You will be presented with two situations or opinions. You will have to give your point of view on the subject and explain your reasoning with examples and arguments. You will have 45 seconds to record your answer.
The day of the exam: You will have 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to record your answer.
Tip: Prepare by practicing the recurring types of questions, such as explaining advantages and disadvantages, describing or explaining, expressing a preference, etc.
Some people think that the criminal justice system should exist to punish wrong-doing, whereas others believe it should be used to prevent people from reoffending after their sentence is over. Which opinion do you find more persuasive? Explain why.
Explanation
Try to incorporate more forms of giving your opinion than just ‘I think, I believe’. For example, you could say: “in my opinion”, “it’s my belief”, “I am convinced”.
Suggestion
I’m of the opinion that it is more beneficial to society to stop criminals from reoffending than it is simply to punish them. First and foremost, while the temptation to punish criminals is strong, after they get out of jail they will have to rejoin society, and they are more likely to do so successfully if, for example, they learn valuable skills in prison, rather than just doing physical labour. Secondly, our laws should reflect the type of society that we want to be. We should not want to be a society of vengeance, but rather, one of forgiveness. If someone steals a car, for example, once they’ve served their sentence, they should be forgiven for their crime and encouraged to reenter society.