120 Speaking Topics

Five Things to Think about………………………………................................................................x
Sample Questions and Answers................................................................................................1
Q1. Should businesses regulate their employees' behavior outside of the workplace?......................................................................................................................................2
Q2. Living forever is a good idea..............................................................................................3
Q3. Should there be more shops and restaurants that are open 24 hours a day? ......4
Q4. Should forests that are hundreds of years old be protected from logging?...........5
Q5. Should schools provide free lunch to students?............................................................6
Q6. Who is your favorite movie character?............................................................................7
Q7. Should there be a required age for a person to stop driving? If so, what should that age be?...................................................................................................................................8
Q8. It is healthier for children to live in the countryside than in the city.......................9
Q9. Which would you choose, an expensive new car or a dream vacation?.................10
Q10. Would you support the building project of a new sports stadium in your city?...............................................................................................................................................11
Q11. Teenagers today are more likely to commit crimes than in the past...................12
Q12. Who is your best friend?.................................................................................................13
Q13. A university wants to develop a new research center in your country. What sort of research should it focus on?...............................................................................................14
Q14. Do you think spending a lot of time on cell phones is a good idea?..................15
Q15. A person should always listen to other people's advice..........................................16
Q16. Movies have no useful purpose ...................................................................................17
Q17. People are less healthy today than they were in the past......................................18
Q18. Your school has recently received a grant to either remodel the athletics field or put in a new swimming pool..............................................................................................19
Q19. Which is a better prize for winning a school contest: college scholarship or cash gift?......................................................................................................................................20
Q20. Some schools think that parents should have a say in what gets taught in the classroom.....................................................................................................................................21
Q21. People are easily fooled into believing anything they see in newspapers or on TV...................................................................................................................................................22
Q22. Who do you respect most?.............................................................................................23
Q23. A hero is someone who is willing to put others ahead of himself.......................24
Q24. Students who don't learn about ethics in school are more likely to grow up to be criminals..................................................................................................................................25
Q25. If you saw your friend cheating on a test, would you hide the fact or would you report it to the teacher?....................................................................................................26
Q26. Foreign cultures threaten the identity of the nation................................................27
Q27. If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be and why?...............................................................................................................................................28
Q28. Is it right or wrong for parents to adopt a child of an ethnicity different from their own? ...................................................................................................................................29
Q29. Your best friend is going to move away. What would you do with him/her before he/she leaves?................................................................................................................30
Q30. Who is your favorite athlete?.........................................................................................31
Q31. A person you know is about to move to your school. What advice would you give to help him/her settle in?................................................................................................32
Q32. Are social skills more important than education when looking for a job?..........33
Q33. A child can learn as much or more at home than at school...................................34
Q34. High schools should offer courses that focus on particular skills to prepare students to find a job in the future.......................................................................................35
Q35. There's no such thing as luck........................................................................................36
Q36. Do you believe that in the future there will be one universal language?............37
Q37. Your local sports team is moving to another city. Would you try to keep the local sports team in town?.......................................................................................................38
Q38. Would you want to study at a boarding school?......................................................39
Q39. Phones and e-mail have made communication between people less personal..40
Q40. Smoking should be illegal...............................................................................................41
Q41. What do you think are the best ways of reducing stress?......................................42
Q42. With more people attending college now than ever before, a college degree is losing its value as a job-seeking tool....................................................................................43
Q43. Today’s younger generation have less respect for their elders than those in the past ...............................................................................................................................................44
Q44. Some say that television and video games are causing children to fail in school…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….45
Q45. Some people believe that wars will disappear over the next hundred years.....46
Q46. What is your favorite method transportation?..........................................................47
Q47. If you could go back in time and tell yourself something about the future, what would it be and why?................................................................................................................48
Q48. What do you think is the most negative aspect of modern life and how do you think it should change?.............................................................................................................49
Q49. You have just received 10,000 dollars. How would you spend that money and why?...............................................................................................................................................50
Q50. Many students who play sports hope to become professional athletes and therefore they neglect their studies.......................................................................................51
Q51. If you had the choice of living in the mountains or living by the sea, which would you choose and why?....................................................................................................52
Q52. Would you support a new shopping center in your neighborhood, even if it meant a lot of people would have to leave their homes..................................................53
Q53. What would you do to represent your culture?........................................................54
Q54. If you could learn one difficult skill, what would it be?..........................................55
Q55. Your friend was badly hurt in an accident and has to stay in the hospital for a while What would you do for him/her?................................................................................56
Q56. Mothers should always put their children's needs ahead of their own?..............57
Q57. Airplanes are the safest way to travel..........................................................................58
Q58. If you had the opportunity to open up and run your own store, where would it be and what would you sell?...................................................................................................59
Q59. Which would you prefer as a class trip: a camping trip in the woods or a vacation at a beach resort?......................................................................................................60
Q60. You have volunteered to spend one hour a day for a week to help a child from a poor background. What would you do?............................................................................61
Q61. Parents should give their children everything they want........................................62
Q62. What would you give your friend as a going away present: a camera, or a dictionary?....................................................................................................................................63
Q63. If you had the chance to write about something you'd like to see changed in your city, what would you write about?................................................................................64
Q64. People believe they study or work better with music..............................................65
Q65. Olympic athletes promote peace better than politicians.........................................66
Q66. If you had the opportunity, would you move to a town of the rich and famous?........................................................................................................................................67
Q67. Outward appearance is just as important as true value..........................................68
Q68. Students today are more stressed out from their studies than those in the past................................................................................................................................................69
Q69. Today children eat too much junk food......................................................................70
Q70. With a large gift of money from a neighboring country, what should the government do?..........................................................................................................................71
Q71. Do you think women managers will outnumber male managers in the near future?...........................................................................................................................................72
Q72. Some believe children closely take after their parents. In what way do children resemble their parents?.............................................................................................................73
Q73. Which of these two is a better reward for success at school: a new pet or a weekend at an amusement park?...........................................................................................74
Q74. These days, boys and girls are treated equally at school and in society.............75
Q75. In this age of 24 hour news and digital information, we are suffering from information overload.................................................................................................................76
Q76. What skill would you learn to be more independent?.............................................77
Q77. Do you agree or disagree with the statement that language is an important unifying factor?...........................................................................................................................78
Q78. Do you think that students should be required to do community service to graduate from high school?.....................................................................................................79
Q79. Recently, a major company has announced it is going to construct a new office building in your neighborhood. Do you support this project? Why or why not?.......80
Q80. Art and sports should not be involved money..........................................................81
Q81. Have you ever been in a fight? What happened.......................................................82
Q82. People put too much importance on material possessions....................................83
Q83. Do you think that everyone in the world will one day own his/her own private aircraft to regularly commute, like in science fiction stories about the future?..........84
Q84. School grades are important for success in the future............................................85
Q85. If you could choose between making a money donation and doing volunteer work, what would you choose?...............................................................................................86
Q86. Children don't read enough these days.......................................................................87
Q87. People commit crime when they feel too desperate to make a living any other way.................................................................................................................................................88
Q88. When looking for a new home, what's more important to you?..........................89
Q89. There are too many people on Earth...........................................................................90
Q90. Should richer parts of your country support the poorer parts through welfare
programs?....................................................................................................................................91
Q91. People leave their home countries to become rich..................................................92
Q92. Do you believe that your country is well-prepared for a major disaster (earthquakes, cyclones, etc.)?...................................................................................................93
Q93. Teachers, more than parents, are responsible for students' behavior at school…………………………………………………………………………………………………….….……94
Q94. If you could hire a famous person, who would it be?..............................................95
Q95. Schools should provide extra instruction and support for students who are too sick to come to school..............................................................................................................96
Q96. What is one job you haven't done but would like to?.............................................97
Q97. If you could be roommates with a famous person, who would it be .................98
Q98. If you could choose one famous person in your country to meet, who would that be?.........................................................................................................................................99
Q99. Which area of science (e.g. biology, physics, chemistry, medicine, etc.) do you think your country needs most improvement in?.............................................................100
Q100. People are too irresponsible with money nowadays............................................101
Q101. Parents should help their children develop skills they will need to live on their own before letting them move out……………………………………………………………….....102
Q102. People should go to college even if the tuition is very expensive...................103
Q103. If your town was hit by a natural disaster such as an earthquake, what would you do to help your neighbors? Why? Give specific details to develop your essay.104
Q104. It is wrong to test beauty products, medical products, or food products on animals………………………………………………………………………………………………………….105
Q105. Parents have the most influence on their children's future...............................106
Q106. Would you live in a remote area by yourself or in a crowded neighborhood?..........................................................................................................................107
Q107. If there was one disease you would like to cure, what would It be and why?............................................................................................................................................108
Q108. Every car should run on biofuel in the future.......................................................109
Q109. People eat too much sugar and salt these days...................................................110
Q110. Of the books that you haven't read so far, what do you want to read?.........111
Q111. If you had the opportunity to receive lessons in music or art, which would you
choose?.......................................................................................................................................112
Q112. If you had the opportunity to learn to play a sport, which would you learn?...........................................................................................................................................113
Q113. What is one important skill you have learned at school?...................................114
Q114. What is one food you would stop eating for your health?................................115
Q115. If you had the opportunity to meet one of your long lost friends or relatives, who would it be and why?.....................................................................................................116
Q116. Today, people have a poorer diet than people had in the past, Why or why not?..............................................................................................................................................117
Q117. If there is one food you haven't tried but would like to, what is it?...............118
Q118. College education should be free.............................................................................119
Q119. If there is a habit you would like to quit, what is it?...........................................120
Q120. Which family member do you have the closest relationship with?..................121

Answers......................................................................................................................................122