Thi TNM 40 câu - 45p

PART ONE: BRTISH CULTURE

CHAPTER 1: COUNTRY & PEOPLE

*The difference between “ British” and “England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, and
the British Isles”
- England: một quốc gia riêng biệt
- Great Britain: hòn đảo lớn bao gồm 3 quốc gia: England, Scotland và Wales.
- UK: bao gồm 4 quốc gia: Great Britain + Northern Ireland
- British Isles: Great Britain + Ireland + 5000 hòn đảo khác ở northwest coast of
Europe
*Two ways to separate:
Geographically:
● England:
+ The flag: is white + red upright cross of St George, the patron saint of England
+ Flower symbol: rose (same as America)
+ National color: white
● Scotland:
+ takes the northern part of the territory of G.B
+ is not densely populated
+ Flower symbol: Thistle (hoa kế)
+ Flag: St Andrew’s cross (saltire) (white and blue)
● Wales:
+ to the west of England (capital: Cardiff)
+ Flag: the Welsh dragon (white+green)
+ Flower symbol: Yellow daffodil (hoa thủy tiên)
● Ireland:
+ Capital: Dublin
+ includes: Northern Ireland + The Republic of Ireland
+ Flower symbol: the shamrock (cỏ 3 lá → father + children + spirit)
+ Flag: St Patrick (white + red)
Politically: two states
The British Isles includes:
- The Republic of Ireland (Eire/ Ireland/ the Republic)
- The United Kingdom of G.B + Northern Ireland (UK + Britain) → has authority
over the rest of the British Isles)
Note:
People from Scotland: Scotlish
Britons = British (people from the UK)

*God save the Queen: National Anthem of the UK

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The union Jack (quốc kỳ) or Royal Banner/ Union Flag:
- England, Scotland and Ireland
● A signal of DISTRESS (treo ở biển để báo nguy cho đất liền)

+ the first union flag : 1606

+ the second union flag: 1/1/1801 (as the last union until now)
*Why doesn’t the Welsh (people from Wales) dragon appear on the Union Flag?
→ Because when the first Union flag was created in 1606, Wales already was united with
England from the 13th century → Wales was a Principality of a Kingdom not a separate
nation
(con rồng ở trong lá cờ (thể hiện cho) của England + Wales là địa hạt của England nên ko
coi là một nước mà chỉ là một “xứ”)

*The design of the Union Jack is unsymmetrical (không đối xứng).

The 4 nations: Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland

- Nations were distinct from each other in almost every aspect of life:
+ Racial difference
★ The ppl in Ireland, Wales, and highland Scotland belonged to Celtic
race, those in England and lowland Scotland were mainly of Germanic
origin
★ The difference was reflected in the languages they spoke
➢ Ppl in the Celtic areas spoke Celtic languages: Irish Gaelic,
Scottish Gaelic and Welsh
➢ Ppl in the Germanic areas spoke Germanic dialects
➢ Now, Welsh, Scottish and Irish ppl feel their identity very
strongly
+ Economic system
+ National loyalty
● Ppl from Britain would like to be called “British”
● Some ppl who live in England all their lives describes them as
Scottish, Welsh or Irish
● These ppl
+ Legal system
● England was able to exert her economic and military power over the
other three nations

*Why is England sometimes mistaken for Britain abroad?

→ Vì sự ảnh hưởng thống trị của Anh so với 3 quốc gia còn lại (nắm giữ quyền lực về
chính trị, kinh tế, quốc phòng)

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1."England" can refer to "Great Britain" but it should never be used to mean the
United Kingdom. ⇒ F (cannot, but → and)
2. Britain is a short form of the full name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. ⇒ F
3. It is proper to use Britain to mean the United Kingdom. ⇒ T
4. The official name of the UK is the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ⇒ F (northern Ireland)
5. People from Scotland are Britons. ⇒ T
The formation of the Union Jack came about as a result of the progressive merging of the
inhabitants of the British Isles under one throne.
It symbolizes all this: respect for individuality within a closely knit community.
The design of the Union Jack is symmetrical.
2. The union Jack is a symbol of unity.
3. Flying the flag upside down indicates a situation of danger => T
4. The colours of the flag include red, white, and green.
5. The Union flag is a flag containing 3 other flags of England, Scotland and Wales.
6. Wales is represented by the England flag instead of the Welsh dragon. => T
7. An other name for the Union Jack is Royal Banker. => F (Union Banner)

CHAPTER 2: TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND VALUES

1. Stereotypes and change (Khuôn mẫu và sự thay đổi)
- British believe that Britain is a “land of tradition”, based on what can be seen in
public life and on centuries of political continuity
- At this level - the level of public life - it is undoubtedly true
- Asquith taxi of the 1930s
- Famous red buses of the 1990s
- The changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace never changes
- The military ceremony of “trooping the colours” (quân đội sắc màu)
- In private everyday lives, the British as individuals are probably less inclined to
follow the tradition than are the ppl of most other countries
→ because very few ancient customs followed by the majority of families on
special occasions
+ fewer local parades or processions with genuine folk roots than most other
countries
+ the very opposite of a traditional pastime-being the most enthusiastic video-
watching ppl in the world
- The stereotyped image of the London “city gent”: the wearing of a bowler hat
- Traditional breakfast - Large “fry-up”: cereal with milk, toast, butter, marmalade,
tea → only 10% ppl

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 BUT→ majority of British have “a continental breakfast”: cereal, tea, toast or even
less
- The image of the British as a nation of tea-drinkers → out of date
- ppl hate having to wait and have less patience but they they still queue

2. Multiculturalism (B-British)
- Large scale immigration in the 20th century
- British is a multicultural society
+ forming their own community within the England society
+ The divergence from indigenous British attitudes in new British communities is
constantly narrowing (Sự khác biệt về thái độ của người Anh bản địa trong các cộng
đồng người Anh mới không ngừng thu hẹp)
→ because the new B have made their own contribution to B life and attitudes
- change the nature of ‘corner shop”
- the most popular festival in the whole of Britain is the annual Notting Hill
Carnival in London at the end of August → Caribbean inspiration and
origin

3.Conservatism (Bảo thủ)

- Too individualistic → not mean they like change
- Not behave traditionally BUT like symbol of tradition and stability
+ Traditional family value (nuclear family)
+ Christmas cards depict scenes from past centuries, pubs look old, they were reluctant
to change their currency
+ They contain no references to other races or classes and mention nothing more
modern than a radio

4. Being different
- They can particularly and stubbornly conservative about anything which is perceived
as a token of Britishness (dấu hiệu của người Anh)
- Driving on the left side of the road
- Using different measurement system
+ tins and packets: using “pounds and ounces” instead kilos & grams
+ weather: Fahrenheit instead Celsius
+ glasses of beer: half a pint and a pint instead swifts(25cl) and (50cl)
- Using of 24-hour clock is comparatively restricted
- Financial year at April 1st

5. The love of nature

- Countryside: Peace and quiet, beauty, good health, and no crime
- Preservation of nature: avoid developments ruining the nature
- Nobody want the rail link near them

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- Stereotypical picture of village: Thatched cottages built around grass - “village
green”, a pond with ducks nearby
- Large areas are official “national parks” (no building allowed)
- They regard it as both a right and privilege (đặc quyền) to go “into the country”
whenever they want
- Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the country
- They can rent land - “allotments” to grow vegetables
- The Youth Hostels Association
+ “help all, especially young ppl of limited means, to a greater knowledge, love,
care of the countryside”
+ cheap, rather self-consciously bare (khá trần trụi), simple → more than 300 →
in the middle of nowhere (đồng không mông quạnh)

6. The love of animals

- Nearly half of the household in Britain keep at least one domestic pet
- British tend to have a sentimental (tình cảm) attitude to animals
- Having bird-tables in their garden for birds
- British people are enthusiastic bird-watchers
- Having graves if pets die
- Have 5 freedom of pets
- The status of pets is taken seriously
- There is even a special hospital (St Tiggywinkles) to treat wild animals

7. Formality and informality → more reserved (cẩn thận)

- following dress code in work hour/outside work
+ a male bank: suit with tie
- British is not rather formal in their general behavior
- B are probably more tolerant of “strange” clothing than others
- being formal and informal toward different people
- “dress down” on Sundays
- Private role - no rule at all
- “help yourself” when being in B’s house
- Friendliness:
+ not bothering with formalities
+ not addressing ppl by his/her title (Mr/Mrs..)
+ not saying “please”
+ not dressing smartly when entertaining
+ not shaking hands

8. Public spiritedness and amateurism

- being too professionally dedicated is looked at with suspicion
→ a common assumption that society is best served by everybody “chipping-in”:
lots of ppl giving a little bit of their free time to help in variety of ways

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 → “professionalism” has changed from being negative to a positive one.
→ “The cult of the talented amateur”: being too professionally dedicated is looked at
with suspicion (thuê người tài về làm - sử dụng tài năng) → most popular: sport
→ “Only doing your job”: have never accepted as a justification for actions
- Voluntary activity is a basic part of B life
- Many world’s largest and well-known charities began in Britain (The national trust)

9. Privacy and sex

- Privacy in your own home
- Important is keep inf about himself or herself private
- Being rude to ask “personal question” (no - what do u do, yes - how do u do)
- Public life has a reputation for demanding puritanical (khắt khe) standards of behavior
- The private sexual activity had a direct relevance to the politician’s public role
- Sex - private matter - may no longer be “bad”, but it is still embarrassing
- not illegal to be a prostitute (mại dâm) in Britain but illegal to publicly to behave like
one

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. In its cities at least, Britain is a multicultural (4) society. P24

2. The annual Notting Hill Carnival is of Caribbean (5) inspiration and origin. P25

3. .Voluntary(6) activities are a basic part of British life. P32

4. Modern British have a positive and open attitude (7) to sex. P32

5. The British like to "dress down" on Sunday (8). P30

6. If you are in a British person's house, and you are told to "help yourself" to something,
your host is not being unfriendly or rude (9)or suggesting that you are of no importance. P30

7. The British are too individualistic (10) to have the same everyday habits as each other. P25

TRUE OR FALSE

1. There are many ancient customs that are followed by the majority of families on special
occasions. F p23 (many=>few)

2. The country has fewer local parades with genuine folk roots than most other countries
have. T p23

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3. The image of the British as a nation of tea - drinkers is another stereotype which is
somewhat out of date. T p23

4. Their habit of queuing shows that the British are patient people. F p24

5. British have less patience than many people in many other countries. T p24

6. British people like changes. F p25 (like=>don't like)

7. The new British haven't made any contribution to British life and attitudes.F p25 (havent
=> have)

8. Many of the most popular sports in the country were officially amateur even at top level. T

9. If you are in a British person's house, and you are told to "help yourself" to something, you
are completely accepted and just like one of the family". T p31

10. British wanted the Channel tunnel near them because it would be good for local business.
F p27 (doesnt want)
British —> France

CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER

1. To British people, the countryside doesn't mean.. (p27)

A. peace

B. beauty

C. quiet

D. poverty

2. The stereotyped image of the London "city gent" included the wearing of a...... (p23)

A. bowling hat

B. hat bowler

C. hat bowling

D. bowler hat

3. What is not true about British people? (P33)

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A. They have closed attitude to sex.

B. To them, the countryside means beauty and good health.

C. They like to dress down when they are off duty.

D. They behave as casually as possible to show friendship.

4. Professionalism in Britain has a.......connotation. (P27)

A. negative ⇒ true

B. positive

C. pessimistic

D. suspicious

5. ..........is one of the most popular hobbies in the country. (P27)

A. climbing

B. swimming

C. gardening

D. fishing

6. The annual Notting Hill Carnival in London at the end of August is of.......inspiration and
origin. (P25)

A. American

B. Caribbean

C. Brazilian

D. Indian

7. In Britain, "chipping in" means.. (p31)

A. lots of people giving a little bit of their free time to help in a variety of ways

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B. few people giving a lot of their free time to help in a variety of ways

C. few people giving a little bit of their money to help in a variety of ways

D. lots of people giving a little bit of their money to help in a variety of ways

8. The Youth Hostels are NOT............ (p27)

A. charitable

B. bare

C. simple

D. expensive

9. The British show their friendliness by..... (p30)

A. addressing someone by his or her title( Mr, Mrs, Professor, etc)

B. saying "please" when making a request

C. dressing smartly when entertaining guests

D. Not sharking hands when meeting

10. Sex is a(n)............ topic in Britain. (P33)

A. bad

B. positive

C. open (open attitude)

D. embarrassing ⇒ true

CHAPTER 3: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

1. Reading 1: Political life

a. The public attitude to politics
- The party system:

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+ British party system:
● single-party government
● two - party system: labor system (rose) - đảng lao động/ conservative system (torch) -
đảng bảo thủ
+ The party choose candidates in elections
+ The party that wins the majority of seat forms the Gov, and its leaders (=MPs - nghị
sĩ)
+ The largest majority party : opposite (criticize the party running country)
+ Without agreement between the political parties → the British parliamentary
system would break down
- Politicians in Britain don’t have a good reputation
- Lack of trustworthiness
- 1st rule in politics: Never Believe Anything Until It’s Been Officially Denied
→ the basic of the joke in the 2 conservations in the extract
- The lack of enthusiasm for politicians:
+ More than 50% adults don’t know the name of local Member of Parliament
(MP), name of important Gov ministers or leaders of political parties
- The British were not always so unenthusiastic
+ Politics - not dangerous but just boring topic
+ 75% adults - interested enough to vote at the national elections even though
it’s not compulsory
+ Politics is a dirty business, a necessary evil

b. The style of democracy

- High respect for law
+ little systematic law breaking by large ppl
+ not tax evasion (không trốn thuế)
- Comparatively unenthusiastic about making laws
+ best to do without them
+ in many aspects of life the country has comparatively few rules and
regulations (for Gov and ppl)
- No identity cards
- No a Freedom of Information Act
- individuals in Britain: subjects (not ppl)
- Relationship btw Individual and the State
+ should leave each other alone as much as possible
+ Individuals:
● not breaking laws, and paying taxes
● not obliged to vote at elections (ko bắt buộc bỏ phiếu)
● not have to register their change of address with any Gov authority
when moving house
+ Gov:
● has a comparatively free hand

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 ● having less participation by ordinary citizens in governing and
lawmaking → no concept of “by the ppl”
● not asking ppl for a change in law
● not having to have a special vote in Parliament with an especially high
proportion of MPs in favor. (không cần phải có một cuộc bỏ phiếu đặc
biệt trong Quốc hội với tỷ lệ nghị sĩ ủng hộ đặc biệt cao)
→ Ppl choose who is to govern the country and let them get on
well with it

c. The constitution
- Constitutional monarchy: quân chủ lập hiến
+ governed by a King or Queen
+ accepts the advice of Parliament
- Parliamentary democracy: dân chủ nghị viện
+ government controlled by Parliament
+ official head of state has little real power
- doesn’t have a “constitution” (hiến pháp) at all
- no written law
- no single written document which asserts pp’s right
House of Commons (MPs): Hạ nghị viện
Member of Gov: ministers
House of Lords (peers): Thượng nghị viện
d. The style of politics
- political life in Britain is still influenced by the traditional British respect for privacy
and love of secrecy (bí mật)
- is comparatively informal
+ making important decisions at lunch, over dinner, or in chance encounters
(cuộc gặp) in the corridor of power
+ MPs have a genuine habit of co-operation among politicians of different
parties
→ being good friends
→ little time wasted fighting about how political business is to be
conducted fairly

2. Reading 2: The monarchy

a. The appearance
- In written law, the Queen has absolute power → seems very undemocratic
- She can:
+ choose the Prime Minister (choose anybody she likes to run Gov for her)
+ dismiss ministers and governments
+ refuse to agree to legislation passed by Parliament

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 + dismiss (giải tán) the government of other countries of which she is monarch
(nữ hoàng)
+ embody (hiện thân) the law in courts
+ can do nothing that is legally wrong

b. The reality
- it is different –. PM (Prime Minister) is highest power)
- The Queen has almost no power at all:
+ cannot choose anyone she likes to become PM
+ cannot decide the other Gov Minister but PM do
+ cannot refuse PM’s requests of a dissolution (giải tán) of Gov
+ make no secret of the fact
+ reads word for word (script has been prepared for her)
+ might ask the Gov ministers to change the wording
+ cannot stop the Gov going ahead with any of its politics (không thể ngăn cản
Chính phủ tiếp tục với bất kỳ hoạt động chính trị nào của mình)

c. The role of monarch

- Three roles:
+ Personal embodiment of the Gov:
● the symbol of Gov (the Queen)
● actual Gov ( ministers - MPs)
+ a final check on a Gov
● can refuse the royal assent and the bill would not become law
● can refuse the request and dismiss the PM
+ has a very practical role to play
● being a figurehead and representing the country → perform the ceremonial
duties

d. The value of monarch

- more important to the economy than the system of Gov
- popular with the majority of the British ppl
- the expression of national pride
- make up (tô điểm) for the lack of color and ceremony in daily lives
- a source of entertainment

e. The future of the monarchy

- not a burning political issue
- The Q herself remains popular
- when announcing the public money was going to repairs, the sympathy quickly turned
to anger
- The future of royal style: “a little less grand, a little less distant” (bớt xa hoa, bớt lãng
phí)

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 3. Reading 3: The government
- Gov: all of politicians who have been appointed by the monarch (on the advice of
PM)
+ Member of Gov - Ministers: ranks of P, most of them from the House of Common
- Gov structure:
+ The PM: most powerful
+ More than 650 MPs
● Head of Gov Department (Minister of…)
● take on various responsibilities of managing P but have “collective
responsibility”
❖ no member of the Gov can criticize Gov policy in public or must
resign (từ chức)
❖ having different opinions but expected to keep private
● from the House of Common and belong to the same political party
→ single-party Gov

a. The cabinet (Nội các)

- Which? → The committee at the center of the British political system and is the
supreme decision-making body in Gov (Ủy ban ở trung tâm của hệ thống chính trị
Anh và là cơ quan ra quyết định tối cao của Chính phủ Anh)
- Who? → The leading politicians in the governing party
- Where? → In the Cabinet room in 10 Downing street
- When? → Every Thursday (British love Thursday : once a week → meetings)
- What? → Take decisions about new policies, the implementation of existing
policies and the running of various Gov Department (Cơ quan Chính phủ)
- How?
+ The PM chairs the meeting
+ Who say what is secret
+ Reports are made and circulated to Gov Depart
+ Gov Depart. summarizes the topic discussed and decisions taken

b. The PM
- the leader of his party in the House of Commons
- has a great deal of power in reality
+ power of patronage (bảo trợ): appoints (bổ nhiệm) the cabinet and change his cabinet
+ makes the final decisions on major issues
+ decides the agenda for cabinet meetings which he also chairs
- has the power of public image
- has the power to make decision without prior discussion with the cabinet
Parliament controls Gov
c. The civil service (dân sự)
- helps run the GOv day-to-day and implement policies

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 - Gov come and go but the civil service remains
→ most senior civil servant has the title of “Permanent Secretary” (thư ký vĩnh viễn)
- Civil service are unknown to the large public
- get high salary (higher than ministers)
- job security + stand a good chance of being awarded an official honor
- know the secrets of the previous Gov which the present minister is unaware of
- is reputed for absolute impartiality (nổi tiếng vì sự công bằng tuyệt đối)
- Criticism:
+ not loyalty but its efficiency
● civil servant:
★ from the same narrow section of society
★ have been to a public school and then Oxford and Cambridge -
where study history or classical language → not enough expertises
about economics or technology → hide outside → competition with
C.S
d. Central and local Gov
- Local Gov authorities (councils) only have powers because the Central Gov has given
them powers
- Local Gov only exit when C.Gov allows them to exist
- Most ppl have far more direct dealings with local Gov
+ Local Gov traditionally manage all public services
+ employ 3 times as many ppl as the national one (tuyển dụng số người gấp 3 lần so với
toàn quốc)
+ fairly free from constant central interference in their day-to-day work (khá tự do khỏi
sự can thiệp thường xuyên của trung tâm vào công việc hàng ngày của họ)
- Local Gov is allowed to collect one tax: property
- The modern trend towards greater and greater control by central Gov (sự kiểm soát
ngày càng lớn hơn của Chính phủ trung ương)

e. Local Gov services

- Central & Local Gov:
+ has similar system of national Gov
● elected representatives = councilors = MPs
● meet in council chamber (phòng hội đồng) in Town Hall or County
Hall = Parliament
● make policy implemented by local Gov officers = Civil Servants
The House of Commons is more important than the House of Lords
4. Reading 4: Parliament
a. The atmosphere of Parliament
- The activities of Parliament:
+ make new laws
+ give the authority for the Gov to raise and spend money
+ keep a close eye on Gov activities and discusses those activities

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- Place of working : the Palace of Westminster (The House of Parliament):
+ officers
+ committee rooms
+ restaurants
+ bars
+ libraries
+ some places of residence
+ 2 large rooms:
● The House of Lords meets
● The House of Commons meets
→ create fairly informal atmosphere → encourage to co-operate
★ no “front” (bảng tên)
★ no desks for MPs (Members of Parliament-nghị viện)
★ MPs speak in a conversational tone and don’t normally speak for long
★ very small → more than 650 MPs but have 400 seats → no their
“own” chair
★ middle: speaker’s chair → control debates
★ left: Gov benches
★ right: opposite benches
- MPs are forbidden (cấm) to address (gọi) one another directly or use personal names
- all remarks and questions must go “through their chair”
- use “the honorable Member of Winchester” or “ my right honorable friend”
→ Take the “heat” out of debate and decrease the possibility that violence may
break down

b. An MP’s life
- Traditionally, MPs weren’t supposed to be specialist politicians → be ordinary ppl
coming from all walks of life
- MPs weren’t paid until early 20th
+ supposed to be doing a public service, not making a career for themselves.
+ only rich people could afford to be MPs
- MPs have incredibly poor facilities: share with at least more than 2 MPs
+ an office
+ a secretary
- Politics in Britain in the last 40 years has become professional.
+ Most MPs have full-time politicians and do another part-time job (if at all), only part-
time job (Hầu hết các nghị sĩ đều có chính trị gia toàn thời gian và làm một công việc
bán thời gian khác (nếu có), chỉ là công việc bán thời gian)
+ Spend more time at work than any other professional in the country.
- Mornings are taken up with committee work, research, preparing speeches and
dealing with the problems of constituents (cử tri)
- Afternoons : meetings in the house

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 - Weekends are not free:
+ Visit their constituencies (khu vực bầu cử tri) (where they represent)
+ Listen to the problems of anybody who wants to see them.
→ So busy that they have little time for:
● pursuing another career
● for families (higher rate of divorce)

c. Parliamentary Business
- Debate on a particular proposal (tranh luận về đề xuất cụ thể)
- MPs have to vote for or against by walking through one of 2 corridors at the side of
the house:
+ Ayes: agree
+ Noes: disagree
- Some committees are appointed to examine particular proposals for laws. (Một số ủy
ban được chỉ định để xem xét các đề xuất luật cụ thể)
- There are also permanent (vĩnh viễn) committees whose jobs is to investigate the
activities of government in particular field
+ Include 40 members
+ have power to call certain ppl such as civil servants to come and answer their
questions
- The committees are becoming more and more important part of the business of the
Commons

d. The party system in P

MP’s way of working:
- MPs nearly vote the way that their party tells them to do → WHIP (powerful
people: because they “have the ear” of the party leaders)
+ WHIPS:
● Each of the 2 major parties has several MPs who perform this role.
● Their job is to:
★ Inform all MPs in their party how they should vote.
★ Act as intermediaries between the backbenchers and the front benches.
(đóng vai trò trung gian giữa những người ngồi sau và ngồi trước)
★ Keep the party leadership informed about backbench opinion.
- How a bill becomes a law
+ Before a proposal for new law starts its progress through Parliament, there will have
been much discussion.
+ If it is a government proposal, Green and White Papers will probably have been
published, explaining the ideas behind the proposal. After this, lawyers draft the
proposal into a bill.
+ Most bills begin life in the House of Commons, where they go through a number of
stages.

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e. The House of Lords
- Parliament’s second chamber (nghị viện thứ 2 của quốc hội)
+ a unique feature is its hereditary (cha truyền con nối) element -> therefore a relic of
earlier, undemocratic, times.
- Member of The House of Lords: peers - 670 members
-
- Its main job is to ‘double check’ new laws.
- Does not have the power to stop a new law that the Commons wants, but it can
delay/refuse it.
- Is a forum for public discussion.

5. Reading 5: Elections
a. The system
- The electoral system used in Britain doesn’t seem to add up.
→ The “first-past -the-post” system (an allusion to horse-racing)
- Nearly everybody votes for a candidate on the basis of the party he/she represents, not
on the qualities or political opinions of the candidate.
- The campaign with the largest number of crosses (chữ thập) next to his or her name is
the winner and becomes the MP for the constituency
- Voters:
+ can choose only 1 candidate, otherwise (nếu không thì), the ballot paper is “spoiled”
and not counted
+ >= 18 years old and on the electoral register
+ Nobody is obliged to vote
- Gov decides to hold an election
- An election has to take place at least every 5 years → usually shorter than this

b. The campaign
- Comparatively quiet affairs (tương đối yên tĩnh)
+ Local newspapers give coverage to the candidates.
+ Candidates hold meetings.
+ Partly supporters stick up posters in their windows.
+ Local party workers spend their time canvassing (vận động)
- Takes place at national level
- The parties spend millions of pounds advertising on hoardings and newspapers.
- They are each given a number of strictly timed “party election broadcasts”
- Each party holds a daily televised news conference
- emphasis on the national party personalities rather than on local candidates
- no large rallies or parades like USA
c. Polling day
- General elections always take place on Thursday (7am - 10pm) → not public
holiday

17
 - The country is divided into a number of areas of roughly equal population =
constituencies (đoàn bầu cử)
- Anyone wishing to become an MP must declare himself belonging to one of these
constituencies (after depositing £500 with the Returning Officer)
- Schoolchildren whose schools are being used as polling stations -> get a holiday.
- On polling day, voters go to polling stations and put a cross next to the name of one
candidate on a ballot paper.
- After the polls close, the marked ballot papers are taken to a central place in the
constituency and counted.
- The Returning officer makes a public announcement for the votes cast for each
candidate and declares the winner to be the MP for the constituency.
- Exception: in Northern Ireland: “vote early, vote often”

d. Election night
- Both BBC and ITV start their programmes as soon as voting finishes
- By midnight, experts will be making predictions about the composition of the newly
elected House of Commons.
- At 2am, at least half (>=½ ) of the constituencies will have declared their results.
- Fairly conducted: candidates are entitled to demand as many recounts as they want
until the result is beyond doubt.
- some constituencies are not able to declare their results until into Friday afternoon

TRUE OR FALSE

1.Politicians in Britain do not have a good reputation. T - p35

2. People hate the politicians. F - p35

3. The first rule of politics is 'Never Believe Anything until It's Been Officially Denied'. (T) -
p35

4. Three-quarters of the adult population are interested enough in politics to vote at national
elections, even though voting is not compulsory. (T)

5. In Britain, it is not accepted that politics is a dirty business, a necessary evil. F → (p36) it
is generally accepted

6. The Speaker are considered as the ears of the party leaders. (F) -p61 → WHIPS

7. Britain is one of the very few European countries whose citizens do not have identity
cards. (T) - p37

18
8. Britain is a country whose government is controlled by a parliament which has been
elected by the people. (T) p38

9. Britain is a constitutional monarchy. T (p38)

10. There is a rule that forbids MPs to address one another directly or use personal names.
(T) - p59

11 The British are comparatively enthusiastic about making new laws. (F) - p35

12. Britain is almost alone among modern states in that it does not have 'a constitution ' at all.
T - p38

13. The British government is the government of the people for the people by the people. (F)
- p44 —> america

14. In Britain people are legally described as 'subjects' - subjects of Her Majesty the Queen.
(T) - p45

15. As far as the law is concerned, there are some restrictions on whom the Queen chooses to
run the government for her. (F) - p44 —> she can choose whoever she likes

16. The Whips act as intermediaries between the backbenchers and the frontbench of a party.
T - p61

17. Britain normally has 'two-party government'. (F) → single party Gov, two-party
system (labor + conservative)

18. Member of the government can criticize government policy in public. (F) - p50 =>
private

19. In fact, the Queen has to choose someone who has the support of the majority of MPs in
the House of Commons. T - p46

20. In reality the Queen has almost no power at all. (T) - p47

21. The future royal style is a little more grand, but a little less distant. F - p49

22 Only members of the Lords are normally known as MPs (Members of Parliament).
(F)=)Commons - 57

23 The Speaker controls the debates in the House of Commons. (T) - p58

19
24 All of MPs in the House of Commons have their fixed seats in the meeting room. (F) -
p58→ no fixed seats

25. MPs always vote the way that their party tells them to. (T) - p61

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. British people regard their politicians with a high degree of suspicion (p35)

2. The British are comparatively unenthusiastic (p37) about making new laws.

3. In Britain, democracy.(3) means that the people choose who is to govern the country, and
then let them get on with it.

4. The Queen is the symbol of the government (47)

5. ..prime minister..(5) has the highest power in the hand.

6. In the future, the royal style is a little less grand, a little less distant(6)p49

7. Political life in Britain is comparatively informal p39

8. The traditional assumption is that both the state and the individual (8) should leave each
other alone as much as possible.p37

9. Most of ministers come from the House of Commons(9) p49

10.Britain is almost alone among modern states in that it does not have a .. constitution(10)at
all.p38

11. In both parliament and government, important decisions are not taken at official public
meetings or at pre -arranged private meetings. (p39)

12. Members of the government are usually known as ministers. (p50)

13. The monarch has 3 roles (p47)

14 The British are legally described as subjects chủ thể..

15. British people regard politics is a(an)....boring...topic of conversation

16. The style of politics in Britain is comparatively informal p39.

20
17. Local councils are allowed to collect one kind of tax based on ......property.........(11)p55

18. There are more than 650 Mps in the House of Commons, but less than 400 seats (12)

19. Three-quarters of the adult population are interested enough in politics to vote at national
elections, even though voting is not compulsory.(13)

20. In Britain, it is generally accepted that politics is a dirty (14) business, a necessary evil.

21. To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least 18 years old and be on the electoral
register.

1. PM has power of (the power to appoint the cabinet and change the cabinet).

→patronage

..., even of the highest rank, are unknown to the larger public.

→ civil servants

3. The British civil service has a (largely) deserved reputation for absolute political............

→impartiality

4. Local councils traditionally manage nearly

→public service

5. The monarch is the government of the country. of the

→personal embodiment

6. Queen Elizabeth II can perform the which heads of state often have to spend their time on.

→ceremonial duties

7. The monarchy gives British people a symbol of continuity, and a harmless outlet for the
expression of ..

→national pride

21
8. The habit of Single-party government has helpe to establish the tradition known as..

→ collective responsibility
Decide if these statements are True or False
1. In Britain, democracy has meant that the people have a hand in the running of the country.
F
2. In many aspects of life, the country has comparatively few rules and regulations. T
3. British citizens do not have identity cards. T
4. The British are said to have little respect for the law. F
5. There is little systematic law-breaking by large sections of the population. T
6. In Britain, the official head of state has much real power. F
7. Britain does not have a constitution at all. T
8. There is no single written document which asserts people's rights. T
9. When politicians are arguing in the House of Commons or in a television studio, they hate
each other. F
10. Britain normally has a "single-party government" T

CHAPTER 4: THE ECONOMY

1. Earning money
- A certain lack of enthusiasm for work in general (if you have to work, the less it looks
like the better) because of class distinctions
- Higher earning is important than job satisfaction
● Upper-class: leisure - a sign of aristocracy (tầng lớp quý tộc)
● Middle-class: do non-manual work: lao động trí óc
● Lower-class: manual
- Attitude slowly changing (half workforce do non-manual work and yet a majority
describe themselves as working class)
- 3 ways to look for work in Britain: newspapers (highest-qualified), local job center
(Gov services), privately-run agencies
- they started working late (8 am for manual workers (lao động chân tay) - 9 am for
non-manual)
- normal retirement age: 65
- 25% of Britain’s land: arable (trồng trọt được)
- 50% for meadows and pastures (đồng cỏ)
→ Agriculture is highly mechanized and extremely productive
- 2% of labor force produces 60% of country’s food needs
- Sizable fishing industry (Ngành đánh cá lớn)

22
- lack of equality between genders at work.( số lượng thất nghiệp nam nhiều hơn nữ nhưng
trong cùng 1 ngành nghề thì nam được trả lương nhiều hơn)

2. Work organizations
- Organizations:
● CBI: Confederation of British Industry (private industry)
● TUC: The Trades Union Congress (voluntary) - Labour party
● NUF: National Union of Farmers (not belong to TUC)

3. The structure of trade and industry

- Economic: private and public
- History:
+ 1945-1980: state controlled
+ 1980s:
● restricting the freedom of business as little as possible
● market forces’ rule
● turning state-owned companies into companies owed by individuals
(shareholders) → ideas of Thatcherism
+ 1980s-now: large number of companies have been privatized (tư nhân hóa) or
denationalized (quốc hữu hóa)
- British industry faced difficulties after World War 2.
- The agricultural sector was more successful with large scale organization.
4. The distribution of wealth
- Early 1970s: one of the most equitable distributions of wealth (phân phối tài sản công
bằng nhất)
- Early 1990s, one of the least equitable (phân phối tài sản bất công nhất)
→ the rich had got richer, but the poor had not
- Class and wealth do not run parallel in Britain. (Tầng lớp xã hội và xã hội không đi
song hành với nhau)
→ ppl are neither keen to flaunt their wealth nor ashamed to be poor. ( mọi người
không muốn phô trương sự giàu có của mình và cũng không xấu hổ vì nghèo.)
→ the acceptance of poverty in an “advanced country”
- However, during the 1980s, there is a great disparity in different people’s “take-home
pay”as the rates of pay for best-paid jobs increased faster than those for badly-paid
jobs.
→ Great disparity in UK

5. Finance and investment

- Britain is still one of the wealthiest places in the world → London: one of centers
of financial world

6. The big street banks

23
 - The so-called “big four” banks which each have a branch in almost every town in
Britain are:
● NatWest (National Westminster Bank)
● Barclays Bank
● Lloyds Bank
● Midland Bank

7. Spending money: shopping

- British shoppers favor well known and reliable brands → not adventurous
shoppers
- They prefer clear pricing and are not keen on haggling (mặc cả)

8. Shop opening hours

- Late 20th cent: supermarkets moved out of town
- Opening hours: 9am-8pm (on sundays: 6h) - small shop: 9am-5.30pm
The shift from heavy industry to service industry has led to:
- higher unemployment for men
- more chances for women

CHAPTER 5: THE EDUCATION

- The basic feature of the British education system - same as anywhere else in Europe:
+ full-time education - compulsory up to middle teenage years (16 tuổi)
+ academic year begins at the end of summer
+ compulsory education - free of charge / BUT parents may spend money on educating
their children privately if they want to.
(NHƯNG cha mẹ có thể chi tiền cho việc giáo dục con cái riêng nếu họ muốn.)

1. Historical background
- Education - little important (by the end of 19th century) >< frequent subject for public
debate (now)
- Schools and other educational institutions (such as universities) existed in Britain long
before the government took an interest in education.
- When the government did take an interest, it did not completely take over these
institutions but sometimes incorporated them into the system or left them outside it.
(Khi chính phủ quan tâm đến, họ không loại bỏ hoàn toàn hoặc kiểm soát cơ sở này,

24
 mà đôi khi họ tích hợp thành một hệ thống chúng hoặc để chúng chúng hoạt động độc
lập).

Previous Public Schools Now Public Schools

For boys only from age 13 onwards, most of A fairly large number of girl’s public
whom attended a private preparatory schools, some for both boys and girls.
school beforehand.

"Prep school" - “preparatory school" (trường

dự bị). Nói một cách đơn là giai đoạn giáo
dục trước khi học sinh chuyển sang các
trường trung học cấp cao hơn (thường là từ
13 tuổi trở lên).

Take fee-paying pupils (some scholarship Similar

pupils who have won a place through a
competitive entrance exam or whose parents
do not pay) - Học sinh đóng học phí và một
số học sinh nhận học bổng qua kỳ
thi tuyển cạnh tranh.

Are boarding schools where boys live admit day pupils as well as borders, and
during term-time. some are day-schools only. (Nhiều trường
nhận học sinh nội trú và cả học sinh bán trú,
một số trường chỉ là trường bán trú.)

Divided into ‘houses’, each looked after by Similar

a ‘housemaster’(giáo viên chủ nhiệm nam)

Make some senior boys 'prefects' with ‘Perfects’ no longer have so much power or
authority over other boys, and they have been abolished; ‘fagging’ has
have their own servants called 'fags' (thường disappeared.
năm 1-2).

Emphasize team sports greatly. Less emphasis on team sports and more on
academic achievement.

Enforce rules with physical punishment.

Have a reputation for a relatively high much more inclusive and progressive: many
amount of homosexual activity. (hoạt động of them now being co-educational (song
đồng tính) giáo - dành cho cả nam và nữ) -> greater
awareness and acceptance of
LGBTQ+ identities across society.

Are not luxurious or comfortable. more physically comfortable

2. Organization
- is comparatively little control and uniformity

25
 + 3 separate departments in charge of education
+ Central authorities' missions up to the end of compulsory education:
+ Ensuring the availability of education
+ Dictating & implementing its overall organization
+ Setting overall learning objectives
- No authorities' control over the actual operation of educational institutions (e.g.,
detailed programs, materials or institutions' finances)
- the Department for Education and Employment is responsible for England and Wales
alone – Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own departments
- Reasons for this level of ‘grass-roots’ independence is that the system has been
influenced
- by the public-school tradition that a school is its own community.

3. Style
- Learning for its own sake, rather than for any particular practical purpose, has
traditionally been given a comparatively high value in Britain.
- tended to give priority to developing understanding rather than acquiring factual
knowledge and learning to apply this knowledge to specific tasks.
- An emphasis on academic ability rather than practical ability (despite English
antiintellectualism).
(Học tập vì mục đích riêng của nó, chứ không phải vì bất kỳ mục đích thực tế cụ thể nào, theo
truyền thống được coi là có giá trị tương đối cao ở Anh.
có xu hướng ưu tiên phát triển sự hiểu biết hơn là tiếp thu kiến thức thực tế và học cách áp
dụng kiến thức này vào các nhiệm vụ cụ thể.
Nhấn mạnh vào khả năng học tập hơn là khả năng thực tế (bất chấp chủ nghĩa phản trí thức
của Anh)
4. Recent developments
- 1965 - 1980s:
+ Children from 11 go to the same school: comprehensive school
- 1980s - Now:
+ Two major changes:
● The setting up of a national curriculum not one but three curricula- an
influence on the subject- matter of teaching.
● The decision of schools to get out of LEA (Local Education Authority)
→ school now “opt-out” of the control of LEA and put themselves directly
under the control of Gov → schools and hospital can ‘opt-out” of local Gov
but still under national gov
5. School life
- There is no countrywide system of nursery
- Almost all schools are either primary or secondary only.
- School time:
+ Three terms, starting from September
+ Monday to Friday

26
+ No half-day
+ Before 9 am to 3-4 pm each day (longer for older children)
+ An-hour-and-a-quarter lunch break (1h15p)

6. Public exams
- Who set these exams?
→ Independent examining boards
- What are the subjects of public exams?
➤ English language
➤ MathS
➤ Science
➤ Technology
➤ Foreign language, usually French
➤ 3 or more additional subjects
- Who are attendants?
+ School pupils
+ Individual people

7. Education beyond sixteen

- Half of full-time pupils go to a sixth-form college of Further Education
- At age of 16, ppl are free to leave school if they want to or study further
- >= ⅓ students have part-time jobs

CHAPTER 6: HOLIDAYS
- Britain is a country governed by routine.
- Has fewer public holidays than any other country in Europe and fewer than North
America
- The practice of making a “bridge” is almost unknown. (“make a bridge” là một thuật
ngữ thông dụng để chỉ việc có một ngày lễ rơi vào giữa tuần, sau đó được nghỉ thêm
vài ngày nữa cho đến cuối tuần, tạo thành một kỳ nghỉ dài hơn. -> Ở Britain lễ rơi vào
trước hoặc ngay sau cuối tuần)
- The British also seem to do comparatively badly with regard to annual holidays. (40%
of population don’t go away anywhere for their holidays)
1. Traditional seaside holidays
- The British upper class started the fashion of seaside holidays in the late 18th century.
● Middle and working classes soon followed

27
● normally spend 1-2 week yearly at seaside resort towns (now regarded as typical of
the traditional English holiday resort)
- They have some hotels where richer people stay, but most families stay at boarding
houses. (offering either ‘bed and breakfast’ or, more rarely, ‘full board’ (meaning that
all meals are provided)
- Traditional holiday destination: holiday camp (popular in Britain in 1950s and 1960s)
● Visitors stay in chalets (nhà gỗ khép kín) in self-contained villages with food and
entertainment organized for them.
- Some resorts have wooden huts (phòng thay đồ bơi) on or near the beach, known as
‘beach cabins’, ‘beach huts’ or ‘bathing huts’

2. Modern holidays
- Both of the traditional types of holiday have become less popular in the last quarter of
the century
- Increase in car ownership encouraged people to take caravan holidays.
- Before 1960, only the rich took holiday aboard → these days, most British people
spend holidays away from home.
- Most foreign holidays are package holidays (transport and accommodation are booked
and paid for through a travel agent)
- Half of all the holidays taken within Britain are now for three days or less.
- There are also wide range of activity holiday available, giving full expression to
British individualism

3. Christmas and New Year

- Christmas: is the one occasion in modern Britain when a large number of customs are
enthusiastically observed by most ordinary people within the family.
+ 12 days
+ ngày thứ 13 : Christmas’ decoration are taken down → because they thing
bad luck
+ Traditional: k chỉ là ngày lễ tôn giáo, trở thành ngày lễ truyền thống: anti-religious
people quite happily wish each other a ‘Happy Christmas’ or a “Merry Christmas’
+ is time for family: Many of the gatherings in houses on Christmas Day consist of
extended families (more than just parents and children).
+ Christmas cards: to indulge their dreams about a vanished rural past
+ · Christmas trees: the holly and mistletoe plants
+ Christmas dinner: stuffed roast turkey with roast potatoes and some other vegetables,
Christmas pudding, and Christmas cake + listening to the Queen’s Christmas message
- New Year:
+ called Hogmanay, is given particular importance
+ Most people go back to work and school soon after New Year. (đi làm từ m2 tháng
giêng, trừ Scotland được nghỉ 2 ngày) (in Scotland only, 2 January (as well as New
Year’s Day) is also a public holiday (so that people have two days to recover from
their New Year’s Eve parties instead of just one!).

28
+ time for friends
+ Some British New year customs: the singing of the song Auld Lang Syne, originated
in Scotland
+ The custom of ‘first footing’, in which the first person to visit a house in the new year
is supposed to arrive with tokens of certain important items for survival

4. Other notable annual occasions

- Easter (Lễ phục sinh): (thường là t5 nhưng t6 k đi làm nên đến hết CN) four-day
‘weekend’, the consumption of mountains of chocolate Easter eggs by children
- Good Friday (thứ 6 sau Easter): eating hot cross buns on, quite a lot of people go
away on holiday at this time.
- Guy Fawkes' Day (Bonfire Night): 5 November, the gunpowder plot (âm mưu
thuốc súng)
- Birthday: không nên mang bánh ngọt đến nơi làm việc
- Boxing Day (26/12): trước đây, chủ nhà tặng quà cho những người thuê nhà, người
hầu, nhiều quà đặt trước nhà thờ để dành cho người nghèo, ngày nay thường ở nhà
nghỉ ngơi, xem phim
- Valentine Day (14/2): các cặp đôi bày tỏ tình yêu cho nhau, tặng nhau hoa, quà,
chocolate, ngày con gái tặng quà cho con trai, để bải thơ, ngày Valentine trắng thì con
trai hồi đáp => Tên ngày Vị thánh La Mã cổ đại người đã chúc phúc cho nhiều cặp
đôi
- Halloween 31/10, ngày liên quan đến siêu nhiên, là một ngày không vui, chào mừng
những người đã chết quay trở lại
- April Fool’s Day (¼): ngày nói dối, chỉ nên nói những lời nói dối vô hại
- St Patrick’s Day (17 March): This is a public holiday in Northern Ireland.
- Mother’s Day (the fourth Sunday in Lent): £50 million worth of flowers are bought
for this day. Cards are also sent.
- May Day* (the first Monday in May): In Britain this day is associated more with
ancient folklore than with the workers. In some villages the custom of dancing round
the maypole is acted out
- Spring Bank Holiday* (the last Monday in May). There used to be a holiday on
‘Whit Monday’ celebrating the Christian feast of Pentecost. Because this is seven
weeks after Easter, the date varied. This fixed holiday has replaced it.
- Father’s day (the third Sunday in June) This is probably just a commercial
invention- and not a very successful one either. Millions of British fathers don’t even
know they have a special day.
- Queen’s Official birthday (The second or third Saturday in June). It is ‘official’
because it is not her real one. Certain public ceremonies are performed on this day.
- Orangemen’s Day (12 July): This is a public holiday in Northern Ireland only. In
this way, the holiday associated with the Catholic part of the community (St Patrick’s
Day) is balanced by one associated with the other part, the Protestants.
- Summer Bank Holiday* (the last Monday in August)
- Remembrance Sunday (second Sunday in November): This day commemorates the
dead of both World Wars and of more recent conflicts.

29
 - New Year’s Eve (31 December)

PART 2: AMERICAN CULTURE

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW
Reading 1: An expansive and diverse nation
1. General information
- Full country name: United States of America (USA)
- Capital city: Washington D.C, located along the banks of the Potomac River, between
the states of Maryland and Virginia
- Government: constitution-based federal republic (Cộng hòa liên bang dựa trên hiến
pháp)
- Quốc hiệu hoa kỳ (national emblem): bald eagle (đại bàng đầu hói)
- National flag:
● 50 stars = 50 states
● 13 red/white stripes = 13 colonies
● Colour:
+ blue (vigilance, perseverance & justice) (cảnh giác, kiên trì và công bằng)
+ red (hardiness & valor) (sự cứng rắn và dũng cảm)
+ white (purity & innocence) (sự thuần khiết và ngây thơ)

- Country: 3rd largest (behind Russia and Canada) 2010: 311.240.000 km2
● Largest state: Alaska > Texas > California
● Smallest state: Rhode Island

- Population: 3rd world (behind China and India)

● Most populated state: California > Texas > New York
● Least populated state: Wyoming

- consists of 48 contiguous states and the noncontiguous states of Alaska and

Hawaii and some other outlying areas → 50 bang
2. Geographic diversity
- Blessed with many advantages:
+ climate favorable for agriculture (make US one of the world’s leading agricultural
countries)
● extensive internal waterways (river system flow South)
● weather: rain+sun
+ abundant natural resources (oil, coal, gold - California, silver…)
● valuable mineral resources benefit mining and industry

3. Cultural diversity
- One of the most diverse country of the world, both from a cultural and an
environmental perspective.

30
 - Inhabited by a variety of Native American people who spoke more than 300 different
languages.
- People: Caucasian (71%), African American (12%), Latino (12%), Asian (4%),
Native American (0.9%) (spoke more than 300 different languages
- Sources of people: Native American + immigrants + slaves (from Mexico and Africa)

4. Unity and diversity

- Group identity challenged nation identity
➔ Many Americans wanted to preserve a sense of national unity while respecting social
diversity
- Multiculturalism: a concept with many meanings, often refers to acceptance of
immigrant and minority groups as distinct communities, distinguishable from the
majority population.
➔ Multiculturalist reject the idea of a melting pot and assimilation

CHAPTER 2: TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND VALUES

Reading 1: American ideals and values
1. Freedom
- Is the center of America value
- Americans commonly regard their society as the freest and best → shaped by
Founding Fathers’ belief
- America's perception of their history: a nation populated by immigrants who
exercised free choice in coming to the New World for a better life
➔ The notion that America offers freedom for all is an ideal that unifies Americans and
links the present to the past
➔ Reality continues to demonstrate that some social groups and individuals are not as
free as others
- Ideal: Americans’ understanding of freedom:
+ All ppl are equal
+ Gov protect each person’s basic “inalienable” rights (speech, press, religion)
- Reality: Because of religious, racial, sex or age discrimination:
+ not as free as others
+ some have not enjoyed the same rights and opportunities as others

2. Idealizing what is practical → How to survive

- Inventiveness (sáng tạo) is necessary for survival
- What works is what counts (Những gì hiệu quả là những gì được tính)
- American tendency to idealize whatever is practical
- The “can-do” spirit is something Americans are proud of today (they like to think they
are natural- born do-it yourself)

3. Volunteerism

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- The do-it-yourself spirit is known as volunteerism in American community and
practical life
- 6 out of 10 Americans are members of volunteer organization
● to solve a particular community problem
● meet an immediate social need, rather than waiting for someone else - usually the
government
● where there are gaps in federal social programs, volunteers provide services such as
adult education, psychological counseling, and legal aid
➔ Volunteerism reflects Americans' optimistic pride in their ability to work out practical
solution themselves (niềm tự hào lạc quan của người Mỹ về khả năng tự mình tìm ra
giải pháp thực tế)

4. Psychology of abundance (Tâm lý dư thừa)

- The abundance of untapped natural resource attract many people, not only farmer, but
hunter, fur trappers, gold and silver miners, lumberjack and cattle ranchers
- History regard: America is rich in natural resources = a land of limitless weath
- 2 opinions:
● still believe in the inexhaustibility of the nation resources (tin vào sự vô hạn của
nguồn tài nguyên)
● reluctantly recognize that the era of cheap and plentiful resources is over (miễn cưỡng
chấp nhận điều này đã qua)

5. Mobility (chủ nghĩa xê dịch)

- the practical solution to a problem is to move elsewhere and make a fresh start
- It is common to move from place to place (an accepted practice)
+ to secure a better job
+ to enjoy a warmer climate
→ narrow the cultural differences
➔ A sign of optimism (lạc quan), not aimlessness
- Americans hate to feel that buying a house might immobilize them forever
6. Patriotism (Lòng yêu nước)
- National pride is stronger than regional pride
- Americans develop relatively little attachment to place
- Patriotism in America is in some ways distinct from patriotism in other countries
● In other nations: essentially the love of land (nature)
● America: concentrated upon a particular historical event of the nation’s creation
→ is further consequence of America's mobility

7. Progress
- Directly associated with the value of freedom
- The desire to progress by making use of opportunities is important to American
➔ Is personally measured as family progress over generations

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 8. American dream
- Express “the dream of a land in which life should be better, richer, and fuller for every
man with opportunities for each according to his abilities and achievements” -
J.T.Adams
➔ Can be achieved through hard work, family loyalty, and faith in the free enterprise
systems
➔ However, reality has shown that the American dream is not open to all due to
segregation and discrimination (Giấc mơ Mỹ không rộng mở cho tất cả mọi người do
sự phân biệt, phân biệt đối xử)

9. Questioning of values
- During the 60s and 80s period, political scandals and on-going war in Vietnam cause
doubt and insecurities
➔ Created fundamental divisions among Americans about their country goals
➔ Around the 1970s, there was an increasing disparity of opinion about American’s
values and national goals.
- The 1980s saw a return to conservative family values and morals, and renewal of
national pride

Reading 2: Traditional American values

1. The context of traditional American values: racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural
diversity
- At the start of 21st century: US has a great diversity of racial, ethnic, cultural, and
religious group
➔ Means that accepting diversity was the only practical choice, even if some people
were not enthusiastic about it.
- 6 chủng tộc (6 races)
- US has been viewed as “the land of opportunity”, attracting immigrants from all over
the world
- Three represent traditional reasons why people are drawn to America: 6 values and 3
pairs
● The chance for individual freedom (price: self-reliance)
● Equality of opportunity (price: competition)
● Material wealth (price: hard work)
➔ These prices themselves became a part of the traditional value system.

2. Individual freedom and self-reliance

- The earliest settlers came to the North American continent to establish colonies
- They want to escape the control placed on their lives by kings and governments,
priests and churches, noblemen's and aristocrats
- The word freedom is one of the most respected popular words in the US.
- Freedom in the US means the desire and the ability of all individuals to control their
own destiny without outside interference from the government.
- A price to be paid for this individual freedom is self-reliance

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 - - Most Americans believe that they must be self-reliant in order to keep their freedom.
If people are dependent, they risk losing freedom as well as the respect of their peers.
- 18 or 21: independent finance and emotion from parents → “stand on their own
feet”
→ receiving financial support from charity, family, Gov is never admired

3. Equality of opportunity and competition

- believe that everyone has a chance to succeed here
- Everyone should have an equal chance to enter the race and win → lack of a
hereditary aristocracy (thừa kế từ gia tộc)
+ title of nobility is forbidden → no formal class system developed
+ life is a race for success
- concept of “fair play” is an important aspect
- A price to be paid for this equality of opportunity is competition.
+ begin in childhood and continue until retirement from work
+ encouraged by strong programs of competitive sports (được khuyến khích bởi các
chương trình thể thao cạnh tranh mạnh mẽ)

4. Material wealth and hard work

- The reasons for material wealth value are that the US appears to be a “land of plenty”
and people can “go from rags to riches”.
- Material wealth became a value to American ppl
- is a measure of social status, success and standard of living
- A price to be paid for material wealth is hard work
+ is necessary and rewarding
+ Material possessions were seen not only as tangible evidence of ppl’s work but also of
their abilities (Của cải vật chất không chỉ được coi là bằng chứng hữu hình về công
việc của con người mà còn về khả năng của họ)

CHAPTER 3: THE US POLITICAL SYSTEM

Reading 1: The political system
1. Form of government
- The most powerful nation in the world
- A representative democracy (dân chủ đại diện)
- All government power rests ultimately with the people.

2. Limited government
- The principle of limited government is basic to the Constitution.
- Several features were created to guard against this possibility:
+ the federal organization of government (tổ chức liên bang của Chính phủ)

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 + the separation of powers among different branches of government (Sự phân chia
quyền lực giữa các nhánh của CP)
+ a system of checks and balances to restrict the powers of each branch. (Hệ thống kiểm
soát và cân bằng để hạn chế quyền lực của mỗi nhánh)
→ have to follow its own laws
→ by the ppl
3. Federalism (chế độ liên bang)
- The principle of limited government was achieved by dividing authority between the
central government and the individual states. (Theo chế độ liên bang, nguyên tắc
chính quyền hạn chế đã đạt được bằng cách phân chia thẩm quyền giữa chính quyền
trung ương và các tiểu bang riêng lẻ. )
- The federal (national) government has powers over areas of wide concern.
- There are certain powers, called concurrent powers which both the federal and state
government share. Examples include the power to tax, set up courts, and chartered
banks.(Có một số quyền hạn nhất định, được gọi là quyền hạn đồng thời mà cả chính
quyền liên bang và tiểu bang đều chia sẻ. Ví dụ bao gồm quyền đánh thuế, thành lập
tòa án và ngân hàng điều lệ.)

4.Separation of powers (Phân chia quyền lực)

- Legislative Branch (Cơ quan lập pháp)
+ make laws → elected by Congress (Quốc hội)
+ Congress (535 members) include:
● The House of Representatives (Hạ nghị viện)
➢ 435 representatives
➢ elected to a two-year term (2 năm)
● The Senate (Thượng nghị viện)
➢ senator (thượng nghị sĩ)
➢ 100 senators
➢ senate term: 6 years but elected to 2 năm 1 lần
+ How a Bill becomes a Law
● Bill introduction
● commission discussion
● vote
● presidential action
- Executive Branch (Hành pháp)
+ carry out laws/ administer laws → đứng đầu: President (elected to a four-year term
and can be re-elected a second term)
+ The vice-president, who is elected with the president, is assigned only two
constitutional duties
● The first is to preside over the Senate.
● The second duty is to assume the presidency if the president dies, becomes
disabled, or is removed from office.( đảm nhiệm chức vụ tổng thống nếu tổng
thống qua đời or bị tàn tật or cách chức)

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+ Powers of the President:
● As chief executive, the president appoints secretaries of the major departments
that make up the president’s cabinet.( bổ nhiệm thư ký)
● also appoints senior officials of the many agencies in the expansive
bureaucracy.(bổ nhiệm các quan chức cấp cao trong bộ máy quan liêu của nhà
nước)
● As head of state, the president represents the country abroad, entertains
foreign leaders, and addresses the public.
● As director of foreign policy, he appoints foreign ambassadors and makes
treaties with other nations.
● The president also serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and as
head of his political party(Tổng thống cũng giữ chức tổng tư lệnh các lực
lượng vũ trang và là người đứng đầu đảng chính trị của mình)
● In the United States, the president and legislature are elected separately,
housed separately, and they operate separately.

- Judicial Branch (Tư pháp)

+ judge/ evaluate laws → đứng đầu: the Supreme Court (Tòa án tối cao) - circuit courts
- district court
+ function: to determine whether laws of Congress or actions of the president violate the
Constitution.(xác định xem luật của Quốc hội hay hành động của tổng thống có vi
phạm Hiến pháp hay không.)
+ checks and balances:
● important part of Constitution
● each of 3 branches can check and limit the powers of the others
- Political participation
+ Groups and individuals have a variety of ways they can exert (gây) pressure and try to
influence government policy.
+ Many people write letters to elected officials expressing their approval or disapproval
of a political decision.
- Interest Groups (Nhóm lợi ích)
+ are organized by people who want to influence public policy decisions on special
issues.
● The largest organizations are labor unions, such as the AFL-CIO - American
Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (Liên đoàn Lao
động Hoa kỳ và Quốc hội các Tổ chức công nghiệp)
● Business groups: the United States Chamber of Commerce
● Farm groups: the National Farmers’ Union;
● Professional groups: the American Medical Association
+ are not political parties
+ not hold power in the Gov
+ Methods of swaying pubic:
● Campaign finance
● Channels (mail, media, public opinion, advertising)

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- Lobbyists
+ A lobbyist, generally a lawyer or former legislator( luật sư or cựu lập pháp)
+ has a negative connotation (ý nghĩa tiêu cực)

5. Political party system

- had three features:
+ two major parties
● History: Federalists & Anti-federalists (CN Liên bang & CN chống liên bang)
● Now: Democratic (dân chủ → free) & Republic (cộng hòa →
conservative)
→ same goals but differents means to achieve
→ Democrats advocate for government-provided social and economic
programs, While Republicans prefer limiting government involvement
and emphasize support for big business and private enterprise, citing
concerns about the costs of social programs.
(Tuy nhiên, họ có cách tiếp cận khác nhau: Đảng Dân chủ ủng hộ các chương
trình xã hội và kinh tế do chính phủ cung cấp, trong khi Đảng Cộng hòa thích
hạn chế sự tham gia của chính phủ và nhấn mạnh vào việc hỗ trợ cho các
doanh nghiệp lớn và doanh nghiệp tư nhân, nêu ra mối quan ngại về chi phí
của các chương trình xã hội.)

● Minor parties - third parties: Socialist Labor Party, the American

Independence Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party
● election system: “winners take all”
- only one candidate- the one with the most votes- is elected to a given
office from any one district.
- Many people will not vote for a minor party candidate; they feel they
are throwing away a vote since only one person wins.
→ 2 giai đoạn: dân bầu + đại diện bỏ phiếu
+ lack of ideology
● American party politics has been largely devoid of ideology (không có hệ tư
tưởng)
→ The Populist Party of the 1890s and the Progressive party of the early
twentieth century gained only temporary support. (Đảng Dân túy của những
năm 1890 và đảng Tiến bộ của đầu thế kỷ XX chỉ giành được sự ủng hộ tạm
thời.)
+ lack of unity and party discipline
● Disagreement among members of the same party is common.
● lack of tightly-organized party: the voting records ò Congressmen and
Senators
● Personal views and the views of constituents often have priority over party
views.
- Lower voter turnout (Tỷ lệ cử tri bỏ phiếu thấp)

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 + always elected on Tuesdays

TRUE OR FALSE
1. The US is a representative democracy. - True

2. Congress in the US comprises the House of Lords and The House of Representatives. -
False

3. A Representative of the House is elected to a 6-year term. - False

4. There are 3 branches of power in the US. - True (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial)

5. There are only 2 political parties. - False

6. There are 14 major departments in the executive branch. - False (There are 13 major
departments)

7. Democrats and Republicans often share the same support and means of achieving goals. -
False

CHAPTER 4: THE US ECONOMY

Reading 1:The U.S economy

1. General characteristic
- American economy: a free enterprise system affected by Adam Smith’s economic
ideals of “leave it alone” and “the invisible hand = market force”
- The US today:
● A leading economic power with a high living standard and enormous productivity in
industry and agriculture
● The world’s largest importer and exporter
- High living standard: The US is one of the most affluent nations in the world
➔ Now 60% of all families and individuals are in the middle-income or high-income
ranks

2. The roles of the government in the economy

- Government regulations exist in many areas of business (from product safety to labor
condition) but with minimum interference

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3. US industry and services
- The world’s leading producer of goods and services: industrial and technological
production is high
- World’s leading producer of: electrical energy, aluminum, copper, sulphur, paper and
one of the top producers of natural gas and auto-mobile (no other nation exports as
much high technology as the US)
- US import:
● Leading import: petroleum products, food and beverages, machinery, iron and steel
products
● Since 1971, the US has been operating under a trade imbalance, importing more
goods than it exports

- Some recent changes in US industry:

● the shift in production from manufacturing to service industries including banking,
hotels, restaurants, communications
- Budget deficit:
● Since 1930, the government has been spending more than it has taken in
● Such huge deficits can cripple the economy because they lead to inflation, high
interest rate, unemployment, and the high value of the American dollar abroad which
hurt the sale of US products
● Enormous federal budget deficit hampers economic growth domestically-affects the
US ability to sell products overseas
➔ strong pressure to decrease the budget
➔ Solution: tax increases + spending cuts (tăng thu giảm chi)
- Declining growth rates:
● Within the past 2 decades, the US has slipped from a better than 3% per year increase
in productivity to an annual increase of below 2%
● There a declining competitiveness of US goods abroad
➔ US manufacturers step-up productivity levels, modernize their factories, and provide
better worker training

- Corporations in US
● Giant corporation dominate in the US
● Corporations determine much of the nation’s economic behavior
● Large corporation

4. US agriculture
- Farming is highly mechanized and commercialized
- ⅓ of crop land in US is planted in crops destines for export
- increased mechanization → threaten the existence of small farmers
+ farmers become too productive → low crop prices →don’t bring farmers enough
income to live on
+ American farmer faces is the decline of agriculture exports

39
Corporations:
- giant corporations dominate
Entrepreneurs also have a significant impact on the American economy:
700,000 small businesses were started in the US (1984)
The decline in labor membership:
+ the changing trends in the economy (Foreign competition)
+ the rise in service and high tech industries (The shift from manufacturing industries to
service and high-tech industries)
+ movement of the industries to the South
“yuppie”, meaning young upwardly-mobile professional (chuyên gia trẻ năng động) →
describes those people between the ages of 25 and 45 who accord to the stereotype, devote
themselves to careers and status.

5. US labor unions
- The largest America labor: AFL-CIO (The American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations) (Liên đoàn Lao động Hoa Kỳ và Đại hội các Tổ
chức Công nghiệp)
- Some significant gains American labor unions have won for their members include:
+ increases in overtime pay
+ paid vacations
+ premium pay for night work
+ employer subsidized health insurance plans

Reading 2: The Characteristics Of American Business

1. The prestige of business and the ideal of competition (Uy tín doanh nghiệp và lợi
thế cạnh tranh)
- “The business of America is business” – Business institutions have more prestige in
American society than any other kind of organization, including the government.
- Business = profit + private (nền kinh tế chạy theo lợi nhuận
→ Reason: Competition (Competition protects the freedom of the individual by
ensuring that there is no monopoly of power)

2. The prestige of business and the dream of getting rich (Uy tín doanh nghiệp và giấc
mơ làm giàu)
- There is a second reason why business institutions receive respect in the United
States.
- One aspect of the great American Dream is to rise from poverty or modest wealth to
great wealth.
- Not only is business seen as the best way for individuals to become rich, it is also seen
as benefiting the entire nation.
- Two kind of American business heroes:
● “the entrepreneur” → idealized by the American public.

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+ Entrepreneurs are the purest kind of business heroes
+ Reason:
→ succeed in building something great out of nothing -> started with very little
money or power and ended up as the heads of huge companies that earned
enormous fortunes.
→ without the aid of inherited social title or inherited money, they became “self-
made” millionaires.
→ perfect examples of the American idea of equality of opportunity in action.
→ A final characteristic of entrepreneurs that appeals to most Americans is their
strong dislike of submitting (phục tùng) to higher authority.
● the “organization man or woman.”
+ The great entrepreneurs of the late 19th century built huge business
organizations that needed a new generation of business leaders to run them.
+ These leaders have often been called organization men/ women.
+ They are also heroes to Americans in the sense that they are role models of
success in American society.
+ They acquire power and wealth, but they do not have as strong a hero image as
entrepreneurs because they are managing businesses that someone else started.
+ Although most Americans admired the earning power of entrepreneurs and
would probably not want to put a limit on their income, they are less generous
in their view of the organization man/ woman.

3. American business in the global marketplace

- 50 years ago, the operation of American business took place almost entirely in the
United States.
- In the 1990s, this was no longer true. American business has become a part of a much
larger global economy
- The United States is the single largest market in the world: a consumer society
looking for goods from all over the world.

4. The changing of American workforce

- Traditionally, white males have dominated American business with the highest
salaries, achieving the greatest successes, and certainly wielding most of the power
- Women are prevented from moving all the way to the top by what some call the glass
ceiling, a subtle form of discrimination. (rào cản trong nền kinh tế)
- Some women believe that it is easier for them to be successful as entrepreneurs than
as “organization women” in male-dominated corporations.
- Many jobs in corporate America are fast track, requiring that both women and men
put their job first and their family second.
- Minorities often face similar discrimination in the workplace, earning less money than
white workers with similar jobs.
- History: major labor: the white male

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 - In the future, the white American male may no longer have advantages over other
workers.
- The recent arrival of millions of new immigrants is changing the makeup of the
American workforce. → Many believe that this multi-cultural workforce will
ultimately help the United States compete in the global marketplace, since
American workers will represent a microcosm of the world.

TRUE OR FALSE

1. The government plays no part in the US economy. - False

2. Large corporations dominate US economy. - True

3. Because of overproductivity, US farmers have little income to live on. - True

4. Now, US economy is industry- based. - False

5. Decline in number of labor unions' members results from the shift of production. - True

6. US has exported more than it imports. - False (import > export)

7. 2/3 of the crop land in US is planted in crops destines for exports. - False (⅓)

8. Farming nowadays requires huge investments. - True

9. Small farmers dominate agribusiness firms. - False

10.Modern corporations are run by anonymous career executives - True

Reading 2: The prestige of business

CHAPTER 5: THE EDUCATION

- School attendance is compulsory for all children
- 7 hours/day, 5 days/week, 9 months/year (from September to June)
- Public education from kindergarten → grade 12: tax-supported, no tuition is required
⇒ 13 năm free
- 85% children attend public school, 15% choose to pay tuition to attend private school
- 6 years of elementary school
- usually 2 years of middle school (or junior high school)

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 - 4 years of high school
- 2 years colleges

Reading 1: Education in the US

1. Varied opportunities
- Students who do not plan to go to college may be enrolled in classes such as basic
accounting, typing, or agricultural science, along with “core” curriculum courses
such as mathematics, social studies, science, and English.
- Which courses a student takes depends on his or her abilities and future goals, but also
on the particular course offerings of the school.
+ Some elementary schools offer computer and foreign language courses. Courses in
scuba diving or Russian are available at some high schools.
+ Higher education: the wide variety of degree (bằng cấp) programs is remarkable.
→ small arts colleges which grant degrees to students who concentrate in
specialized fields such as ballet, film-making, and even circus performing
- Chuẩn đầu ra của hoa kỳ (high school standard) ở các bang sẽ khác nhau, 1 số
trường bằng cấp quy định rất chặt chẽ (rigorous), 1 số thì lỏng lẻo (lax)
+ Harvard, Yale sẽ chấp nhận sinh viên có khả năng học thuật cao, một số trường khác
thì chấp nhận tất cả học sinh tốt nghiệp c3 ko cần xét học lực (degree factory)

2. Decentralized funding and administration (Tài trợ và quản lý phi tập trung)
- there is no national education system in the United States (ko có hệ thống giáo dục
quốc dân)
- education standards and requirements differ from state to state (chuẩn giáo dục ở từ
bang khác nhau)
- Spending for public education is also determined by state and local education leaders.

3. Curriculum (Chương trình giảng dạy)

- In public schools, decisions about school curriculum, teacher certification, and student
achievement standards are made by boards of education at the state and/ or district
level. (Trường công, các quyết định về chương trình dạy học, chuẩn giáo viên và sinh
viên được đưa ra bởi hệ thống giáo dục của bang, quận)
- Most secondary schools require students to take English, mathematics, science, social
studies, and physical education.
- In addition to this “core” curriculum, students choose “elective” (tự chọn) courses in
their areas of interest.

4. Democratic ideal (Lý tưởng dân chủ)

- Traditionally, the American educational ideal has been to offer equal opportunity for
education to all citizens.
- Now: Yet the education that each student receives is by no means equal.

43
 + The fact that public schools receive the bulk of their funds from local property taxes
→ creates inequalities.(phần lớn nguồn tiền của họ từ thuế bất động sản địa phương
tạo ra sự bất bình đẳng)
- The democratic ideal of providing equal education for all citizens had been hard
to satisfy.
- To eliminate inequalities, the federal (liên bang) government has increased its share of
school financing and now contributes between 10 and 15 percent.

5. President John’s great society

- Lyndon B. Johnson proposed new programs for a “Great Society” of greater equality
and less poverty
+ His new program provide remedial schooling for children from poor families:
● Economic Opportunity Act: provides money for adult literacy programs and pre-
school education for poor children
● Higher Education Act: offers government scholarships to needy college students

6. Desegregation (sự xoá bỏ nạn phân biệt chủng tộc trong nhà trường)
- The discrimination against blacks which prohibited black children from attending
white schools was finally declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1954
landmark case, Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka.
- Another measure introduced to speed up to integration was the compulsory “bussing”
of black children to schools in white areas and white children to schools in black
neighborhoods.
- In some cities, compulsory bussing has worked. Yet in many areas, people reacted
strongly against it.
- When bussing was first introduced as a way to achieve integrated schools, whites
began sending their children to private schools or moved to the suburbs.
- Although progress has been slow, integration has succeeded in narrowing the
education gap between blacks and whites.

7. Protecting the handicapped (Chương trình giúp người khuyết tật)

- In 1971, federal courts ruled that public schools should take measures to
accommodate handicapped children.
- Need for quality education
+ schools have the obvious task of providing quality instruction.
+ The public’s concern for better schools and more learning is increasing as results of
standardized tests show a continual decline in student’ academic achievement.
→ nền giáo dục hoa kỳ nhấn vào practical ability, các lớp critical thinking skill, các kỹ năng
→ hoa kỳ bị đánh giá chất lượng giáo dục ko cao (do rộng và nhiều dân nhập cư) >< Anh là
high quality academic education

8. A nation at risk
- 1983:

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 + 13% trên toàn Mỹ - 17 tuổi mù chữ chức năng, 40% 17 tuổi trong nhóm người thiểu
số (13 percent of all seventeen-year-olds in the United States are functionally
illiterate; among minority teenagers, the figure may be as high as 40 percent)
- The commission’s recommendations for improving student achievement, widely
supported by the public, include the following points:
+ stronger academic curricula, with a back-to-basics emphasis on reading, writing,
math, and science;
+ stricter standards for students, including a heavier homework load and higher
grading standards;
+ higher salaries to attract and keep talented, well-qualified teachers.
- The challenger for American education today is to improve the quality of learning
without sacrificing these gains.
-
Reading 2: The Education System
1. The Establishment Of Public Schools (Trường Công) In America: De Tocqueville’s
Observations
- Educational institutions in the United States reflect the nation’s basic values,
especially the ideal of equality of opportunity:
+ making schools open to all classes of Americans
+ financing the schools with tax money collected from all citizens
- Americans established their basic system of public schools in 1825.
- American public education has strong practical content that included the teaching of
vocational skills and the duties of citizenship.

2. The Educational Ladder

- Americans view their public school system as an educational ladder, rising from
elementary schools to high school and finally college undergraduate and graduate
programs.
- Most children start school at the age given, by attending kindergarten, or even at age 3
or 4 by attending preschool program
- There are:
● 6 years of elementary school
● usually 2 years of middle school (or junior high school)
● 4 years of high school
- Not all school systems have kindergarten, but all do have 12 years of elementary,
middle school, and senior high school.
- After high school, the majority of students go on to college.
- American public schools are free and open to all at the elementary and secondary
level (high school), but public universities charge tuition and have competitive
entrance requirements.
- The education ladder concept is an almost perfect reflection of American idea of
individual success based on equality of opportunity and on “working your way to
the top.”

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- There is one system that is open to all. → The abilities of the individuals, rather
than their social class background, are expected to determine how high each
person will go.
- Unlike private religious schools (trường tư về tôn giáo → is similar to public
school → equality), elitist private schools (trường chuyên ưu tú hơn →
expensive, better education → inequality)do conflict with the American ideal of
equality of opportunity:
- Because of the way that schools are funded, the quality of education that American
students receive in public schools varies.
+ More than 90% of the money for schools comes from local level (cities and counties),
primarily from property taxes.
+ School districts that have middle class or wealthy families have more tax money to
spend on education
● Học phí Hoa Kỳ ngày càng tăng, do vậy có 1 tầng lớp sinh viên phải gặp nhiều
khó khăn là sinh viên ở middle class family (gia đình trung lưu). Sinh viên
trong những gia đình này gặp nhiều bất lợi nhất vì (The middle-class family
suffers the most from the rising tuition costs)
❖ Học phí quá cao → ko trả được
❖ Thu nhập gia đình quá cao → ko thể apply các khoản viện trợ của
trường

3. Attending An American University

- All university students must pay tuition expenses in the United States.
- The expenses of buying books and living away from home make it increasingly
difficult for many students to attend even the less expensive public universities.
- A number of students who can not afford to go away to college attend community
college programs for 2 years in their hometowns.
- Despite its costs, the percentage of American seeking a college education continues to
grow.
- Hỏi 2 yếu tố dẫn đến bất bình đẳng trong nền giáo dục hoa kỳ
+ trường tư ưu tú
+ chi phí giáo dục lấy từ thuế đất (land tax)

4. The Money Value Of Education (Giá Trị Tiền Tệ Của Giáo Dục)
- The belief is widespread in the United States that the more schooling people have,
the more money they will earn when they leave school.
- The belief is strongest regarding the desirability of an undergraduate university
degree, or a professional degree such as medicine or law, following the
undergraduate degree.
- The money value of graduate degrees in “non-professional” fields such as art,
history, or philosophy is not as great.

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- Increasingly the advent of new technologies has meant that more and more education
is required to do the work.
- Many of the new jobs in the United States (low-paying jobs in the service sector of
the economy, such as fast-food restaurants, small stores, and hotels) require a college
education, even a graduate degree.

5. Educating The Individual

- in Britain: learning for its own sake (học vì việc học)
- American schools tend to put more emphasis on developing critical thinking skills
(kĩ năng tư duy phản biện) than they do on acquiring quantities of facts.
- American students are encouraged to express their own opinions in class and think for
themselves, a reflection of the American values of individual freedom and self-
reliance.
- The goal of the American education system is to teach children how to learn and to
help them reach their maximum potential. → How to survive in practical
- The development of social and interpersonal skills may be considered as important as
the development of intellectual skills.
- the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test)
- Some Americans consider athletic (frequently called “competitive sport”) the most
important of all extracurricular activities (hoạt động ngoại khóa).
→ teach students the “winning spirit”
- Student government is another extracurricular activity designed to develop
competitive, political, and social skills in students.
→ variety of extracurricular activities aimed at helping the student to become
more successful in later life

6. Racial Equality And Education (Bình Đẳng Chủng Tộc Và Giáo Dục)
- busing program
- affirmative acion (chính sách năng đỡ da màu): 1 sinh viên ng da trắng bị từ chối ở 1
- trường y vì trường này dành 1 số suất cho ng da màu
- After the Civil War in the 1860s:
● Black people in the southern states were prohibited by law from attending
schools with whites.
● Blacks had separate schools, that were inferior to the white schools by almost
any measure.
- 1896:
● the Supreme Court of the US stated that racial segregation in public schools
and other public facilities in the southern states did not violate the
Constitution.
● The Supreme Court invented ‘the separate but equal doctrine’ to justify
racial segregation in public schools and other public facilities in the southern
states.

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- Justice John Marshall Harlan believed that the decision violated the nation’s
highest law and its basic values. → “Our Constitution is color-blind”
- 1954:
● laws that forced black students to go to racially segregated schools violates the
US Constitution because such schools could never be equal.
● “to separate black school children from others solely because of their race
generates a feeling of inferiority that may affect their hearts and minds in a
way unlikely ever to be undone.”
- The most controversial method used to deal with unequal neighborhood schools
was the busing of school children from their home neighborhoods to schools in
more distant neighborhoods → to achieve a greater mixture of black-white
children in all schools.
- Three out of five American schools are still 90 percent white.
- Các học sinh da đen được hưởng các quyền lợi ở trường hơn vì để bù đắp cho sự phân
biệt đối xử với họ trong quá khứ, nhưng những thiên vị đó bị 1 số học sinh da trắng
phản đối. Điển hình như vụ kiện của Allen Bakke năm 1978, who was denied
admission to the medical school at the University of California at Davis, California.

7. The Increasing Responsibilities Of Public Schools (Trách nhiệm ngày càng tăng
của các trường công)
- Americans place the weight of many of their ideals, hopes, and problems on the
nation’s public school system.
- Public schools are often expected to solve student problems that result from the
weakening of family ties:
● Minority enrolments levels range from 70% to 96% in the nation’s 15 largest school
systems
● One of four children live below the poverty level as childhood poverty has reached
its highest level since the 1960s.
● 15% are physically or mentally handicapped.
● 14% are children of teenage mothers.
● 14% are children of unmarried parents.
● 10% have poorly educated, sometimes illiterate, parents.
● Between one-quarter and one-third have no one at home after school.
● 40% will live in broken homes (parents divorced) by the time they are 19 years old.
● 25% or more will not finish school.
- The education of new immigrant children provides the public school system with
some of its greatest challenges.
- At a time when enormous new burdens are being placed on public schools, the nation
finds itself faced with new limits on its material abundance.
→ These limits have steadily reduced the amount of money available to public
schools as they try to deal with their rapidly growing problems.

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 8. The Standards Movement (Phong trào chuẩn mực)
- American students do not perform as well in math, science, and other subjects as
students from many other developed countries.
- Most major educational associations, such as national associations of teachers or
science, or math, or language arts are also evaluating the current curricula and criteria
for certification and developing new standards.
- To ensure that standards are met, many states now require students to pass a series of
examinations in such subjects as reading, writing, mathematics, and civics before they
can graduate from high school.

9. Multicultural Education (Giáo dục đa văn hóa)

- During the 1990s, schools began to examine seriously their curricula and to try to
incorporate more varied cultural information and perspectives into education
- Many schools have adopted history or social studies textbooks that include more
information about African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and other minorities
- American literature texts that include poetry and fiction written by Americans of all
ethnic backgrounds.
- Not all Americans support multicultural education → fragmentation of American
society → some fear that it will be difficult for the country to remain “American”.
→ bilingual education (giáo dục song ngữ)
- Support: Giúp đỡ cho những người thiểu số giữ được bản sắc của họ
- Against: 1 số người phản đối thì nói rằng giáo dục đa văn hoá làm chậm đi quá trình
phát triển toàn xã hội hoa kỳ, XH đa số dùng tiếng Anh
→ Đa phần chấp nhận giáo dục đa văn hoá

CHAPTER 6: HOLIDAYS IN THE USA

Reading 1: Introductions
- Holidays ở Hoa Kỳ (giống như ở Anh), bắt nguồn từ “holy day"
- Hầu hết lễ hội ở Hoa Kỳ ko có tính tôn giáo, mà có tính chất tưởng niệm, tưởng nhớ
về cả nguồn gốc và bản chất (most American holidays are not religious, but
commemorative in nature and origin)
- In the United States, the word “holiday” = “celebration!”
- 10 federal (legal/national or public) holidays: (officially update: 12)
+ New Year’s Day (January 1)
+ Martin Luther King Day (traditional – January 15; official – third Monday in
January)
+ Presidents’ Day (traditional – February 12 & February 22; official – third
Monday in February)
+ Memorial Day (traditional – May 30; official – last Monday in May)
+ Independence Day (July 4)
+ Labor Day (first Monday in September)

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 + Columbus Day (traditional – October 12; official – second Monday in
October)
+ Veterans’ Day (traditional – November 11; official – second Monday in
November)
+ Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
+ Christmas Day (December 25)
- Các ngày lễ Hoa Kỳ thường được tổ chức vào thứ 2, trừ 4 ngày lễ sau ko nhất thiết rơi
vào thứ 2 bao gồm
+ thanksgiving day
+ new year
+ independence
+ christmas
+ Hỏi official day, ko hỏi traditional day
- Minor holiday: ngày lễ nhỏ tổ chức bởi 1 nhóm người nhỏ nào đó

Reading 2: Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb 12)

- Trước năm 1971, người dân thường tổ chức ngày sinh cho 2 vị tổng thống
- Người thứ 1: George Washington (tổng thống đầu tiên của Hoa Kỳ, sinh ngày
22/2)
- Abraham Lincoln (sinh ngày 12/2)
- Từ năm 1971, tổng thống Richard Nixon gộp 2 ngày sinh nhật của 2 vị tổng thống
này lại, tuyên bố ngày thứ 2 thứ 3 của tháng 2 (the third Monday of February) sẽ
là Presidents Day (ngày tưởng nhớ tất cả các vị tổng thống của Hoa Kỳ)
- Abraham Lincoln là tổng thống được người dân Mỹ nhớ đến nhiều nhất với tình yêu
sâu đậm nhất (with deepest affection)
- Ko hỏi về tuổi thơ với cống hiến

Reading 3: Independence day (Jul 4)

- Context: American colonies being taxed => dispute occurred => The Boston Tea
Party 1773
● King George is unhappy
● British soldiers fired into a crowd at the Boston harbour
=> The event that set stone for the start of the Revolution

- Virginia was the pioneer to vote to set up a committee

- First Continental Congress (1774): 12 out of 13 colonies met up
- George Washington led the Continental Army
- 2/7/1776: Second Continental Congress
● presented and debated a second draft
● John Hanock signed it
=> The action considered treasonous against the Crown

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- 4/7/1776: The final adoption of the Declaration of Independence (đây là ngày
quốc khánh vì US chọn ra bản nháp cuối cùng) → 1941 công nhận 4/7 là ngày lễ
liên bang (Independence’ Day)

- 8/7/1776: First public reading (till next month) → đọc suốt 1 tháng
+ The Declaration is read from the east balcony of the state house in
Boston, Massachusetts (bản tuyên ngôn độc lập được đọc từ ban công phía
đông của State House ở Boston, Massachusetts)
- The war dragged on until 1783 → năm giành độc lập

- Celebration activities
● Picnic day with food
● Afternoon activities: music, baseball, three-legged race, pie/watermelon eating contest
● People dress up like the original Founding Fathers marching in parades
● At dusk, family and friends gather to watch firework

- Iconic symbol
● Libery Bell: rang on 8/7/1776 to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence
● Yankee Doodle (song): made to make fun of American colonist, but colonist adopted
it as a rallying anthem
● American, the beautiful (song):

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