A good performance involves correct pronunciation, suitable intonation, sensible body movement, clear ideas, attention to what other candidates are saying, contributions of a reasonable length (not one or two words only, nor long speeches), well-chosen vocabulary, good grammar, and appropriate use of conventional phrases, such as 'Excuse me, can you please repeat that?', 'Let's move on' and 'I agree'.

Which of the following do you think it would be best for a 16 year-old Hong Kong student to win?

You may want to talk about

the prestige from the prize

what the prize tells us about the young person

the future effects of the prize

anything else you think is important

Ideas to help you

Note some ideas down and if you do not think you have enough look at ours.

Sports medal

Naturally the winner of such a medal will be very proud of it, but its prestige and fame are limited.

The person must be very fit and organised, devoted to training and willing to work hard.

The award is unlikely to have any great use. It might be helpful if one wanted to train as a PE teacher or enter a sports related career [sports medicine, management etc]. Sports players do not earn much in Hong Kong and opportunities are few.

Many young sports players lose their fitness as they grow older and are busy with their work. Long-term good effects are not very probable.

Lottery prize

There is no prestige in being lucky and choosing a random number.

The prize tells us nothing about the winner.

The money will be useful and may even allow the winner to achieve a useful goal [e.g. if spent on equipment or courses leading to some achievement or skill]. $20,000 is, however, soon spent and the effect is not likely to last for long.

Writing award

The award will not make the young person famous, but it will impress many people and be a good addition to the winner's CV.

It shows the winner is good at language, has an organised mind and can express ideas well. It suggests creativity and imagination.

Such an award might well help when applying for university especially in the case of related courses, such as journalism. As well as opening up careers in journalism and publishing, good writing skills can help greatly with an academic career.

Summing up

The sports and writing awards bring the most glory.

The cash prize will probably give the most short-term pleasure, but will not have a lasting effect.

In modern Hong Kong, being good at writing is more likely to bring education and career advantages than being good at sport.

Opening the discussion

A good discussion needs some organisation. That means that it is a good idea to talk about it first. If the first speaker tells the others what to do, they may not be very happy or willing to follow. It makes the speaker sound a bit bossy too. The solution is for the opening speaker, a strong candidate who would like to give some leadership without seeming rude, to give the group a choice.

Can I start? I think we need to decide how to organise our discussion. Shall we go through the pictures one by one, or follow the suggested topics and first talk about the prestige of each prize and so on ....? Which do you all prefer?

This allows the first speaker to give a good first impression without causing conflict. If there are two strong speakers, they should try to work together and not fight for control. A happy group in which the candidates seem to care for one another will attract the best marks.

Part B

In this part the examiner will ask each candidate a question connected to the discussion.

Sample questions

Which of these prizes would you like to win most?

Do you think schools should look at sports achievement when selecting students for form six places?

How would you spend $20,000?

Answer the question with some comments

I will be honest. I would like the money. Glory is very nice, but I think money is even nicer. I could buy my family some presents and get myself a really good mobile phone with all the functions. That would make me very happy!

Not really. I think the points system is fair. I think it is fine to be good at sports, but it won't help you study. Schools should give places to the students who can study best. But I have not really thought about it.

Oh, that needs some thought. I would give half to my parents and with the other half I would go to see my grandmother and relatives in Fujian. I could travel there, treat them to some nice meals and do a lot a lot of shopping with ten thousand dollars. That would be fun.