It saves time, health, effort
and cost. It also prevents us from many anxious thoughts. As a human being, we have power of reasoning and
power of foresight, so we should use it for our own benefit. Our mistakes and carelessness invites to the
difficulties only. So, we should be careful all time.

14. “Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter do more harm than good.” Do you agree or disagree?

15. “Parents should be responsible for their kids’ mistakes.” What’s your opinion?

Nowadays, children are becoming more and more dishonest and are eventually growing up to be criminals. It is
said that the blame on children’s behavior is going onto parents. From my perspective, I strongly agree with this
statement

First, although other factors and experiences while growing up have been shown to affect the children’s
behavior, parent’s involvement has been numerously known that the level of influence parents have over their
children as compared to other factors. Therefore, parents are the one who should be blamed for their children’s
behavior. Parents have moral and legal responsibilities towards their child. Children are the reflection of their
parents. If they set a bad example to their children, they will definitely follow their parents. In other words, they
are the teachers and discipliners of their children.

Last but not least, the relationship between parents and their child is a determinant of how well the child will
adjust to life, performance in school, as well as what kind of relationships they will form with people outside.
Most parents have failed to set up close relations with their children. They do not spend adequate time with their
children, are always busy with their work. The relationship between parent and child significantly helps in a
child’s emotional and mental development. Parents are critical in every aspect of a child’s development. They
should provide healthy, stable environments for their children besides providing a loving and nurturing
relationship with them. All of these aspects are likely to promote behavioral development of a child. Parents are
expected to spend time with their children and to teach their children the right behavior.

To sum up, parents play a very necessary role in their children’s development and their success. They must take
a greater role in shaping their children’s behavior and future.

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