1) Some students prefer to take a gap year between high school and university,

to work or to travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Mặt lợi/Mặt hại

Mặt hại
Mặt lợi
Hạn chế của xu hướng này thì đáng chú ý
Học sinh có thể có lợi từ việc đi du lịch và đi hơn lợi ích
làm trong năm trống

Ý chính 1: trải nghiệm sống và kĩ năng. Ý chính 1: Mất tự tin

Trong một năm trống, học sinh có thể đi Giải thích: Dễ bị tụt lại trong học tập và
du lịch và trải nghiệm văn hoá. đối mặt với áp lực từ bạn bè
Ví dụ: Khi học sinh sống ở nước ngoài, họ
sẽ phải tự thích nghi với cuộc sống độc lập Ý chính 2: Mất đà và khó tiếp tục việc học
và học ngôn ngữ mới. Giải thích: Do đã bị xao nhãng học tập quá
lâu.
Ý chính 2: xác định con đường sự nghiệp
phù hợp Ý chính 3: Khó tiết kiệm được nhiều tiền
Giải thích: Nhiều trường trung học không hay học được nhiều kĩ năng nghề nghiệp.
định hướng nghề nghiệp cho học sinh, do Giải thích: học sinh tốt nghiệp cấp 3 chủ
vậy dành một vài tháng để tìm việc hoặc yếu chỉ có thể làm công việc cấp thấp với
học nghề sẽ giúp ích cho việc này. mức thu nhập ít ỏi và không mang lại nhiều
kiến thức thực tế.

Topic Vocabulary

● High school seniors (n): các học sinh năm cuối trung học

It's fairly unusual for high school seniors to befriend freshmen.

● Pursue college (v): đi học đại học

o Embark on higher education (v): bắt đầu việc học đại học
o Enrol in university (v): nhập học đại học
She is the first in her family to pursue a top-tier college.
The workshop is aimed at students who are about to embark on higher education.

● Defer university enrollment (v): trì hoãn nhập học đại học

o Delay tertiary education for one year (v): trì hoãn 1 năm mới học đại
học
 o Have a year-long break (v): nghỉ một năm
When a student defers university enrollment, they can keep and defer competitive
scholarship awards.

● Gap-year takers (n): những người trì hoãn học đại học.

Gap year takers are less likely to finish their degrees than more committed pupils
who head straight from school to university.

● Formal schooling (n): giáo dục chính quy

He had only a few years of formal schooling.

● Enrich life experiences (v): làm giàu trải nghiệm sống

Studying abroad would enable students to enrich their life experiences.

● Hone practical skills (n): mài giũa kĩ năng thực tế

Students are able hone their practical skills through internship projects.

● Cultivate relevant job skills (v): đào sâu những kĩ năng liên quan đến nghề

nghiệp.
In order to have a well-rounded career, graduates should cultivate not only relevant
job skills but also interpersonal ones.

● Inadequate career guidance (n): định hướng nghề nghiệp không đủ

Many students made ignorant career choices due to inadequate career guidance.

● Attend vocational training courses (v): tham gia các khoá đào tạo nghề

The number of students attending vocational training courses in the southern

province of Bến Tre has been on the rise since 2015.

● Identify a suitable career path (v): xác định con đường sự nghiệp phù hợp

Information on your strengths and weaknesses plays a central role in helping you
identify a suitable career path.
 ● Intense study schedules (n): lịch học căng thẳng

These days our lives are incredibly busy, we might have a family to feed, work
commitments, or intense study schedules.

● Fall behind (v): not make as much progress as someone else

Companies that failed to modernize fell behind quite dramatically.

● Peer pressure (n): áp lực từ bạn bè

There is tremendous peer pressure to wear fashionable clothes.

Topic Vocabulary Review

Exercise 1: Gap year
What are other way to say “take a gap year”?
- Defer university enrollment
- Delay tertiary education for one year
- Have a year-long break

What are some better verbs to say “get more skills”?

- Cultivate
- Hone
- Enrich

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with one of the words above. You may have to
change the form of the word to match the sentence.
1. They are assigned an adviser to identify goals and how to best use the budget
to buy goods and services which will help them achieve these aims.
Meaning: recognize
2. The school offers vocational training (2 words) programs in welding, electrical
work, and building maintenance.
Meaning: skills and education for a job
3. They are looking for somone with an interest in career guidance (2 words) and
global recruitment issues.
Meaning: help and advice about jobs

Traditionally, high school seniors will either pursue college or enter the workforce
after their graduation. However, these days, a third option – gap year, where
students defer university enrollment to travel or work, is gaining traction. While
there are admittedly several benefits to students, I believe that the negative
influences of this growing development are more glaring.

On the one hand, delaying tertiary education for one year is advantageous to a
certain extent. First, gap year affords new graduates time to travel and immerse
themselves in alien cultures, which helps them enrich their life experiences and hone
practical skills. For example, when living abroad, students will have to adapt quickly
to their independent life and pick up new foreign languages. Second, given that most
high schools provide inadequate career guidance, sparing several months looking for
job opportunities or attending vocational training courses will empower students to
identify a suitable career path. Such experiences would be hardly attainable if high
school graduates immediately enrol in university and become occupied with their
intense study schedules.

On the other hand, I am convinced that the aforementioned advantages pale in

comparison with the significant disadvantages of having a year-long break prior to
embarking on higher education. A major drawback is that gap-year takers may fall
behind in their study as well as facing peer pressure, which could possibly drain their
self-confidence. In addition to this, high school seniors can lose momentum, finding it
hard to resume their education after a long time being distracted from formal
schooling. Last but not least, those young people are unlikely to save up a lot of
money or cultivate relevant job skills during their gap year, which can be attributed
to the fact that the jobs available to high school leavers are mainly entry-level ones
that neither pay well nor teach them anything substantive.

In conclusion, while taking a gap year is not without certain benefits, I would contend
that the given disadvantages do not make it a worthwhile path.
276 words – Written by Phuong Dang

General Vocabulary

● Gain traction (v): (an idea, product, etc) become popular

In our digital age, it takes less time for new words and phrases to gain traction than
it did in the past.

● Glaring (a): bad and ovious

There were several glaring inconsistencies in his report.

● Afford (v): allow someone to have something pleasant or necessary

Her seat afforded her an uninterrupted view of the stage.

● Alien (a): strange and not familiar

He quickly adjusts to the alien environment.

● Empower (v): encourage and support the ability to do something:

We want to empower individuals to get the skills they need.

● Attainable (a): possible to achieve

We must ensure that we do not set ourselves goals that are not attainable.

● occupied (v): busy

At that time I was fully occupied taking care of my elderly mother.

 ● pale in comparison with (v) seem much less serious or important when

compared with someone or something else

I thought I was badly treated but my experiences pale in comparison with yours.

● Drain (v) reduce or cause something to reduce

The long war had drained the resources of both countries.

● Resume (v): (an activity) start again after a pause

Officials from the two countries will meet again soon to resume negotiations.

● Lose momentum (v): start become less energetic, successful.

The play loses momentum by its half way stage.

● Be attributed to (v): to be the result of something or someone

His success can be attributed to hard work.

● Entry-level jobs (n): jobs at the lowest level

Tourism is a great way of generating entry-level jobs.

● Substantive (a) important, serious, or related to real facts

Substantive conclusions are drawn from the theories and the evidence.

● worthwhile (a): useful, important enough to be a suitable reward for the time

or effort spent.
If you need him on this project, you've got to make it financially worthwhile for him.
General Vocabulary Review
Exercise 1 - Fill in the blanks with one of the words above. You may have to
change the form of the word to match the sentence.
1. The iPhone’s colossal success can be attributed to (2 words) many appealing
design features.
Meaning: to be the result of
2. Improved international trade, prompted by globalization, has enabled
consumers to buy foreign products that were previously unattainable.
Meaning: not able to be achieved
3. The internet has empowered consumers and changed the way they search
and shop for products and services by increasing the availability and
transparency of pricing and other comparative information.
Meaning: support
4. Tet holiday, which best epitomizes Vietnamese cultural identity, is a means to
gather with family and friends and enjoy all the celebration activities as much
as possible. The overwhelming theme is prosperity and peace to all, a difficult
but very worthwhile goal.
Meaning: deserving
5. E-commerce are gaining traction during the holidays, but bricks-and-mortar
shops remain popular with a host of consumers.
Meaning: become popular
6. War drains a nation of its youth and its wealth
Meaning: reduce
7. While others may be preoccupied with their responsibilities or goals, you have
a knack for discovering enjoyable places where laughter, creativity, and
happiness abound.
Meaning: thinking or worrying too much