The use of controversial topics or situations is famous in the ISE III exam (HERE). As students, you need to be clear on current events and the types of situations that might come up in the exam (HERE). To practice this part of the exam, you should practice two types of activity with a speaking partner:
- Look at a situation and ask your partner questions about it. One of the candidates can only ask questions and the other acts as the examiner and only answers the questions.
- Discuss controversial situations. Give your opinion, justify that opinion, ask questions and try to agree or disagree (HERE)
Example situations:
Schools are failing our children and this could be somewhat detrimental to the future of our society. What needs to be done is simple, we need to increase funding and reduce class sizes. How far do you agree with this statement?
To what extent would you say that population increase is shaping the world of tomorrow? Should we be worried about over population?
As the importance of new technologies increases and the gadgets available to us advance further, how much should people be concerned about the addiction to them and the long-term effects this could have on the general population?
Climate change seems to be evident and most people would agree that it is an issue that should be tackled through collaboration and agreements at an international level, but there are those who deny it. Ought we to be worried about these people?
World hunger and poverty is said to be at an all time low, so why is it that we seem to hear so much about it and that we can´t solve it once and for all?
Freedom of speech can cause barriers in our society, would you agree?
