Design some reading comprehension exercises in English Textbook for grade 12 to help students do better national high school exams

APPENDIX
NUMERICAL ORDER
CONTENTS
PAGE
PART A. BACKGROUND
1
I. Reasons for choosing the research
1
II. Purpose, subjects and study method of the research
1
1. Purpose
1
2. The study object of the research
3. The methodology of the research
1
PART B. PROBLEM SOLVING
1
I. Rationale 
1
II. Practical basis
2
1. Status of teaching and learning comprehension skills for grade 12.
2
2. Quality of reading comprehension exercises in English 12
3
III. Problem solving
3
1. Instruct students to do comprehension exercises MCQs form 
3
2. Instruct students to do reading comprehension exercises which have Gap-filling forms.
4
3. Design exercises to teach Reading comprehension Skills unit 6, unit 10- English Textbooks for grade 12, which help students do better national high school exams..
4
4. The results of the experimental teaching	 
9
PART C. CONCLUSION, REQUEST
14
1.Conclusion
14
2. Request	
14
PART A. INTRODUCTION
I. Reasons for choosing the research
 Reading is one of the four basic skills of teaching and learning English. It is a difficult skill. It appears almost in all competitions which assess the capacity of English studying students. Specifically, in the last National High School exams appeared three reading comprehension tests with a total sentences up to 30 questions (of 64 questions).
 However, students scored very badly in this exam. Many students often think that the passages are usually difficult so they are afraid to do, or almost illegible to understand , they only choose random answers. Moreover, they lack the skills to do comprehension exercises such as: Gap-filling or Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).
 From the mentioned reasons above I decided to choose the topic "Design some reading comprehension exercises in English Textbook for grade 12 to help students do better national high school exams” I hope that they will help students study effectively, students can maximize the capacity to read, they study lessons enthusiastically, participate in all activities and they are not afraid of reading comprehension exercises . Those can develop students' reading skills to do better exercises in the National high school test. 
II. Purpose, subjects and study methods of the research.
1. Purpose
 The purpose of the study this research is to help students get acquainted and practice smoothly comprehension exercises form which will appear in the National High School Exam. The exercises in reading comprehension skills lessons will be designed in two forms: Gap-filling and MCQs. In the first lesson, the students will be specifically instructed how to do these exercise forms. After that they will get used to these exercise forms and do skillfully. They will no longer be afraid or discouraged for general reading comprehension skills and exercises in reading comprehension exam in high schools. After each lesson, the students’ reading comprehension skills will improve they will be more confident, the results in National High School exams will be improved.
2. The study object of the research.
 English textbooks for grade 12 have 16 units. Each unit has 16 reading comprehension parts with different topics, but in this research I just present three lessons of reading in 2 units : Reading - Unit 6 and Reading - Unit 10. From the 2014-2015 school year the program is applied for the National high school examination, so exercises always be designed for all students from bad to good . 
3. The methodology of the research
	To do this research I have chosen some of the following methods:
- Read documents about the issues that studied. 
- Use the integrated methods. 
- Using the method to investigate and get feedbacks 
- Pedagogical observation method
PART B: PROBLEM SOLVING
I. Rationale
Today, with the trend of international integration. English plays an important role in social life, it is the language that is widely spoken around the world, It is also the common language of all nations. Therefore, our country as well as many countries in the world requires English a compulsory subject in schools. English teaching methods base on Communicative Approach. And it has been brought back the effects in developing the students' skills. The new English textbooks have been introduced more than 10 years. The innovative features create the chances for students to practice four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing on the topics and the situations or the communicative contents related to the environment at home and abroad. With this method, the students have more opportunities to communicate with their friends, teachers to develop the language, they can take part in real-life situations actively. The changes facilitate the English teaching and learning in high . Reading skill is basic skill which is focused in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages. Reading is both a purpose and effective means for students to be able to master, improve the language knowledge, expand the vocabulary as well as know more about literary style, the way to use language students are learning. In the English text book for grade 12, reading parts are designed as a starting point of each part of lesson and each part of lesson rank first of lessons. Lessons content often represents the main themes. They develop reading skills for students through scanning reading to get information. They provided corpus and help students become familiar with the topics and the language contents on which they can talk, listen and write on issues relating to the topic. More over, reading teaching also bring long-term goals such as: reading the instructions written in English while operating machinery, use daily objects, use a computer, access the Internet, read the scientific information materials, read book and magazines.. know the information, recheck data to find answers to these questions or clear a certain issue. Reading learning means that learners are trained to recognize the typeface and the meanings of the information that read. Thus, when teaching reading is not only to help students understand different passages for different purposes. So the teacher don’t present and introduce the contents, students must read to get the contents, the role of the teachers only support, hint, guide as requests.
II. Practical basis.
1. Status of teaching and learning reading comprehension skills for Grade 12
 Teaching bases on active form performed. Some reading comprehension exercises in textbooks are adjusted so as to suit students who learning, use teaching aids like audio-visual equipment, teaching aids .... Every week, every month has specialized meetings to get experiences and discuss measures to implement the program content of textbooks.
 However, reading comprehension skills in periods of all three grade especially for grade 12 are very low.
Firstly, students haven’t private lessons about reading comprehension skills and do the reading comprehension exercises. Besides, most of the teachers often teach the old methods such as: provide all new words appearing in the reading for the students then students do exercises like answer the questions, True/False statements, match, get filling, and the last activity is that teachers usually ask students to translate English to Vietnamese. This teaching method makes students passive. They just rely on the teacher to explain the words, translate the meaning or base on other good students. Especially, that gives students a habit to guess the answers or answers without reading, without thinking. And reading skills lessons will become boring, passive and ineffective.
2. Quality of reading comprehension exercises in English 12
 Below are the students survey results for grade 12 in reading comprehension level through tests designed in two types of exercises close to the national high school exams when the usage of this research hasn’t applied yet.
Class
Total
The reading skills testing marks for grade 12 early school year
0-2
3-4
5-6
7-8
9-10
12
82
%
%
%
%
%
30
36.6
30
36.6
17
20.7
5
6.1
0
0
Through test on this reading comprehension skills, I see that most students are still bad at language knowledge, reading comprehension skills like the reading comprehension exercises appearing in the National High School Exam. To solve this problem, I have tried to change the way to teach reading, change lesson plans, design reading comprehension exercise like exercises in the national high school exams. Especially, I provide the skills to do reading comprehension exercise for students.
III. Problem solving
1. Instruct students to do comprehension exercises MCQs form 
For MCQs exercises, students are chosen a correct answer from the four choices includes A, B, C or D. Apparently among four options only contains one most correct answer, the rest options can confuse or against the information in the text. The choices can give the information not appearing in the text or information that appear in the text but with different context. Note that if the two options have the same meanings, but they are expressed in two different ways, both of which are not the right answers. I gave a specific readings with the instructions for students to practice. After practicing, students consolidate and remember this exercise form through the steps:
- Read the title of the reading (if have ) because it tells us that the main content of the reading
- Quick read all the text to get and understand the general overview.
- Then read the questions but have not read the selection A,B,C or D yet.
- Underline the parts in the reading containing the information that we need to answer the questions.
- Read the options and find the equivalent piece of information which underlined in the text. Immediately remove the wrong choice clearly.
- If we do not decide between two options, then guess the answer intelligently but having basic.	
Students also can refer to the following ways to do the exercise MCQs form.
- Exclude the error choice clearly first.
- Read the given questions or questions before reading the options and find the answers when reading the text if given sentence give you enough information. Then read the options and consider whether there is choice coinciding with our answer, it is the answer we are looking for.
- Cover the selection with a piece of paper, we only see the original questions or questions. Then we revealed choice one by one . In fact, one of the problems we often encounter when doing MCQs form is that we can read all the information in the four options at a time and it's hard to separate, or isolate thinking to select right answers, especially under the pressure of time and the nature of the contest.
2. Instruct students to do reading comprehension exercises which have Gap-filling forms.
There are various ways to do this form of exercise but simple and effective way is probably follow these steps:
- Read quickly the entire of text to get the main idea of ​​it: what is the topic of the text ? What is the main idea ?
- Define the words we need for each blank: a noun? a verb? an adjective or an adverb? ...
- find your words to fill in the blank before reading the given words under selection part.
- Look at the words that lie in front, behind because the fill is often related to fixed terms such as: phrasal verbs, noun phrases, idioms ...
- Eliminate the obvious wrong choices and make predictions based answers.
3. Design exercises to teach Reading comprehension Skills unit 6, unit 10- English Textbooks for grade 12, which help students do better national high school exams.
 A new feature in the reading comprehension skills lessons is that I don’t teach new words in the Pre-reading part . After teaching Warmer part, introduce the topic, the main content of the text or texts that students will read and do exercises (Gap-filling MCQs ) to learn information text / paragraph . New words will be designed in the form of MCQs by using synonyms, antonyms words ; or review the words appearing in the text by making the forms of the Gap-filling of texts / paragraphs with similar themes. The types of exercises answering the question s (answer the questions), connection information (Matching), select the correct or false information (True / false statements) ... will be designed in the form of MCQs. Before doing the exercises, require students recall the way to do.
■ Tasks – Reading Unit 6: Future Jobs (Textbook for grade 12- Page 63)
Task 1: These words from the passage. Look back to the text and circle the best meaning A, B, C or D
1. The phrase "a job interview" in paragraph means:
	A. some pieces of advice that can help you to get a job
	B. a formal meeting at which somebody is asked questions to see if they are suitable for a particular job.
	C. an informal meeting at which somebody is asked questions about life and job to go abroad.
	D. a special meeting to make friends.
2. The word "vacancy" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to 
	A. a seat that is available
	B. a job that is available
	C. a part of a newspaper where jobs are advertised
	D. an interview to get a job
3. The word "résumé" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to 
	A. a letter of application
	B. a letter of recommendation
	C. a photocopy of academic certificates
	D. a short written account of someone's education and previous jobs
4. The word "jot down" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to 
	A. note down
	B. relate to
	C. mention
	D. write to
5. The phrase "make a real effort" in paragraph 5 means:
	A. try one's best
	B. concentrate on
	C. try doing something
	D. being clear, polite and honest
6. The word "keenness" in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to 
	A. sense of responsibility
	B. special interest
	C. very quick understanding
	D. best side
Task 2: Read the passage again an mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer.
	1. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
	A. A job interview
	B. Good pieces of advice on getting a job
	C. Good preparations for an interview
	D. How to get a job
	2. In order to have a good job interview, we should prepare for?
	A. before the interview
	B. during the interview
	C. after the interview
	D. before, during and after the interview
	3. Before the interview we have to send . ?
	A. a letter of application and your résumé to the comany
	B. your school certificates
	C. a letter of recommendation from your teacher or your previous employers
	D. your résumé and qualifications
	4. Before going to an interview we have to be certain of:
	A. where and when the interview, how to get there
	B. dressing neatly and formally
	C. A and B
	D. preparing all the questions that are often asked during the interview and learning them by heart
	5. During the interview we should 
	A. show your shortcomings
	B. show your best side and your special interest to work
	C. show all the questions the interviewer asks
	D. say hello to the interviewer
	6. After the interview we should .
	A. forget all the interviewer's comments
	B. say congratulations to the interviewer
	C. not be disappointed too much
	D. wait for being called for the next job interview
Task 3: Read the passage which has the similar content with the text in the textbook and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct word and phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 10.	
	Interviews are an (1)  method of choosing the best people for jobs, yet human beings like to examine each other in this way. One of the many problems of selection as it is commonly practised is that the forms (2)  by (3) . often fail to show people as they really are. This means (4) . you can follow all the best advice when completing your form and still find that you are unsuccessful at the next stage - the interview. (5) . in the rare cases where interviews are automatic, a (6)  with an inadequate form may do surprisingly well. Your form needs to show that you have confidence in your (7)  to do the job, but don't try to (8) .. yourself .. someone else - a person you have to (9) .. to be at the interview. (10) . and honesty are definitely the best approach.
1. 
A. good
B. bad
C. useful
D. imperfect
2.
A. filled in
B. filling in
C. jotted down
D. jotting
3.
A. applications
B. applying
C.application forms
D. applicants
4.
A. which
B. that
C. who
D. whom
5.
A. Similarly
B. Unsimilarly
C. Similar
D. Similarity
6.
A. interviewer
B. applicant
C. candidate
D. participant
7.
A. honesty
B. effort
C. ability
D. politeness
8.
A. concentrateon
B. turn  to
C. make . to
D. show  up
9.
A. work
B. tell
C. admit
D. pretend
10.
A. Realism
B. Reality
C. Really
D. Real
■ Tasks – Reading Unit 10: ENDANGERED SPIECES (Textbook for grade 12- Page 107)
Task 1: These words from the passage. Look back to the text and circle the best meaning A, B, C or D
1. The word "extinction" in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to 
	A. be in danger
	B. be threatened
	C. stop existing
	D. exploit an pollute
2. The word "habitat" in paragraph 2 means:
	A. destruction
	B. primary causes
	C. animals and plants
	D. natural environment
3. The word "urbanization" in paragraph 2 means:
	A. having a lot of towns, streets, factories 
	B. cutting of forests
	C. drainage of wetlands
	D. dam construction
4. The word "contaminate" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to 
	A. making a substance or placing dirty that is dangerous to the environment
	B. increasing water temperatures
	C. driving many species to the verge of extinction
	D. reducing the number of rare species
5. The word "biodiversity" in paragraph 3 means:
	A. other products
	B. many medicines
	C. the natural environment in which a plant or animal lives
	D. the existence of a large number of different kinds of animals and plants which make a balanced environment
6. The word "conservation" in paragraph 4 means:
	A. efforts to write the Red List
	B. the protection of the natural environment, animals and plants
	C. commercial trade
	D. over hunting
Task 2: Choose A, B, C or D to complete the following sentences about the reading passage.
1. The best title for the passage is 
	A. The Global Extinction Crisis
	B. Endangered Species and their Benefits
	C. Endangered Species and Conservation Measures 
	D. Endangered Species Extinction: Causes and Conservation Measures
2. The number of species around the globe threatened with extinction is over .
	A. 8,300
	B. 1,600
	C. 15,000
	D. 7,200
3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a primary cause of spieces extinction?
	A. pollution
	B. natural sélection
	C. habitat destruction
	D. overexploitation
4. Biodiversity provides humans with 
	A. plant and animal extinction
	B. medicines, fertile soil, food, clean air and water 
	C. natural habitats
	D. toxic chemicals in the air and land
5. The Red List is a special book that provides names of  animals.
	A. vulnerable and endangered
	B. hunted
	C. endangered
	D. extinct
6. Which ways are mentioned to help save endangered species?
	A. enacting laws to protect wildlife
	B. establishing the wildlife habitat reserves
	C. A and B
	D. changing the wide range of endangered animals
7. The development of wildlife habitat reserves helps .
	A. save a large number of endangered species
	B. make a list of endangered species
	C. enact laws to protect wildlife
	D. develop commercial trade and over hunting
Task 3: Read the passage which has the similar content with the text in the textbook and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct word and phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 10.	
WILD NATURE IS GOING AWAY.
	For all of human history we have shared the planet with millions of other (1) .. These species have interlocked in special ways to (2) . the world we have known, and keep