Model answer
Written by 8020 teachers. Do not memorise it — take the structure and the way ideas are developed, then speak about your own life.
Q: How has the way people watch television changed in recent years?
A: It's shifted almost entirely from appointment viewing to on-demand streaming, so the whole idea of "what's on tonight" barely applies anymore. People used to build their evenings around a broadcast schedule, whereas now content is available whenever you want it, which sounds like pure gain but has a downside — there's no shared cultural moment the way there was when everyone watched the same programme at the same time. Algorithms also curate what gets suggested, so two people watching "television" today might be having completely different experiences shaped by very different recommendation engines. I'd say the convenience is real, but something about the communal aspect has been lost along the way.
Q: Do you think films can change how people think about real problems?
A: To some extent, yes, though I think the effect is often overstated. A well-made film can make an abstract issue feel personal — you empathise with one character's situation in a way that statistics never quite manage — and that can shift attitudes at the margins. But I'm sceptical that it changes deeply held views; people tend to watch films that already align with what they think, so it's more likely to reinforce existing opinions than convert anyone. Where I think film genuinely does something is in raising awareness of issues people simply hadn't encountered before, rather than changing minds that were already made up.
Q: Why do some people still prefer reading books to watching videos?
A: Partly it's about pace — a book lets you set your own rhythm, re-read a sentence, stop and think, which video generally doesn't allow for. There's also the fact that reading forces your imagination to do more of the work, constructing the scene yourself rather than having it handed to you fully formed, and some people find that more satisfying, even if it's more effortful. And for certain kinds of content — dense arguments, technical detail — text is simply a more efficient format than watching someone talk through it on screen. I don't think it's nostalgia so much as books genuinely suiting a particular kind of attention that video doesn't reward.
Q: Is it becoming harder for people to concentrate on long, complex content?
A: I think it probably is, though I'd hesitate to blame technology entirely. Short-form video and constant notifications have trained a lot of people, myself included at times, to expect quick payoff, so sitting with something slow and demanding for an hour feels unusually effortful now. That said, people have always found long, difficult content hard — it's not as if everyone used to read dense novels for fun. What's changed is that there's now a constant, easy alternative available in your pocket, so the option to bail out is always right there, which makes sustained concentration a habit you have to actively protect rather than one that happens by default.
Q: Should governments regulate what content streaming platforms can show?
A: I'd draw a line between protecting children and policing what adults choose to watch — the first seems reasonable, the second makes me uneasy. Age ratings and clear labelling feel like sensible, fairly uncontroversial regulation, and most platforms already do something like that. But once you start restricting content for adults based on what a government considers appropriate, you're on shakier ground, because those judgments are subjective and can be used to suppress perspectives rather than just protect anyone. My honest view is that platforms themselves, plus reasonably strict rules around advertising to children, probably do more good than heavy-handed government control of adult content.
Common traps for Vietnamese speakers
Với câu 'Do you think films can change how people think about real problems?', đừng trả lời một chiều — thí sinh band 9 thường thừa nhận giới hạn của phim ảnh (chỉ củng cố quan điểm có sẵn) trước khi đưa ra góc nhìn riêng, điều này thể hiện tư duy phản biện thay vì liệt kê ý kiến.
Câu về đọc sách vs xem video nên tránh nói chung chung 'sách hay hơn' — hãy chỉ ra cơ chế khác biệt cụ thể (nhịp độ, trí tưởng tượng, mật độ thông tin) như bài mẫu đã làm.
Với câu hỏi mang tính regulation (nên hay không nên), kỹ thuật band 9 là chia nhỏ vấn đề ra (trẻ em vs người lớn) thay vì trả lời có/không đơn giản.
/ʃ/ trong 'shift', 'shaky', 'shared'trọng âm alGORithms, reinFORCEâm cuối -ed trong 'shaped', 'suppressed', 'labelled'/ð/ trong 'though', 'that', 'the'nối âm 'set your own' /set jər əʊn/