The methods help the 12th graders at trieu son 3 high school do multiple choice reading comprehension exercises quickly, effectively

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reason of selecting the topic In the trend of globalization today, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored because it is widely used everywhere in the world Along with the development of technology, medicine, engineering and education, English plays a very important role Therefore, learning English becomes even more necessary than ever When learning English, besides acquiring the ability to communicate, reading skill also plays an integral part in learning process Reading not only helps students expand vocabulary but also learn grammatical structures in a natural way In the State’s high school graduation examination, it is reading skill that is one of the skills tested and it accounts for 20 percent of the entire marks That is to say having a good reading skill is very necessary At Trieu Son high school, for most of the students, they find reading comprehension especially important yet most challenging one When doing this kind of task, students often start reading the passages immediately, even translate them into their mother language whereas the passages are often long and difficult with a lot of new words Because of lack of a suitable method to answer each kind of questions, students not have enough time to complete their task or choose the answer at random On the other hand, students not have many chances to this kind of tasks because most of the passages in the textbook 10, 11, and 12 – basic – only ask students to read the passages and then answer the questions Consequently, most of them not recognize each type of questions and even not know what the requirement of the question is Due to these reasons, students often get poor result when doing this kind of exercises On teaching reading skill, especially multiple choice reading comprehension to the 12 th students at Trieu Son high school I have found that classifying each kind of questions to find out the answer quickly, accurately and adapting the textbook to give students more chances to practice doing this kind of tasks are very important in teaching reading skill The above reasons have inspired me to conduct my initiative with the title "The methods help the 12th graders at Trieu Son high school multiple-choice reading comprehension exercises quickly, effectively" 1.2 Objectives, tasks, methodology and scope of research 1.2.1 Objectives of research 1.2.1.1 For the students - Provide learners with an overview of how to deal with the multiple-choice reading comprehension exercises - Help learners know how to identify each kind of questions and the best way to cope with it - Apply the methods in my research to the multiple-choice reading comprehension well 1.2.1.2 For the teachers - Find out the most effective methods to improve students’ reading skill in general and the multiple-choice reading comprehension in detail - Know how to stimulate students to improve their reading skills 1.2.2 Research tasks - Find out the reason why most of students cannot multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks well - Apply my research to teaching practices, then compare, contrast the implementation of the topic - Evaluate and conclude the effectiveness of topic 1.2.3 Research methodology I write this topic based on: - The method of studying theory - The method of investigating - Applying the topic to real teaching English at Trieu Son high school - Comparison, collation and summary of the result, effect of the topic 1.2.4 Scope of research I mainly focus on: - It is about effective methods to reading comprehension skills PROBLEM SOLVING 2.1 Rationale and reality 2.1.1 Rationale According to Williams (Williams, E (1984) Reading in a Language Classroom London: Macmillan ) The role of reading in learning a foreign language learners can practice the language they met through listening and speaking Language that students get through reading can be reused for writing skills, or students can interpret the meaning of the reading to obtain the necessary information for them That is to say, to have good reading comprehension skills is very important For 12th graders, it is more important because having a good reading skills is one of the core elements to help them achieve high marks in the examinations 2.1.2 Reality During learning process, students at Trieu Son high school have complained that reading comprehension in general, and multiple-choice reading comprehension in detail is extremely difficult because this skill not only asks students to read the text but also processes it and understands its meaning I have found that when doing this kind of tasks, most of them get bad result I wonder what the reasons are At the beginning of the first semester - school year 2014 2015, I conducted a small survey with 84 students in classes - 12H3 and 12H4 to find out the ways they did the test and why a lot of them got bad result, and I got the result: The reasons I don’t understand the passage at all and this kind of exercise is unfamiliar to me I spend time reading and translating the passage into Vietnamese There are too many new and unfamiliar words in the Percentage 70% 69% 63% passage The passage is too long in comparison with the time 45% allotted I don’t know how to answer each kind of questions 73% I try my best to identify each question, then scan and 4% skim the passage to find out the answer From the above table, we see that the majority of the students not have good reading skill Most of them feel anxious, overwhelmed when facing multiplechoice reading comprehension exercises containing many of the new words, and too long Therefore, they are not only difficult for good students but also far more difficult for average and poor students who only take GCSE examination Besides, when doing this kind of exercises, the large number of students often focus on the translation of readings without focusing on understanding the main content of the passage, identifying each type of questions and the best ways to cope with them They often worry about reading and translating more than understanding the requirement of each kind of questions or answering questions given below readings in advance They have no skill to scan, skim the phrases, sentences, clauses in the passage This makes them have no enough time to answer the questions correctly, resulting in getting bad marks when doing reading comprehension multiple choice task More important, students find it unfamiliar when doing multiple-choice reading comprehension exercises because in the textbook Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12, most of the reading passages often simply ask students to read the passages and then answer the questions followed Therefore, students always have many difficulties in choosing best option as doing multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks 2.2 Measure implementation 2.2.1 The adaptation of the textbook During my teaching process, I have adapted reading passages in the textbook - especially textbook Tieng Anh 12 – Basic - to make them similar to the ones appearing in the State’s high school graduation examination Take the reading passage in Unit – Ways of socializing – Tieng Anh 12 – Basic as an example: To attract someone's attention so that we might speak to that person, we can use either verbal or non-verbal forms of communication Let us look at non-verbal communication in English Probably the most common way of attracting someone's attention is by waving For example, if we are at a noisy party and see a friend come in the door about 20 metres away, we might raise our hand and wave to her as a signal that we see her But how hard can we wave in a situation like this? Suppose you are at the airport, and you see your brother get off the plane and begin walking toward you If you are excited, you might jump up and down and wave as hard as you can to attract his attention This is the instance where big, obvious non-verbal signals are appropriate There are, however, some social situations where smaller non-verbal signals are more appropriate In a restaurant, for example, if we want to attract the attention of our waiter, we have several choices We can wait until he passes near us, catch his eye, and nod slightly to let him know we would like him to come to our table Or we can raise our hand slightly to show that we need assistance We not whistle or clap our hands to get the person's attention That is considered impolite and even rude In most social situations where some informality is allowed, a brief raise of the hand and a small wave is fine For instance, if you are walking across the schoolyard and see your teacher approaching you, a small friendly wave to attract his or her attention is appropriate Once you've got your friend's attention, you shouldn't point at the person or thing you want her to look at A slight nod will Pointing at someone is usually considered rude Of course, there are times when pointing is perfectly acceptable, such as when a teacher wants to get someone's attention in class The teacher often points to the student and says, "David, would you read the next sentence, please?" Pointing here is not impolite; it's simply a way to get someone's attention Question 1: Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A Some Social Situations in Attracting Attention B Attracting Attention by Waving C Attracting Attention: Non-verbal Cues D The Best Ways of Attracting Attention Question 2: The passage indicates that we can use either verbal or _ communication to attract someone’s attention A signal B non-verbal C appropriate D simply Question 3: According to the passage, what is considered the most common way of getting someone’s attention? A raising one’s hand B pointing C waving D clapping one’s hands nd Question 4: What can we infer from the paragraph? A It’s hard to wave at the airport B We can use verbal form of communication to attract our relatives’ attention at the airport C To attract someone’s attention at the airport, waving is not appropriate D We shouldn’t jump up and down to attract someone’s attention Question 5: According to the passage, you can jump up and down and wave as hard as you can to attract your brother’s attention A at the airport B in a restaurant C at a noisy party D in the schoolyard rd Question 6: The word “he” in the paragraph refers to _ A the waiter B the brother C the friend D the teacher Question 7: The word “approaching” in the passage is closest in meaning to A coming nearer to B catching sight of C pointing at D looking up to Question 8: Which of the following is NOT true? A We can raise our hand slightly to attract the waiter’s attention B A small friendly wave to attract the teacher’s attention in the schoolyard is acceptable C The teacher can point at a student in class to get his/her attention D Pointing at someone is usually considered polite Question 9: The word “rude” in the passage most probably means A polite B suitable C disrespectful D courteous Question 10: Which of the following is TRUE? A To attract someone’s attention, we had better point at the person or thing you want her to look at B To attract a student in class, teacher often points to him/ her C You can clap your hands to get the person's attention D It’s not rude to attract someone’s attention by whistling Or the reading passage in Unit 13 – The 22nd SEA GAMES – Tieng Anh 12 – Basic: The 22nd Southeast Asian Games were held in Vietnam from the 5th to 13rd December, 2003, Although it was the first time Vietnam hosted such a big sport event, the Games were a great success The Games really became a festival that impressed sports enthusiasts with its spirit: solidarity, co-operation for peace and development Athletes from 11 participating countries competed in 32 sports, and 444 gold medals were won Some teams such as table tennis, badminton, karatedo, volleyball, basketball and wrestling were composed of top competitor in the region Many Games records were close to international levels Vietnam won 158 gold medals to finish at the top of the Southeast Asian Games medal standings Thailand was ranked second with 90 golds, and Indonesia was third with only 55 golds Singapore and Vietnam were the two nations which had participants who were presented with the Most Outstanding Athlete titles in the Swimming and Shooting events The Vietnamese Women’s Football team successfully defended the SEA Games title The Men’s Football team won a silver medal In other sports such as karatedo, athletics, bodybuilding and wushu, the young and energetic Vietnamese athletes performed excellently and won a lot of gold medals Vietnam’s first place finish was not surprising Firstly, to prepare for the 22nd SEA Games, Vietnam carried out an intensive programme for its athletes, which included training in facilities, both home and abroad Secondly, with the strong support of their countrymen, the Vietnamese athletes competed in high spirits The country’s success has proved that Vietnam can organize sporting events on an international level A plan has been proposed for Vietnam to host the Asia Sports Games at some point in the future Question 1: The 22nd SEA Games were held in Vietnam from A the 5th to 13th December, 2003 B the 13th to 15th December, 2003 C the 5th to 13th November, 2003 D the 13th to 15th November, 2003 Question 2: Which of the following is TRUE about the Games’ spirit? A solidarity and co-operation for peace B co-operation for peace and development C solidarity, co-operation for peace and development D solidarity, co-operation and development Question 3: Thailand was ranked second with A 158 golds B 55 golds C 80 golds D 90 golds Question 4: According to the passage, Singapore and Vietnam had participants who were awarded the most Outstanding Athlete titles in A the bodybuilding and shooting events B wushu and swimming events C the Swimming and Shooting events D karatedo and athletics Question 5: The word “hosted” in the passage could best to replaced by A organized B impressed C participated D defended Question 6: It is stated in the passage that a plan has been proposed for Vietnam to host the Asia Sports Games A next year B at some point in the future C in 2015 D in 2020 By adapting reading passages in the textbook, teacher can help students: - have a general understanding of multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks; - helps students become familiar with multiple-choice reading comprehension exercises; - improve students’ reading skill by doing this kind of tasks In addition to this, I have encouraged my students to learn new words through not only each lesson but also each exercise they did In each period, I have spent five minutes asking my students to write the new words they learned in the last lesson I read the Vietnamese meaning of the words and all students have to write down the English words in their notebook of vocabulary with their books closed After that, I ask students to hand in their notebooks, then I give feedback and marks By this way, students have to learn new words by heart and I can check their learning new words process at home in a relatively short time Moreover, when teaching new words, I find their synonyms as many as possible, which helps students easily answer the question about new words For example, the synonym of the word “disaster” is “catastrophe”; the synonym of “delay” is “hold up”… By this method, my students could enlarge their new words gradually, which helps them not only all the tasks easily but reading comprehension tasks as well 2.2.2 Answering each kind of questions 2.2.2.1 General skill - Read the question first Read the question, not the answer choices When you know the kinds of questions you must answers, it will be easier to find the answers - Skim or read the passage quickly Do not read word for word or in detail Read quickly to find the main idea and general organization - Go back to the passage to answer questions If you know the answer, you not need to go back to the passage - Leave the difficult questions until last - Take a guess when you not know the answer: If you not know the answer, take a guess When you are taking a guess, first use a process of elimination How can you eliminate the wrong answer on a multiple-choice item? All multiple-choice questions follow the same principle There is one stem and four answer choices One choice is correct, and the three choices are distracters In other words, they distract you, or take your attention away from the correct answer One of the distracters is almost correct, and the other two are more clearly incorrect You can eliminate these two clearly incorrect choices If you cannot decide between the almost correct answer and the correct answer, take a guess You may have an intuitive or unexplained feeling that one answer is correct Use your intuition when you cannot decide If you not know the answer and not have a feeling about the correct answer, use a guess letter (A, B, C or D) Use the same letter to answer every item you not know Using the same letter will give you a better chance to get a correct answer - Answer all questions Never leave any items unanswered If you have no time left, use your guess letter 2.2.2.2 Skill for each type of questions 2.2.2.2.1 Answer main idea questions - How to identify the question: What is the topic of the passage? What is the subject of the passage? What is the main idea of the passage? What is the author’s main point in the passage? With what is the author primarily concerned? Which of the following would be the best title? - Where to find the answer: The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentences or the last ones of each paragraph - How to answer the question: + Read the first line or the last line of each paragraph + Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines or the last line + Scan quickly over the rest of the passage to check that all ideas in the rests of the passage support the idea given in the first/ the last sentences + Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices Students should leave this type of question until last because they will get general idea of the passage when doing the other ones At that time, it will be easier for them to choose the best answer * Example: My mother is a very caring woman She takes the responsibility for running the household She is always the first one to get up in the morning to make sure that we leave home for school having eaten breakfast and dressed in suitable clothes In the afternoon, after hospital, she rushes to the market, then hurries home so that dinner is ready on the table by the time Dad gets home (Unit – Reading - Tieng Anh 12 – Basic) The main idea of this passage is that A A caring mother B A kind mother C A bad mother D A beautiful mother * Answer: The main idea of the passage is that the woman tries her best to take care of her children and her family Moreover, we can see “caring woman” in the first sentence, and the ideas of the others support idea in the first line Therefore, the correct answer is A 2.2.2.2.2 Answer stated detail questions - How to identify the question: According to the passage… It is stated in the passage… The passage indicates that… Which of the following is true ? - Where to find the answer: The answer to these questions are found in the passage - How to answer the question: + Find out key words in the question Key words are often: wh-question, verbs, nouns, time, place… + Skim in the appropriate part of the passage for the key words or idea + Read the sentence that contains the key words or idea carefully + Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices * Example: Endangered species are plant and animal species which are in danger of extinction Over 8,300 plant species and 7,200 animal species around the globe are threatened with extinction, and many thousands more become extinct each year before biologists can identify them (From Unit 10 – Reading – Tieng Anh 12 – Basic) According to the passage, the number of species around the globe threatened with extinction is over A 7,200 B 8,300 C 1,600 D 15,000 * Answer: Key words of this question are “species” and “extinction” Skim the passage, we can see these key words in the second sentence Therefore, the correct answer is D 2.2.2.2.3 Find “unstated” details - How to identify the question: Which of the following is not stated…? Which of the following is not mentioned…? Which of the following is not discussed…? All of the following are true except… - Where to find the answer: The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage - How to answer the question: + Find out key words in the question Key words are often: wh-question, verbs, nouns, time, place… + Scan the appropriate place in the passage for the key word (or related idea) + Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully + Look for the answers that are definitely true according to the passage Eliminate those answers + Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in the passage * Example: We can communicate not only through words but also through body language Body language includes our posture, facial expressions, and gestures Because body language is so important, you will want to know what yours is saying and how to interpret other people’s, too (From Test yourself A – Tieng Anh 12 – Basic) Which of the following is NOT stated about types of body language? A our posture B our words C our facial expression D our gestures * Answer: Key words of this question is the types of body language Scan the passage, we can find out the key words in the second sentence Therefore, the best answers is B 2.2.2.2.4 Find pronoun referents - How to identify the question: The pronoun “…” in line X refers to which of the following? - Where to find the answer: The line where the pronoun is located is given in the question The noun that the pronoun refers to is generally found before the pronoun - How to answer the question: + Locate the pronoun in the passage + Look before the pronoun for nouns that agree with the pronoun + Try each of the nouns in the context in place of the pronoun + Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices * Example: The Americans are much more concerned than the Indians and the Chinese with physical attractiveness when choosing a wife or a husband They also agree that a wife should maintain her beauty and appearance after marriage (From Unit – Reading – Tieng Anh 12 – Basic) The pronoun “They” refers to which of the following? A Physical attractiveness B The Indians C The Chinese D The Americans * Answer: We can pronoun “They” in the second sentence and there are other pronouns in front of it Try each of the nouns in the context in place of this pronoun, and the correct answer is D 2.2.2.2.5 Answer implied detail questions - How to identify the question: It is implied in the passage that … It can be inferred from the passage that … It is most likely that … What probably happened ….? - Where to find the answer: The answers to these questions are generally found in order in the passage - How to answer the question: + Choose a key word in the question + Scan the passage for the key word (or a related idea) + Carefully read the sentence that contains the key word + Look for an answer that could be true, according to that sentence And, remember, true answers are NOT correct * Example: Only two spiders found in the continental United States are deadly to humans: the black widow and the brown recluse The black widow is found in all the 48 contiguous states, more commonly in the South and West than in the North Crabill describes it as “a shy and retiring spider that doesn’t go looking for trouble The black widow’s bite is excruciatingly painful “Sometimes even morphine won’t knock out the paint.” Crabill says (From Preparation for C1 – Vinh, 2015) It can be inferred from the passage that morphine is………………………… A good for killing black widow spiders B a painkiller C a total cure for a spider bite D sold mostly in the South and West * Answer: Key word in the question is “morphine” Scan the passage, we can easily find out this word in the last sentence Moreover, read carefully the last sentence, we can choose the best answer for this question based on the cue “won’t knock out the paint” It is B 2.2.2.2.6 Answer transition questions - How to identify the question: The paragraph preceding the passage probably … What is the most likely in the paragraph following the passage? - Where to find the answer: The answers can generally be found in the first line of the passage for a preceding question and the last line for a following question - How to answer the question: + Read the first line for a preceding question + Read the last line for a following question + Try to draw a conclusion about what comes before or after based on the ideas in the first or the last line + Choose the answer that is reflected in the first or last line of the passage * Example: Carbon tetrachloride is a colorless and inflammable liquid that can be produced by combining carbon disulfide and chlorine This compound is widely used in industry today because of its effectiveness as a solvent as well as its use in the production of propellants Despite its widespread use in industry, carbon tetrachloride has been banned for home use In the past, carbon tetrachloride was a common ingredient in cleaning compounds that were used throughout the home, but it was found to be dangerous: when heated, it changes into a poisonous gas that can cause severe illness and even death if it is inhaled Because of this dangerous characteristic, the United States revoked permission for the home use of carbon tetrachloride in 1970 The United States has taken similar action with various other chemical compounds (From http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=12152) The paragraph following the passage most likely discusses 10 A additional uses of carbon tetrachloride B the banning of various chemical compounds by the U.S government C further dangerous effects of carbon tetrachloride D the major characteristic of carbon tetrachloride * Answer: We pay attention to the last sentence because this is a following question Based on the key words “similar action” and “other chemical compounds” in the last sentence, we find the correct answer B 2.2.2.2.7 Find definitions from structural clues - How to identify the question: What is the meaning of “X” in line Y? The word “X” in line Y is closest in meaning to… The word “X” in line Y could best to replaced by… Which of the following is given a definition in paragraph? - Where to find the answer: Information to help you determine what something means will generally be found the punctuation clue, the restatement clue, or the example clue - How to answer the question: + Find the word in the passage + Locate any structural clues + Read the part of the passage after the structural clue carefully + Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices * Example: Overpopulation, the situation of having large numbers of people with too few resources and too little space, is closely associated with poverty It can result from high population density, or from low amounts of resources, or from both Excessively high population densities put stress on available resources Only a certain number of people can be supported on a given area of land, and that number depends on how much food and other resources the land can provide In countries where people live primarily by means of simple farming, gardening, herding, hunting, and gathering, even large areas of land can support only small numbers of people because these labor-intensive subsistence activities produce only small amounts of food (From Kỳ thi THPT QG năm 2015) Which of the following is given a definition in paragraph? A Overpopulation B Population density C Simple farming D Poverty * Answer: The clues for this question is that “the situation of having large numbers of people with too few resources and too little space” From this cues, we can find out the answer easily It is A 2.2.2.2.8 Use context to determine meanings of simple words - How to identify the question: What is the meaning of “X” in line Y? The word “X” in line Y could best to replaced by… 11 - Where to find the answer: Information to help you understand the secondary meaning of a simple word can often be found in the context surrounding the word - How to answer the question: + Find the word in the passage + Read the sentence that contains the word carefully + Look for context clues to help you understand the meaning + Choose the answer that the context indicates * Example: Singapore and Vietnam were the two nations which had participants who were presented with the Most Outstanding Athlete titles in the Swimming and Shooting events (From Tieng Anh 12 basic – Unit 13 – the 22 nd SEAGAMES – Reading) What is the meaning of “Outstanding” in the sentence? A excellent B quite good C talented D very bad * Answer: We should base on the context to guess the meaning of the given word The key word help us find out the answer is “titles” Base on this word, the correct answers is A 2.2.2.2.9 Use context to determine meanings of difficult words - How to identify the question: What is the meaning of “X” in line Y? The word “X” in line Y is closest in meaning to… - Where to find the answer: Information to help you understand the meaning of an unknown word can often be found in the context surrounding the unknown word - How to answer the question: + Find the word in the passage + Read the sentence that contains the word carefully + Look for context clues to help you understand the meaning + Choose the answer that the context indicates * Example: Ocean ecosystems, especially fragile ones like coral reefs, will also be affected by global warming Warmer ocean temperatures can cause coral to “bleach”, a state which if prolonged will lead to the death of the coral Scientists estimate that even Celsius degree of additional warming could lead to widespread bleaching and death of coral reefs around the world Also, increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enters the ocean and increases the acidity of ocean waters This acidification further stresses ocean ecosystems (From “ĐỀ THI THPT QG NĂM 2015 – 2016) The word “fragile” in paragraph most probably means A very large B easily damaged C rather strong D pretty hard * Answer: We can easily find the word in the passage We should pay attention to the key words “coral reefs” and “bleach” Based on these, we can choose the correct answer It is B 2.2.2.2.10 Recognize the organization of ideas - How to identify the question: How is the information in the passage organized? 12 How is the information in the second paragraph related to the information in the first paragraph? - Where to find the answer: The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentences of the appropriate paragraphs - How to answer the question: + Read the first lines of each paragraph + Look for words that show the relationship between the paragraphs + Choose the answer that best expresses the relationship * Example: Thousands of people die each year in car accidents involving drugs or alcohol Lives could be saved if our town adopts a free public taxi service By providing such a service, we could prevent intoxicated drivers from endangering themselves or others How is the information in the passage organized? A Compare and contrast B Order of Importance C Problem and Solution D Sequence writing * Answer: The first sentence, the writer gives the reason why many people die The next ones, the writer gives a measure to save life by using a free public taxi service Therefore, the correct answer is C 2.3 The result of researching To have a basic comparison, give out the exact conclusion for the studying process and applying the topic to teach reading skill in Trieu Son high school, I implemented to examine and collate the result of class 12H3 and 12H4, the academic year 2014 -2015 + Class 12H3 was applied the above topic + Class 12H4 was not applied the above topic At the end of this semester, I asked the students to the following exercise in 15 minutes: In the mid-1800s, the population of the United State increased greatly due to the failure of the potato crop in Ireland This failure caused a famine that resulted in the immigration of many Irish people to the U.S They hoped to find better jobs and living conditions when they arrived in cities like Boston and New York In Boston, there were so many immigrants that they were forced to live in the gardens, back yards, and alleys surrounding houses, often in simple wooden sharks These poor conditions caused attitudes to quickly degrade Rowdy behavior resulting from alcohol and boredom spilled out into the streets of Boston, creating a sharp increase in crime In addition, overcrowding caused conditions to quickly become unsanitary Disease in the cities soon became a major problem, particularly cholera Sixty percent of Irish children born in Boston during this period died before the age of six Even Irish adults lived just six years on average from the time of their arrival in America Câu 1: What is this passage mainly about? A the reasons for the chaotic situation in American cities B an unexpected increase in U.S population and its consequences C terrible living conditions in the mid-1800s in the U.S 13 D the cause of Irish Potato Famine Câu 2: According to the passage, why did the Irish move to cities like Boston and New York? A They wanted to live closer to other Irish people B They were looking for an easy way to become rich C They wanted to escape starvation and be able to work D They wanted to leave the country for better schools Câu 3: The word “they” in the passage refers to A Irish people B The potato crop C jobs D The failure Câu 4: The word “shacks” in the passage is closest in meaning to A gardens B villages C large groups D small houses Câu 5: What was the main reason the people behaved in a rowdy manner? A At the time, people always acted this way B Living conditions were poor C There was too much time D People were happy to be in the U.S Câu 6: According to the passage, why were living conditions terrible in the U.S in the mid-1800s? A The potato crop had failed B There were too many immigrants from other countries C There wasn’t enough housing for the people who needed a place to live D The houses in Boston were all too small Câu 7: The word “unsanitary” in the passage is closest in meaning to A unclean B uncomfortable C crowded D inexpensive Câu 8: It can be inferred from the passage that the lives of the Irish children could have been longer in the mid-1800s if A parents had taken them to the doctor B they had moved to another place C they had stayed home from school D the living areas and water had been cleaner Câu 9: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage? A The Irish government had done nothing to help the immigrants B Overcrowding had led to an increase in crime C Not many Irish children survived to the age of six D Most of the Irish immigrants went to cities like Boston and New York Câu 10: What can we infer from the reading about the mid-1800s? A American was not kind enough to help Irish B Ireland was overpopulated C The potato was an important crop in Ireland D Many Irish immigrated illegally Through the assessment in class 12H3 with 42 students of my charge, I achieved the following result: Class sizes 42 Good (9-10) Above average (7-8) = 9.52% 21 = 50.0% Average (5-6) 10 = 23.80 Weakness (3-4) = 16.68% Poverty (0-2) = 0% 14 And the achieved result of class 12H4: Class sizes 42 Good (9-10) = 0% Above average (7-8) = 4.76% Average (5-6) Weakness (3-4) = 19.04% 27 = 64.28% Poverty (0-2) = 11.92% Comparing the results between the two above tables, we see that the number of students of my charge getting average marks has increased This means that most of the students know how to not only the multiple-choice reading comprehension but also answer each kind of questions quickly and effectively They tried their best to find out key words in each question, classify each of them, and then scan the passage to choose the correct answer By this way, they have enough time to finish their task in advance Through the process of applying these methods to improve reading comprehension skills for the 12th graders at Trieu Son high school, I have found out that most students are interested in reading periods Especially for weak students, less boldly than while answering questions or doing reading activities They feel more confident of doing the reading comprehension tasks, and know how to answer each kind of them under the pressure of time By adapting reading passage in the textbook and using these above methods to answer the questions, teacher help students become familiar with the multiple reading comprehension tasks appearing in the state’s high school graduation exams Furthermore, this also helps them improve their reading skill and find out the best method to choose correct option for each kind of questions in multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL 3.1 Conclusion Mastering reading skill is very important for all English learners From the reading passage students can learn about the world, culture, science, technology, art and other aspects they are interested in This helps them broaden their knowledge Furthermore, having a good reading skill helps students develop other skills, for instance, writing and speaking, also learn more vocabulary and grammar structures The classification of questions and the adaptation of the reading passages in the textbook make students ease a lot of pressure and difficulties when doing comprehension exercises This, as a result, helps them find out the answers quickly and accurately 3.2 Proposal 3.2.1 To teachers: - Try to adapt reading passages in textbook which are similar to the ones in the state’s high school graduation exams so that students can practice and feel confident when doing the multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks - Use different methods to encourage students to enlarge their vocabulary 3.2.2 To students: 15 - Apply these above methods to as many multiple-choice reading comprehensions as possible to improve reading skills - Spend time learning vocabulary so that it will be easier when doing multiplechoice reading comprehension tasks Because of time limitation, I not avoid errors I would like to receive feedback from my colleagues, especially teachers who teach English to make my initiatives more complete and widely applied in the teaching process XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 28 tháng năm 2016 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác (Ký ghi rõ họ tên) Hoàng Trọng Sơn REFERENCE Mann, M & Taylore-Knowles, S (2003) Reading skills for First Certificate Macmillan Publishers Ltd website: violet.vn Dr Than Trong Lien Nhan, (2000) English language teaching methodology Hue University of Foreign Languages Tiếng Anh 10 – Cơ bản; Tiếng Anh 11 – Cơ bản; Tiếng Anh 12 – Cơ bản website: http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=12152 16 Milada Broukal, (2002) – Introduced and annotated by Le Huy Lam TOEFL reading flash Ho Chi Minh publisher 17 ... identify the question: What is the topic of the passage? What is the subject of the passage? What is the main idea of the passage? What is the author’s main point in the passage? With what is the. .. A the 5th to 13th December, 20 03 B the 13th to 15th December, 20 03 C the 5th to 13th November, 20 03 D the 13th to 15th November, 20 03 Question 2: Which of the following is TRUE about the Games’... good reading skills is one of the core elements to help them achieve high marks in the examinations 2.1.2 Reality During learning process, students at Trieu Son high school have complained that reading