2020: „Choo­se one of the fol­lo­wing topics and wri­te a coher­ent text lay­ing out your ideas.“

2020‑I Ame­ri­can floods

  1. Air tra­vel should be a lot more expen­si­ve. Do you agree?
  2. „Earth pro­vi­des enough to satis­fy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.“ Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Car­toon

2020-II Behold the Dreamers

  1. „Immi­gra­ti­on is not just a link to America’s past, it’s also a bridge to America’s future.“ Com­ment on this statement.
  2. Quo­ta sys­tems can help rec­ti­fy women’s under-repre­sen­ta­ti­on in pro­mi­nent posi­ti­ons, and make it enti­re­ly nor­mal for women to take up lea­ding roles in various fields. Do you think this kind of affir­ma­ti­ve actions is a jus­ti­fia­ble measure?
  3. Car­toon

Bis 2019: “Choo­se one of the fol­lo­wing topics. Wri­te about 200 to 250 words.”

2019‑I Detroit: The Most Exci­ting City in America?

  1. „The best way to read a city’s mood is on a bicy­cle.“ Do you agree?
  2. „If you real­ly want to do some­thing, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excu­se.“ Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Descri­be the way in which a major cri­sis opens up new pos­si­bi­li­ties in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor. Wri­te an artic­le for the Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.

2019-II You’d reco­gni­ze the name

  1. Is lying ever moral­ly acceptable?
  2. „I’m not the pro­duct of my cir­cum­s­tances. I’m the pro­duct of my decis­i­ons.“ Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Descri­be the way a dif­fi­cult parent-child rela­ti­onship is dealt with in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lisch-spea­king aut­hor. Wri­te an artic­le for the Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.

2018‑I A Glo­bal City, at a Crossroads

  1. On their 18th bir­th­day every EU resi­dent should be given a free train ticket for tra­vel around Euro­pe for a month (Inter­rail Pass). Discuss.
  2. „To tra­vel hop­eful­ly is a bet­ter things than to arri­ve.“ (Robert Lou­is Ste­ven­son, 1850–1894, Scot­tish wri­ter). Com­ment on this statement.
  3. A character’s strugg­le to find his or her iden­ti­ty often plays a cen­tral role in books and films. Show how this topic is dealt with in a work from the Eng­lish-spea­king world. Wri­te an artic­le for the Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.

2018-II The Mys­te­rious Bullet

  1. Ima­gi­ne your school has been repea­ted­ly tar­ge­ted by van­dals. A sug­ges­ti­on has been made to install CCTV came­ras to stop the van­da­lism. Discuss.
  2. „The best class­room in the world is at the feet of an elder­ly per­son.“ (Andy Roo­ney, 1919–2011, Ame­ri­can radi­on and tele­vi­si­on wri­ter). Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Descri­be the way a crime is dealt with in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor. Wri­te an artic­le for the Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.

2017‑I Super­high­way to cycling heaven […]

  1. It is the state’s respon­si­bi­li­ty to make its citi­zens behave in an envi­ron­men­tal­ly-fri­end­ly man­ner. Do you agree?
  2. „Life is like riding a bicy­cle. To keep your balan­ce you must keep moving.“ (Albert Ein­stein, 1879–1955, phy­si­cist) Com­ment on this statement.
  3. It should be ille­gal to make jour­neys of less than two miles by car. Discuss.

2017-II Pro­s­pect Park

  1. Never mar­ry someone your par­ents do not appro­ve of. Do you agree?
  2. „Education’s pur­po­se is to replace an emp­ty mind with an open one.“ (Mal­colm For­bes, 1919–1990, US publisher) Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Descri­be the way a con­flict with far-rea­ching con­se­quen­ces is dealt with in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor. Wri­te a review for an Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.

2016‑I Fes­ti­val City […]

  1. Regio­nal iden­ti­ty is some­thing we should hold on in today’s glo­ba­li­sed world. Do you agree?
  2. “Art does not exist only to enter­tain, but also to chall­enge one to think, to pro­vo­ke, even to dis­turb, in a con­stant search for truth.” (Bar­ba­ra Strei­sand, *1942; US sin­ger and actress) Com­ment on this statement.
  3. You are going to set up an Eng­lish dra­ma group at your school and have alre­a­dy cho­sen a play by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor. Wri­te a text for the school web­site intro­du­cing the play and the reasons for your choice in order to find sui­ta­ble actors and actresses.

2016-II Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger

  1. Zoos should be abo­lished. Do you agree?
  2. “I object to vio­lence becau­se when it appears to do good, the good is only tem­po­ra­ry; the evil it does is per­ma­nent.” (Mahat­ma Gan­dhi, 1869–1948; Indi­an poli­ti­ci­an). Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Your Bri­tish fri­ends have told you that they are thin­king of joi­ning a tou­rist expe­di­ti­on to base camp on Mount Ever­est as part of their gap year. You are won­de­ring about the impli­ca­ti­ons of doing so and wri­te them an email lay­ing out your thoughts.

2015‑I Canal boats […]

  1. Gro­wing migra­ti­on to urban are­as in the 21st cen­tu­ry: dis­cuss the impli­ca­ti­ons for rural communities.
  2. “The imper­so­nal hand of govern­ment can never replace the hel­ping hand of a neigh­bor”. Com­ment on this statement.
  3. A tur­ning point in a person’s life: wri­te a review for an Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school maga­zi­ne, describ­ing a tur­ning point in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor and how it affects a character’s life.

2015-II Step­ping into His Shoes

  1. Fol­lo­wing in your par­ents‘ foot­s­teps – a good idea? Discuss.
  2. “Tra­di­ti­on is a gui­de and not a jai­ler.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. A tur­ning point in a person’s life: wri­te a review for an Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school maga­zi­ne, describ­ing a tur­ning point in a lite­ra­ry work by an Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hor and how it affects a character’s life.

2014‑I The New Ame­ri­can Super-Family

  1. Mother’s Day should be abo­lished. Do you agree?
  2. “In every con­ceiva­ble man­ner, the fami­ly is link to our past, bridge to our future.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Ten­si­on in the fami­ly home often plays a cen­tral role in books and films. Choo­se an exam­p­le from the Eng­lish-spea­king world and show how this topic is dealt with.

2014-II Run­ning Late

  1. “Inclu­si­ve edu­ca­ti­on means that all stu­dents attend and are wel­co­med by their neigh­bour­hood schools in age-appro­pria­te, regu­lar clas­ses and are sup­port­ed to learn, con­tri­bu­te and par­ti­ci­pa­te in all aspects of the life of the school.” Out­line how you think stu­dents with men­tal or phy­si­cal disa­bi­li­ties can be included in ever­y­day school life.
  2. “Sci­ence may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no reme­dy for the worst of them all – the apa­thy of human beings.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. [The­ma bezieht sich auf den Text] What might hap­pen next? Con­ti­nue tel­ling the story.

2013‑I You for Sale: Map­ping, and Sha­ring, the Con­su­mer Genome

  1. Does social sta­tus affect a person’s opti­ons? Discuss.
  2. “It has beco­me appal­lingly obvious that our tech­no­lo­gy has excee­ded our huma­ni­ty.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. You are con­tri­bu­ting an artic­le to The Lear­ning Net­work of The New York Times, a site aimed at pupils and tea­chers, about the impact of Inter­net shop­ping on socie­ty. Wri­te the article.

2013-II Dogs in the Fields

  1. “Hap­pi­ness is having a lar­ge, loving, caring, clo­se-knit fami­ly in ano­ther city.” Com­ment on this statement.
  2. Does social sta­tus affect a person’s future opti­ons? Discuss.
  3. Thanks to social media, loneli­ne­ss is a thing of the past. Do you agree?

2012‑I Fal­len City: Could a Game Help Us Find a Solu­ti­on to Society’s Ills?

  1. Can peo­p­le actual­ly learn for real life by play­ing simu­la­ti­on games? Choo­se an exam­p­le or a gen­re that you are fami­li­ar with and explain its merits and limitations.
  2. “City life: mil­li­ons of peo­p­le being lone­so­me tog­e­ther.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. A school in Glas­gow has repla­ced school­books with iPads. Wri­te an artic­le for your school maga­zi­ne dis­cus­sing this step.

2012-II Down Bow­mont Hill

  1. Food is a good way to explo­re new cul­tures. Com­ment on this statement.
  2. “The­re is always one moment in child­hood when the door opens and lets the future in.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. Dis­cri­mi­na­ti­on. Wri­te a review show­ing how this issue is dealt with in a film or a work of lite­ra­tu­re by an Eng­lish-spea­king writer.

2011‑I Why I’m Tired of Choice

  1. Should vio­lent video games be banned?
  2. You have taken part in a stu­dy “Four weeks wit­hout elec­tro­nic devices”. The four weeks are over now and you descri­be your expe­ri­en­ces in an Inter­net blog.
  3. Bri­an Braye has been award­ed a medal for show­ing civil cou­ra­ge. Wri­te an artic­le based on your inter­view with him.

2011-II Schools

  1. Some schools have re-intro­du­ced sin­gle-sex edu­ca­ti­on. Do you think this is a good idea?
  2. “Affluence sepa­ra­tes peo­p­le. Pover­ty knits them tog­e­ther.” Com­ment on this statement.
  3. School life has often been the sub­ject of films or books by Eng­lish-spea­king aut­hors. Wri­te a review of a work of your choice for an Eng­lish edi­ti­on of your school magazine.