10th Grade Admissions 2025: Candidates are excited about Literature

TP - This year's 10th grade entrance exam for Literature has changed compared to previous years. Candidates are both surprised and excited about the change in the exam format, not using textbook materials.

"Clean" textbook materials

Every entrance exam season, the Literature teachers as well as experts look forward to the exam questions for this subject, which are set by schools in the South or by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City. This year, the exam questions for the specialized and non-specialized Literature subjects of the Gifted High School, Ho Chi Minh City National University are no exception. For the non-specialized exam, the exam questions are divided into 2 parts: Reading comprehension and writing. For the reading comprehension part, the exam questions are about the story of the Nightingale by Danish writer Andersen. The main content of the story is about a king who loves the sound of birds singing and he has a nightingale that sings very well. One day, the king is given a mechanical bird, which when turned on the music box will make a sound as beautiful as a real nightingale. This makes him forget the bird that has been his companion for a long time and the bird flies back to the forest.

Students of the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University) study in the laboratory. Photo: Provided by the school

Some time later, the mechanical bird broke down and although it was repaired, its singing was no longer as good as before. When the king became seriously ill, the real nightingale returned and sang to revive the king. At this time, the king wanted to keep the real bird and smashed the mechanical bird to pieces. But the nightingale advised the king to let it go back to the forest...

In this part, candidates must answer a number of multiple choice questions and 2 essay questions requiring 5-7 lines. In which, candidates are asked the meaning of the nightingale's words when advising the king to let him go; present their thoughts on how to enjoy art in the era in which the writer is living. The social argument section gives 2 topics for candidates to choose from. Topic 1 states the fact that many people tend to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create new products. This raises the issue of violating ethics, copyright, and copying ideas. From there, the topic asks candidates' thoughts on the above issue. Topic 2 refers to the fairy tale in the reading comprehension section, asking candidates what they think about the king's actions, expressing their views on how people treat the objects and animals they own.

The Literature exam for 1 topic with 2 questions. The text given is an excerpt from the short story Smile printed in the collection The Cat with Pearl Eyes collected and compiled by Lai Nguyen An, Kim Dong Publishing House, 2024...

The data in the test is completely free of textbooks. Moreover, the test is full of life. Teachers' comments show that although the test is not tricky or challenging, it requires candidates to have real-life experiences when they themselves belong to the "joking generation", being judged and evaluated about their generation... or the topic of applying technology in real life.

Step by step innovation

The High School for Gifted Students in Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) has just organized the 10th grade entrance exam. Although this year's exam did not use textbook materials, it was somewhat heavy when the non-specialized exam discussed women in modern times from the poem Mother by poet Nguyen Binh and about choosing the ideal life of today's young generation in the specialized exam. The way the problem was posed was not wrong, but with the philosophy of life of 9th grade students, the topic given was somewhat too much. Certainly, among the candidates, there will be students who meet the requirements of the exam, but how much of it contains the content that students have experienced from reality, how much content is listening - watching and then rewriting is difficult to weigh and measure (when the form of expression is all shiny, sparkling words). In addition to not using textbook materials, the exam format of the High School for Gifted Students in Social Sciences and Humanities has not changed compared to 2024.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Thu, a Literature teacher in Nam Dinh, through the Literature exams recently organized by high schools for 10th grade admission, it can be seen that the locality/specialized high school has innovated according to the 2018 generaleducation program. With the specialized Literature exam of the Gifted High School, Ms. Thu assessed that there was high differentiation when the questions focused on understanding and applying at a high level. According to Ms. Thu, this is the first year of organizing entrance exams according to the 2018 general education program, not only students but also teachers are under pressure. "In reality, teachers have to run and line up, teach according to suggestions, "follow the wind" but there is no specific implementation direction," Ms. Thu said.

Ms. Phung Thi Thanh Lai, a teacher at the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University), shared that in order to do well in Literature topics similar to the entrance exam for the Gifted High School, candidates need to have thinking skills including language thinking, problem-solving thinking and reflective thinking. Good language thinking will help students read texts well in a limited time, with the order of skimming and reading in depth. At the same time, good language thinking also helps students write clearly and concisely, creating brightness and depth for the writing, increasing aesthetics and persuasiveness. Problem-solving thinking will guide candidates to avoid clichéd, rigid dogmatic thinking and writing, and to apply and practice their own experiences more flexibly. Reflective thinking is essential in the spirit of independent learning of learners. Writings with sharp and reasonable reflective thinking always create openness in the journey of reception and dialogue, attracting readers and graders.

According to the reporter, with the new exam format, some candidates expressed shock at the completely new materials outside of the textbooks. However, before entering the official exams, secondary schools and the Department of Education and Training all organized tests and surveys to familiarize students with the new exam.

Nghiem Hue

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-nam-2025-thi-sinh-hao-huc-voi-mon-ngu-van-post1746383.tpo