SỞ GIÁO VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH LỚP 12 THPT

……… NĂM HỌC: 2023-2024

Môn: TIẾNG ANH
ĐỀ THI CHÍNH THỨC Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút
(Đề thi gồm có 11 trang) Ngày thi: 04/11/2023

I. LISTENING (3.0 POINTS)

Part 1: For the question 1-5, listen to a discussion between a man and a woman about their plans for the upcoming
holiday and decide whether the following statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given (NG).
Question 1. The man says that the cost of holidays is rising.
Question 2. The woman is looking forward to a vacation in August.
Question 3. The woman doesn’t want to buy a caravan as she prefers to go on holiday to Greece.
Question 4. The man is thinking of staying behind while his family are holidaying.
Question 5. The man agrees that the caravan is going to be useful over the long haul.
Part 2: For the question 6-10, listen to a recording on three common misconceptions about growth mindset and complete
the summary, using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
The term “growth mindset” has become increasingly popular, with its true definition being (6) _________. When a growth
mindset is promoted in companies, their employees become more encouraged and dedicated, and also receive greater
(7)_________for cooperation and innovation. Meanwhile, companies with a fixed mindset are prone to cheating and
deception among employees.
Due to people’s lack of awareness of growth mindset concepts, three misconceptions remain:
Firstly, people hold the belief that they already have a growth mindset. They attribute having a growth mindset to being
receptive, (8)_________,or optimistic. Yet, this is false because everyone is a mixture of growth and fixed mindsets, which
develops overtime with experience.
Secondly, people think that a growth mindset is only about rewarding their own efforts. However, it is essential for people to
reward effort, learning, progress and to emphasize the processes that lead to these. Then, by (9) _________in such processes,
people can achieve positive outcomes.

Thirdly and finally, there is an opinion that just espousing a growth mindset can make good things happen. For example,
organizations give employees mission statements with lofty values, such as growth, (10) _________, and innovation, yet they
mean little to employees unless they are practical and attainable.
Part 3: For questions 11-15, you will hear an interview in which two filmmakers, Tilly Woodford and Lee Davies, are
talking about a documentary they have made about animals and select the best answer A, B, C or D which fits best
according to what you hear.
Question 11. According to Tilly, what was the starting point of the documentary?
A. realizing the practical sides of having working animals.
B. encouraging her children to love animals.
C. transforming people’s life in some ways by pets.
D. thinking about her fond memories of keeping animals.
Question 12. How did Lee originally feel about the number of people interested in this topic?
A. relieved. B. doubtful. C. curious. D. guilty.
Question 13. What does Tilly suggest about the Youtuber she interviewed?
A. He found it hard to take care of his pets. B. He seemed to feed his pets properly off-camera.
C. He only focuses on the fun sides of pet ownership. D. He didn’t care about his pets’ needs at all.
Question 14. The reason why Lee and Tilly was surprised during their research is that
A. Some people go so far to protect wild animals.
B. The pet sector is of immense importance to the economy.
C. People know so little about animal communication.
D. Society’s attitudes to pets have positively changed.
Question 15. When reflecting on the documentary, they wish they could have
A. showed the content in the original form. B. let their personal views influence their work.
C. avoided mistakes during the filming process.D. invested more money into the research process.
II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (5.0 POINTS)
Choose the best answers to questions 16 - 55.
Question 16: By the end of this month, I hope I ___________ 200 pages of my new novel.
A. had written B. will have written C. will have been writing D. have written
Question 17: The old woman still recalls clearly ___________by her teacher when she was late on her first day at school.
A. to be criticized B. to have criticized C. being criticized D. criticizing
Question 18: Beneath the streets of a modern city ___________ of walls, columns, cables, pipes, and tunnels required to
satisfy the needs of its inhabitants.
A. where exists B. the network’s existence C. the existing network D. exists the network
Question 19: Sam tried calling his mobile phone but she couldn’t ___________.
A. get through B. get round C. get over D. get back
Question 20: Fraud detectives are investigating the company, three of ___________ senior executives have already been
arrested.
A. whom B. whose C. that D. who
Question 21: He gave me a ___________ box to say sorry to me for what he had done.
A. small square jewelry metal B. small metal square jewelry
C. small square metal jewelry D. small jewelry square metal
Question 22: She ___________ for her parents’ support during her university education, but she preferred to work part-time
and support herself.
A. should have asked B. could have asked C. must have asked D. ought to ask
Question 23: It is urgent that a lasting peace___________ in Ukraine.
A. be established B. establish C. is established D. establishes
Question 24: You are not supposed to park on the hard___________ except in an emergency.
A. lane B. shoulder C. leg D. area
Question 25: ___________, sheep were then used for wool.
A. Having first domesticated for milk production
B. Having been first domesticated for milk production
C. Because they had been first domesticated for milk production
D. Although they had first domesticated for milk production
Question 26: Psychologists have found that the number of social contacts we have__________only reason for loneliness. A.
are not the B. is not the C. are not an D. is not an
Question 27: Nam: “I'm having some friends over for lunch this Saturday. Would you like to join us?”
Huong: “__________”
A. Can I take a rain check? B. Come on. It's your turn. C. Thanks, but I mustn’t D. As a matter of fact, I do.
Question 28: “What a meaningful thing you've done for your less fortunate friends, my son!”
- “__________”
A. Thanks for taking care of me, Mom. B. What a wonderful gift you've made for me.
C. I don’t really care. I must go now. D. Thank you, Mom. That’s just a bit I can do for them.
Question 29: Researchers are making enormous progress in understanding__________and what causes it.
A. a tsunami is what B. what a tsunami is C. is what a tsunami D. what is a tsunami
Question 30: While authors may see peer review as a(n) __________evil, most recognize that it plays an important role in
validating their work.
A. necessary B. essential C. indispensable D. crucial
Question 31: Twenty thousand years ago, a sheet of ice a thousand meters ______ covered part of Canada
A. thickly B. thick C. thicken D. thickness
Question 32: Whenever the two are playing cards together, they are ______ have bitter quarrels.
A. used to B. tend to C. like to D. inclined to
Question 33: The company cannot start the project ______, ensuring legal obligations are met.
A. until the contract has been signed B. when the contract had been signed
C. once the contract will be signed D. after the contract was signed
Question 34: The cuisine of France is__________.
A. more famous than that of England B. famous than the cuisine of England
C. more famous than which of England D. as famous than that of England
Question 35: I’m not surprised he’s feeling ill - he was eating one ice cream after________!
A. the other B. another C. others D. the other
Question 36: The extra payments are a ___________ for most single mothers.
A. lifeline B. lifeguard C. lifeboat D. lifebelt
Question 37: No matter__________, Mozart was an accomplished composer while still a child.
A. how it seems remarkable B. how remarkable it seems
C. it seems remarkable how D. how seems it remarkable
Question 38: The full horror of the war only hit __________when we started seeing the television pictures of it.
A. base B. down C. home D. back
Question 39:I read the contract again and again ________ avoiding making spelling mistakes.
A. in terms of B. by means of C. with a view to D. in view of
Question 40: Don’t ________ to conclusions, we don’t yet know all the relevant facts.
 A. hurry B. jump C. go D. run
Question 41: The design is ____________ from Japanese porcelains of the fourteenth century.
A.imitated B. copied C. emulated D. faked
Question 42: From time to time he __________ himself to a weekend in a five-star hotel.
A. craves B. indulges C. benefits D. treats
Question 43: As the two teams left the football ground, the 100,000 _________ gave them a standing ovation.
A. bystanders B. spectators C.viewers D. audiences
Question 44: Your plants look very healthy, they’re really _______ in that sunny window.
A. accruing B. striving C.replenishing D. thriving
Question 45: Working mothers can inspire their kids__________their hard work and devotion.
A. with B. about C. at D. for
Question 46: The man whom you ___________ on the bus yesterday is my father.
A. came up with B. made fuss over C. put a stop to D. made room for
Question 47: His unfortunate character defect could well be the result of being brought up in a _________ family.
A. defective B. debilitated C. flawless D. dysfunctional
Question 48: The flights are full at the moment, so you will have to ___________.
A. run a stroke of luck B. get a better luck C. be down on your luck D. take pot luck
Question 49: A trial medication _________ to treat common viral infections has proved to be somewhat effective.
A. is used B. used C. using D. that used
Question 50: _________recent incidents, we are asking our customers to take particular care of their personal belongings.
A. Considered B. Bearing in mind C. In recognition of D. In the light of
Question 51: Recent findings have shown that some of the greatest musicians in history had feet of _______ in their life.
A. iron B. clay C. wood D. steel
Question 52: Do you need to give your speech another _______or do you already know it by heart?
A. break-down B. check-up C. mix-up D. run-through
Question 53: These laws, far from being wasteful and random, are __________ elegant and efficient.
A. supremely B. gorgeously C. exorbitantly D. substantially
Question 54: Your task is helping potential customers identify your business. __________, you need to create a brand
awareness.
A. On the other hand B. However C. Although D. In other words
Question 55: _________ of the great libraries of ancient times survived; _________ were destroyed in fires, or by volcanoes,
others in wars and invasions.
A. None – some B. Neither – many C. Many – much D. Some – a little
SECTION III: READING (0.2/ each)
Part 1. Read the passage below and choose the best answer for each blank. Write your answer in your answer sheet.
What Makes an Outstanding School?
You may think that’s easy to answer: surely a good school is one( 56) _______ brings good exam results. After all, it is these
results which will enable students to get into good universities. However, schools are about much more than exams. They are
about education for all, from the most academic to the least. A good school has three (57)_______ ingredients: good
leadership from the head, dedicated teachers with high (58)_______ for all students, and students who want to be there and
are willing to (59)_______ rules and respect one another. It isn’t easy to turn around a failing school, ( 60) _____ research has
shown that a strong and (61)_______ leader is often the key to success. A good head or principal of a school will motivate
teachers and students alike, will not tolerate bullying or bad behaviour and will (62)_______ the respect of all.
He or she will make sure teachers are encouraged and assisted in their work, and that they receive the training they need to do
their job (63) ________ ; once this is in place, teachers are happier and more fulfilled and students (64)_______ the benefits.
Some will go on to get brilliant academic results, others may not do so well in their exams, but provided they have reached
their potential and they have passed (65)__________ acceptable grades, the school will not have failed them.
56. A. about which B.who C. where D. which
57. A. severe B. acute C. crucial D. burning
58. A. expectations B. ideals C. opportunities D. potentials
59. A. accept B. understand C. grasp D. follow
60. A. so B. but C. although D. nevertheless
61. A. inspirational B. moving C. promising D. uplifting
62. A. control B. order C. command D. direct
63. A. ineffectively B. effectively C. ineffective D. effective
64.A. earn B. obtain C. realise D. reap
65.A. by B. with C. in D. as
Part 2. For questions 66-75, read the passage, and then choose the option A, B, C or D to indicate the most suitable
answer to each of the following questions.
 Herbs are different kinds of plants and plant parts that can be used for medicinal purposes. This can include the leaves,
stems, roots, or seeds of the plant. Herbs have been important in traditional medicine for centuries, in both the East and the
West. In Western medicine, they have largely been replaced by drugs. Herbal treatments are, however, still an integral part of
Eastern medicine. In recent years, interest in traditional medicine has increased in the West. Many people are either using
modern methods combined with traditional treatments or are turning to these treatments entirely. While traditional medicines
can be helpful, they are not without their share of problems.
The main difference between herbs and drugs is that, while herbs are simply parts of plants, drugs are specific chemicals
in a pure form. Many modern drugs are derived from chemicals found in plants. One example is aspirin, which is made from
a chemical extracted from the bark of the willow tree. Other drugs are entirely synthetic. Even those drugs that are derived
from natural sources are heavily processed in order to purify and concentrate them. This allows drugs to be administered in
very precise amounts. Different kinds and degrees of illnesses often require dosages that differ only slightly. A little too much
or not enough of a certain drug can have negative effects on the patient. Many drugs also produce negative effects even when
taken in the recommended dosage. These undesired negative effects are called “side-effects.”
The possibility of dangerous and unexpected side-effects from drugs has led many people back to traditional medicine.
Herbal treatments seem more natural than modern drugs. Many feel that traditional medicine is more concerned with treating
the underlying causes of disease instead of just the symptoms, though the truth of this claim is not yet clear. In any case, there
is a certain comfort in taking natural herbal treatments instead of the processed, synthetic chemicals derived from them.
There are, however, disadvantages to herbal treatments, some of them serious. Few herbal treatments have been
scientifically studied. While the active chemicals in the herb may be known, it may not be clear what they really do, or if they
are really effective at all. Because the active chemicals are not used alone, it is very difficult to determine the proper amount
for treatment, since the levels of the chemical are not constant throughout the plant. Therefore, the risk of under- and
overdose is higher than with drugs. A more serious problem is that certain herbal treatments may have no real medicinal
effect, thus giving the patient a false sense of security. This is particularly harmful when the patient refuses treatment with
modern drugs that could be effective.
There are even certain herbs that can cause side-effects, just like a drug. (I) One of these is ma-huang, also called ephedra,
which is taken to increase energy. (II) It has been known to cause damage to the heart and nervous system. Garlic and ginger
are common elements in food that are also taken as herbal treatments, but they can be dangerous for people with diabetes.
(III) In general, herbs are most dangerous when they are taken along with common drugs. This may happen in two ways: a
patient decides to supplement his or her regular treatment with herbs, or a dishonest manufacturer adds modern drugs to an
herbal treatment. (IV) In both cases, the results can be very serious. The herb St. John’s wort is often used to treat depression,
but if it is used along with conventional antidepressants, such as Zoloft, the combination can cause confusion, headaches,
allergic reactions, and other problems.
Finally, because production of herbal treatments is seldom regulated, harmful substances can be present in herbal
preparations. Herbs grown in polluted soil may contain lead, arsenic, or mercury. They may also be tainted with pesticides. It
is for these reasons that herbs should not be treated as the perfect substitute for drugs. Although herbs appear to be quite
distinct from modern drugs, it is important to use them with the same sort of care.
Question 66: Why does the author mention that drugs are heavily processed?
A. to show that herbs cannot compete with modern medical techniques
B. to prove that many mistakes can occur in the processing
C. to illustrate that drugs are not natural
D. to point out that many countries cannot afford to produce drugs
Question 67: What is the difference between herbs and drugs according to the passage?
A. Drugs can cause side-effects, whereas herbs do not.
B. Some drugs are completely synthetic, whereas herbs are natural.
C. Drugs don’t affect the patients negatively at all, whereas herbs are always safe.
D. Herbs cannot produce a false sense of security, whereas drugs do.
Question 68: According to the passage, when are herbs most dangerous?
A. When not taken under a doctor’s supervision B. When the patient refuses modern medicine
C. When the dosage is not administered precisely D. When taken in combination with drugs
Question 69: Which of the following is closest in meaning to “tainted”?
A. accompanied B. defiled C. reciprocated D. intruded
Question 70: Which of the following best states the topic of the passage?
A. Patients are not educated enough to use herbal treatments.
B. Modern drugs are still a better choice than herbal treatments.
C. Modern medicine should use herbal treatments more in the future.
D. Herbal treatment can be helpful, but should be used with care.
Question 71: The word “this” in paragraph 4 refers to
A. patients taking ineffective herbs instead of drugs B. patients having a sense of security
C. the risk of under- and overdose of an herbal treatment D. the patient’s belief that modern drugs are bad for you
Question 72: According to the passage, who should not take ginger or garlic as herbal treatments?
A. Patients with diabetes B. Patients with liver damage
C. Patients taking antidepressants D. Patients with problems of the heart or nervous system
Question 73: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Some herbal treatments are not effective in fighting disease.
B. Modern doctors often do not approve of using herbs.
C. Herbal treatments can also produce side-effects.
D. Some manufacturers add drugs to herbs.
Question 74: It can be inferred from the passage that ___________
A. the drug industry is better regulated than herb industry.
B. people who use drugs instead of herbs recover more quickly.
C. the popularity of herbal treatments will decrease in the future.
D. the side-effects of drugs are more serious than those of herbs.
Question 75: Where would the following sentence best fit?
“Certain herbs have also been known to be harmful for people suffering from asthma.”
A. (I) B. (II) C. (III) D. (IV)
Part 3. Read the passage and answer the questions as required. Write all your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes. (2 points)
Father of modern management
A. Peter Drucker was one of the most important management thinkers of the past hundred years. He wrote about 40 books and
thousands of articles and he never rested in his mission to persuade the world that management matters. “Management is an
organ of institutions …the organ that converts mob into an organisation, and human efforts into performance.” Did he
succeed? The range of his influence was extraordinary. Wherever people grapple with tricky management problems, from big
organizations to small ones, from the public sector to the private sector, and increasingly in the voluntary sector, you can find
Drucker’s fingerprints.
B. His first two books – The End of Economic Man (1939) and The Future of Industrial Man(1942)– had their admirers,
including Winston Churchill, but they annoyed academic critics by ranging so widely over so many different subjects. Still,
the second of these books attracted attention with it passionate insistence that companies had a social dimension as well as an
economic purpose. His third book, The Concept of the Corporation, became an instant bestseller and has remained in print
ever since.
C. The two most interesting arguments in The Concept of the Corporation actually had little to do with the decentralization
fad. They were to dominate his work. The first had to do with “empowering”workers. Drucker believed in treating workers as
resources rather than just as costs. He was a harsh critic of the assembly-line system of production that then dominated the
manufacturing sector–partly because assembly lines moved at the speed of the slowest and partly because they failed to
engage the creativity of individual workers. The second argument had to do with the rise of knowledge workers. Drucker
argued that the world is moving from an “economy of goods”to an economy of “knowledge” – and from a society dominated
by an industrial proletariat to one dominated by brain workers. He insisted that this had profound implications for both
managers and politicians. Managers had to stop treating workers like cogs in a huge inhuman machine and start treating them
as brain workers. In turn, politicians had to realise that knowledge, and hence education, was the single most important
resource for any advanced society. Yet Drucker also thought that this economy had implications for knowledge workers
themselves. They had come to terms with the fact that they were neither “bosses” nor “workers”, but something in
between:entrepreneurs who had responsibility for developing their most important resource, brainpower, and who also needed
to take more control of their own careers, including their pension plans.
D. However, there was also a hard side to his work. Drucker was responsible for inventing the international school of
management’s most successful products – “management by objectives”. In one of his most substantial works, The Practice of
Management (1954), he emphasised the importance of managers and corporations setting clear long-term objectives and then
translating those long-term objectives into more immediate goals. He argued that firms should have an elite corps of general
managers, who set these long-term objectives, and then a group of more specialised managers. For His critics, this was a
retreat from his earlier emphasis on the soft side of management. For Drucker It Was all perfectly consistent: if you rely too
much on empowerment you risk anarchy, whereas if rely too much on command-and-control you sacrifice creativity. The trick
is for managers to set long-term goals, but then allow their employees to work out ways of achieving those goals. If Drucker
helped make management a global industry, he also helped push it beyond its business base. He was emphatically a
management thinker, not just a business one. He believed that management is“the defining organ of all modern institutions”,
not just corporations.
E. There are three persistent criticisms of Drucker’s work. The first is that he focused on big organisations rather than small
ones. The Concept of the Corporation was in many ways a fanfare of big organisations. As Drucker said, “We know today that
in modern industrial production,particularly in modern mass production, the small unit is not only inefficient, it cannot
produce at all.”The book helped to launch the “big organisation boom” that dominated business thinking for the next 20 years.
The second criticism is that Drucker’s enthusiasm for management by objectives helped lead the business down a dead end.
They prefer to allow ideas, including ideas for long-term strategies, to bubble up from the bottom and middle of the
organisations rather than being imposed from on high. Thirdly, Drucker is criticised for being a maverick who has
increasingly been left behind by the increasing rigour of his chosen field. There is no single area of academic management
theory that he made his own.
F. There is some truth in the first two arguments. Drucker never wrote anything as good as The Concept of the Corporation on
entrepreneurial start-ups. Drucker’s work on management by objectives sits uneasily with his earlier and later writings on the
importance of knowledge workers and self-directed teams. But the third argument is short-sighted and unfair because it
ignores Drucker’s pioneering role in creating the modern profession of management. He produced in the first systematic
studies of a big company. He pioneered the idea that ideas can help galvanised companies. The biggest problem with
evaluating Drucker’s influence is that so many of his ideas have passed into conventional wisdom. In other words, he is the
victim of his own success. His writings on the importance of knowledge workers and empowerment may sound a little banal
today.But they certainly weren’t banal when he first dreamed them up in the 1940s, or when they were first put into practice in
the Anglo-Saxon world in the 1980s. Moreover, Drucker continued to produce new ideas up until his 90s. His work on the
management of voluntary organisations remained at the cutting edge.
Questions 76-81
Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 76-81 on your
answer sheet.
List of Headings
i The popularity and impact of Drucker’s work
ii Finding fault with Drucker
iii The impact of economic globalisation
iv Government regulation of business
v Early publications of Drucker’s
vi Drucker’s view of balanced management
vii Drucker’s rejection of big business
viii An appreciation of the pros and cons of Drucker’s work
ix The changing role of the employee

Question 76. Paragraph A Question 79. Paragraph D

Question 77. Paragraph B Question 80. Paragraph E
Question 78. Paragraph C Question 81. Paragraph F
Questions 82-85
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 82-85 on your answer sheet,
write
YES if the statement agrees with what is stated in the passage.
NO if the statement counters to what is stated in the passage.
NOT GIVEN if there is no relevant information given in the passage.
Question 82. Drucker believed the employees should enjoy the same status as the employers in a company.
Question 83. Drucker argued the managers and politicians will dominate the economy during a social transition.
Question 84. Drucker support that workers are not simply put themselves just in the employment relationship and should
develop their resources of intelligence voluntarily.
Question 85. Drucker’s work on the management is out of date in moderns days.
SECTION IV: WRITING
Part 1. Questions 86-90 (1.5 points – 0.3/ each)
Rewrite each of the sentences below, using the given word(s) so that the new one has a similar meaning to the given
one. You must not change the given word(s).
Question 86. It’s sad, but unemployment is unlikely to go down this year.
→ Sad ___________________________________________________________________.
Question 87. The fire in mini-apartment blocks led to the setting up of a public enquiry.
→ As a __________________________________________________________________.
Question 88. The young beautiful girl was arrested as soon as she committed a motoring offence.
→No sooner ______________________________________________________________.
Question 89. You don't have to come and see the new house if you don't wish. (OBLIGATION)
→You are ________________________________________________________________.
Question 90. When it comes to his political view, his comments are sometimes inappropriate. (PALE)
→ When it comes to his political view,__________________________________________.
Part 3. Essay writing ( 2.5 points)
In recent years, an increasing number of companies have been hiring celebrities to advertise their products. This practice
is believed to do more harm than good to their customers . To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Write an essay to support your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or experience.
Write at least 200 words and do not include any personal information.

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