Destination - Problems and solutions

accident (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • The person responsible for this accident needs to compensate for all the damages and your friends’ injuries.

  • It is reported to have had a tragic accident at the intersection of two main roads, resulting in damaged goods, health and the vehicles.

• Meaning 2:

  • I didn’t mean to cheat on with your husband, Lila. It was all an accident.

  • I don’t know where this paper is supposed to be. I didn’t cheat; it’s all an accident. Can you trust me, Teacher?

1. [countable] an unpleasant event, especially in a vehicle, that happens unexpectedly and causes injury or damage

2. [countable, uncountable] sth that happens by chance and without an obvious cause - tình cờ

tai nạn

assume (v)

• It is widely assumed that Jamie will be staying abroad for good.

• On the spot, the teacher assumed that Lan had had stolen May’s money without asking anyone in the class or investigating anything.

to think or accept that something is true but without having proof of it - giả sử, cho rằng, giả định

cause (v)

• Because of the seller’s animosity towards the customers, it caused invariably serious disputes between them.

• The accident caused various injuries, disappointments and great damage to the people’s belongings.

to make sth happen, especially bad or unpleasant; to make sb do sth- gây ra

cause (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • What is the cause of your action?

  • May I ask you what the main cause of the couple’s breakup is, according to the passage?

• Meaning 2:

  • The food was excellent—I had no cause for complaint.

  • If your child is absent without good cause (= a good reason), you may receive a warning from the school board.

  • I don’t have any cause to not allow you and my daughter to have a date together.

1. [countable] ____ (of something) the person or thing that makes sth happen

2. [uncountable] a reason for having particular feelings or behaving particularly

nguyên do, lý do

claim (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • It is surely claimed that Nick will be a valedictorian on this year’s entrance exam.

  • Initially, it was unofficially claimed that all Vietnamese citizens would receive 100,000 VND on National Independence Day.

• Meaning 2:

  • He claims to have insulted his former teachers.

  • She proudly claims to have received the government’s money during the holiday, and she has been delightful so far.

• Meaning 3:

  • Are you all excited to claim your presents and money for all your dedication to your studies?

1. [transitive] to say that sth is true although it has not been proved, and other people may not believe it -

2. [transitive] ____ sth to state that you have done, gained or achieved sth

khẳng định, tuyên bố, cho rằng, công bố

3. ​[transitive] ____ sth to gain, win or achieve sth - giành lấy, đạt được, nhận lấy

complain (v)

• Bakh’s mum is always complaining about her son’s teacher for failing to confess him.

• Why do I have to complain about the food? In fact, the meal is so great that I would like to have another one.

[transitive, intransitive] to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied with sb/sth - phàn nàn

convince (v)

• Alina failed to convince Jackson to stay with her one more day, as he was having an exam the day after.

• My dad always tries to convince me to take a spare path, which is Maths.

1. to make sb/yourself believe that sth is true

2. to persuade sb to do sth

thuyết phục

criticise (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • Recently, an artist has been widely and harshly criticised for her inappropriate clothing in a heritage site.

  • I don’t usually criticise anyone, I just have either a good or a bad impression of them.

• Meaning 2:

  • We are almost always taught how to criticise literary works in every Literature lesson, because it is an integral part of our subject.

  • How would you criticise this book?

1. [intransitive, transitive] to say that you think sb/sth is bad; to say what you do not like or think is wrong about sb/sth - chỉ trích

2. [transitive] ____ sth to judge the good and bad qualities of sth - phê bình

deny (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • Galileo denied publicly that the Earth was the centre of the solar system.

  • At that time, everyone denied and heavily criticised the geocentric model of Galileo.

• Meaning 2:

  • Juan denied having taken his mum’s money before going to school.

  • The teacher denied having taken the funds without permission.

• Meaning 3:

  • Mum denied me going out with Bloop-bloop anymore.

1. to say that sth is not true

2. ____ sth to refuse to admit or accept sth

3. ​(formal) to refuse to allow sb to have sth that they want or ask for

[transitive] từ chối

discussion (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • We had an exciting discussion about the evolution of languages.

  • Sara doesn’t like to have a discussion with Sarah about the presentation, as she considers Sarah as an enemy.

• Meaning 2:

  • Tom’s latest research has a discussion of how to improve people’s traffic awareness in 5 years.

  • Should we do a discussion of varied aspects of education or just focus on one thing we’ve chosen?

1. a conversation about sb/sth; the process of discussing sb/sth

2. a speech or a piece of writing that discusses many different aspects of a subject - bài tham luận

[uncountable, countable] bàn bạc, bàn luận

doubt (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • It is doubted that Hai has been executed for his controversial opinion of the country’s ideology.

  • Mai really doubts Kim’s words.

• Meaning 2:

  • He has a vague reason to doubt his best friend’s story.

  • She has doubted her boyfriend for years.

1. to feel uncertain about sth; to feel that sth is not true, will probably not happen, etc. - hoài nghi, nghi ngờ

2. ____ sb/sth to not trust sb/sth; to not believe sb - hồ nghi, hoài nghi, không tin tưởng

[transitive]

doubt (n)

• The audience cast doubt on the executives of the movie, and it has really spread so far.

• If you are in any doubt as to whether you don’t understand the exercises, consult your tutor or your teacher.

• Mike has had so many doubts on the unreasonable school’s schedule arrangement in the first days of the new school year.

[countable, uncountable] a feeling of being uncertain about sth or not believing sth - hoài nghi, nghi ngờ

encourage (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • My online friends really encourage me to keep on my track and not give up.

  • I am not usually encouraged to try harder. But whenever I am so, I am always grateful for people who sent messages to me.

• Meaning 2:

  • My dad always encourages me to study Maths harder to have better opportunities from it.

  • Linda has encouraged me to sign up for the Geography or History selected teams.

• Meaning 3:

  • Vietnam’s rapid changes in economy, tourism, and others have encouraged the country to have more opportunities to collaborate with international companies and other countries.

1. to give sb support, courage or hope

2. to persuade sb to do sth by making it easier for them and making them believe it is a good thing to do

3. to make sth more likely to happen or develop - thúc đẩy (?)

[transitive] khích lệ, khuyến khích

get rid of (v phr)

• I need to encourage myself to get rid of all distractions during the new school year. Better late than never, right?

• I have an aversion to cockroaches, so I always fail to get rid of them.

to make yourself free of sb/sth that is annoying you or that you do not want; to throw sth away - loại bỏ, từ bỏ

gossip (v)

• I don’t care about being gossiped. Why do I have to care?

• I can always gossip with everyone about every topic of a random person.

[intransitive] to talk about other people’s private lives, often in an unkind way - buôn chuyện, nói xấu

gossip (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • Don't believe all the gossip you hear.

  • It was common gossip (= everyone said so) that they were having an affair.

  • She's a great one for idle gossip (= she enjoys spreading stories about other people that are probably not true).

• Meaning 2:

  • My friends love to have a gossip whenever there’s a P.E. lesson.

  • I love to have a gossip with them, but I don’t usually do it actually.

• Meaning 3:

  • James is really a gossip. He is always finds someone to talk about other’s private stories.

  • Everyone can be a gossip, so long as they find a right person to talk with.

1. ​[uncountable] (usually disapproving) informal talk or stories about other people’s private lives, which may be unkind or not true

2. [countable, usually singular] a conversation about other people and their private lives

3. ​[countable] (disapproving) a person who enjoys talking about other people’s private lives - người thích buôn dưa lê

buôn chuyện, tán dóc, chuyện tầm phào, tám chuyện, lời đồn, đồn thổi

ideal (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • Everyone must expect to have an ideal answer whenever solving maths, such as an integer.

  • This is really my ideal teacher! I love her!

• Meaning 2:

  • To be honest, Khiemslays and his boyfriend are two of my ideal lovers.

  • Being more confident used to be one of my ideal personality traits; now I am likely to be so.

1. perfect; most suitable - hoàn hảo

2. [only before noun] existing only in your imagination or as an idea; not likely to be real

lý tưởng

insult (v)

• I don’t like insulting others, and I also don’t like being insulted.

• My mum usually insults everyone whenever they did something wrong to her.

[transitive] ​____ sb/sth to say or do sth that offends sb - xúc phạm, sỉ nhục, lăng mạ

insult (n)

• Why do you keep being thrown insults? You should really speak up about it.

• His comments were seen as an insult to the president.

• The questions were an insult to our intelligence (= too easy).

a remark or an action that is said or done to offend sb - xúc phạm, sỉ nhục, lăng mạ

investigate (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • The teacher is investigating who broke the table.

  • She always investigates if I have chatted with any other girls.

• Meaning 2:

  • I think fandoms are made to investigate further about the characters’ personalities, appearances, etc.

  • For me, I don’t really care what people investigate someone I don’t know for something bad of them; for I don’t know, definitely:).

• Meaning 3:

  • Which targets are you going to choose to investigate for your survey?

  • Which products are you going to investigate their marketing and sales?

1. [intransitive, transitive] to carefully examine the facts of a situation, an event, a crime, etc., to find out the truth about it or how it happened - khám nghiệm

2. [transitive] to try to find out information about somebody’s character, activities, etc.

3. [transitive] to find out information and facts about a subject or problem by study or research - nghiên cứu

điều tra, thăm dò

negative (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • Staying out late and sleeping in actually have a negative effect on your physical and mental health.

  • Being pessimistic for a long time can bring a lot of negative effects to you.

• Meaning 2: Jim always made negative decisions on the spot whenever he didn’t like doing something.

• Meaning 3: I used to have negative thoughts all the time, but it has been reduced significantly over time for the fact that the people I love had also been in that situation, and they overcame it.

• Meaning 4: You may see that “He is never listening to his mum” is in an affirmative form. However, there is the word “never”, so the sentence above is actually negative.

• Meaning 5: Any number less than 0 is a negative number.

• Meaning 6:

  • It is shown that her drug test was negative.

  • He tested negative for AIDS infection.

1. bad or harmful - tiêu cực

2. expressing the answer ‘no’ - từ chối

3. considering only the bad side of sb/sth; having no enthusiasm or hope - bi quan

4. «grammar» containing a word such as ‘no’, ‘not’, ‘never’, etc. - câu phủ định

5. ​less than zero - âm

6. not showing any evidence of a particular substance or medical condition - âm tính

positive (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • This newly applied teaching method has brought the education positive results and achievements.

  • Reading books regularly helps you with positive mental health and reduces on dementia.

• Meaning 2:

  • Through this passage, the author has shown a lot of positive arguments and impacts of being sensitive.

  • We are proud to be trusted and given positive feedback from you.

• Meaning 3:

  • We must take positive steps to deal with the problem.

  • In the last few years, positive changes have been made.

• Meaning 4:

  • I do say I failed the admission test, but I actually have a positive attitude about that.

  • However bad my results were, I can think of something positive.

• Meaning 5: A positive statement has a negative question tag, and vice versa. It also applies when changing from a real statement to a subjunctive one.

• Meaning 6: Any number greater than 0 is a positive number.

• Meaning 7:

  • It is shown that her COVID-19 test was positive.

  • Because he cheated with many girls, he tested positive for AIDS.

1. good or useful

2. expressing agreement or support

3. directed at dealing with something or producing a successful result

4. thinking about what is good in a situation; feeling confident and sure that something good will happen - lạc quan

tích cực

5. (also affirmative) (of a statement) expressing something true, did happen, etc.; not containing words such as ‘no’, ‘not’, ‘never’, etc. - câu khẳng định

6. greater than zero - dương

7. showing clear evidence that a particular substance or medical condition is present - dương tính

praise (v)

• Everybody has praised the film “Mưa Đỏ” and the 80th Anniversary of Vietnamese Independence Day.

• He praised his team for effective teamwork.

• The delivery man was praised by the public security for having saved the girl falling down from the apartment.

[transitive] to say that you approve of and admire sb/sth - khen ngợi, tán dương

praise (n)

• The class president’s speech really deserves full of praise.

• “Mưa Đỏ” has recently been showered with praises from the critics for just over 2 weeks.

[uncountable] words that show that you approve of and admire sb/sth - lời tán dương, lời khen ngợi

pretend (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • Lukas is always pretending to be busy on his studies when everyone knows he is not.

  • I don’t want to pretend that I am ill to be marked absent.

• Meaning 2:

  • Children pretending to be in their make-believe world can be interesting and encourage creativity in them.

• Meaning 3:

  • I didn’t pretend to be that bad at every subject.

  • I can’t pretend to any great ability to study any language.

1. to behave in a particular way, to make other people believe sth that is not true

2. (especially of children) to imagine that sth is true as part of a game - tưởng tượng

3. (usually used in negative sentences and questions) to claim to be, do, or have sth, especially when this is not true

[transitive, intransitive] giả vờ, giả bộ

purpose (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • The course’s main purpose is to teach students the ability to solve advanced maths questions, critical thinking and mathematical reasoning.

  • A meeting was called for the purpose of deciding the club’s frame design.

  • The results serve no useful purpose (~ are not useful).

• Meaning 2:

  • The money counts as gifts for celebration purposes.

  • For the purposes of the new developing generation, many administrative divisions have been combined and eliminated.

• Meaning 3:

  • Being able to understand complicated concepts can really give my life a sense of purpose/give me a purpose in life.

• Meaning 4:

  • I don’t have much confidence on this task, but I have strength of purpose.

1. [countable] the intention, aim or function of sth; the thing that sth is supposed to achieve

2. ____s [plural] what is needed in a particular situation

3. [uncountable] the ability to plan something and work successfully to achieve it

mục đích, ý định

4. [countable, uncountable] meaning that is important and valuable to you

refuse (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • She refused to lend me money, as I haven’t paid her all of which before that.

  • I have thought of giving up maths, but I refused to do that.

• Meaning 2:

  • Jim refused the company’s offer, though the company had realised his talents.

  • I refused my old best friend’s birthday invitation.

• Meaning 3:

  • I refused the fact that my mum will take and keep my phone.

1. [intransitive, transitive] to say or show that you will not do sth that sb has asked you to do

2. [transitive, intransitive] ____ (sth) to say that you do not want something that has been offered to you

3. [transitive] to say that you will not allow sth; to say that you will not give or allow sb sth that they want or need

từ chối

result (v)

• Meaning 1:

  • Being choosy may result in hard decisions in the future.

  • Careless preparation for an examination can result in severe consequences, from choosing your dream schools, staying in a good environment, and others.

• Meaning 2:

  • Jim getting bad grades results from his procrastination and a lack of diligence.

  • Economic downsizing results from a lack of people having in-depth knowledge of their job.

1. ____ in sth to make sth happen

2. [intransitive] to happen because of sth else that happened first

cho ra kết quả, gây ra

result (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • Family disputations and disagreements are the result of misunderstandings between parents and children.

  • She failed the test as a result of inattention in her class.

• Meaning 2: The result of the dancing competition is class 8A11! Congratulations on your dedication and hard work!

• Meaning 3:

  • How can you improve your Maths results? You have impressively improved!

  • Mum insisted that I hand over my latest results to her.

• Meaning 4:

  • The result of Ba reacting with H₂SO₄ is the precipitation of BaSO₄ and the emission of H₂.

  • The survey’s results show that people tend to procrastinate when faced with a challenging task.

• Meaning 5:

  • I don’t know how to choose accurate results on Google among a lot of information.

  • Using quotation marks with keywords can lessen trivial and irrelevant results; thus, you can find the answers more easily.

1. [countable] a thing that is caused or produced because of something else

2. [countable] the final score or the name of the winner in a sports event, competition, election, etc.

3. [countable, usually plural] (British English) the mark or grade you get in an exam or in several exams - điểm số

4. [countable, usually plural] the information that you get from a scientific test or piece of research

5. [countable, usually plural] the information that you get from a computer search

kết quả

rumour/rumor (n)

• Rumour has it that (= People say that) it went without saying that I would choose Literature as my exam subject, but I didn’t.

• There are widespread rumours of the decriminalisation of sports betting.

[uncountable, countable] a piece of information, or a story, that people talk about, but that may not be true - tin đồn, lời đồn thổi

sensible (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • That was a very sensible explanation of your work. Well done!

  • Had it not been for sensible surveys, scientific information and analyses, the research couldn’t have been completed.

• Meaning 2:

  • I like this kind of sensible T-shirt. It is comfortable, it suits me very well, although it may be behind the times.

  • Sensible pieces of clothing don’t fade away in our memories, however old they are.

• Meaning 3: I am sensible that environmental issues are really our country’s problems, and we have to adapt to and deal with them.

1. (of people and their behaviour) able to make good judgements based on reason and experience rather than emotion; practical - thực tiễn, thực tế, có lý, hợp lý

2. ​(of clothes, etc.) useful rather than fashionable - hữu dụng hơn nhất thời

3. ​(formal or literary) aware of sth - nhận thức về cái gì đó

serious (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • Serious injuries and damage have been caused after the accident between two trucks.

  • I used to be in serious trouble with my mental health. It went away, but I sometimes have to face that situation again.

• Meaning 2:

  • Alex, we need to have serious talks about your recent academic results.

  • Max used to ignore the serious consideration of his jokes.

• Meaning 3:

  • Believe me, I’m deadly (= extremely) serious.

  • Don’t make any jokes about that if you don’t have any serious recommendations.

• Meaning 4:

  • a serious political issue

  • At the beginning of 2025, the traffic issues resulting in serious injuries, losses and damage made the fines for heavy punishments increase.

• Meaning 5:

  • It is time to give serious consideration to this matter.

  • My dad suggested that I give more serious consideration to my decisions.

1. bad or dangerous

2. thinking about things in a careful and sensible way; not silly - nghiêm túc

3. sincere about sth; not joking or meant as a joke - nghiêm túc

4. needing to be thought about carefully; not only for pleasure - nghiêm túc

5. that must be treated as important

nghiêm trọng

spare (adj)

• Meaning 1:

  • I usually spend my spare time playing games, watching TV, singing or doing some exercise.

  • I should have used my spare time more wisely. But better late than never.

• Meaning 2:

  • I have a spare bedroom upstairs.

  • We put all our spare things like books, chairs, etc., in a separate room.

• Meaning 3:

  • Can I borrow any of your spare tyres?

  • Do you have any spare books for me?

1. available to do what you want with rather than work - dư dả (?), rảnh rỗi

2. [usually before noun] that is not being used or is not needed at present - dự phòng, thừa

3. [only before noun] kept in case you need to replace the one you usually use; extra - dự phòng, thừa

theory (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • the theory of relativity/evolution

  • He developed a new theory about the cause of people tending to do illegal actions during traffic jams.

• Meaning 2:

  • The theory of the Vietnamese language helps students to figure out more about the history and the structures of the language.

  • This is your chance to put theory into practice.

• Meaning 3:

  • My theories are that my homeroom teacher’s hometown is very close to my mum’s, and she is relatively related to you.

  • Police are working on the theory that the murderer committed suicide after killing his own family.

1. [countable, uncountable] a formal set of ideas that is intended to explain why something happens or exists - học thuyết, thuyết

2. [uncountable] the principles on which a particular subject is based - lý thuyết

3. [countable] an opinion or idea that somebody believes is true but that is not proved - giả thuyết

thought (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • I had a thought of a new idea on how to solve this problem faster.

  • Mike has had a thought that he would be a psychiatrist.

  • Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic. How about the others? I would really want to hear them.

• Meaning 2:

  • It’s time we needed to turn our thoughts to actions.

  • You are always in my thoughts, Chemistry.

• Meaning 3:

  • Our boss insisted that we put some thought into how to maximise the revenue and profit when advertising new products to customers.

  • Without thought, I accidentally disappointed my parents.

• Meaning 4:

  • A good teacher encourages independence of thought. But, as a matter of fact, the students can barely do it, due to competitiveness.

  • Harry was lost in thought, only thinking about the hardest question of the latest test without noticing his surroundings.

• Meaning 5:

  • Spare a thought for those without enough financial resources to survive during the storms.

  • It's the thought that counts (= used to say that sb has been very kind even if they have only done or given sth small or unimportant).

• Meaning 6:

  • I had given up all thought of reducing one subject for specialized exams.

  • He acted with no thoughts of personal gain.

1. [countable] sth that you think of or remember

2. ____s [plural] a person’s mind and all the ideas that they have in it when they are thinking - suy nghĩ, tư tưởng, ý nghĩ

3. [uncountable] the act of thinking seriously and carefully about sth - xem xét kỹ lưỡng

4. ​[uncountable] the power or process of thinking - quá trình hoặc khả năng tư duy

5. [countable] ____ (for sb/sth) a feeling of care or worry - quan tâm, nỗi lo

6. [uncountable, countable] an intention or a hope of doing sth - ý định, hy vọng

warn (n)

• Meaning 1:

  • My dad warned me to reconsider my career paths, but I didn’t actually listen.

  • The police have been warning us against stealing money and pickpockets.

  • The news has been warning the audience about trafficking and other criminal actions.

• Meaning 2:

  • My dad warned my mom against/about blowing the red light, as he saw the traffic police officer over there.

  • Alice warned Jenny to keep away from his grandma.

• Meaning 3:

  • The referee warned him for starting the game earlier than expected.

1. [transitive, intransitive] to tell sb about sth, especially sth dangerous or unpleasant that is likely to happen, so that they can avoid it

2. [intransitive, transitive] to strongly advise sb to do or not to do sth to avoid danger or punishment

3. ​[transitive] ____ sb (for sth (in sport, etc.) to give sb an official warning after they have broken a rule - cảnh cáo

• cảnh cáo

cảnh báo