Part 2 Topic Number 

Part 3 Topic

 Questions

• What are the different ways that people use to get their news?

• What are some differences between parks in cities and those in the countryside? 

• Are there any differences today in the way children are brought up, compared to years ago?

• How do you think present-day preschool education is different to that of years ago?

• What are some differences between 'government social services' and private charitable organizations?

• Do neighbours today have the same kinds of relationship with each other that they used to have many years ago?

• What are the differences between business letters and personal letters?

• Compare spending time with one's friends and with one's family? 
• Similar to above) Compare the things you do with your family with the things you do with your friends.
• (Similar to above) Compare people's relationships with their families and their relationships with friends.
• What do children think about friendship? What about adults? (Compare them.)
• Do you think the quality of friendships today is different to the quality of friendships that people had a few decades ago?

• Compare the different human relationships that people have in school with the different kinds of relationships people have in the workplace.

• Compare the friendships that people have at work with the friendships people have at school.
• (Similar to above) Compare friendships and relationships that people have with colleagues at work.
• Compare spending time with one's boss and with one's friends (or workmates/work colleagues).

• (Similar to above) Compare one's relationship with one's friends (or workmates/work colleagues) and with one's boss.

• Compare traditional Chinese clothes with modern clothes worn in China.
• Compare traditional events and celebrations in China with modern events and celebrations.
• Are young people as interested in traditional events as older people?
• Compare modern weddings in China with traditional Chinese weddings (i.e., weddings many years ago).
• What are some examples of traditions in China that are different to those in the West?

• Are there different types of "success"?

• Compare old cameras with those in use today.
• Compare old photographs and new photographs.
• (Similar to above) How can one distinguish between an old photograph and a recent one?
• How has photography (or, photographic technology) changed over the past few decades?
• Compare the photos that you take with those that professional photographers take.
• (Similar to above) Compare the photos that professional photographers take and the photos that amateur photographers take.
• (Similar to above) What do you think is the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer?
• Some people prefer to take still photographs while others prefer to take videos. Why?
• Similar to above) Why do more and more people take videos instead of still photographs?
• (Similar to above) Compare videos and still photographs.
• (Similar to above) Why do many people now prefer to use a video recorder instead of a camera?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of storing photos in digital form and storing them in a traditional photo album?

• Compare a typical family photograph and an artistic photograph.
• Compare art photographs and ordinary, everyday photographs.
• Compare painting pictures and taking photographs (as art forms).
• Which leaves a deeper impression on people, a picture or a written description of some event or scene?

• When you look at photographs in magazines and when you look at photos that you have taken yourself, do you have the same kind of feelings (or, thoughts)?

• Compared to years ago, how do think China's environmental problems have changed?
• Compared to before, do you think people's awareness (consciousness) of environmental problems has increased or decreased? (How? Why?)
• Do older people in China have the same attitudes towards the environment as young people?

• Compare how waste is disposed of today and how it used to be disposed of many years ago.
• Do young people & older people have the same attitudes towards waste disposal? (E.g., attitudes towards recycling, and towards what should be thrown away & what should be kept.)

• When people move to another country (migrate to another country), what changes do you think take place in their lives, compared to their lives before they left home?

• How have attitudes about international travel changed in China in the past 20 years?
• Compare the types of travel destinations that people your age choose and the destinations that people your parents' age choose.
• Compare the types of travel destinations that people your age choose and the destinations that people your parents' age choose.
• Compare the travel destinations that city people prefer and the travel destinations that rural dwellers prefer.
• Why do many people (i.e., city people) prefer to travel to places of natural beauty rather than travel to another city?
• Compare tourism today in China to, say, thirty years ago.
• People from one kind of place are often different to people from a different kind of place. Can you give some examples of this and possibly explain why they are different?

• Do you prefer using the internet to find information or do you prefer using a library? (Answer & compare the two.)

• Today, different groups or different types of people in society all use the internet. Why do you think this is the case?
• Some people say that different age groups have different tastes on internet content. What do you think?
• Both the invention of printing and the invention of the internet were major inventions. Which one do you think had the biggest influence on people (on society)? 

• Compare the advantages of small wedding celebrations and large wedding celebrations. 
• Compare modern weddings in China with traditional Chinese weddings (i.e., weddings many years ago).
• Do you know of any differences between weddings in China and those in the West (=overseas)?

• Who do you think should be more responsible for the education of children in the home (or, the upbringing of the children), the father or the mother?
• Do you think one's marriage is more important than one's career?
• In Chinese families, do men and women share the housework equally? 

• In general, how important are special family events, compared with public events (i.e., events for the whole of society)?

• Does the food in the restaurant you just talked about (in Part 2) taste different to Western food? (Compare the two)
• How is restaurant food different to home cooking?

• Compare the heroes of young people several years ago (e.g., 20 to 50 years ago) to the heroes of young people today.

• How is the way children are brought up today in China different to when your parents were young?

• Compare big shops such as supermarkets & department stores with small shops.

• Compare people who live in cities with people who live in rural areas.

• Is there any difference to the way you make friends now, compared to when you were a child?
• (Similar to above) Are there any differences between childhood friends and friends in adulthood?
• What do you think is the difference between a 'close friends' and a 'best friend'?
• How is the way people make friends today different to the way people made friends years ago?
• Do you think it's easier to make friends today than it used to be?
• Do children and adults make friends in the same way?

• Is there any difference to the way you make friends now, compared to when you were a child?
• Do young people and old(er) people find happiness from the same things? (Compare the two.)
• Are the things (or, the events) that make people happy today the same as several decades ago?

• Do you think that what most people remember about the past is accurate, compared to what really happened?
• Compare the memories that older people have with the memories that young people have about childhood experiences?

• Compare learning about one's national history (or, one's local history) with learning about world history.
• (Similar to above) Which do you think is more important for children to study at school, their nation's history (or local history) or world history?

• Do you think teachers with different personalities can affect the students differently?

• During their holiday time, do most people in China prefer to stay at home and relax or do they prefer to travel?
• (Similar to above) How would you compare relaxing at home to traveling as a way to spend one's holidays?
• Which group of people do you think prefers to relax at home - old people or young people? Why?

• Do people with different kinds of jobs choose different kinds of travel destinations?
• When relaxing, what's the difference between traveling and staying at home?

• Do young people (e.g., 15 -25 years old) and older people (e.g., over 30 years old) have the same attitudes towards punctuality?
• (Similar to above but not the same) Do young people and old people (e.g., over 60 years old) have the same attitudes towards punctuality?
• Do you think that ideas about being 'on time' are the same in the West and in China?
• (Similar to above) Do you think that ideas about being 'on time' are the same in different cultures (or, different countries)?

• Do young people and old people have the same ideas about (the importance of) time?
• Do you think Western people and Chinese people have the same ideas about (the importance of) time?
• Do people today and people many years ago have the same ideas about (the importance of) time?
• Do rural people and urban people have the same ideas about (the importance of) time?

• What's the difference between children and teenagers?
• In what ways do you think teenagers in China are different to those in the Western countries? 
• How is the life of teenagers (or children) today different to what it was 20 or 30 years ago?
• Do young children and teenagers have the same attitudes towards older people?

• Which place do you think is better for keeping animals, the city or the countryside?
• What animals are more suited to city life and what animals are more suited to country life? (Compare & contrast them.)
• Have there been any changes in China on the question of pets in the past few years? In other words, are there any differences between today and a few decades ago on the question of keeping a pet at home?

• Do you think that the way animals are portrayed in books today is different to the way they were portrayed many years ago?
• Do people today treat animals the same as they used to do, several decades ago? 

• What effects do different kinds of music have on children?

• What are some of the different places where modern people go to listen to music?
• Which one do you prefer? (Why?)
• Does traditional (Chinese) music still have an important role in China today?

• When you have guests, do you think it is better to eat at home or to go to a restaurant? (Answer the basic question & compare the two.)

• When you travel to another city, do you prefer to stay in a hotel or with friends? (Why?)
• For visitors to your hometown, what different choices of accommodation are there?
• How have hotels in China changed in the past 20 years or so?

• In English, sometimes we say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Do you agree with that? (Why?/Why not?)

• (Similar to above) Do you think people should change their behaviour, for example, the way they relate to other people, when they visit a place that has a different culture?

• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of hiring young people and of hiring older people for work?
• Do you think different occupations should be paid different salaries?
• How do young people and older people relate to each other in the same workplace? 

• Is the way people use water today the same as the way people used to use water, say, 30 or 50 years ago?

• Is the news that we get from different parts of the world different?

• What are some of the main differences between getting information from magazines and getting information from other media such as TV or the internet?

• If you had your own personal garden, which would you prefer to grow, vegetables or flowers? (Why?)
• Do you think people should grow food or flowers in their gardens? (Compare the importance/value of the two.)

• Compared to a few decades ago, do you think modern people do more or less exercise?
• (Similar to above) How has the sport that people engage in (in China) changed, compared to a few decades ago?

• How do you think international level athletes are different to average people (or, average, weekend athletes who engage in sports competition just for fun)? (Compare them.)
• How are the physical skills of men and those of women different? (Hints: strength, endurance, aggressiveness, agility, gracefulness ... )
• Do you think boys and girls should play the same kinds of sports? (Why?/Why not?)
• (Similar to above) Do you think boys and girls should compete against each other or play together on the same sports teams?

• Films in cinemas are all for entertainment. How do you think these films compare with documentary videos or documentary TV shows?
• (Similar to above) What are the differences between documentary films and films purely for entertainment?

• How has teaching (in China) changed, compared to several decades ago?

• Do old(er) people and young people have the same attitudes towards the things they own?
• Do adults and children have the same attitudes towards the things they own?

• Compare the products that are made in China with similar products produced overseas.

• Which do you think is more useful, a simple design or a complex design? (Compare them & say why.)

• How was housework many decades ago different to housework today?