Assessing the Difficulty of the Reading Passage 'Greenwashing' in the 2025 National High School Exam

Analyze the difficulty of the reading

Reading “Greenwashing” in the 2025 National High School Exam has attracted attention thanks to the level of challenge in vocabulary and grammar. With more than 12 years of experience teaching IELTS, Mr. Thanh's initial assessment shows that the difficulty of this test is equivalent to the reading passages in part 2 or 3 of IELTS. For a detailed assessment, the tool VocabKitchen was used to analyze the vocabulary ratio according to levels from A1 to C2. The results showed that more than 30% words in the text were at level B2 or higher (equivalent to IELTS 6.0 or higher), while some specialized words were not clearly classified but could be classified into group C1+ after careful consideration.

Parents can refer to the screenshot of the difficulty analysis below. Some typical words belonging to groups B2, C1, C2 are also listed for further reference.

Challenges for high school students

For high school students, especially those at the average level, to understand this reading is not an easy task. Not only does it require a wide vocabulary, it also requires the ability to grasp complex grammar (such as technical nominalization – nominalization) and understand metaphors and figurative language in English. Here are some illustrative examples:

• to plaster products with labels such as 'carbon-neutral' or 'net-zero'

  • The word “plaster” is used as a metaphor, implying that labeling a product as “carbon-neutral” is like covering up a defect with plaster, misleading consumers.

• glossy PR

  • “Glossy” evokes a glamorous appearance but an empty interior, emphasizing the flashiness of the PR campaign.

• corporate sleight of hand

  • Comparing corporate PR tactics to sleight of hand, implying the deception of the public by clever means.

• a soothing lullaby

  • Greenwashing is like a gentle lullaby, distracting public attention from real issues.

• a 'green' paint-sprayer

  • The image of a green spray gun symbolizes the “spraying” of green (environmentally friendly) paint over polluting activities.

Reviews and recommendations

Understanding an academic text is already challenging, but this one contains a lot of metaphors, so only students at level C1 or above can handle it well. This reading is highly educational with a meaningful message, but may not be suitable for the average high school student.

So parents, don't worry too much if your child has difficulty with this exercise. This is an opportunity to identify areas for improvement, and trying is an achievement in itself.

If you would like to analyze other parts of the exam, please leave a comment so we can support you!
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