SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CÁC TRƯỜNG

BÌNH ĐỊNH THPT CHUYÊN KHU VỰC DUYÊN HẢI VÀ

TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN ĐỒNG BẰNG BẮC BỘ NĂM 2024
LÊ QUÝ ĐÔN
Môn: TIẾNG ANH – LỚP 10
ĐÁP ÁN ĐỀ THI ĐỀ XUẤT Thời gian: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)

SECTION A. LISTENING (50 points)

Part 1. You will hear a student called Janet talking on the phone to the manager of a
sports centre about a job and complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. (10 points)
1. Steve Thompson
2. pool attendant
3. (the) equipment
4. water quality tests
5. 6 (p.m.), 10 (p.m.)
Part 2. You will hear a conversation between a journalist and politician about the
government plans. Listen and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or
false (F). (10 points)
1. False 2. False 3. True 4. True 5. False
Part 3. You will hear part of a discussion in which two educationalists, David Shaw and
Anoushka Patel, talk about education standards in the UK. For questions 1-5, choose
the answer (A, B, C or D) which best fits according to what you hear. (10 points)
1. C 2. D 3. B 4. B 5. A
Part 4. You will hear a girl called Laura Beamer talking about being a volunteer at a
summer school for 7 – 14-year-olds, which is called the Children’s University. Complete
the sentences by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for
each answer. (20 points)
1. (local) charity 2. industry 3. lawyer 4. chocolate
5. passport 6. concert 7. (gold) medal (each)
8. problem-solving/ solving problems 9. social worker 10. information pack
SECTION B. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (40 points)
Part 1. Choose one of the words marked A, B, C or D which best completes each of the
following sentences. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
(30 points)
1. B 2. A 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. D 7. D 8. D 9. C 10. B
11. D 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. A 16. A 17. D 18. C 19. C 20. B
21. D 22. A 23. B 24. D 25. A 26. B 27. D 28. C 29. A 30. D

Part 2. Give the correct form of the words in brackets. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes. (10 points)
1. 2. 3. dispassionate 4. foursome 5. encapsulate
impressionable Absenteeism
6. amoral 7. piglets 8. sandpapered 9. enfolding 10.
inconclusively

SECTION C. READING COMPREHENSION (60 points)

Part 1. Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits
each gap. Write your answers in corresponding numbered boxes. (15 points)
1.A 2. D 3. C 4. C 5. A 6. C 7. B 8. D 9. B 10. A

Part 2. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only
ONE word in each space. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
(15 points)
1. promises 2. walls 3. under 4. either 5. hers

6. part 7. both 8. live 9. going 10. whether

Part 3. Read the passage and choose the best option A, B, C or D to answer the
questions. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (15 points)
1. A 2. C 3. B 4. D 5. A
6. B 7. A 8. D 9. A 10. D

Part 4. Read the passage and do the following tasks. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes. (15 points)
1. i 2. iii 3. ii 4. ix 5. vii 6. iv 7. viii

8. TRUE 9. FALSE 10. NOT

GIVEN
SECTION D. WRITING (50 points)
Part 1 (20 pts)
1. Task achievement
- Fully satisfies all the requirements of the task
- Analyse the chart and identify all key features
- Support body paragraph with data
- Clearly presents a fully developed response
2. Coherence and cohesion
- Use a range of linking devices
- Use referencing (this, it, etc)
3. Lexical resource
- Uses a wide range of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical
features
- Use vocabulary for presenting accurate data
- Understand collocations
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
- Uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur
only as ‘slips’
- Use the right tense for the chart given
- Use the right punctuation and spelling
Part 2 (30 pts)
1. Task response
The writer clearly states their point of view (agree/disagree) and provides a well-supported
paragraph related to the topic.
2. Lexical resource
- The writer uses synonyms and paraphrases flexibly.
- The writer uses topic-related vocabulary.
3. Coherence and cohesion
- The paragraph has a topic sentence with controlling idea.
- The topic is well-developed with relevant supporting evidence, examples and facts.
- Ideas are well connected with suitable cohesive devices.
- The paragraph shows a certain organization pattern (for example: by order of importance,
etc.)
- The writer uses pronouns consistently and coherently, with third-person pronouns (They,
this, these, one/ones) gaining higher scores.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
- The writer uses a wide range of sentence structures (simple, compound and complex)
- The writer uses verb tense and forms accurately.
- The writer shows good control of spelling and punctuation.

TOTAL MARKS: 200 points

TRANSCRIPT
PART 1.
V1: Hello, White Water Sports Centre.
Janet: Hello, I wanted to enquire about a job at the centre.
V1: Right, I’ll just put you through to the manager.
Steve: Hello, Steve Thompson speaking.
Janet: Hello, er, my name’s Janet Willis, Er, I’m looking for a part-time job and I saw an ad
saying that you have some vacancies. I was wondering what sort of people you were looking
for.
Steve: Well at present we’re looking for a part-time pool attendant.
Janet: oh, yes, I’ve spent the last three summers working for a children’s summer camp, so I
did a lot of pool supervision, and I’m actually a sports student – water sports is my special
area.
Steve: Ok, well no need to ask if you can swim then …
Janet: No, I’m certainly not afraid of the water. So what does the job at the pool involve?
Steve: you’d mainly be responsible for supervising the swimmers – we have to watch them
all the time, obviously, in case of accidents, so you’d have regular shifts there.
Janet: Ok.
Steve: Then as well as that, you’d have to look after the equipment that’s used by the
beginners’ classes
Janet: Right – and would I be involved in teaching them at all? I’d be quite interested in
that.
Steve: Well, they have their own instructor, so that’s not really part of the job. The
attendant’s job does involve taking regular water quality tests … but you wouldn’t be
involved in cleaning the pool or anything like that.
Janet: Ok. And the ad said you wanted someone just twice a week.
Steve: yes, that’s right.
Janet: Can I choose which days?
Steve: Erm, well if you’d rung up earlier you could have done but i’m afraid it’s got to be
Mondays and Wednesday – we’ve got someone for Tuesday and Thursdays, and the
weekends are already fully staffed. Is that going to be a problem for you?
Janet: No, that should be alright. And the ad said it was evening work, right?
Steve: yes, you start at 6, and the pool closes at 9:30, but you wouldn’t get away until 10
by the time you’ve checked the lockers and changing rooms.
Janet: Fine.

PART 2.
Journalist: Can you tell me, minister, what your government plans to do if they are returned
to office after the next election? Particularly in the areas of health, research and education.
Politician: We certainly plan to raise the level of funding for public hospitals, including
providing funds to create more hospital beds.
Journalist: So that means building more hospitals?
Politician: Yes. That is definitely on our agenda.
Journalist: And would your health package include an increase to the subsidy on
prescription drugs? Many essential medicines are terribly expensive and some people can’t
afford them at all.
Politician: We already have a very high level of subsidy for prescription medicines, and
negotiations are currently taking place with the major drug companies to try to get them to
improve efficiency and lower their prices. We see this as a mor useful approach, which
should result in less government money being spent on this.
Journalist: Oh. OK. Education is another very important area. Do you anticipate allocating
more money to build schools, in particular primary schools, some of which are now very
old?
Politician: Yes, we do of course see education as important, but we feel that the current
level of funding is appropriate and we hope that by closing some schools in areas where
the population has dropped, that we’ll be able to find the money to subsidize schools that are
in need.
Journalist: And what about R and D, research and development? Compared to many other
countries, the amount of money provided for scientific research in this country is extremely
low. So much so that many of our best scientists are forced to go overseas.
Politician: This is an area of serious concern, and we are planning to allocate over 3 billion
dollars in university research grants over the next five years. We accept that this is an area
that has been under-funded.
Journalist: Finally, minister, let’s look at our road transport system. The current trend seems
to be for the government to seek private funding for the construction of major roads…which
the drivers then pay to use. Do you see this as fair?
Politician: Basically, it makes sense. If a road or tunnel is built by a private company, then
that company must be entitled to charge motorists to use it. This allows us to have a safe,
modern road system at no additional cost to the state, which in turn means that we, as a
government, don’t have to set any additional funds aside for public works of this nature.
PART 3.
There's been a great deal of criticism levelled at education standards in the UK recently. is
this criticism justified?
David: If statistics are anything to go by, the answer is a definite 'yes'. There was some
progress made between 1995 and 2005 in literacy and reading, but since then it has stalled.
The result has been that we've been overtaken by countries improving at a faster rate. So,
we've now slipped down to a dismal 23rd in the global league table. It's a worrying statistic.
Anoushka: It is, and it's one that doesn't seem to be about to change in the near future.
Unfortunately, the current system places too much emphasis on preparing primary school
pupils for the transition to secondary school. As a result, there is an overemphasis on tests at
primary school, which in turn means that the curriculum is significantly narrowed. It
seems to be a case of testing rather than teaching, with those pupils who are good at passing
tests coming out on top when they leave primary school.
David: And those who lag behind at the age of 11 seldom catch up. By 'behind' I mean
not reaching level four at the end of primary school. Only 6.5% of pupils who fall into
this category obtain the benchmark five good GCSE exam passes at secondary school
when the national average is up at 58.2%. And by good GCSE's, I mean from grades A to
C. Obviously, this figure of just over one in twenty does not compare favourably with the
46% and 95% who reach the benchmark after leaving primary schools at levels four and five
respectively. These statistics show exactly why progress has stalled. It's simply because
those performing poorly have been unable to improve.
Anoushka: No, they haven't, but I'm not sure that the system is entirely at fault in this
instance. If we identify those who are under-performing, we can see that the vast majority
are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Because of their situation, they have bigger fish to
fry, so to speak. The pupils I'm referring to are those on free school meals from families
facing tight financial constraints, which can mean no heating at home in the cold winter
months, for example. Such children find it almost impossible to concentrate on their work
when their teeth are chattering. Teachers do all they can to compensate and they do try to
give underprivileged pupils equal opportunities, but I'm afraid in most cases, they're fighting
a losing battle.
David: That's a fair point and it does show why the Department of Education's initiatives like
phonics training for new teachers have proved ineffective in re-establishing the progress in
literacy witnessed from 1995 to 2005. What it doesn't explain, though, is the criticism of
falling university standards. As you know, it is claimed that universities have been guilty
of dumbing down - a claim they have categorically denied. However, there is unequivocal
evidence to suggest that degrees are now worth substantially less than they were. Over
the past decade, the proportion of first-class degrees awarded in UK universities has risen by
50%, while over the same period student numbers have risen by 20%. These figures either
point to a sudden phenomenal success story - I don't think so - or a sharp decline in the
standards students are expected to reach.
Anoushka: I'm not so sure about the relevance of that argument because the question of
whether standards have fallen or not cannot be answered with any degree of certainty. That's
because there is neither a universal standard over time nor a baseline for making
comparisons. What I believe to be a more suitable question is whether higher education is
functioning appropriately; for this day and age. So, what we have to ask is: Has the purpose
of higher education moved with the times? In my opinion, it has as school leavers who
would never have had the chance to go on to higher education now have something to
aim at, They're not being written off as they were in the past.
David: That's all very well, but ...

PART 4.
I’m here today to talk about a wonderful project I’ve been involved in this summer called the
Children’s University. It’s run everyday for local children aged from seven to fourteen by a
team of parents, teachers, students and local employers. It was originally set up by a local
charity and has been running for the last five years.
The aim of the Children’s University is to inspire children and foster a love of learning. It
sounds rather grand I know, but it was amazing to watch the children working so
enthusiastically on all the various projects. This year the topic and overall theme was
industry, building on previous years’ themes such as culture and science.
Each volunteer on the scheme was partnered with another with a different background. I was
paired up with Mark, who was fantastic at motivating the children. He was a natural teacher
and the children really loved him. Not exactly what you’d expect from a lawyer! I’m a
student at university doing biology so we couldn’t have been more different.
The workshop material was written by the volunteers. I was in a group of six who taught a
series of workshops on manufacturing in our city called Making Chocolate. The workshop
included taking the children to visit the local factory and eve even had a tasting session!
Other groups did things like making their own furniture and baking bread.
Each child had their own booklet which was stamped when they’d successfully finished a
project. This was known by everybody as their “passport”. The children were very
competitive and were always comparing to see who’d collected the most stamps. It really
seemed to be much more effective in encouraging the children to do more workshops than
last year when group leaders simply signed their notebook each time they did a workshop.
At the end of the Children’s University we held a graduation ceremony in the city’s real
university. This was held in the Concert Hall and was every exciting for the children. They
all wore graduation caps and gowns. Afterwards, everyone went to the dining hall for the
official photos and refreshments. It was just like a proper graduation ceremony and the
children and their parents loved it.
Every child that attended the Children’s University was awarded a certificate. In addition,
the children who had attended the most workshops received a gold medal. Some had been to
as many as forty workshops over the summer.
The main benefit for me of volunteering for the Children’s University was learning from the
other volunteers because many of them were older than me and more experienced. For
example, I had ample opportunity to practice problem-solving and became much better at it.
It’s a useful skill that I can use in the workplace when I graduate.
Another benefit is that it gave me the opportunity to work with children. I’d been undecided
about whether to become a teacher or a social worker. While I loved helping the children
learn, the experience has confirmed that what I most want to do is help children and their
families in our community who are having difficulties.
I think that having worked on the Children’s University should definitely help me after I
graduated and want to start my career because I can show that I’ve got experience of
working closely with children. I’m definitely going to do it again next summer.
If you think this kind of work is for you, and would like to register for next summer, come
and ask me for an information pack after this talk. When you’re sure it’s what you want to
do, you can download an application form from the Children’s University website.