Some tps about teaching skills to do reading comprehension tests for students at Trieu Son No2 High school

TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.INTRODUCTION PAGE
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH	 2
II. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH	3
III. SOURCE OF THE STUDY:	3
B. MAIN CONTENT	4
I. SITUATION JUDGMENT	4
II. TEACHING SKILLS TO DO READING COMPREHENSION TESTS
1 . Questions about the ideas of the passage	5
2. Directly answered questions	7
3. Indirectly answer questions	11
4. Vocabulary questions	13
5. Overall review questions	16
III. EFFECTS OF THE STUDY	18
IV. RESULT AFTER APPLYING THE RESEARCH IN TEACHING	18
C. CONCLUSION	19 
D. REFERENCE BOOKS	20
A. INTRODUCTION
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH
The introduction of the new textbook “English 11” into teaching at Trieu Son 2 High School in 2006 has marked real renovation in language teaching and learning from the traditional approach-grammar translation method, which only concentrates on the ability of using grammar rules precisely, to communicative approach, which focuses on communication ability. Nonetheless, the teachers of English at Trieu Son 2 High School find it difficult to teach reading successfully because of the class size, the students’ language level, and additionally, students are not acquainted with CLT. Moreover, the majority of the teachers were trained under the strong influence of the Grammar-Translation method, which impedes them from teaching reading comprehension successfully even the new textbook follows the communicative approach.
As a teacher of English at Trieu Son No2 High School in Thanh Hoa, I often receive similar questions from many students. For example, “I can understand new words and sentence structures well, but I feel embarrassed to understand whole the sentence in English” or “What should I do to do reading comprehension well?” In my reality of teaching, there are a lot of students who have perfect knowledge of grammar that works wonderfully for speaking and writing but cannot do the reading fluently. On the other hand, I often hear a lot of complaints from the colleagues: “Students seem so quiet and lazy during doing lessons. It is very difficult to make them participate in reding activities”. Therefore, the idea of doing something useful for my colleagues and students has urged me to conduct the research.
Another reason why the study was carried out lies in my love for teaching sreading. By doing the study, I can know more about the challenges in teaching and learning reading skills so that I can find relevant techniques along with activities to improve my teaching reading at Trieu Son 2 High School
The above reasons have inspired me to conduct a study on “ Some tps about teaching skills to do reading comprehension tests for students at Trieu Son No2 High school” with the hope to make a little contribution to the quality of teaching and learning reading skills for Grade 10, 11 and 12 at Trieu son 2 High School
II. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
With the above mentioned reasons in mind, I have the specific aims as follows:
1. To help students improve the skills of doing reading comprehension tests.
2. To encourage students to confidently cope with this type of tests so as to
complete the tests at best they can.
3. To encourage students to get full mark on this part of test.
III. SOURCE OF THE STUDY:
The materials that have been greatly valuable to my study are from the book of
Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, University of Science - Toefl,
Preparation Course, Reading Comprehension. Besides, the examples to illustrate
my thesis are all in the textbooks - Tiếng Anh 10, Tiếng Anh 11, Tiếng Anh 12 – Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục, and from the latest one-period tests as well as the first and second semester tests
B. MAIN CONTENT
I. SITUATION JUDGMENT
As regards the teaching of reading, I do not totally deny the energies the teachers
in explaining the text. However, in discussion with the teachers in our school, I
feel that our investment of energies in teaching the reading part is meaningless. It
is because most students learn in advance from the Instruction Books the content
of the text in Vietnamese, not in English, while teachers take no notice of that.
Little by little, students get a habit of being unable to read the English passages by
themselves. They always expect their teachers to translate the passages into Vietnamese, or choose the options with no intention. As for teachers, after asking students, especially good students, to translate the text, or doing it for the worse students, teachers let students do the tasks without giving any explanation. Consequently, students get confused and do not know what they need to find from the text and how to choose the answers. In the end, students refuse to read the passage or read them without intention, then choose the answers randomly and never know whether their answers are right or not. As a result, students put no efforts into the part of Reading Comprehension. I always see that the greatest problem students face in any English paper is Reading Comprehension. Students either spend much time on it without knowing for sure the answers or do it without intention. As for me, I would like to present in this paper some following skills to help my colleagues teach students how to get over this problem so that the latter can do this part more easily and exactly. I hope that my topic “Some tips about teaching skills to do Reading comprehension tests at Trieu Son No2 High school” can result in effective ways in teaching students how to complete their tests perfectly.
II. TEACHING SKILLS TO DO READING COMPREHENSION TESTS
Each reading passage is often followed by 5 questions of reading comprehension
and vocabulary. Topics of the reading passage are varied, but they are often
informational subjects such as history, literature, art, architecture, geology, geography, and astronomy. Time is definitely a factor in the Reading Comprehension. Some students, especially average students, note that they are unable to finish all the questions in this section. Others cannot understand what the passage is about answers.
- For main ideas questions, look at the first line of each paragraph.
- For directly and indirectly answered detail questions, choose a key word in the question, and skim for that key word (or a related idea) in order in the passage.
- For vocabulary questions, the questions will tell you where the word is located in the passage.
- For overall review questions, the answers are found anywhere in the
passage.
The following skills will help students to implement these strategies in the Reading passage of the test.
1 . Questions about the ideas of the passage
It is very common for reading passages of the test to have questions about the
overall ideas in the passage. The most common type of question asks about the
main idea, topic, title, or subject.
Skill 1. Answer main idea questions correctly.
Students may be asked to identify the topic, subject, title, primary idea, or main
idea. These questions are all really asking what primary point that the author is
trying to get across in the passage, and it is not difficult to find the main idea by
studying the topic sentence, which is most probably found at the beginning of a
paragraph. If the passage consists of only one paragraph, students should study the beginning of that paragraph to determine the main idea. If a passage consists of more than one paragraph, students study the beginning to determine the main idea.
Example 1. In the Second Semester Test, Grade 12, year 2015-2016, Code AV
, the Reading comprehension is that:
The Asian Beach Games is a multi – sport event held every two years among
athletes representing countries from Asia. The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia. The first Games were held in 2008 in Bali, Indonesia. This Games will be composed of sports with strong television appeal such as windsurfing, kite boarding, swimming, beach volleyball, beach handball, beach soccer, and dragon boat racing. The Asian Indoor Games is a multi – sport event held every two years among athletes representing countries from Asia. The Games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia. The first Games were held in Bangkok, Thailand. This Games will be composed by sports with TV broadcasting potential and not included in the Asian Games and Winter Asia Games Programs and are not Olympic sports. The sports program will comprise from six to eight exciting sports with strong television appeal, including electronic sports, extreme sports, aerobics, acrobatics, indoor athletics, dance sports, inline hockey, fin swimming, and 25 meters short course swimming. (2)
Question 27. The passage is about 
A. The Asian Beach Games and the Asian Indoor Games.
B. The Olympic Council of Asia.
C. The Asian Games and Winter Asian Games Programs.
D. The Asian Indoor Games and Winter Asian Games Programs.
In the above given passage, there are four paragraphs. Students should be sure to
read the first sentence of each paragraph to determine the subject, title, or main
idea. In Example 1, the first sentence of the first paragraph of this passage discusses the Asian Beach Games, and the second paragraph begins with “this Games”, which means that it is about the Asian Beach Games. The first sentence of the third paragraph tells of the Asian Indoor Games, about which the fourth paragraph tells, also beginning with “this Games”. So the whole passage discusses the two kinds of games: the Asian Beach Games and the Asian Indoor Games. Therefore, the best choice is answer A.
The following outlines the key information that students should remember about main idea questions:
MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS
What is the topic of the passage?
What is the subject of the passage?
What is the main idea of the passage?
What is the author’s main point in the passage?
With what is the author primarily concerned?
Which of the following would be the best title?
WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWER
The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of each paragraph.
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
Read the first line of each paragraph.
 Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines.
Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check that you really have found the topic sentence(s).
Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices
2. Directly answered questions
Skill 2. Answer stated detail questions correctly.
A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage rather
than the passage as a whole. The answers to these questions are generally given in
order in the passage, and the correct answer is often a restatement of what is given
in the passage. This means that the correct answer often expresses the same idea as
what is written in the passage, but the words are not exactly the same.
Example 2: In English 10, page 45 and 46, Unit 4 “Special Education”, Part Reading, the second paragraph: 
At first, there was a lot of opposition from the parents of the disabled children.
They used to believe that their children could not learn anything at all. In the first
week, only five children attended the class. Gradually more children arrived. Their
parents realized that the young teacher was making great efforts to help their poor
kids. (1)
Question 2: At first the parents were ____________ the idea of sending their
children to the special class.
A. interested in 	B. opposed to 	C. satisfied with 	D. worried about
Since in the first sentence of the paragraph, there is the noun “opposition”, we can
see from the four answers the verb “opposed” in the answer B, they are in a
family. So the answer B is the best one.
The following outlines the key information that students should remember
about stated detail questions:
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION
According to the passage, It is stated in the passage 
The passage indicates that 
The author mentions that 
Which of the following is true ?
WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWER
The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
Choose a key word in the question.
Skim in the appropriate part of the passage for the key word or idea.
Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully.
Look for the answer that restates an idea in the passage.
Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices
Skill 3. Find “unstated” details.
Students will sometimes be asked to find an answer that is not stated or not
mentioned or not true in the passage. This type of question really means that three
of the answers are stated, mentioned, or true in the passage, while one answer is
not. The actual job is to find the three correct answers and then choose the letter of
the one remaining answer. The teacher asks students to notice that there are two
kinds of answers to this type of question:
There are three true answers and one answer that is not discussed in the passage.
There are three true answers and one that is false according to the passage
Example 3: In English 12, page 163 and 164, Unit 15 “Woman in Society”, Part
Reading, the last paragraph:
Today, although their status varies in different countries, women in most parts of
the world have gained significant legal rights. The most important of these are: the
right to have equal work opportunities and pay to men, the right to vote, and the
right to formal education. (1)
Question 5: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the last paragraph as one
of women’s legal rights today?
A. the right to hold property	B. the right to equal pay
C. equal employment opportunity rights	D. the right to vote
The question asks for the one answer that is not mentioned, so three of the answers
are listed in the passage and one is not. Since the right to equal pay, equal
employment opportunity rights, the right to vote, are listed in the passage, answers
B, C, and D are incorrect. However, the right to hold property is not listed in the
passage, so answer D is the best answer to this question.
The following outlines the key information that students should remember
about “unstated” detail questions
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION
Which of the following is not stated ?
Which of the following is not mentioned ?
Which of the following is not discussed ?
All of the following are true except ?
WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWER
The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage.
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
Choose a key word in the question.
Scan in the appropriate place in the passage for the key word (or related idea).
Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully.
Look for answers that are definitely true according to the passage. Eliminate those answers.
Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in the passage
Skill 4. Find pronoun referents.
In the Reading comprehension of the test, you will sometimes be asked to determine which noun a pronoun refers to. In this type of question it is important to understand that a noun is generally used first in a passage, and the pronoun that refers to it comes after. Whenever you are asked which noun a pronoun refers to, you should look before the pronoun to find the noun
Example 4: In the Second Semester Test, Grade 12, year 2016-2017, Code AV 
the Reading comprehension is that: Arctic Ice May Disappear in a Decade
A new report on global warming predicts the frozen Arctic Ocean will soon be like a normal sea in the summers. There are shocking changes happening in the polar environment and its fragile eco-systems. For millions of years, the sea around the North Pole has been frozen all year round. Recent research from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Catlin Atlantic Survey show things are changing fast. They predict that within a decade, the Arctic will be largely ice-free in the summer. They base their prediction on the rate at which the sea ice is currently thinning. The lead researcher, professor Peter Wadhams said, “The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer sea ice will be completely gone.” An ice-free Arctic will have consequences for the whole world’s weather patterns.
The Arctic sea ice is a key part of the Earth’s climate system. Experts call it
Earth’s “refrigerator”. They said that as it disappears, the world will become a lot
warmer. Scientists are still unclear exactly what changes there will be to our
weather. Forecasters predict an increase in all kinds of disasters and extreme
weather events. These include massive flooding, much more dangerous hurricanes
and the spread of the world’s deserts. These new findings provide an urgent call
for world leaders to act. The timing of the WWF report is a reminder to those
attending the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Rich countries will
face pressure to agree to reduce their carbon emissions by40 per cent by 2020.(3)
Question: 33. What does the word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. the Arctic sea ice	B. climate system
C. refrigerator	D. the Earth
To answer this question, students should look before the pronoun it for singular
nouns that pronoun could refer to. An ice sea Arctic, the Arctic sea ice, the Earth’s
climate system come before the pronoun, so they are possible answers. Then
students should try the three possible answers in the sentence in place of the pronoun. From the following sentence students should notice that as it disappears,
the world will become a lot warmer, so the best answer to this question is answer
A.
The following outlines the key information that students should remember
about pronoun referents
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION
The pronoun “” in line X refers to which of the following?
WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWER
The line where the pronoun is located is generally given in
the question. The noun that the pronoun refers to is generally
found before the pronoun.
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
 Find the pronoun in the passage. (The line where the pronoun can be found is generally stated in the question.)
Look for nouns that come before the pronoun.
Read the part of the passage before the pronoun carefully.
Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices.
3. Indirectly answer questions
Some questions of the Reading Comprehension section of the test will require
answers that are not directly stated in the passage. To answer these questions
correctly, you will have to draw conclusions from information that is given in the
passage. Two common types of indirectly answer questions are:
(1)implied detail questions and
(2)transition questions.
Skill 5. Answer implied detail questions correctly.
You will sometimes be asked to answer a question by drawing a conclusion from a
specific detail are details in the passage. Questions of this type contain the words
implied, inferred, likely, or probably to let you know that the answer to the
question is not directly stated. In this type of question it is important to understand
that you do not have to “pull the answer out of thin air.” Instead, some information
will be given in the passage, and you will draw a conclusion from that information
Example 5: In English 10, page 45 and 46, Unit 4 “Special Education”, Part Reading, the second paragraph is :
At first, there was a lot of opposition from the parents of the disabled children.
They used to believe that their children could not learn anything at all. In the first
week, only five children attended the class. Gradually more children arrived. Their
parents realized that the young teacher was making great efforts to help their poor
kids. (1)
Question 3: It can be inferred from the second paragraph of the reading passage
that there has been ______________________.
A. a change in the parents’ attitude towards the class
B. a lo