LỚP VSTEP B1B2C1 CÔ THỦY – THẦY CƯƠNG

VSTEP SPEAKING
LUYỆN THI TRỌNG TÂM – CẤP TỐC – ĐẠT CHỨNG CHỈ

CÁC CHỦ ĐỀ HAY GẶP TRONG VSTEP

SPEAKING PART 1
I. Câu hỏi về chủ đề LEISURE TIME
1. What do you do in your free time?
Recently, I often spend my leisure time with my family like having a meal together, striking up
conversations and making jokes. I really like the time when my parents spin a good yarn,
through that we can have a deeper insight into their childhood, the harsh period when they were
young and somehow these story bridge the generation gap. I love the chitchat with my parent.

2. Do you think hobbies are important?

Yes. I think a hobby can help me unwind and recharge my batteries after burning the candle
at both ends. Sometimes, when I was waiting for my girlfriend getting ready, ya know, that a
long and tedious moment, my hobby helped kill time. And more importantly, when someone
has the hobbies like cooking, drawing and singing, they can have it down to an art and hit the
big time.

3. Which hobby do you like to try in the future?

In the future, I hope I can immerse myself in reading without any worry about my work and
study. Honestly, I am always up to my eyeballs doing an assignment and I just read books once
in a blue moon. But we all know the importance of reading and I love reading, too. So, in the
future, I hope I can organize my workload more efficiently so that I spend more time reading.

II. Câu hỏi về chủ đề TV PROGRAMS

1. What kind of TV programs do you like?
I love watching news on televisions as I want to be informed about what’s happening around me,
especially in this tumultuous time of the Covid pandemic. I want to have information that can
be used to keep me and my family safe.
• tumultuous (adj): biến động

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- What’s your favorite TV program?

I prefer watching news programs on either BBC or CNN. The advantage of watching news on
these channels is that they speak in a clear and precise manner. I can learn a lot on how to use
formal language watching the presenters on these two channels.
• precise (adj): chính xác

2. Do you often watch programs on TV or your cell phone?

I find myself watching more and more content on my cell phone on the bus or at lunches rather
than watching TV in my living room. It is just more convenient. Most of these programmes are
also free, so I’m thinking of cutting the cord to just watch these programs exclusively on my
personal devices.
• Cutting the cord (expression, noun phrase): việc từ bỏ không sử dụng cáp truyền hình nữa

3. Do you like watching the same kind of program all the time?
Well, after a while, news can bore me out and the severity of some news can take a toll on my
mental health. Therefore, every now and then I also choose to watch sitcom series such as “How
I met your mother” and the likes because the humour is lighthearted and suitable for relaxation.
• to bore someone out (expression): làm ai đó chán
• severity (n): mức độ nghiêm trọng
• to take a toll on someone/something (expression): gây thiệt hại cho ai đó/cái gì đó
• sitcom (n): phim truyền hình nhiều tập về hài tình huống.

III. Câu hỏi về chủ đề PICNIC

1. Have you ever gone to picnics?

Yes, I have. Although I haven’t been to many picnics, I enjoy each and every one of them. I

think they’re a great way to bond with your family and friends. What a wonderful idea it is to

just relax, enjoy nature and the company of loved ones at the same time.

• The company of someone: sự góp mặt/đi cùng/hiện diện của ai đó

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2. How frequently do you go out for picnics? I’m a busy person so I can only go on a
picnic every now and then. Actually, I would love to change this. At the moment, I’m trying
to rearrange my schedule in order to have more time on weekends to invite friends and family
for picnics.
• every now and then (expression): thỉnh thoảng
• to rearrange (v): sắp xếp lại

3. Did you go on a picnic when you were a child?

I have to say not much since both of my parents were busy businesspersons. They couldn’t spend
too much time with me, let alone going on a picnic. I think they’ve begun to regret that because
now they’re retired and want to spend more time with me, but now, I’m the one who has so
many things to do.
• to regret (v): hối tiếc

IV. Câu hỏi về chủ đề NEIGHBORS

1. Do you like your neighbors?
Yes, we have a very close relationship, we share too much in common and we love and support
each other. I love my neighbors as my nearest and dearest.

2. Are your neighbors usually close to each other in your country?

Absolutely yes. In Vietnam, we have several folk verses and proverbs to prove the importance
of having a close relationship with neighbors. Ya know, having conflicts and disputes with
neighbors can do more harm and good, so we often get along well with each other.

3. What is your neighborhood like?

I have to say that they are kind, generous, supportive, and amiable. Whenever my family is
faced with any adversity, we can turn to our neighbors for advice or help and support. And
when everything is settled, we just get together and throw a party to return a favour.

4. How can neighbors be helpful?

Yes, as I said before, they are so lovely and supportive. Sometimes, my family travels together
for a long period of time, we can ask them to keep an eye on our house. At night, we can
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gather, strike up a proper conversation, make some jokes, then the whole can burst into
laughter. That is the way we unwind after a long day of working and studying.

5. Do you think your neighborhood is a good place for children?

Yes, we have a small playground for children in our neighborhood. At night, all the children can
go there and play with each other. I can see that children also have a very close relationship with
each other and they are bosom friends.

6. What facilities are available in your neighborhood?

I have to say that I am settling in an ideal location because we have a convenience store,
a pharmacy, a market, and a police station in our neighborhood. It nearly satisfies all of
our basic necessities.

7. How could your neighborhood be improved?

Oh, I have not come up with any improvement in my neighborhood yet. As I said before, it has
an ideal location and the neighbors are wonderful, so I think we don’t need any changes or
improvement at this moment in time.

8. Do you think it is important to have a good relationship with your neighbors?

Yes, having a good relationship with neighbors is absolutely essential. To be honest, despite not
having the same belief, hobbies with each other, my family still behave gently and politely in
order not to be in direct conflict with my neighbors.
Vocab

Từ vựng Nghĩa Ví dụ

Get along hòa thuận với I don’t really get along with my sister’s husband.

Shall we get together on Friday and go for a drink or

Get together tụ tập
something?

My nearest and người thân nhất When we spend all our time with our nearest and dearest,

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dearest they can annoy us.

Keep an eye on trông chừng Keep an eye on your brother while I’m out, please.

I gave her a ride when her car broke down and now she is
Return the favour trả ơn
returning the favour.

They have been unable to settle the dispute over working

Dispute tranh luận
conditions.

Folk verses and Vietnam is famous for having a great number of folk verses
ca dao tục ngữ
proverbs and proverbs.

cuộc đối đầu, xung

Conflict There was a lot of conflict between him and his father.
đột

Do more harm Getting involved at this stage would do more harm than
lợi bất cập hại
than good good.

Children with supportive parents often do better at school

Supportive hữu ích, ủng hộ
than those without.

Amiable thân thiện, dễ gần He seemed an amiable young man.

Be faced with đối mặt You’re faced with a very difficult choice there.

Adversity khó khăn She was always cheerful in adversity.

Turn to someone nhờ đưa ra lời

You can always turn to me for advice if you need it.
for advice khuyên

Settle sống, định cư After they got married, they settle in Brooklyn.

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Throw a party mở tiệc Peter throws really wild parties.

Strike up a It can be difficult to strike up a conversation with a complete

bắt chuyện
conversation stranger.

Brust into laughter bật cười I always burst into laughter when my friend makes jokes.

A glass of wine in the evening helps me to unwind after

Unwind nghỉ ngơi, thư giãn
work.

A bosom friend is someone you can very close with and

Bosom friend bạn thân
confide everthing in.

Ideal location vị trí lý tưởng We are living in an ideal location.

You have to go to the pharmacy to have some medical

Pharmacy tiệm thuốc
treatment.

I should have thought that an adequate and complete filing

Basic necessity nhu cầu cơ bản
system was a basic necessity.

She comes up with some amazing scheme to double her

Come up with suy nghĩ
income.

V. Câu hỏi về chủ đề DECORATION

1. What kind of decoration do you prefer?

I think that would be a comfortable, cosy fabric armchair. Some people may count it as

an accessory but I’d rather think it a decoration. Ya know, a soft textured armchair may bring

an airy vibe to our living room. And, ridiculously, I can be more creative when looking at the

chair

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2. How is your home decorated?

Yes, my house is well decorated. My family consults several designers’ ideas when we decorate
our home. Ya know, our home can be considered one of the most essential part of my family, so
we are willing to spend more money and time to make it the most comfortable and wonderful
place for the whole family to unwind after a long period of work and study.

3. What is your favourite color when decorating your home?

That would be gray. All of the walls in my house are gray, it may make my house look bigger
and brighter. Moreover, I think that it’s much easier to replace, switch up interior accessories
when all the walls are rolled on gray. So I consider this color as the greatest
decorating flexibility.

4. Do people in your country like decorating their home?

Not really, most of the Vietnamese people don’t pay too much attention to décor their house, but
I must claim that most of the house is cosy and warm. I think that people cosy up their house by
not decorate their house to much. Ya know, sometimes the guests will feel a little
bit suffocated when they enter a well-decorated house.

5. What is the new decorating trend for this year?

Honestly, I really don’t know the emerging design trend this year. But I think somehow I could
say that is non-white kitchens. I remember exactly that by 10 years ago, there is a tendency to
decor an all-white kitchen where all the facilities, shelves, and islands in the kitchens should be
white. But now, people are more inclined towards using natural wood cabinets and colorful
stuff to décor their kitchen.

* Vocab

Từ vựng Nghĩa Ví dụ

Cosy ấm cúng This room is nice and cosy in the winter.

Fabric sợi vải She designs her own fabrics using woodblocks and

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stencils to create patterns on the material.

Accessories for the top-of-the-range car include

Accessory phụ kiện trang trí
leather upholstery, electric windows, and a sunroof.

thoáng đãng, nhẹ

Airy The new offices are light and airy.
nhàng

tâm trạng, đặc điểm

Vibe của một địa điểm I didn’t like the place – it had bad vibes
hoặc hoàn cảnh

The likelihood of finding two identical snowflakes is

Ridiculously nực cười
ridiculously small.

I’m not quite sure how to get there – I’d better consult
Consult tham khảo ý kiến
a map.

A glass of wine in the evening helps me to unwind

Unwind thư giãn
after work.

The estate agent had pictures of the house from the

Interior phần trong
outside but none of its interior.

It’s time to roll on one of the top paint color to refresh

Roll on sơn
your house.

The standards were established to allow greater

Fexibility sự linh hoạt
flexibility in court decisions.

The texts of the plays were so passionately coddled

Suffocated ngộp ngạt
throughout that the subtext got suffocated in the

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embrace.

Western governments should be giving more aid to the

Emerging mới nổi
emerging democracies of the Third World.

Be more có khuynh hướng Some people are more inclined towards philosophy
inclined towards hơn than others.

Valuable pieces of china were on display in tha glass-

Cabinet tủ kính
fronted cabinet.

VI. Từ vựng chủ đề NEWSPAPERS

• Electronic/online newspapers: báo điện tử

• Keep myself updated: cập nhật tin tức cho bản thân
• Attractive visuals: hình ảnh minh họa thu hút
• buy/ get/ take newspapers: mua báo
• analysis: bài phân tích
• breaking news: tin nóng
• business news: tin tức doanh nghiệp
• current affairs: vấn đề hiện thời
• gossip: tin tầm phào
• international news: tin thế giới
• local news: tin địa phương
• sensational news: tin giật gân
• the story went viral: câu chuyện được lan truyền rộng rãi
• world events: sự kiện quốc tế
• follow a story: theo dõi một câu chuyện, vụ việc
• subscribe to a publication: đăng ký theo dõi một ấn phẩm nào đó
• track the news: theo dòng tin tức

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• invasion of privacy: xâm phạm đời tư (unjustifiable intrusion into the personal life of
another without consent)
• yellow journalism: loại hình báo chuyên đưa những thông tin ít hoặc không chính thống,
không được tìm hiểu kỹ càng mà sử dụng những tiêu đề bắt mắt để câu khách. Nội dung
thường bao gồm việc phóng đại các tin tức sự kiện, bán các tin bê bối, biêu xấu hoặc tin
kích động, nhạy cảm

VII. Câu hỏi về chủ đề NEWSPAPERS

1. Do you often read newspapers?
To be honest. I don’t usually buy newspapers because I prefer online news. I keep myself
updated by subscribing to some publications such as Tuoi Tre or Thanh Nien and track the
news in my free time.

2. Do you prefer to read local news or international news?

Well it depends. As long as they are business news and not from the yellow journalism, I would
go for it. I am not keen on gossip or sensational news which often invade someone’s privacy.

3. Do you prefer to read news online or in a newspaper?

I’d rather read online news because it’s convenient for me. I mean I can get access to the Internet
every time or everywhere and read the articles on my phone or my tablet.

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