Adapting reading comprehension tasks in tieng anh 12 in the direction of approaching the GCSE exam questions

INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC According to foreign language competence framework for Vietnamese students, high school graduates are supposed to reach tertiary level (equivalent to Level B1) To fluently communicate as expected, students have to develop communicative skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing However, language competence in every skill is under expected level especially in reading skill There has been a worrying problem in students’exam scores Especially, more than 70% of students’ scores were below grade 5 in National GCSE (General Certificate Of Secondary Education) examination 2018-2019 Students when asked about the format of the English test in the national GCSE examination tend to say that reading section seems to be the most challenging to them Those not intending to major in English are appalled by the long passage with series of vocabularies in complex contexts completely new to them They cannot find the correct answers to the questions designed in limited time in the examination room or do the reading comprehension questions without bothering to know the content of the passage As a teacher of language for many years, I myself find that this is one of the main reasons that drive students’ scores in English to the bottom of the sore board in recent years.Traditionally, students spend far too much time learning grammar, which is designed to take up nearly the same portion as reading in the format of English test in the national GCSE examination yearly while reading is a section that most of our students ignore or do it to the luck of the game, which means that they answer the reading questions without understanding or choose the answer without any evidence Most reading tasks in current English 12 are designed in the way that the answers are almost on display and that students can easily answer without and simple pieces of thought, not to mention any reference and inference Students therefore get bored in the lessons unless the teachers find new ways to adapt Students in grade 12 are going to sit for their national GCES examination in which most reading tests are designed in the ways that are different form those they have done in their classes Adapting is a stepenabling them get used to reading comprehension questions Reading lessons in the national curriculum for English 10, 11, 12 takes up one fifth of the total time for each Unit However, in many classes, there is still an unrealistic use of language where teachers often spend a large of proposition of class time asking “readily displayed” questions for which they and their students already know the answers without any simple kind of thought or inference Students therefore get bored and cannot get used to the new kinds of questions required in the format of reading comprehension section For the above reasons, the writer decided to choose “Adapting reading comprehension tasks in Tieng Anh 12 in the direction of approaching the GCSE exam questions.” as the topic of this study 1 II AIMS, SCOPE, OBJECTIVE AND METHOD OF THE STUDY 1.Aims: - To help the teacher of English to adapt reading tasks in the textbook in the orientation of the format for GCSE examination - To help students get acquainted with types of reading comprehension questions in the national GCSE examination - To provide some reading strategies for reading comprehension questions 2 Scope - Applying in the reading lessons in Tieng Anh 12 - Applying to prepare students for their GCSE examination and college, university entrance examination 3 Object of study: - Students in grade 12 - Students under preparation for GCSE examination and college, university entrance examinations 4 Method - Studying common types of reading comprehension questions in National GCSE examination in recent years - Applying reading strategies in Longman 2000- Preparation Course for the TOEFL Testto adapt reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 - Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching and getting experience from the teaching in the class 2 PART I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.Types of reading comprehension questions Here are some common types of reading comprehension questions appearing consequently in the reading text in the national GCSE examination and in TOEFL (PPT) 1.3 Questions about the ideas of the passage This type of question ask you to answer questions about the information included in the reading passage Common questions of this kind are the ones asking for the main ideas of the passage, directly answered questions and indirectly answered questions 1.1.1 Questions for main ideas 1.1.2 Directly answered questions - Stated detail questions - Unstated detail questions - Pronounce referent questions 1.1.3 Indirectly answered questions - Implied detail questions - Transition questions 1.2 Vocabulary questions 1.2.1 Questions for word definition from structural clues 1.2.2 Questions for word meaning from word parts 1.2.3 Questions for word meaning from context 1.3 Overall review questions 1.3.1Questions for location of specific information 1.3.2 Questions for the tone, purpose or course 1.3.3 Questions for the organization of the ideas of the reading passage 2 Strategies to help students deal with the reading questions easily This type of questions asks for the definition of words or phrases or for the meanings of vocabulary in the passage To answer this type of questions, you may have to get the meanings of the word by looking the surrounding words given, structural clues or part of speech of the words expected 2.1 General strategies - Help students master essential reading skills, what they are, how they are used - Help students get used to the common types of questions 3 - Guide students to manage time in a proper way - Guide students to deal with the reading passage whose topic is not familiar with them - Guessing is of some use in case you do not really understand the passage properly 2.2 Reading skills 2.2 1 Skimming Skimming involves reading quickly to get the main idea of a text Reading topic sentences (usually the first sentence of a paragraph) can be an effective way of understanding the main idea of the text This skill of reading is used for main idea questions or overall review questions 2.2.2 Scanning Scanning means looking for supporting points and details, provided in body paragraphs In other words, finding elaborations or sentences including detailed and specific information that support an important point or a topic sentence in a body paragraph Scanning is often used for directly answered questions 2.2.3 Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is to include the ideas or information from an original sentence in the passage by rephrasing them in other words This can be done with synonyms, antonyms, word derivations, umbrella words or grammatical structures This is an essential skill used for vocabulary questions or sometimes for inference questions 2.2.4 Key word spotting Looking for key information involves looking in a given paragraph of passage of words for the key words that are relevant for your topic It is a process that can be used in conjunction with scanning This is used for questions for details 2.2.5 Intensive reading We use this skill when we need to understand every work in a part of a text This may be used when we answer detailed reading questions in exams Choose the best answer to each question from the four answer choices listed in your test book We can choose the best answer according to what is given in the appropriate section of the passage, eliminate definitely wrong answers, and mark our best guess on the answer sheet 3 Strategies to deal with each type of reading question These are the primary rationales on which I have adapted reading comprehension tasks in current English 12 They are mostly taken from Longman 2000- Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test- by Deborah Phillips 3.1 Main ideas questions 4 Main ideas questions The passage is mainly aimed at… What does the author mainly discuss? What is the passage mainly about? What is the topic of the passage? How to identify the questions 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 primary concerned? Which of the following would be the best title? What is the author’s main purpose in the passage? Where to find the answers The answer to this type of question generally lies in the first sentence of each paragraph 1 Read the first line of each paragraph 2 Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines How to answer the questions 3 Run though the rest of the passage to check if the information in the first line is the main idea or not 4 Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices 3.2 Directly answered questions 3.2.1 Stated detailed question How to identify the questions According to the passage, … It is stated in the passage … The passage indicates that … The author mentions that … Which of the following is true … Where to find the answers The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage How to answer the questions 1 Choose a key word in the question 2 Skim in the appropriate part of the passage for 5 the key word or idea 3 Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully 4 Look for the answer that restates an idea in the passage 5 Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices 3.2.3 - Unstated detail questions How to identify the questions 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 answers The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage How to answer the questions 1 Choose a key word in the question 2 Scan in the appropriate place in the passage for the key word (or related idea) 3 Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully 4 Look for the answers that are definitely true according to the passage Eliminate those answers 5 Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in the passage 3.2.4 Pronoun reference questions How to identify the questions What does the word “X ” in line … Refer to? The pronoun “ ” in line X refers to which of the following? Where to find the answers The answer is often located in the sentence preceding the line that the pronoun comes from How to answer the questions 1 Locate the pronoun in the passage It is often in BOLD, ITALIC OR UNDERLINED so that we can find it easily 6 2 Identify the nouns that come before the pronoun that the pronoun could refer to 3 Read the part of the passage before the pronoun carefully to see which option is the best answer 4 Try the three other options in place of the pronouns to check if they can fit 5 Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices 3.3.Indirectly answered questions 3.3.1.Implied detail questions How to identify the questions 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 answers The answers are not directly stated, so we have to locate the piece of information we can infer so that we can understand what point the author want to get across How to answer the questions 1 Choose a key word in the question 2 Scan in the passage for the key word (or a related idea) 3 Carefully read the sentence that contains the key word 4 Look for an answer that could be true, according to that sentence 3.3.2 Transition questions This type of question is not common in reading text in the national GCSE examination However, I find it rather interesting as the reading passage is often extracted from a long source of information, students may be asked to determine what probably precedes or follows the part extracted Actually, the main topic of the paragraph preceding or following is not stated in the present passage, we can also determine the right answer by draw a conclusion to what is supposed to be included in the preceding or following paragraph by looking at how the paragraph is linked at the beginning and at the end of the paragraph It is so- called transition questions How to identify the questions What is mainly discussed in the preceding or following paragraph? What does the preceding or following paragraph mainly 7 discuss? The paragraph preceding the passage probably What is most likely in the paragraph following the passage? The answer can generally be found in the first line of the passage for a preceding question The answer can Where to find the answers generally be found in the last line for a following question We can also base on the liking words How to answer the questions 1 Read the first line for a preceding question and pay attention to some key words form which we can infer 2 Read the last line for a following question 3 Draw a conclusion about what comes before or after basing on some clues we have founds( key words or linking words) 4 Choose the answer that is reflected in the first or last line of the passage 3.4 Vocabulary questions 3.4.1 Questions for word definition from structural clues Which of the followings is defined in the passage? How to identify the questions What is ? What is the meaning of ? What is true about ? The word “X” is concerned with … Where to find the answers Punctuation: comma, parentheses, dashes Restatement: or, that is, in other words, i.e Examples: such as, for example, e.g Paraphrase: How to answer the questions The answer lies somewhere generally found after the punctuation clue, the restatement clue, or the example clue or paraphrase clue Locate the word in the passage Determine any structural clues Read the part of the passage after the structural clue carefully 8 Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices 3.4.2 Questions for word meaning from word parts “What is the meaning ?” “Which of the following is closest in meaning to…?” How to identify the questions Where to find the answers You are already shown in which line of the passage the word can be found Find the word in the passage Read the sentence that contains the word carefully Look for clues such as part of speech, prefixes or suffixes to help you understand the meaning Pull out the meaning of the word then choose the best option How to answer the questions 3.4.3 Questions for word meaning from context How to identify the questions “What is the meaning ?” “Which of the following is closest in meaning to ?” Where to find the answers The position of the words have been shown in the question How to answer the questions Locate the word in the passage Read the sentence that contains the word carefully Try to get the meaning of the word from context the meaning Choose the answer that the context indicates 3 5 Overall review questions 3.5.1 Questions for location of specific information How to identify the questions “Where in the passage ?” Where to find the answers The answer can be in any of the lines listed in the options to the question How to answer the questions -Choose a key word or idea in the question -Skim the lines in the passage that are listed in In which line…? 9 the answers to the question You should skim for the key word or idea -Choose the answer that contains the line numbers of a restatement of the question 3.5.2 Questions for the tone, purpose or course How to identify the questions Tone: What is the tone of the passage? Purpose: What is the author’s purpose in this passage? Course: In which course would this reading be assigned? Tone: There will be clues throughout the passage that the author is showing some emotion rather than just Where to find the answers presenting facts Purpose: Base on the main ideas of the passage Course: Base on the topic to find the answer How to answer the questions Tone:1 Skim the passage looking for clues that the author is showing some emotion 2 Choose the answer that identifies the emotion Purpose: 1 Study the main idea in the topic sentence and the details used to support the main idea 2 Draw a conclusion about the purpose Course: 1 Study the main idea in the topic sentence and the details used to support the main idea 2 Draw a conclusion about the course 3.5.3 Questions for the organization of the ideas How to identify the questions How is the information in the passage organized? How is the information in the second paragraph related to the information in the first paragraph? Where to find the answers The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of the appropriate paragraphs How to answer the questions 1 Read the first line of each paragraph 2 Look for words that show the relationship between the paragraphs 3 Choose the answer that best expresses the relationship 10 + The answers: Number Type of question Expected answer 1 Main idea question C 2 Vocabulary question D 3 Vocabulary question B 4 Unstated detail question C 5 Stated detail question A 6 Question for location of specific C information 7 Stated detail question B 8 Stated detail question A 9 Stated detail question A 10 Implied detail question A APPLICATION 11: Line UNIT 13: THE 22ND SEA GAMES Line 1 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 Line 5 Line 10 Line 15 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 38 athletes performed excellently and won a lot of gold medals Line 20 Line 25 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 + The questions: Question 1: What is the main point of the author in the passage? A To talk about Vietnamese preparation for the 22nd Sea Games B To describe some outstanding result of the 22nd Sea Games C To talk about some main points of the 22nd Sea Games D To explain why Vietnam’s first finish was not a surprise Question 2: The word “outstanding ” in line 14 can be replaced by A Successful B impressive C surprising D remaining Question 3: All of the followings are mentioned as the reasons why Vietnam’s first finish was not a surprise EXCEPT _ A Vietnamese athletes were presented with the most Outstanding Athlete title B Vietnam carried out an intensive program for its athletes C Vietnamese athletes competed in high spirit D Vietnamese athletes were strongly supported by their countrymen Question 4: The word “defended” in line 15 has the same meaning as A attacked B protected C competed D included Question 5: It can be inferred form paragraph 2 that in the men’s Football, Vietnamese athletes won _ A Gold medal B silver medal C the Sea Games title D brozon medal Question 6: It can be inferred from the passage that Games records are _ A Above the world level B the same as the world level C.Below the world level D slightly higher that those of the world Question 7: The passage would probably be extracted form 39 A sports magazine A C a literature review B a history book D a Sea Games records list Question 8: According to the passage, rank the first at The 22nd Southeast Asian Games A Thailand B Vietnam C Myanmar D Singapore Question 9: Which was the host country of The 22nd Southeast Asian Games B Thailand B Singapore C Myanmar D Vietnam Question 10: The paragraph following this one would probably discuss A Training program for Vietnamese athletes a proposal for preparation for Asian Sports Games B C success of Vietnam in Sea Games 22 D list of medals won by Vietnam in Sea Games 22 + The answers: Number Type of question Expected answer 1 Main idea question C 2 Vocabulary question B 3 Unstated question A 4 Vocabulary question B 5 Inference question B 6 Inference question C 7 Question for source A 8 Stated question B 9 Stated question D 10 Transition Question B APPLICATION 12: Line Line 1 UNIT 14: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS The Red Cross is an international humanitarian agency In times of war, it is dedicated to reducing the sufferings of wounded soldiers, civilians, and prisoners of war In time of peace, it gives medical aid and other help to victims of major disasters such as floods, earthquakes, epidemics, and 40 Line 5 famines Line 10 The initiative for founding the Red Cross came from a Swiss man called Jean Henri Dunant Appalled by the almost complete lack of care for wounded soldiers, he appealed to the leaders of nations to found societies devoted to the aid of the wounded in wartime A conference was held in Geneva in 1864, and official delegates of 12 nations signed the first Geneva Convention, laying down rules for the treatment and protection of the wounded and the disaster-stricken It was also at this meeting that the famous symbol of the organization, the white flag bearing a red cross, was adopted Line 15 Line 20 Line 25 It was Henry Davison, president of the American Red Cross War Committee, who proposed forming a federation of these National Societies An international medical conference initiated by Davison resulted in the birth of the League of Red Cross Societies in 1991 In November 1991, it became the International Federation of Red Cross The Federation’s mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people who are victims of natural disasters, poverty and health emergencies The International Red Cross has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland Today, the total number of national Red Cross societies from all over the world has mounted to 186 So help and support are able to be rapidly sent to wherever there are victims of catastrophe, for example, to help the victims of Asia tsunami in 2004 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in the countries hit by the tsunami reacted without hesitation to help those struggling to survive, despite the fact that many staff and volunteers had lost families, friends, colleagues and livelihoods For example, the Indonesian Red Cross Headquarters in Banda Aceh was washed away, but a temporary office was in place within hours and the injured were being helped + The questions: Question 1: What could be the best topic of the reading passage? A The Red Cross: foundation and Mission B What can the Red Cross do? C The founder of the Red Cross C The headquarters of the Red Cross Question 2: The mission of the International Federation of Red Cross is A to reduce the sufferings of wounded souldiers B to help the victims of earthquakes 41 C to improve the lives of vunerable people who are victims of natural disasters, poverty and health emergencies Question 3: The word “laying down” in line 11 is closest in meaning to _ A putting up B taking up C setting up D cleaning up Question 4 All of the followings are true according to the passage EXCEPT A B C D it is difficult to decide the symbol of the Red Cross The Red Cross was founded in 1991 A large number of volunteers lost their families The headquarters of the Red Cross was in Geneva Question 5: Who was Henry Davison according to the passage? A a doctor B a prisoner C a soldier D the president of the American Red Cross War Question 6: How many colors does the symbol of the Red Cross have? A One B two C three D four Question 7: It is implied in the passage that _ A the foundation of the International Red Cross was inspired by Henry Dunant B Henry Dunant found the International Red Cross C The International Red Cross has few members D The International Red Cross can only help some countries near Switzerland Question 8: The word “it” in line 16 refers to A B C D the conference the committee the League of Red Cross society the birth Question 9: It can be inferred form the passage that The Red Cross can send help and support quickly because A B C D there are many aeroplanes the volunteers run quickly it has many members around the world people need help Question 10: In which passage does the author mention the first members of the Red Cross? A Paragraph1 B Paragraph2 C Paragraph 3 D Paragraph 4 + The answers: 42 Number Type of question Expected answer 1 Main idea question A 2 Stated detail question C 3 Vocabulary question C 4 Unstated detail question A 5 Stated detail question D 6 Stated detail question B 7 Implied detail question A 8 Pronoun reference question C 9 Implied detail question C 10 Question for location of specific B information APPLICATION 13: Line Line 1 Line 5 Line 10 Line 15 UNIT 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY Throughout much of the history of human civilization, deep-seated cultural beliefs allowed women only limited roles in society Many people believed that women’s natural roles were as mothers and wives These people considered women to be better suited for childbearing and homemaking rather than for involvement in the public life of business or politics Widespread doubt about women’s intellectual ability led most societies to deny education, employment and many legal and political rights to women It was men who controlled most positions of employment and power in society The struggle for women’s rights - the rights that establish the same social, economic, and political status for women as for men- began in the 18th century during a period known as the Age of Enlightenment During this period, political philosophers in Europe began to argue that all individuals, male or female, were born with natural rights that made them free and equal These pioneer thinkers advocated that women should not be discriminated 43 against on the basis of their sex Line 20 Today, although their status varies in different countries, women in most parts of the world have gained significant legal rights The most important of these are: the right to have equal work opportunities and pay to men, the right to vote, and the right to formal education + The questions: Question 1: What could be the best topic of the reading passage? A B C D Women’s intellectual Ability The Age of Enlightment Women’s rights Women’s role in Education Question 2: What was women’s main traditional role according to the passage? A B C D Working in education Building houses Taking care of the house and family Working in factories Question 3: According to the second paragraph, the Age of Enlightment is A B C D An Ancient Holiday in Europe A period in which the struggle for women’s rights began An age of light An an age of struggle for education Question 4: The word “these” in line 21 refer to _ A women’s rights B women C parts D countries Question 5 According to the passage, all of the followings are mentioned about women’rights EXCEPT A B C D the right to have equal work opportunities and pay to men the right to vote the right to formal education the right to hold property Question 6: Before the 18th century, what was the attitude of societies towards women’s intellectual ability? A B C D Respectful Supportive Resentful Disbelieving 44 Question 7: According to the text, what is the purpose of the struggle for women’s rights? A B C D To free women from housework To establish a friendly relationship between men and women To bring equality between men and women To argue that women have better intellectual ability Question 8: What does the phrase “these pioneer thinkers” in line 16 refer to? A B C D 18th century European people 18th century European political philosophers 18th century European women 18th century European politicians Question 9: The word “avocated” in line 16 could be best replaced by _ A Disagreed B Supported C Considered D Disapproved Question 10:Which of the following is defined in the passage? A Female B the struggle C women’s rights D human civilization Number Type of question Expected answer 1 Main idea question C 2 Stated detail question C 3 Stated detail question B 4 Pronoun reference question A 5 Unstated detail question D 6 Stated detail question D 7 Stated detail question C 8 Pronoun reference question B 9 Stated detail question B 10 Stated detail question C 45 APPLICATION 14: Line Line 1 Line 5 Line 10 Line 15 Line 20 Line 25 UNIT 16: THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was founded on 8th August, 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand by the five original member countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand Brunei joined ASEAN in 1984 Vietnam became its seventh member in 1995 Laos and Myanmar were admitted to this association in 199, and Cambodia in 1999 The main goals of the Association are to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development; and to promote peace and stability through respect for justice, and the rule of law, in the relationship between countries in the region ASEAN has a population of 575.5 million, accounting for about 8.7% of the world’s population Its total area is 4,464,322 square kilometres It is a region of diverse cultures, and people in some countries such as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore speak English besides their own languages According to the statistics recorded in 2007, ASEAN had a combined gross domestic product of about US$ 1282 billion This combined GDP grew at an average rate of around 6% per year from 2003 to 2007 The economies of the member countries are diverse, although its major products include electronic goods, oil and wood The Governments of ASEAN countries have paid special attention to trade In 2006, the ASEAN region had a total trade of US$ 1405 billion It has been estimated that a free trade area would be established in the region by 2020 The ASEAN leaders have also adopted the ASEAN Vision 2020, which is aimed at forging closer economic integration within the region The Hanoi Plan of Action, adopted in 1998, serves as the first in a series of planned actions leading up to the realization of the ASEAN Vision Today, ASEAN economic cooperation covers many areas: trade, investment, industry, services, finance, agriculture, rural development, forestry, energy, transportation and communication, science and technology, small and medium enterprises, and tourism ASEAN has actively worked to improve the socio-economic situation and solve problems among its member countries + The questions: Question 1: What is the main idea of the passage? 46 A The Association of Southeast Asian Nations B Noticeable improvements in several fields in ASEAN C The ASEAN Vision 2020 D The most successful regional organization - ASEAN Question 2: According to the text, which nation is the tenth member of The Association Of Southeast Asian Nations? A Cambodia B Viet Nam C Brunei D The Philippines Question 3: Up to 1997, how many countries there have been in ASEAN? A 7 B 8 C 9 D 10 Question 4: Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about ASEAN according to the passage? A ASEAN consists of thirteen nations B ASEAN was established in 1967 C ASEAN works for the promotion of peace and stability in the region D ASEAN is a region of diverse economies Question 5: ASEAN leaders pay special attention to A Culture B Energy C Trade D Economy Question 6: How long has Viet Nam been an official member of ASEAN? A For the past few years B As long as Laos and Myanmar C For a decade D Since 1995 Question 7: The word “diverse” in line 12 can be replaced by all the words EXCEPT A Small B various C similar D special Question 8: The major products of ASEAN include A Wood, electronic goods and sugar B Wood, electronic goods and paper C Electronic goods, wood and petrol 47 D Electronic goods, wood and oil Question 9: The word “it” in line 11 refers to A Thailand B Vietnam C Singapore D ASEAN Question 10: It can be infered from the passage that the purpose of the author is A To compare ASEAN with other organizations in the world B To provide facts and figures about ASEAN C To prove that ASEAN is one of the strongest organizations D To show his/her pride about ASEAN + The answers: Number Type of question Expected answer 1 Main idea question A 2 Stated detail question A 3 Stated detail question C 4 Unstated detail question A 5 Stated detail question C 6 Stated detail question D 7 Vocabulary question B 8 Stated detail question D 9 Pronoun reference question D 10 Implied detail question B 48 PART III: THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY Students when first started with these types of questions were confused because of the firstly complicated looking questions Once they have got used to the types of questions and some useful strategies to deal with each type of reading questions, everything seems to to be smoothly to them At first, I adapted reading tasks in reading lesson Unit 10 and asked 160 students from four classes K52B1, K52B2, K52B3 and K52B4 at Do Luong 2 high school in the school year 2018-2019 The students of these four classes are considered to be at similar level of English Classes K52B1 and K52B2 were applied these adapted reading tasks from Unit 1 to Unit 8 whereas classes K52B3 and K52B4 only did the given tasks in textbook The result was that the students in K52B1 and K52B2 got better marks than the other two classes When being asked about the difficulty level of the reading task, the students in class K52B1 and B2 claimed that it was easier because they had chance to get used to kinds of the questions The adapted reading tasks were also applied for students from course 53 and 54 of Do luong 2 high school and the results of the trial exams have shown that they have good effects on students’ scores Here are the statistics of the four classes Mark ≥ 8.5 Mark 6.4 ─ 8.4 Mark Mark 5.0 ─ 6.4 < 5.0 total K52B1, K52B2 04 student 08 students 20 students 48 students 80 students accounting accounting accounting accounting accounting for for 5% for 10 % for 25% for 40 % 100 % K52B3, K52B4 8 students 16 students 30 students 26 students 80 students accounting acounting for acounting for acounting accounting for for 10 % 20 % 37.5 % for 0 32.5 % 100 % The table above shows us that the number of students getting excellent and good marks in K52B1 and B2 have doubled those in K52B3 and B4 The marks around the average level seems to have risen considerably while below average marks have nearly 49 halved form 48 to 26 These figures prove that once thoroughly taught, students can perfom remarkably better than before 50 PART IV: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS I CONCLUSION Reading is one of the main skills to master a language Reading comprehension is a main section in any English tests including GCSE examination Obviouly, this study has been of real help to my students I hope that students will be able to find some possible ways to have a thorough grasp of reading comprehension skill to better their own score in their GCES and entrance examination Although carefully researched on a wide range of reference source, this study of course needs modifying to have more effective ways to master this important skill II SUGGESTION: Adapting reading tasks in current English 12 is supposed to be necessary as this gives students great chances to get used to the types of questions often appearing in reading texts Though seemingly difficult at first sight, adapting is not so difficult once we have mastered some strategies and the way to design each type of questions Another important point when using the adapted tasks is that we can multiple choice questions can make the lessons more interesting (See the Appendix 3 for illustration) I therefore suggest that we - teachers of English should try to adapt reading tasks not only in current English 12 but also in current English 11,10 to prepare our students for a better results in their yearly exams 51 REFERRENCE BOOKS: 1 Bộ đề thi THPT quốc gia – Lưu Hoằng Trí 2 Cấu trúc đề thi và phương pháp giải- Phạm Tấn Hoàng- Nguyễn Ngân Hà 3 Longman 2000- - Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test- by Deborah Phillips 4 Phương pháp dạy Tiếng Anh trong trường phổ thông- Nguyễn Hạnh Du 5 Rèn luyện kỹ năng làm bài đọc hiểu- Vũ Mai Phương 6 Tieng anh 12- student book 7 Websites: http//www.changeyourwords.com, onestopenglish.com 52 ... of reading comprehension questions in the national GCSE examination - To provide some reading strategies for reading comprehension questions Scope - Applying in the reading lessons in Tieng Anh. .. Course for the TOEFL Testto adapt reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 - Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching and getting experience from the teaching in the class... I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.Types of reading comprehension questions Here are some common types of reading comprehension questions appearing consequently in the reading text in the national GCSE