Name : Vương Thị Hường

ID : 18071119

Portfolio of English for Academic Purpose 2

Assignment 1 :
Write a report to your class teacher describing the TV viewing habit among
your classmates.

1. How do you spend your time with TV ?

2. How do you spend your time watching TV compared to before?
3. What means do you watch TV?
4. Which TV programs do you usually watch ?
5. Which TV program do you like to watch the most?

Assignment 2 :
Questionnaire about classmates watching TV habits
1. Are you in the habit of watching TV?
● Yes
● No
2. How often do you watch TV?
● Everyday
● One a week
● 2-3 times a week
● A couple times a month
● Never
● Other: …….
3. How many hours do you spend watching TV per week?
● 0 hour
● 1-2 hours
● 2-4 hours
● More than 4 hours
 ● Other
4. What purpose do you watch TV for? (can choose more than one
answer)
● Entertainment
● For work
● For study
● Other: ……..
5. What genre of programs do you like to watch? (can choose more than
one answer)
● Game show
● Variety show
● Chat show
● Reality TV
● Film
● Sport
● Other:......

6. Which TV channel do you usually watch? (can choose more than one
answer)
● BBC
● Sport channel
● VTV
● HTV7
● No chanel
● Other:....
7. Can you suggest some ways to make watching TV more enjoyable?
…………..

Assignment 3:

Mixed marriage is no stranger to today's global world. Marriage always has

both positive and negative sides, and for couples who are married from different
cultures, the duality is extremely clear.
From my point of view, mixed marriage has positive aspects, such as: learning
more about new languages and cultures; besides, each country has its own
customs and festivals, which will bring family members together, bringing
happy holidays and stronger family bonds. Moreover, children born into
multicultural families also benefit greatly. According to Masalamommas
(2016), stated that "Mixed children look universal and can easily adapt to any
culture", so they will also easily integrate with other cultures and they are very
much like a global citizen.

Reference :
Masalamommas (2016). 9 Benefits of Being in an Intercultural Marriage,
available at: <https://masalamommas.com/2016/02/17/9-benefits-intercultural-
marriage/> (accessed 17 February, 2016)

Assignment 4:
Unit 6 (practise 3 +4 )

Practise 3 :

1. Frequently eating food with high sodium content can cause high blood
pressure and increase stomach cancer risk.

2. Running a red light can lead to a traffic violation.

3. Regular exercise produces endorphins - chemicals in the brain that act

as natural painkillers.

4. Air pollution is a leading cause of lung cancer.

5. Because she eats a lot of high-end food, she is expected to be named

Gourmet of the Year.

6. Her mother refuses to intervene so that she can deal with what she has
caused herself.

7. If you don’t quit threatening her, you are likely to end up in a lawsuit.
 8. She decided to stay in college when she learned that she was offered as
a lecturer in the school.

9. More funding for preschool education is needed in order to build

knowledge for children early.

10. The last major flood has resulted in increased numbers of homeless
people in our major cities.

Practise 4 : For each of the sentences below, explain how the effect might not
be a result of the cause given.

1. Attendance at baseball games declined because the team raised prices.

Explanation: It is possible that the team's price increase leads to
fewer people coming to the match. However, there may be other reasons:
the quality of the stadium has deteriorated, or they go to see other
matches,or due to the influence of the Covid-19 epidemic, and so on.

2. Test scores improved because the school instituted a dress code.

Explanation: The improvement of test scores is not entirely due to
the school's set of dress codes, but there are many other reasons: the
school's scholarship policy to encourage learning for good students,
changes in the teaching system, or the lack of strictness in the
examination, and so on.

3. Because of the Internet, Americans are reading fewer books than they
did twenty years ago.
Explanation: The Internet also largely affects reading, but the
decrease in reading also has other reasons: focusing on work, too busy, so
they do not have an excess of free time, there are many things out there
that are more fascinating than reading books, and so on.

Assignment 5:
Unit 7 ( practise 1+2+3+4)
Practise 1 : Read the following text and the summaries (a)–(c). Rate
them 1 (best) –3.

1. (2) Fruit crops have usually been picked by hand, as it is difficult to

mechanize the process. But in rich countries it has become hard to find
affordable pickers at the right time so fruit is often wasted. Therefore,
intelligent machines have been developed that can overcome the
technical problems involved, and also provide the farmer with useful
data about the plants.
2. (1) Developing machines that can pick fruit such as tomatoes or apples
is a challenging task, due to the complexity of locating ripe fruit in an
unpredictable outdoor environment, where difficult conditions can be
produced by wind or water. But recent developments in computing
ability mean that growers can now automate this process, which
should save them money and increase their profits.
3. (3) Strawberries and grapes are the kind of crops that have always
been hand-picked. But many farmers, for example in California, now
find it increasingly difficult to attract enough pickers when the fruit is
ripe. However, computing advances have produced a solution to this
problem, which will save farmers from worrying about the pickers,
and also collect vital data.

Practise 2 :
Complete the notes of the key points below.
a. Falling levels of fertility have generally been found when countries
got richer.
b. In some, number of children born fell below the replacement rate.
c. Two results: smaller populations and a larger number of older people
needing support.
d. Recent research claims that the issues may be changing.
e. Comparison of HDI (human development index: life expectancy,
average income and education level)) which found that in most highly
rated (+0.9) countries, the fertility rate has started to increase.

Join the notes together and expand them to make the final summary.
Check that the meaning is clear, and no important points have been left
out. Find a suitable title.
Falling levels of fertility have generally been found when countries got
richer. In some, the number of children born fell below replacement rate,
leading to 2 results: smaller populations and larger numbers of older
people needing support. Recent research claims that the issues may be
changing. Comparison of HDI (human development index: life
expectancy, average income and education level) which found that in
most highly rated (+0.9) countries, the fertility rate has started to
increase.
- Suitable title: The link between fertility and economic
development

This summary is about 35 percent of the original length, but it could be

summarized further. Summarize the summary in no more than 20 words.

When countries get richer, the number of children born decreases,

leading to population issues but the issues may be changing.

Practise 3 :
1. A
2. B
3. D
4. C

5, Write a summary of the story.

O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” tells the story of a couple's noble act
of giving love, they give up their precious possessions for the one they
love. Before Christmas, the wife named Della was sad because the small
amount of money could not buy a special gift for her husband - Jim. Then
she decided to cut her long, soft hair and sell it to get money to buy a gold
watch chain for Jim. On that Christmas night, both Della and Jim were
surprised and happy by the gift they gave each other. Della gave Jim a
watch strap that she had to sell her favorite long hair, and because of
Della, Jim sold his favorite watch to buy combs she once admired.
 Practise 4:
6. B
7. D
8. A

9. Write a summary of the whole article. Try to summarize in just two or

three sentences.

In “Water, Water, Everywhere!”, the author raises the question of

whether flooding is good news or not. The author supports this
view by pointing out the good side of flooding on the Nile in
Egypt. In addition, the author also points out the negative side of
flooding in that same river in Ethiopia.

Assignment 6 : Critical Response Essay

Rescue Me: The Moral and Ethical Problems of

Creating Savior Siblings
Jennifer Lahl
LifeNews.com
August 8, 2008

Creating savior siblings has been a burning topic in society. In the

article entitled “Rescue Me: The Moral and Ethical Problems of
Creating Savior Siblings”, (published in LifeNews.com on August 8,
2008), the author Jennifer Lahl - the founder and national director of
the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network – discusses ethical
issues when creating savior siblings. This essay is a response to Ms.
Jennifer's argument about these ethical issues which she considered as
serious in society.
 In her article, author Jennifer Lahl discusses the ethical issues of
creating savior siblings. The author addresses this problem by
presenting the situation in the best-selling novel: the tension in a
family and the conflict when the child knows his birth purpose.
Behind this situation is the real-life story of a child with anemia
"Diamond Blackfan (DBA)". The author raises a moral issue from the
fact that the girl's parents gave birth to another child to save her by
medical intervention but failed. Jennifer ended the article by
mentioning the program to build a National Cord Blood Stem Cell
Bank - an opportunity to help patients who really need it in the future.

The author of the article, Ms. Jennifer Lahl, is the founder and
national director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. In
addition, the article is published in LifeNews.com, an American-
independent pro-life news outlet with a team of experienced writers.
These two facts can make us feel more comfortable in receiving
information provided in the article.  

A number of facts and figures are presented in the article such as

3% of babies born in U.S., a large number of cord blood units for
transplant (150,000) … and the specific situation in a best-selling
novel by famous writer Jodi Picoult and behind it is a real-life story
given by the author in the article. This information may be the most
reliable evidence to support the author's argument about the ethical
issues of creating savior siblings. Her mention of a program to build a
National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank is illustrated by figures: only
about 3% of babies born in the U.S. have their cord blood banked and
the majority of this is banking is private. It is almost a solution to help
patients who really need it in the future and that won't affect ethical
issues. This is a good solution though I believe that it might be not
always feasible because the issue of stem cell laws in each country is
different and there are also many controversial issues related to this
law.

The language used in the article is formal. The author does not use
any specific jargon and technical terms which might hinder the
audience from understanding her points. Some conceptions being used
are fully explained and some examples are provided such as
 “Diamond Blackfan Anime”. Clear formal language and simple style
make the ideas in the article straightforward. All in all, the audience
may find it fascinating to read this.

In conclusion, Jennifer Lahl in her article highlights the ethical

issues when creating savior siblings. This article may attract a wide
audience as it discusses one of the burning issues in society – ethical
issues with the specific situation and real-life story. Her mention of
the possible solution to these issues, however, is still controversial.