SPEAKING TEST

Topic: CULTURE

Group 7:
Nguyn Th Ngc Huyn - 1301015191
V Bnh L - 1301025040
S Khnh Huy - 1301017078
Mai Loan -

I.

FACTS:

1. The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held between the Friday afternoon (51 days
before Easter) and Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day
period before Easter.
2. Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge
proportions. Except for industrial production, retail establishments such as malls, and
carnival-related businesses, the country stops completely for almost a week and festivities are
intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities. Rio de Janeiro's carnival alone drew 4.9
million people in 2011, with 400,000 being foreigners
3. Originated in Bahia, but developed in Rio de Janeiro between the end of the 19th century
and the first years of the 20th century, the samba is still one of the most popular styles of
Brazil.
4. The traditional dress known as hanbok (known as joseonot) has been worn since ancient
times. The hanbok consists of a shirt (jeogori) and a skirt (chima).
5. Japan gave 3,000 sakura( a kind of cherry blossom) as a gift to the United States in 1912 to
celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship.
6. JAPANESE CULTURE - Over 220 pages of Japanese culture including traditional
Japanese culture like Geisha, Samurai, Japanese tea ceremony, Japanese gardens, kimonos
and Japanese Language.
7. The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from
13 to 15 April. The traditional water pouring is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad
away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs when celebrated in the traditional manner
8. Buffalo fighting is the traditional festival in many places and it is considered the fun
amusement but a ritual. But only in Do Son Hai Phong, buffalo fighting has become a
traditional ceremony.
9. Lunar New Year Festival often falls between late January and early February; it is among
the most important holidays in Vietnam. Officially, the festival includes the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
day in Lunar Calendar; however, Vietnamese people often spend about nearly a month to
celebrate this special event.
10. Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a
sacred river. It is considered to be the largest peaceful gathering in the world where around
100 million people were expected to visit during the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in
Allahabad.
11. Many couples in Japan celebrate Christmas like Valentine's Day. It is definitely more of a
"lovers" holiday in Japan.

12. Most toilets in Japan have a built-in bidet system for spraying your backside. These are
known as washlets and are now the norm in homes and nicer restrooms. However, in some
train stations and other public restrooms you may still find the traditional Japanese "floor
toilet".
13. When you use the restroom in someone's home in Japan you may need to put on
designated bathroom slippers so as not to contaminate the rest of the home.
14. In Japan non-smoking areas are difficult to find in restaurants, including family
restaurants. Many of Japan's politicians have interest in the tobacco industry and antismoking laws are almost non-existent. If you are planning a trip to Japan you may want to
think twice if you are sensitive to tobacco smoke.
15. Many companies hire people to hand out small packages of tissues which include a small
advertisement flyer. Some non-Japanese are surprised when they are handed a free package
of tissues.
16. There are more than 17,000 music performances a year across London's 300+ venues
including The O2 arena - the world's most popular music venue for the last five years
running.

II.
N
o
1

World/
Phras
e
counte
rcultur
e

CULTURE VOCABULARY:
Pronunciati
on

Meaning in E

Meaning in V

Example

/
A way of life and set
kantklt( of attitudes opposed
r)/
to or at variance with
the prevailing social
norm:
/anr
The study of
pldi /
humankind,

Phn vn ha

It should appeal to
readers interested in
social issues,
psychology and the
counterculture.
While she majored in
dance in college, she
also studied French,
anthropology, and
biology.
he gives a vivid
description of his
childhood in his
autobiography
Over the decades,
many artists and
cartoonists have
created wicked
caricatures of the
smug and powerful.

Anthro
pology

Autobi
ograp
hy

/tb
rfi /

An account of a
persons life written
by that person

s vit t
truyn
t truyn

caricat
ure

/karktj

A picture, description,
or imitation of a
person in which
certain striking
characteristics are
exaggerated in order
to create a comic or
grotesque effect:
A minor wrongdoing:

Tranh bim
ha

php l) ti
nh; khinh ti
hnh kim
xu, cch c
x xu

the player can expect

a suspension for his
latest misdemeanour

thuc) phong
cch ring; do
phong cch
ring (ca mt
tc gi)
lm tiu khin,
lm khuy i,
lm cho qua i
(thi gian, mt
cuc hnh
trnh...)

she emerged as one

of the great,
idiosyncratic talents
of the nineties

/karkt/

misde
meano
ur

/msdmin/

Idiosy
ncratic

/,d()s
kratk/

Relating to
idiosyncrasy; peculiar
or individual:

beguil
e

/bl /

Charm or enchant
(someone), often in a
deceptive way:
Trick (someone) into
doing something:

Nhn loi hc

he beguiled the
voters with his good
looks

beguil /bl /
e
someo
ne into
somet
hing
Presag /prsd/
e

Be a sign or warning
of (an imminent
event, typically an
unwelcome one):
The character or
quality of a musical
sound or voice as
distinct from its pitch
and intensity:
a genre of music
performed by one or
more singers, with or
without instrumental
accompaniment
A player in a musical
band, especially a
military or brass one.

im; linh
cm, linh tnh,
s cm thy
trc
m sc

the heavy clouds

above the moorland
presaged snow

Thanh nhc

This singer has a

great vocal music

Nhc cng

/sm()lkst/ A simultaneous
transmission of the
same programme on
radio and television,
or on two or more
channels:
Shuffle /f()l
Walk by dragging
(Shuffl
ones feet along or
e
/
without lifting them
dance
fully from the ground:
)
shuffle /f()l
To die
off this
mortal /
coil
cellulo /sljld/
A transparent
id film
flammable plastic

chng trnh
ng thi
truyn i qua
i pht thanh
v i truyn
hnh
S i l chn,
s l bc,

As with many other

career fields, the
bandsmen pull
double-duty with
musical and support
responsibilities.
a Radio1/BBC2
simulcast

10

Timbre /tamb/

11

vocal
music

12

Bands
man

13

simulc
ast

14

15

16

nh la, la
di
to charm someone into doin La ai lm iu You can't beguile me
g
into stealing for you!
g
something
I beguiled Tom into
driving me to the
airport.

/'voukl/

/bandsman/

Qua i

Phim nha

voice high in pitch

but rich in timbre

Shuffle dance is very

popular in the 1990s

Cousin Fred shuffled

off this mortal coil
after suffering a
heart attack.
The boots have been
immortalised on

made in sheets from

camphor and
nitrocellulose,
formerly used for
cinematographic film.
A small platform on
which a person may
stand to be seen by
an audience, as when
making a speech or
conducting an
orchestra:
A person who directs
the performance of an
orchestra or choir:

17

Podiu
m

/pdm/

18

condu
ctor

/kndkt/

19

Baton

/bat()n/

22

jukebo
x

/dukbks/

A machine that
automatically plays a
selected musical
recording when a coin
is inserted.

23

barten
der

/btnd/

A person serving
drinks at a bar.

24

Arena

/rin/

A level area
surrounded by

20

21

A short stick or
something resembling
one, in particular:
Synthe /snsz/
An electronic musical
sizer
instrument, typically
/
operated by a
keyboard, producing a
wide variety of sounds
by generating and
combining signals of
different frequencies.
turnta /tnteb()l / A circular revolving
ble
plate supporting a
record as it is played

celluloid in her latest

film, Strictly Sinatra,
directed by Peter
Capaldi.
bc i vng

Nhc trng

he was at the podium

facing an expectant
conference crowd

he was appointed
principal conductor of
the Berlin Symphony
Orchestra
Gy ch huy
A thin stick used by a
conductor to direct
an orchestra or choir.
nhc c in
The instruments and
t to ra nhiu sounds may have
m thanh khc changed but it still
nhau
sounds like a
hardcore band this
time playing about
with synthesisers
instead of guitars.
My quay a
Other crews will bring
ht
their sound systems turntables,
microphones and
speakers and voices.
my chi nhc, Someone throws a
pht nhc
few coins into the
khi bn b
jukebox and we are
ng xu vo
bombarded by Pink's

Lets get the party

started
ngi phc v
The bartenders make
quy ru
good drinks and they
always have quality
music and good
sound.
u trng
Whole towns could be
surrounded, or a

25

The
Renais
sance

/rnes()ns,
-s/

26

culinar
y
cultur
e

/kln()ri/

27

Blockb
uster

/blkbst/

seating, in which
sports,
entertainments, and
other public events
are held.
The revival of
European art and
literature under the
influence of classical
models in the 14th16th centuries.
Of or for cooking

A thing of great power

or size, in particular a
film, book, or other
product that is a great
commercial success

mile-wide dragnet
thrown over an area
which contained
sporting arenas.
Thi k phc
hng

The culture and style

of art and
architecture
developed during the
Renaissance.

Vn ha m
thc

A tour of the college

takes about an hour
and is well worth the
diversion from the
culinary and
shopping delights.
It's really easy to
write a mainstream
pop song, a
bestselling novel, a
blockbuster film

Phim n khch