On the afternoon of July 4, the Ministry of Education and Training informed that the Departments of Education and Training are implementing the exam marking work to ensure quality, on schedule, and in compliance with the answers announced by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Regarding the controversy over the English answer key, the Ministry of Education and Training stated: "The Ministry is considering the technical aspects of the answer key, especially the English subject, to ensure full and legitimate rights for all candidates. If there is a plan to adjust, the Exam Steering Committee will soon make an announcement in the coming days."

This information was given by the Ministry of Education and Training in the context that after announcing the official answers for 24 English exam codes for the 2023 high school graduation exam (July 3), many teachers continued to argue and disagree about the above answers.

In question 31, code 401 of the 2023 high school graduation exam in English requires candidates to find the word that needs to be corrected in the sentence: "Their pioneering (A) research showed that the learning motivation of the two groups of learners was quite distinctive (B) from each other, and the comparative (C) group whose learning motivation was stronger performed better than the control (D) group".

The official answer of the Ministry of Education and Training is B. However, teachers believe that both B and C are correct in this sentence. Because the word "distinctive from" (B) does not have a meaning in the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries. The dictionary explains that "distinctive" is characteristic, typical, often combined with nouns and does not go with "from". The correct usage is "distinct from".

If you choose answer C from "comparative group" it will also be accepted because this word uses the wrong term, more suitable should be "comparison group".

Teachers said that the Ministry of Education and Training should consider both correct answers, because this question accounts for 0.2 points, although small, it will affect the university admission opportunities of many students.

Previously, the teacher had argued about question 18 of test code 401 with the requirement to fill in the blank: The journalist is talking about having a new______ published in the local newspaper next week.

The four suggested answers are: A. editor; B. documentary; C. cartoon; D. article. The teacher said that candidates choosing C or D are both correct.

Article (answer D) is suitable for the subject "journalist". However, answer C - cartoon (cartoon/comic/comic) can also be suitable for "published in the local newspaper". This is one of many items that often appear in foreign newspapers. Therefore, the answer "cartoon" sounds awkward but is not wrong in terms of both content and grammar.

The answer of the Ministry of Education and Training for this question is D. The Ministry of Education and Training explains that "cartoon" means a film that is made by photographing a series of drawings - Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. With this meaning, "cartoon" does not fit the context of "newspaper". Therefore, of the four options, D is the correct answer.

Ha Cuong