🔁 1. Ôn tập – 10 phút
🔁 Ôn thẻ từ vựng đến hạn
🧠 Nhớ lại buổi trước (không xem tài liệu)
- Kể 4 cụm động từ (set off, call off…).
- Matching features (buổi 17): bước đầu tiên là gì?
- Y/N/NG (buổi 72): ý kiến ai được hỏi?
Trả lời to hoặc viết ra giấy, rồi mới mở lại buổi trước để kiểm tra.
📖 2. Đầu vào – 20 phút
In praise of boredom
(Bài đọc tự viết; nhà nghiên cứu và thí nghiệm là giả định.)
A Most of us try to avoid boredom at all costs. Waiting for a bus or standing in a queue, we reach for our phones almost without thinking. Yet a number of researchers now believe that boredom may not be the enemy we think it is.
B Psychologist Dr Helen Marsh argues that boredom is a useful signal. “It tells us that what we’re doing isn’t meeting our needs,” she explains, “and it pushes us to look for something more meaningful.” In her view, people who never allow themselves to feel bored may miss an important opportunity to change direction in their lives.
C Professor Ravi Kumar is particularly interested in the link between boredom and creativity. In one of his experiments, one group of volunteers spent fifteen minutes on a dull task, sorting hundreds of beads by colour, while another group went straight to a creative task. The bored group came up with more original ideas. Kumar believes that when the mind has nothing interesting to focus on, it starts to daydream, and these wandering thoughts can lead to new connections.
D Not everyone is so positive. Dr Sara Lund, who studies young people’s use of technology, warns that constant stimulation from phones and games has made many teenagers less able to cope with even short periods of boredom. “They become restless after a few seconds,” she says. Lund does not think boredom is always helpful, but she believes that learning to tolerate it is an important skill.
E Marsh agrees that the problem is not boredom itself but how we respond to it. Reaching for a phone, she says, removes the discomfort without solving the underlying problem. Kumar, meanwhile, suggests a practical step: occasionally doing simple tasks, such as washing dishes or walking, without music or a screen.
F Finally, sports psychologist Tom Okoye points out that boredom is also common among athletes, who must repeat the same training routines for hours. Rather than fighting it, he encourages them to set small goals within each session, which makes repetitive practice feel more purposeful.
✅ Câu 1–7: Match each statement with the correct person. (A = Helen Marsh · B = Ravi Kumar · C = Sara Lund · D = Tom Okoye)
1. Boredom can encourage people to make changes in their lives.
2. A wandering mind can produce original ideas.
3. Young people find it increasingly hard to deal with boredom.
4. Using a phone to escape boredom does not deal with the real issue.
5. Breaking practice into smaller targets can make it less boring.
6. Doing everyday tasks without screens may be beneficial.
7. Being able to tolerate boredom is a valuable ability.
👉 Marsh và Kumar xuất hiện ở hai đoạn (B/E và C/E). Nếu chỉ đọc đoạn đầu tiên nhắc tên họ, bạn sẽ sai câu 4 và 6.
🧩 3. Ngôn ngữ trọng tâm – 10 phút: paraphrase ý kiến
| Câu hỏi | Trong bài |
|---|---|
| encourage people to make changes | pushes us to… change direction in their lives |
| a wandering mind | the mind… starts to daydream, wandering thoughts |
| find it hard to deal with | less able to cope with |
| does not deal with the real issue | without solving the underlying problem |
| breaking practice into smaller targets | set small goals within each session |
| tolerate | cope with / learning to tolerate it |
✍️ 4. Thực hành – 25 phút
- Tóm tắt ý kiến mỗi người bằng 1 câu tiếng Anh của bạn (10 phút).
- Viết 2 câu matching bẫy: lặp từ của người A nhưng ý của người B (10 phút).
- Nói 1 phút: bạn làm gì khi thấy chán? Bạn có đồng ý với Kumar không? (5 phút).
💼 Dùng ngay – đọc hợp đồng thẻ tập gym (thêm 5–10 phút)
FitZone – Membership agreement (extract) (giả định)
- The minimum membership period is 6 months.
- After the minimum period, members may cancel by giving one month’s written notice.
- Membership can be frozen for up to 2 months per year for medical reasons (a doctor’s note is required).
- Fees are paid monthly by direct debit and are non-refundable.
- Guests may visit twice per month for 50,000 VND per visit.
✅ Bạn hiểu hợp đồng chưa?
You joined in January. Can you cancel in March?
You break your leg. What can you do?
How do you cancel after the minimum period?
📚 Từ vựng của buổi
- boredom – sự nhàm chán
Boredom can be useful.
- daydream – mơ mộng
I often daydream on the bus.
- creativity – sự sáng tạo
Boredom may boost creativity.
- restless – bồn chồn
Teenagers become restless quickly.
- stimulation – sự kích thích
Phones provide constant stimulation.
- distraction – sự xao nhãng
Notifications are a distraction.
- attention span – khả năng tập trung (thời gian)
Some people have a short attention span.
- leisure – thời gian rảnh, giải trí
What do you do in your leisure time?
- membership – tư cách hội viên
My gym membership costs 500,000 VND a month.
- notice period – thời hạn báo trước
The notice period is one month.
✅ 5. Tự kiểm tra – 10 phút
✅ Tự kiểm tra
Nghe lại bản ghi của mình và tích những điểm bạn đã làm được. Ô tích chỉ lưu trên máy này.