UNIT 6: Viet Nam then and now
Lesson 1: Getting started

Trịnh Thị Mai Dung
Quang Trung secondary school

Look at the pictures and answer the questions.

What is the main topic of
the following pictures?

Answer the following questions:
IsWho
therecan
anything
thein
small
on
you in
see
the pictures
picture?
the
wall related
to think
past and
present?
Where
do you
they
are?

Vocabulary
thatched house (n): nhà tranh mái lá
trench (n): hào giao thông
tiled roof (n): mái ngói
straw(n): rơm
mud (n): bùn
rubber sandals (n): dép cao su
frame (n): khung
photo exhibition (n): triển lãm ảnh

1. Listen and read

Duong: Can you believe it's the school's 60th anniversary?
Phuc: I know! I really like the photo exhibition. It's fascinating to see how the
school used to look.
Duong: Right! The photos explain a lot about our school in the past.
Tom: Look – these two pictures were taken in 1970.
Phuc: Wow, that long ago? The school looks more like thatched houses with
paddy fields all around. You can see there were only a few classrooms
and the walls were made of mud and straw and, look – trenches!
Duong: I think that was during the war so it was necessary to have the
trenches
right there.
Tom: Ha… the students in this picture are wearing rubber sandals and
straw hats.
Nhi:
Hey, and these pictures were taken in 1985. Look at the broken tiled
roof and wooden window frames… and some of them are missing.
Duong: Yes, I can't imagine how those students could study in such poor
conditions!
Phuc: Right! Things have improved considerably now. We have everything…
comfortable classrooms, learning facilities like computer rooms…
Nhi:
Yeah, we also have nice uniforms and proper shoes. We're much
luckier these days… But, I'm not sure our grades are better…

1a. Put a word/phrase from the box under each picture.
thatched house
trench

facilities
rubber sandals

1

trench

2

tiled roof

4

photo exhibition

5

rubber sandals

tiled roof
photo exhibition

3

6

facilities

thatched house

1b. Find a word in the conversation that means:

1. celebration of an important year
2. very interesting
3. not there
4. situations
5. got better
6. real

= anniversary
= fascinating
= missing
= conditions
= improved
= proper

1c. Read the statements and decide whether the
information is true (T) or false (F), or not given (NG).
Statements
1. The school was founded at the beginning
1. The school was founded in the 1960s.
of the 20th century.
2. The school was initially surrounded by
paddy fields.
3.
During the
1970s, the
the students
students were
3. During
the 1970s,
wore well
dressed.
rubber sandals and straw hats.
4. The students in the 1980s learnt better
than in the 1970s.
5. The school now is much better equipped.

T

F

NG

√
√
√
√
√

1d. Read the conversation again and answer the questions.
1. When does the conversation take place?
- The
____________________________________________
conversation takes place on the school's 60th anniversary.
2. Why does Phuc say the photo exhibition is fascinating?
- Because
____________________________________________
it explains a lot about how the school was in the past.
3. What was unusual about the school in 1970?
- There
____________________________________________
were trenches outside the classrooms.
4. How was the school in 1985?
- The
____________________________________________
roof was made of tiles and some tiles were broken. The window
frames were made of wood and some of them were missing.

5. What can the students learn from the photo exhibition?
- They
____________________________________________
can learn that they are lucky to have such great learning facilities
nowadays.

Remember!
When we want to describe changes, we can use adjectives
to modify nouns and adverbs to modify verbs:

Adjectives
dramatic
considerable
significant
slight
gradual

Adverbs
dramatically
considerably
significantly
slightly
gradually

Example:
-There have been changes considerable in the last decade.
-Our environment has been gradually polluted.

2. Complete each sentence with a word from the REMEMBER!
box which has the same meaning as the words in brackets.

1. There have been _____________
differences in the
slight
country's policies as compared to two years ago. (minor)
2. The traffic system in Ha Noi has been _____________
dramatically
upgraded over the last ten years. (suddenly and to a
great degree)
3. Vietnamese people's lives have been _____________
significantly
improved. (enough to make a difference)
4. There have been _____________
considerable changes in the way
people work. (quite large)
5. There has been a ____________
increase in people's
gradual
income over the last ten years. (little by little)

3. Interview your teacher about the features of your school
when she/he started teaching here. Then use the information
provided to talk about the changes to your school.

You can talk about:
+ the school principal and school teachers
+ the school playground
+ the library
+ the computer room
+ the classroom