(Page 130)
D GOAL Women's Achievements
Reading 🎧63 (Optional)
A In groups, try to answer the questions about "famous firsts". Do you know any other famous firsts in history or in your country?
1. Who was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences?
a. Yuri Gagarin b. Neil Armstrong c. Marie Curie
2. Who was the first female musician to sell more than 300 million records?
a. Beyoncé b. Madonna c. Taylor Swift
3. Who was the first Vietnamese swimmer to break eight records at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore?
a. Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên b. Nguyễn Huy Hoàng c. Hoàng Quý Phước
B Look at the photos and the title of the newsletter. Write five words you expect to read in the article. Compare in pairs.
C Read the newsletter and answer the questions.
1. Check your words in B. Are they in the newsletter?
2. Whose achievements are the most impressive? Why?
D Read the newsletter. What do the following words refer to?
1. they (paragraph 1)
2. the country (paragraph 2)
3. it (paragraph 3)
E Read the newsletter. Circle T for true and F for false. T F
1. There were no female rulers in Việt Nam before the year of 40 A.D. T F
2. There are more educated Vietnamese women today than in the Trung sisters' time. T F
3. The Nữ Giới Chung was the first newspaper in Việt Nam. T F
4. Phùng Thị Điềm worked as a dentist before she becarte a sculptor. T F
5. Phùng Thị Điểm's contributions were internationally recognized. T F
F Match the words from the article to the definitions.
1. to master __________ a. the leader of a country
2. ruler _______________ b. learn how to do do something well
3. patriotic ___________ c. officially listed
4. registered _________ d. showing love for one's country
✔️GOAL CHECK
1. Think of other women with great achievements. Write five sentences about them.
2. In groups, discuss the following statement. Give your opinions with reasons for your answer.
Women can be as successful as men in any field or profession.
(Page 131)
Vietnamese Women's Achievements
Women have always played an important role in Việt Nam's history. Some fight for their country, some inspire others, and some make positive changes to society.
Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị are examples of women who fought for their country's freedom. Known in Vietnamese as "Hai Bà Trung", the Trung sisters successfully led their people to fight against invaders in 40 A.D. After their victory, they ruled the country for three years. As the first female rulers, the Trung sisters have become examples of the patriotic Vietnamese women. This is significant because Vietnamese women had little access to education and politics at the time.
Sương Nguyệt Ánh is another example. As the daughter of the patriotic poet Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, she mastered literature from a very young age. She worked as a teacher before becoming the editor-in-chief of the Nữ Giới Chung, the first women's newspaper in Sài Gòn, in 1918. Being the first female editor in Việt Nam, Nguyệt Anh made great contributions to the press, feminism, and poetry of the country.
A third example is Điểm Phùng Thị. She graduated from Hà Nội Medical University in 1946 and got a PhD in dentistry in France eight years later. When working as a dentist, she fell in love with sculpture and started practicing it. Later, she held several exhibitions around Europe with artworks about her homeland's people. She became the first female Vietnamese member of the European Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and her name was registered in the Larousse Dictionary of Painters.
achievement (n) something difficult that you have succeeded in doing
editor-in-chief (n) leader of a publication who is in charge of the content
A Vietnamese woman wearing áo dài at Mũi Né
