Reading comprehension questions need to be changed to pass the "probationary" stage.

Below is a reading comprehension test from the AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), one of the largest examination organisations in the UK, for students completing the General Certificate ofSecondary Education .

The students taking this test are 15-16 years old, close to 9th and 10th grade students in Vietnam.

Read the opening of a short story (“The Court and the Wedding Guest” by O. Henry).

One evening when Andy Donovan dined at the Second Avenue boardinghouse, Mrs. Scott introduced him to a new boarder, a young girl named Conway. Miss Conway was small and reserved. She wore a modest dark brown dress, and her attention seemed to be languidly fixed on her plate. She raised her eyes timidly and cast a sharp, judgmental glance at Donovan, murmured his name politely, and returned to her lamb. Donovan bowed with the grace and radiant smile that were rapidly bringing him social, business, and political advancement, and erased the image of the girl in the dark brown dress from his mind.

(Temporarily translated from the original: One evening when Andy Donovan went to dinner at his Second Avenue boarding-house, Mrs. Scott introduced him to a new boarder, a young lady, Miss Conway. Miss Conway was small and unobtrusive. She wore a plain, snuffy-brown dress, and bestowed her interest, which seemed languid, upon her plate. She lifted her diffident eyelids and shot one perspicuous, quietly glanced at Mr. Donovan, politely murmured his name, and returned to her mutton. Mr. Donovan bowed with the grace and beaming smile that were rapidly winning for him social, business and political advancement, and erased the snuffy-brown one from the tablets of his consideration.)

Answer the following questions:

1. What do you know about the setting of the story?

2. What was your first impression of Ms. Conway?

3. What is the effect of the phrase “cast a sharp, judgmental glance”?

4. What does the description of Andy Donovan's reaction tell us about him?

5. What do you think might happen next?

Answer (AI suggested):

1. Setting of the story : The story takes place in a boarding house on Second Avenue, one evening when people gather for dinner. This setting evokes a low-class environment where characters from different backgrounds meet.

2. First impressions of Miss Conway : Miss Conway is described as small, unremarkable, dressed simply in a dark brown dress, and appearing absent-minded and shy. She seems reserved, not wanting to attract attention, but her keen gaze suggests that she has keen observation and judgment.

3. Effect of the phrase “cast a sharp, judgmental glance” : This phrase suggests a quick, decisive, and purposeful action. It shows that Ms. Conway, despite her shy appearance, is capable of assessing others intelligently and sharply, highlighting the complexity of her character.

4. Description of Andy Donovan's reaction : Andy Donovan's reaction—a graceful bow, a bright smile, and a quick “clearing” of Miss Conway from his mind—reveals that he is confident, charismatic, and socially ambitious. He seems accustomed to impressing others and focuses on opportunities that will benefit his own advancement, rather than paying attention to unremarkable people like Miss Conway.

5. Predict what might happen next : Based on the opening, it is likely that the story will revolve around the relationship or interaction between Andy Donovan and Miss Conway. Miss Conway's sharp gaze suggests that she may not be as straightforward as she appears, and she may play an unexpected role in challenging or influencing Donovan's confidence and ambition. There may be an event or situation that changes the way Donovan views Miss Conway, leading to a turning point in the story.

What can be seen from this test?

First, the text is very brief (only 150 words), it does not need to be as long as many people imagine, but it must be a special passage with many details to exploit. The test taker does not need to know anything outside the text, but only needs to stick to the text, reading the text like an investigating detective.

Second, the questions are not too difficult, especially questions 1 and 2, but they all meet the requirements of assessing students' reading comprehension skills, with no trivial recognition questions.

Third, the content of this test is highly compatible with the 2018 General Education Program (GPEP) in Literature, quite close to the questions in the new textbooks of Vietnam.

In addition, the reading comprehension answers suggested by AI are also true to the nature of the Literature answer, not just a few short words: free verse, third person, comparative rhetorical devices.

Compared with the 2018 Vietnamese literature general education program, it can be seen that many requirements to be achieved in the program are related to the above reading comprehension questions, and our students are even familiar with them very early.

Specifically, in grade 2, students learn to recognize attitudes and feelings between characters expressed through actions and dialogue; in grade 3, they learn to recognize character characteristics expressed through appearance, gestures, actions, and dialogue; in grade 4, they learn to recognize time, place, and their effects in the story; in grade 5, they learn to find another ending for the story.

In grade 6, students can recognize and analyze character traits expressed through the character's appearance, gestures, actions, language, and thoughts. In grade 7, students can recognize character traits expressed through gestures, actions, and dialogue; through the thoughts of other characters in the story; and through the narrator's words.

In grade 11, students can recognize and analyze some elements of modern short stories such as: space, time, story, characters, narrator...

In the Literature textbook, the "Connecting knowledge with life" series, the "While reading" question system has a type of question that trains students in prediction skills that appears quite often in the lessons.

For example, in grade 7, the lesson “The Flock of Wagtails” has the question (prediction): Can the flock of young wagtails fly to shore?; in grade 8, the lesson “The Eyes of the Wolf” has the question (prediction): What will happen to Anh Vang when it wants to see humans up close?; in grade 9, the lesson “The Story of a Nam Xuong Girl” has the question (prediction): In your opinion, what will be the ending of the marriage between Truong Sinh and Vu Nuong?

If our students are trained in prediction skills like this, they will also be able to answer question 5, although it may not be as complete as the answer above.

In all three new Literature textbooks (Connecting knowledge with life, Creative horizons, Kite) and the workbooks compiled according to these textbooks, there is no shortage of questions that meet the requirements of assessing reading comprehension skills in such a way.

Thus, by studying according to the new curriculum and textbooks, Vietnamese students are well prepared to answer reading comprehension questions in the UK's test like the one above.

So why don't we design reading comprehension questions like this with appropriate levels of difficulty in periodic tests, 10th grade entrance exams, and high school graduation exams?

I hope that such reading comprehension questions will appear more often in regular and periodic assessments so that one day Vietnam's high school entrance exams and graduation exams can pass the "probationary" stage, opening a more open path for innovation.

(*) Title given by Dan Tri newspaper.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Manh Hung

(Chief Coordinator, 2018 General Education Program Development Board

Chief Editor of Vietnamese Language and Literature Textbook,

book series "Connecting knowledge with life")

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/can-thay-doi-cau-hoi-doc-hieu-de-de-ngu-van-vuot-qua-giai-doan-thu-viec-20250710202602528.htm