Buổi 73: Thi thử giữa khóa – Writing (Task 1 + Task 2, 60 phút)

The line graph shows how the proportion of adults taking part-time courses in Country L changed between 2010 and 2025 across four age groups.

Overall, participation rose in every age group, and the increase was noticeably faster after 2015. Although the youngest adults were the most likely to study throughout the period, the older age groups saw the largest growth in relative terms.

In 2010, 18% of people aged 25 to 34 were taking a course, compared with 12% of those aged 35 to 49. Both figures rose only modestly over the next five years but then climbed more steadily, reaching 30% and 24% respectively by 2025, so that the rate for the 35–49 group had doubled.

The two older groups started from much lower levels. Participation among 50- to 64-year-olds was just 6% in 2010 and 7% in 2015, but it then rose sharply to 17%, almost three times its original level. Among those aged 65 and over, the figure remained at 3% until 2015 before more than tripling to 10% by the end of the period.

Dear Ms Do,

I am currently enrolled on the Intermediate Business English course, which runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 204. I started in September and have been enjoying it very much, so I am writing to ask whether there is any way I could continue.

Unfortunately, my company has recently changed its shift system, and from the beginning of next month I will be working until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. This means that I would miss half of every Tuesday class, which would make it very difficult to keep up, particularly with the group presentations.

I wondered whether it might be possible for me to transfer to the Saturday morning group, which I understand covers the same material. Alternatively, if that group is full, I would be grateful if I could attend the Thursday classes as normal and receive the Tuesday materials by email, so that I could complete the tasks on my own.

I would be happy to discuss either option and to pay any administrative fee involved. Thank you for your help.

Yours sincerely, Nguyen Van Long

In many education systems, success depends heavily on the ability to reproduce large amounts of information under exam conditions. While I agree that much of this memorisation is inefficient, I would not describe it as a waste of time, since a solid base of remembered knowledge is essential for deeper thinking.

There are strong reasons to criticise memorisation for exams. Much of what students learn in this way is retained only until the test is over, particularly when it is crammed in the final days. Moreover, when examinations reward recall above all else, teachers have little incentive to spend time on discussion, problem-solving or independent research, which are arguably more useful in later life. A student who can list the causes of a historical event but cannot evaluate a source or construct an argument has been only partly educated.

However, it would be a mistake to conclude that remembering information has no value. Complex thinking depends on knowledge that is instantly available. A doctor who had to look up basic anatomy for every patient, or an engineer who could not recall fundamental formulas, would be unable to work effectively. In the same way, students who have memorised key vocabulary, facts and procedures are free to focus their attention on applying them. The problem, therefore, is not memorisation itself but how and why it is done.

In my view, the most useful reforms would change the methods rather than abandon the goal. Spreading learning over time and testing students regularly in low-pressure ways are likely to produce more durable memory than last-minute cramming. Examinations could also be designed so that recalled knowledge must be used – to explain, compare or solve a problem – rather than simply written down.

In conclusion, although the way many students memorise information for exams is inefficient, remembered knowledge remains the foundation of understanding. Memorisation is wasteful only when it becomes an end in itself.