Buổi 58: Thi thử cuối khóa – Writing (Task 1 + Task 2, 60 phút)

The bar chart compares how adults in three age groups in Country Z used online videos, classes and books to learn new skills in 2026. Respondents could choose more than one method, so the figures for each group do not add up to 100%.

Overall, the popularity of online videos fell sharply with age, whereas the use of both classes and books rose. As a result, the most popular method differed completely between the youngest and the oldest groups.

Among 18- to 29-year-olds, online videos were by far the most common choice, used by 72%, more than twice the proportion who turned to books (30%) or classes (25%). The figure for videos dropped to 55% among those aged 30 to 49, although it remained the leading method in that group.

For people aged 50 and over, the pattern was reversed. Only 30% used online videos, making it the least popular option, while books (48%) and classes (42%) were both considerably more widely used than among younger adults.

Dear Ms Petrova,

I stayed at your hotel with my elderly father from 9 to 12 October, and I am writing to tell you about the exceptional help we received from one of your receptionists, Mr Karim.

On our second evening, my father felt unwell and we needed to find a pharmacy that was still open. Mr Karim not only found one for us but also called a taxi, explained to the driver exactly where we needed to go, and checked on us when we returned to make sure that my father was comfortable. The following morning, he had arranged for breakfast to be brought to our room without our even asking.

At a stressful moment in an unfamiliar city, his calm and thoughtful help made an enormous difference, and it is the main reason we would choose your hotel again.

I would be very grateful if you could pass on our thanks to him personally. I also hope that his help might be recognised in some way, perhaps through an employee award or a note on his staff record.

Yours sincerely, Nguyen Hoai An

Thanks to smartphones, the boundary between working hours and private life has become increasingly blurred, and in many organisations staff are now expected to respond to messages in the evening or at weekends. While this flexibility brings some genuine benefits, I believe that, as a general expectation, it is a largely negative development.

It would be wrong to deny the advantages. Being reachable allows urgent problems to be solved quickly, which can matter a great deal in fields such as healthcare or customer service. Some employees also value the freedom to leave the office early and catch up on emails later, an arrangement that can make it easier to combine work with family responsibilities.

The difficulty is that what begins as flexibility tends to become obligation. When some colleagues reply to messages at ten o'clock at night, others may feel they must do the same in order not to appear less committed. Over time, employees lose the uninterrupted rest that allows them to recover, and the quality of their work during the day may suffer as a result. Moreover, constant availability tends to fall most heavily on junior staff, who are least able to refuse.

The most serious objection to this view is that some jobs genuinely cannot be confined to fixed hours. This is true, but it argues for clear arrangements – for example, rotating on-call duties with appropriate compensation – rather than an unspoken expectation that everyone should be available all the time. Several organisations have introduced policies that discourage non-urgent messages outside working hours, which suggests that the problem can be managed.

In conclusion, although being reachable outside working hours can be useful in particular circumstances, turning it into a general expectation is harmful to both employees and, in the long run, the organisations that depend on them.