English test '15 minutes to finish' but which idiom makes candidates 'turn off'?

A student received a "bonus" from their parents immediately after completing the 2024 high school graduation exam in English.

Candidates say the exam was "easier than the semester exam".

This afternoon, June 28th, candidates completed the 2024 high school graduation exam in foreign languages, which was also the final exam session. At the exam center at Doan Thi Diem Secondary School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Hoang Gia Viet Hung, a student from Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, commented: "This exam was even easier than the semester exam at school. I finished in 15 minutes, and only used the remaining time to review my answers."

Similarly, Ho Ngoc Nhu Y, a student at the same school, said, "The exam was quite good, even easier than the semester exam. It only took 30 minutes to finish both the questions and check my answers." "In the exam, I found a rather interesting idiom related to violets. I'm not sure if my chosen answer is correct," Y said.

Bui Quoc Viet, a student from Marie Curie High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), shared the same opinion: "Among the idioms, only the question related to violets was difficult and left me completely stumped. I kept choosing and choosing, and finally just guessed. I only had 15 minutes, aiming for a score of 9.5 or higher," said the male student taking the B00 exam for admission to Hanoi Medical University.

Specifically, the 2024 high school graduation exam in English included the question: "The young star loves appearing on television and is no ___ violet when it comes to expressing her views." The given answer choices were blooming, drying, rotting, and shrinking. Combining these with the word "violet" would create a meaningful idiom.

Candidates discuss the 2024 high school graduation exam in English with each other.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Pham Ngoc Hoa, a student from Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, said that besides the idiom about violets, she also had difficulty with the phrase "makes no bone about". "I thought about these sentences until the end of the exam and still wasn't sure if they were correct, so I just chose randomly. I've never encountered these idioms in any English practice questions or materials, so this might be a question designed to differentiate students," Hoa shared.

The female student added that she found the grammar section "quite easy." For confident candidates with a good foundation, it's not difficult to get at least 8 points even if they only solve the problems in 15-30 minutes. "I already scored 6.5 on the IELTS, but I still tried to take the English exam instead of opting for the exemption to increase my chances of being admitted to the journalism major at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City. Besides, I also took the aptitude test, but the results won't be available until July," Hoa said.

What is the correct answer?

According to Do Nguyen Dang Khoa, a graduate in English language teaching from the University of Warwick (UK) and a Hornby Scholar 2021, the correct answer would be "shrinking violet," an idiom used to describe shy people. We can visualize this meaning through the image of a small violet hidden beneath larger trees.

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Therefore, the correct answer would be: "The young star loves appearing on television and is no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing her views" (roughly translated: The young star enjoys appearing on television and is not shy about expressing her views).

"Some sources suggest that the idiom originated in England, and the type of violet mentioned in the idiom is Viola odorata (English violet). According to the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), the idiom 'shrinking violet' is often used in the context of newspapers and magazines," Khoa informed.

The tiny Viola odorata is mentioned in the idiom "shrinking violet".

Meanwhile, "make no bones about something" means to speak frankly, without hesitation or doubt. This phrase is often used when a speaker wants to emphasize that they want to express a particular point of view directly and honestly.

"According to some sources, this phrase originated in the 1400s. The reason this interesting idiom mentions 'bones,' according to some sources, is perhaps to refer to a boneless beef stew that can be eaten immediately without hesitation. According to COCA, this idiom also frequently appears in newspapers, and we can also see it appearing often in spoken language," Master Khoa shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-thi-tieng-anh-15-phut-la-xong-nhung-thanh-ngu-nao-khien-thi-sinh-tat-nguon-185240628180427239.htm