This policy would benefit the state and provide trade
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. If the government decides to promote mother tongue education for large immigrant groups it will be enhancing mutual understanding between its own population and another nation as the immigrants provide a go between .
2. The state will send a positive message towards the large immigrant groups by allowing them to study in their first language .
3. The reason was because new exporting firms are created immigrants know the conditions in their own country so can access that market , something that would be impossible without a native understanding of the language .
4. The effect of migrants on trade is often ignored but studies have shown that in the case of Spain from 1995-2008 exports are boosted by having immigrant communities ; doubling the number of immigrants from a certain country in a province leads to an increase of the export values from the destination province to the country of the immigrants origin by around 10 % .
5. This may produce clear advantages for both parties , in the form of collaboration , diplomacy and trade .
6. Having migrants creates a link between the two countries .
7. A favorable treatment towards the large immigrant groups will be seen positively by the country the immigrants come from .
8. On the other hand , promoting diversity will promote understanding between countries .
9. The importance of cooperation between immigrant groups and the state is often recognized , for example in combating extremism , this kind of measure encourages such cooperation as it brings with it the good will of the immigrant community .
10. It will acknowledge the importance of such groups in the national society by providing this additional opportunity .


Communities should have a say in what is taught in schools, and many communities want to teach creationism.
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. This is why Creationism , a belief held to varying extents in many countries , should be taught in the classroom.This is particularly true in the United States , where in several states the majority of people does not accept evolution , but have instead adopted Creationism , considering the evidence for the latter to be more convincing .
2. Children deserve to hear that their beliefs and those of their community are respected in the classroom .
3. School boards should be able to set curriculum based on the desires of the public , not just on what the scientific elites command to be taught .
4. Society is made up of communities with their own views on politics , religion , education , etc. .
5. It is important for social stability that schools are allowed to teach what communities believe to be true .
6. Furthermore , evolution taught exclusively threatens religious belief , telling children they are no more than animals and lack the spark of grace given by God .
7. The teaching of Creationism should not be taught exclusively , but should share time with other prevailing theories , particularly those of evolution and abiogenesis .
8. In a poll in 2009 a majority -LRB- 57 % -RRB- said that creationism should be taught in schools either without evolution or alongside it .


Unconventional oil can contribute to ‘energy security’
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. The United States and other oil importing countries could lessen dependence and thereby stop financing corrupt Middle Eastern regimes via oil imports -LRB- 2010 -RRB- .
2. Suppose the United States or the European Union would face a serious deterioration in diplomatic relations with the Middle East , after which OPEC would decide to cut oil supplies the consequences would be dire , as the 1973 oil crisis showed .
3. This creates a dangerous dependency for all oil-importing countries .
4. In 2010 , OPEC-countries held about 80 % of the worlds global proven conventional oil reserves , with the bulk of this in the Middle East .
5. Currently , global oil supply is dominated by the OPEC-cartel , consisting of countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia .
6. For example , the second largest world oil reserve lies at the Athabasca oil sands deposit in Canada , which is not a member of OPEC -LRB- wikipedia , .
7. A lot of the worlds unconventional oil is outside of OPEC .
8. Problems affecting the flow of oil from the Middle East are unlikely to affect the flow of unconventional oil from Canada at the same time .
9. Since unconventional oil is found in many places around the world , it offers oil importing countries the possibility to diversify their energy import portfolio , thus lessening the risk of being cut off for political reasons -LRB- , 2011 -RRB- .


Sentences: 1. The decision of whether an individual is ready to engage in a sexual relationship is a purely personal one ; refusing contraceptives places them at unnecessarily medical risk , both physically and mentally , and does not adhere to the duty of care by doctors for their patients .
2. As long as these girls meet the requirements for consent laid out by the relevant medical authority , there should be no reason for contraceptives should be denied to them .
3. Medical advice and prescriptions should be given on an individual , rather than uniform , basis .
4. Refusing to prescribe contraceptives for girls below the age of consent assumes that no under-age girls can make an informed decision to choose a sexual relationship .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Refusing to prescribe contraceptives below a certain age ignores the principle of informed consent.


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Even if a state were to give preferential treatment to domestic manufacturers and low-level service providers , it would still run the risk of being out-competed by its counterparts in the developing world .
2. The residual power of collective bargaining mechanisms such as unions , coupled with expectations of high pay and highly refined working conditions mean the relative competitiveness of first-world manufacturing industries has dropped .
3. While , in the long-term , the number of highly skilled workers within domestic economies will grow , in the short term , a significant number of older manual and clerical workers may become unemployable as a result of more intense overseas competition .
4. Better standards of education , growing personal wealth and the frequent use of credit to purchase assets have created a collective action problem in first world states that practice off shoring .
5. This interrelationship has successfully fostered developed within all of the worlds largest economies , without creating unmanageable regional inequalities and without undermining workers rights .
6. Competition within these areas will drive labour costs down but a downward trend in service and production costs will usually lead to an upward trend in demand .
7. First world nations now compete in knowledge-led economies , seeking to provide research new technologies and provide novel services to consumers in other highly developed nations .
8. Greater social mobility and education attainment within developed economies reduces the availability of the types of skilled and semi-skilled manufacturing-oriented labour that drove first-world economies during the twentieth century .
9. Further , the potential costs of assisting excluded domestic workers to re-enter the job market will be covered by increased taxation and excise revenues resulting from more frequent trade with offshore outsourcing firms .
10. However , side proposition argues that this constitutes a marginal and bearable cost in term of the wider benefits to quality of life that outsourcing achieves .


A Cap and Trade system is fairer to producers
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. It is wrong to suddenly consider all energy production that involves carbon emissions a social `` harm '' , after decades of thinking to the contrary .
2. Carbon emitting energy industries emerged long ago , before anyone thought about the environmental impact of this industry .
3. Further , A cap-and-trade system is `` fair '' because it rewards `` efficient '' - polluters while punishing `` non-efficient '' polluters : Given the above argument , this is a more reasonable approach to rewarding and punishing an industry whose emergence pre-dates the environmental concerns surrounding carbon emissions .
4. Modern energy producers should not be punished for their participation in an industry whose emergence pre-dates concerns of global warming .


This House believes democracy can be built as a result of interventions
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Interventions show external support, strengthening local democratic movements.


Claim: IVF treatments will be safer.
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Most couples which decide to do IVF treatments do not have unlimited funds available to them .
2. Therefore , once they decide to do IVF treatments in order to reduce the costs of more cycles , couples and clinicians -LRB- with only private funds -RRB- typically opt to implant numerous embryos , hoping at least one will survive .
3. While this may reduce the cost of treatments , it can result in multiples anything from twins to the infamous Octomom octoplets .
4. Multiples tend to be born prematurely and have a high rate of health problems , which can result in tremendous medical costs and life-long expenses , such as special education .
5. Through the IVF treatments the early numbers in Quebec show , only 3.8 per cent of pregnancies in the IVF program are now multiples , down sharply from 27.2 per cent .
6. So with the public funding , two benefits are safer treatment of mother and child -LRB- since only one implant at a time gets implanted -RRB- and reduced cost of IVF treatment for parents .


This House supports the Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws
What is a possible side to this debate?

Protecting the interests of stakeholders


1. Trading a plea bargain for those dangerous and actively criminal associates is good for the community , but can not be accomplished if we can not prosecute the car thief in the first place .
2. Prosecutors are the appropriate individuals to determine which particular crimes are most damaging to the community , and how resources should be allocated .
3. They have the greatest amount of exposure to criminals -LRB- particularly repeat offenders with whom they may be familiar -RRB- and the methods that can be used to punish and rehabilitate them .
4. Limitations statues should be repealed to give prosecutors more flexibility , in pursuing and investigating crimes .
5. For instance , even if a low-level criminal who committed grand theft auto with a statute of limitations of three years is no longer a real threat , threatening him with prosecution might cause him to give up friends he knows who committed more relevant , more recent crimes .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

Prosecutors are the appropriate individuals to determine which crimes to prosecute in order to keep the community safest.


Claim: Collaboration in editing encourages democratic principles
What evidence supports this claim?

1. The process of collaboration required to create and maintain an up-to-date , factual source of information encourages democratic practices and principles .
2. Wikipedia seeks to achieve its democratic goal of the spread of free , open material by democratic means .
3. As an open-source project it relies upon the collaboration of tens of thousands of people who constantly add , check and edit articles .
4. Disagreements and disputes are sent up the line to moderators , who oversee the editing process .
5. This socialisation of expertise as David Weinberger puts it ensures that errors and omissions are rapidly identified and corrected and that the site is constantly and accurately updated .
6. No traditional encyclopaedia can match this scrutiny .
7. Indeed , Wikipedia has the potential to be the greatest effort in collaborative knowledge gathering the world has ever known , and it may well be the greatest effort in voluntary collaboration of any kind .
8. Not only do such democratic processes encourage democracy more generally , but they are an effective means to create a user-friendly product , as illustrated by open source software such as Firefox and Linux .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Advertising gives the impression , especially to children , that they can and should have everything they want .
2. This makes people too interested in material things .
3. People are becoming more selfish and obsessed with their possessions , and losing their values of patience , hard work , moderation and the importance of non-material things like family and friends .
4. This harms their relationships and their personal development , which has serious effects for society as a whole .

This House believes that advertising is harmful


Sentences: 1. The United States must prevent Iran from ever being able to put such threats into action which may mean having to engage in military action to prevent Iran gaining the capability .
2. Even an unsuccessful attack on Israel would provoke a counter strike .
3. The US would take much of the blame for the casualties of such a strike even if it counselled Israel against it .
4. Iran has explicitly threatened to destroy Israel , President Ahmadinejad described Israel as a `` disgraceful blot '' that should be `` wiped off the face of the earth '' .
5. Such a prospect would be disastrous , not just in its initial consequences , but for the entire region .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

[Iran specific] Iran has threatened to destroy Israel


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Israel restricted the Palestinian construction and economic development , which led to the emigration of the Palestinians from the city to new areas developed as suburbs of the city .
2. This territorial/demographic domination and restriction on Palestinian development affected East Jerusalem by deteriorating its functionality in disconnecting it from its hinterland and West Bank areas .
3. On the contrary , the policy has been to separate and isolate them .
4. East Jerusalem serves naturally as a metropolitan center of the entire West Bank , until the Oslo agreement in September 1993 , some autonomy of Palestinian Jerusalemites was allowed especially in educational , sport , health , cultural , religious institutions and community based organizations .
5. Israeli policies have been directed to mainly serve spatial/demographic domination of `` Jewish Jerusalem . ''
6. There was no attempt to `` integrate '' the Palestinian neighborhoods ' functions with West Jerusalem or the settlements built in Palestinian areas .
7. Israel of today is in the process of replacing the slogan of `` United Jerusalem '' with great `` Jewish Jerusalem '' with the Old City as its core .
8. As a result of the Israeli policy , Palestinian neighborhoods -LRB- including the available land for future development -RRB- consist of only 17 percent of the entire East Jerusalem area and 7 percent of total municipal Jerusalem .
9. There has however been a movement from `` United Jerusalem '' to `` Jewish Jerusalem . ''
10. From 2000 the Palestinian demographic threat , became the reason for `` getting rid '' of Palestinian Jerusalemites after Israel had accomplished its spacio-political goals for a `` Jewish Jerusalem . ''

This House believes that Jerusalem should be divided


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. Theyve proven there is no link between MMR vaccinations and autism .
2. Since then several studies -LRB- 31 according to the NHS -RRB- disproved the claims made by a study .
3. Because it was published in a well-known magazine it was considered a reliable source .
4. In 1998 , Dr , Andrew Wakefield started a big campaign against multiple vaccinations , when his research , published in The Lancet -LRB- a medical journal -RRB- a study on how MMR jabs increase the likelihood of children for autism .
5. Based on that evidence we see , that not more children became autistic because of the vaccination and that on scientific grounds there is no found linkage between autism and multiple vaccination .
6. The prevalence of autism varies considerably with case ascertainment , ranging from 0.7 21.1 per 10 000 children , with autistic spectrum disorder estimated to be 1 6 per 1000 .
7. The WHO states , that : Autistic spectrum disorder represents a continuum of cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders including autism .
8. Further on the World Health Organisation explained in 2003 , that autism , especially in countries with high vaccination rates has not increased .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. There is then a period where there are condemnations and threats to increase sanctions that usually dont get anywhere as they are blocked by China .
2. The North Korean regime will then proclaim a willingness to do business and negotiate giving minor concessions on the issue of the provocation in return for aid or whatever the regime happens to want at the time .
3. North Korea has an attention seeking cycle on the go that was used by Kim Jong Il and now seems to be used by his son Kim Jong Un .
4. Essentially North Korea takes a provocative action -LRB- as big or small as it thinks necessary this may be a missile launch , right up to some kind of military attack -RRB- in order to grab the worlds attention .
5. Hong , Adrian , How to Free North Korea , , 19 December 2011 ,
6. Of course whatever concession it gives is easily reversible so setting up another round .
7. This is a good deal for North Korea as it essentially gets aid in return for bad behaviour , it is therefore not surprising that the North is willing to continue engaging in bad behaviour .

This House would ignore North Korean provocations


This House prefers its government Big and Beefy
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Government was required to drive through major changes such as drives for equality within society, universal education, and preservation of the environment. Mostly in the teeth of big business


This house Would Ban School Uniforms - Junior
What argument could one make about this debate topic?


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. -LSB- 2 -RSB- Ikenberry , John G. -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , Americas Imperial Ambition , September/October 2002 .
2. * liberal grand strategy is a terminology that describes the USAs long term policy goal - to promote its system to other countries .
3. Social Forces , States and World Orders : Beyond International Relations Theory , in R.O. Keohane -LRB- ed . -RRB-
4. , -LRB- New York : Columbia University Press , 1986 -RRB- Where the US has used military force , it has largely done it to uphold human rights and international peace , security and prosperity .
5. Gramsci , Hegemony and International Relations , , Vol .
6. 12 , No. 2 , 1983 , pp. 162-175. , Cox , Robert .
7. -LSB- 2 -RSB- This has allowed other countries to prosper economically and also in terms of their security ; the rebuilding and success of Japan and Germany provides important examples of this .
8. -LSB- 1 -RSB- Cox , Robert .
9. As Robert Cox argues , American hegemony has been successful because the US has been able to maintain its dominance through a high level of global consensus by establishing a broadly accepted rules-based liberal international economic order , and has been able to shape other states preferences in a manner that has awarded sufficient benefits to these states while ensuring the dominance of the US .
10. -LSB- 1 -RSB- This has been what John Ikenberry terms Americas liberal grand strategy , * which has enabled the US to construct a relatively benign and highly institutionalized multilateral system based on open markets , free trade , and the provision of public goods , such as collective security and an open international trading regime .

The US used its power to establish a set of open global institutions which have been broadly beneficial.


Gender and geographic diversity would improve through popular election
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. For example , Hilary Clinton or German Chancellor Merkel might be candidates , as well as figures from Eastern Europe -LRB- who have held no SG positions so far -RRB- .
2. Getting rid of the cumbersome veto process might encourage more women to come forward .
3. Currently , the status quo tends to perpetuate itself .
4. The representatives who end up making the decisions on a candidates viability are usually men , from wealthy and privileged backgrounds .
5. By bringing more people into the decision-making process , the door is open to more types of people .
6. Gender and geographic diversity would improve among candidates .
7. Out of eight Secretaries-General so far , a woman has yet to lead the organization .
8. Furthermore , women candidates are rarely even considered .
9. Vaira Vike-Freiberga , only got seven positive votes when she ran against Ban Ki-moon .


Claim: Israel’s security wall annexes Palestinian territory that is needed for a viable state.
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Most western governments have criticised the barrier because part of its route departs from the so-called Green Line , Israel 's pre-1967 boundary and the internationally recognised border .
2. This obviously reduces the viability of any eventual Palestinian state as it will need to rely more on imported food .
3. Palestinian leaders assert that the route chosen could lead to almost half of the cultivatable land in the West Bank being annexed .
4. Israels security wall effectively annexes Palestinian territory .
5. This is clearly wrong and a barrier that kept to the 1967 border would have allowed the Palestinians a viable future state while also providing security for Israel .
6. It also violates property rights , as thousands of acres of land have been taken away from Palestinian owners in order to build the wall and the wide strip of access tracks beside it .
7. The route is not based on security considerations , but is clearly political , concerned to tie the land around Israeli settlements to Israel .


Claim: The ICC offers justice to victims of war crimes.
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Such reparations may include restitution , indemnification and rehabilitation .
2. Judges are able to order such reparations whether the victims have been able to apply for them or not .
3. Though reparations will often not be sufficient on their own for lasting peace , they are a step in the right direction and only made possible by the establishment of the ICC .
4. The ICC offers a multilateral means by which international law can be brought to bear on the perpetrators of war crimes .
5. As Amnesty International argues , ` the ICC ensures that those who commit serious human rights violations are held accountable .
6. Justice helps promote lasting peace , enables victims to rebuild their lives and sends a strong message that perpetrators of serious international crimes will not go unpunished ' .
7. Furthermore , and for the first time , the ICC has the power to order a criminal to pay reparations to a victim who has suffered as a result of their crimes .


This House would introduce a Tobin tax.
What is a possible side to this debate?

A Tobin tax protects the most vulnerable economies.


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. The cancellation of the debts would only apply to government to government debt and debts to the big international institutions such as the World Bank so there are relatively few actors who need to agree to the cancellation .
2. Cancelling debt and the interest payments these debts entail is the easiest way of helping the poorest countries develop .
3. The IMF and World Bank could look at countries on a case by case basis to see which countries are most deserving and where the cancellation would have greatest benefits .
4. As the cancellation would be done between governments it would be easy to target which countries get debt cancellation , this would mean the poorest and most in need but could potentially mean excluding countries where the windfall will simply mean propping up a regime that is brutalizing its own people .
5. The actual cancellation of the debts would then be relatively simple , the governments would simply accept that they are never going to be repaid and take the debt off their books .

Cancellation is the easiest option to help the poorest develop


This House would allow wire-tapped and intercepted evidence as admissible in court
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Countries which do not allow intercept evidence have created a contradictory, rather than transparent, set of legal boundaries.


Claim: Sharing Jerusalem is necessary for peace
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Hady Amr , Director of Brookings Doha Center , wrote in 2007 : `` At a recent closed-door gathering of former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators hosted at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution ... had come to realize just how painful the issue of Jerusalem was for both sides , that neither side could feel whole without Jerusalem , and that separation arrangements were unworkable when emotions flared over a few feet of Jerusalem stone .
2. Although it took a decade , the Israelis realized that they could not be secure from Palestinian rancor if they deprived Muslim and Christian Palestinians of sovereignty over the Muslim Noble Sanctuary and the holy Christian churches .
3. The Palestinian negotiators also acknowledged the corollary Israeli need for sovereignty over not only the Wailing Wall , but also the Jewish Temple Mount . ''
4. -LRB- 4 -RRB- A poll in 2000 showed some 40 percent of Israelis were ready to give up Arab East Jerusalem without even knowing what they would get in return .
5. -LRB- 1 -RRB- While it is an unlikely solution most of the more likely methods have already been tried so new more unconventional solutions need to be tried .
6. The division of Jerusalem could be such a solution that would kick start the rest of the peace process .
7. The benefits of ending the conflict would be immense .
8. -LRB- 4 -RRB-
9. The Palestinians wont trust them as a result of decades where they have not been fair to Palestinians and have been abusive rather than protective .
10. -LRB- 2 -RRB- All this means that Israeli rule in East Jerusalem can never be legitimate in the eyes of the Palestinians , and so long term peace can never emerge as long as this rule continues .


1. 30 Septemebr 2008 .
2. The Independent .
3. Israel will have to reinstate pre-1967 border for peace deal , Olmert admits .
4. MacIntyre , Donald .
5. 5 November 2010 .
6. UPI.com .
7. Saudi to Israel : Return to 1967 borders .
8. Haaretz .
9. PLO chief : We will recognize Israel in return for 1967 borders .
10. Even Ismail Haniyeh , leader of the more extreme Hamas organisation , has said Hamas will accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and will offer Israel a long term truce if it withdraws accordingly .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

Returning to the 1967 borders would bring peace to Israel.


Claim: Profit margins are too small
What evidence supports this claim?

1. The Tourism Crisis in Tunisia Goes Beyond Security Issues , 26 June 2012
2. This reliance on a low-profit niche in the tourism industry is a systematic flaw which will not provide the economic growth which the country needs .
3. 1 -RRB- Achy , L .
4. This has resulted in a low per-capita spending rate as food , drink and travel are all usually included in sea-side holiday resorts .
5. Average per-capita spending for tourists in Tunisia amounted to around $ 385 in 2012 which is low when compared to Egypts $ 890 and Greeces $ 1000 .
6. A major problem for Tunisias tourism sector is the small profit margin .
7. The industrys main targets are European , middle class income visitors on package holidays to sea-side resorts .


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. Russia remains reliant on natural resources for much of its wealth ; 30 % of its GDP and 70 % of exports .
2. Its most recent presidential election that voted in Putin for a third term was not exactly free and fair .
3. The G8 has been meant to be a group of industrialised democracies .
4. Russia is neither particularly industrialised , nor particularly democratic .
5. Yet Russia remains essentially an outsider in the group , it does not share western values and goes its own way .
6. The OSCE election observers concluded There was no real competition and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt .
7. Its qualifications for membership have been questioned from the very beginning , when Russia joined the G7 were able to argue inclusion would bring it closer to the west .


Claim: It’s in the interests of employers
What evidence supports this claim?

1. HIV can make people tired and can lead to being sick more often as it means the immune system will not be able to fight off infections as well as it normally would .
2. They will have to make provision for possible sickness cover and replacement workers , potentially for medical and/or retirement costs .
3. A long , incurable and debilitating condition has stricken one of their employees .
4. Its in the interests of employers .
5. Traditional rights ideas such as concerns about privacy of medical records are less important than the benefit to society of being able to cope with the unique problem of HIV more effectively .
6. Employers must be listened to in this debate in many HIV-stricken countries , theyre the last thing between a semi-functioning society and complete economic and social collapse .
7. If things are made difficult for employers with HIV positive workers , then they are less likely in the future to employ people who -LRB- they suspect -RRB- are HIV positive .
8. The employees productivity might be reduced to the point at which their continued employment is no longer viable .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. They have to balance the number of applications they get with both the number of teaching staff they have and the time they need for research .
2. Universities can not take every student who applies .
3. Simply put , if you want to have academics doing useful research , you cant expect them to teach all the time .
4. In the UK , almost a third of applicants do not get places as it is , and those that do often find they have less contact time with staff than they had expected .
5. Currently , universities are so overwhelmed by demand that it isnt possible for them to test this properly in most cases , they will take a cursory look at predicted grades , and perhaps an interview with the candidate .
6. If universities have a finite number of places , it makes sense that they should be allocated to the people best suited for them .
7. It will also allow them more leisure to reach out to and target students with the right personality , improving the quality of applications .
8. Discouraging applicants would lower the stress on admissions departments , making the process more accurate .
9. Forget all of the discussion as to whether or not academic courses are useful its simply not practical to have everyone do them .

This House would encourage fewer people to go to university


International adoption laws are looser than domestic requirements
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. Jacobson , C. , Ethnicity .
2. Contemporary Sociology , 2009 , pp.425-426 .
3. Furthermore , mothers allowing others to adopt their child are far more likely to pick young couples than older couples who have outlasted their body clock in the search for a child .
4. Therefore , whilst your local government would argue you have insufficient resources to adopt , you are still able to provide for a child a more comfortable environment than that of an orphanage in his home country .
5. Those looking to adopt have to face stringent scrutiny .
6. For example those making less than or equal to 20,000 U.S.D annually have difficulty adopting as they qualify as living below poverty level in the U.S whereas in third/fourth-world countries that same amount qualifies as a decent income .
7. Many parents who desperately want children do not fit the socio-economic requirements to adopt in their own country .
8. Western adoption laws are very difficult to pass through ; even though anyone fertile can have naturally born children .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. In Edinburgh , the multi-million development of the out-of-town shopping centre in Livingston is believed to have created more than 1500 jobs alone .
2. This is not only true in the initial construction stages , it will also apply once it is up and running , as retail staff will typically be recruited fairly locally .
3. As out of town centres are often built on aesthetically unappealing `` brownfield '' sites , the injection of large investment by a retailer is a vote of confidence in the area and this has a knock-on effect in the local economy .
4. Out of town centres bring development in their wake .
5. Other amenities and housing will typically start to congregate near the shop and the centre creates a boom for the local economy .
6. The out of town centre acts as a magnet for further positive development locally .

This House would drive to an out of town shopping centre


Claim: The importance of jobs in livelihoods - money
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Having a job and the financial security it brings means that other benefits can be realised such as investing in good healthcare and education . .
2. Women working from home in Kenya , designing jewellery , shows the link between employment and earning an income .
3. When a woman is able to work she is therefore able to take control of her own life .
4. Additionally she may provide a second wage meaning the burden of poverty on households is cumulatively reduced .
5. A key asset is financial capital .
6. Jobs , and employment , provide a means to access and build financial capital required , whether through loans or wages .
7. Jobs are empowerment .
8. Building sustainable livelihoods , and tackling poverty in the long term , requires enabling access to capital assets .
9. The women have been empowered to improve their way of life .
10. See further readings : Ellis et al , 2010 .


This House believes Wikipedia is a force for good
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Wikipedia provides free, open access to knowledge


Syria has not lived up to its commitments
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. Neither happened .
2. The Syrian government blamed the lack of protective equipment as well as the security situation but the OPCW says it has handed over the necessary equipment .
3. yria is falling well behind on handing over its weapons .
4. The deadliest chemicals were supposed to be removed by 1 January and the rest by 6 February .
5. Blanford , Nicholas , Months of stalling preceded Syrias latest chemical weapons handover , , 4 March 2014 , , 2014 ,
6. Under a new timetable Syria has pledged to remove all chemical weapons by 13 April , but by the end of March had only removed just over half .
7. If Syria continues to fail to meet deadlines there have to be consequences , including abandoning the mission .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Lawrence : University Press of Kansas .
2. Flag Burning and Free Speech : The Case of Texas v. Johnson .
3. 2000 .
4. However , it has limits .
5. Freedom of speech and expression is an important right , which is why it is listed first in the Bill of Rights ; it is central to a fair and free democracy .
6. This is why such things as incitement to hatred , other violence-promoting speech , as well as defamation and perjury are legislated against ; they are expressions that infringe the rights of others , by causing fear and increasing risk of harm in case of hate speech , and by harming reputations and the effective administration of justice in terms of defamation and perjury respectively .
7. Some forms of speech are contrary to the values of democracy , namely when they infringe upon or violate the ability of others to enact their own rights and freedoms .
8. In the case of flag burning , as the dissenting opinion of Justice William Rehnquist on the issue says , the act is an extremely visceral one , and is often perceived as a direct attack on the core values of America itself , which many consider to be representative of those values , leading to feelings of anger and violation .
9. Rights stop where harm to others begins .
10. Goldstein , Robert .

This House would prohibit burning the stars and stripes


1. In the UK , for example , Gaby Hinsliff noted , As a result of the costs of borrowing through a recession , in five years ' time the national debt is forecast to reach 1.3 trillion clearly , NATO members have more pressing concerns than keeping up superfluous armies .
2. Given that most NATO members have been in a deep recession , and direct military threats to their territories are unlikely , it only makes sense to cut defense expenditure .
3. With a growing military cost for ammunition , wages and supplies -LRB- such as food -RRB- NATO members can afford no course of action other than cutting their armed forces costs .
4. Currently , Britain spends over 2 % of its GDP on defense , and Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox recently admitted that the mission in Libya may cost the UK up to 260 million .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

Given the economic situation, NATO’s European member states need to cut costs. Cutting defense spending is an obvious way to save money


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. This kind of waste can only be corrected if it is found out about , and for that transparency is necessary .
2. An audit of the Pentagon in 2011 found that the US Department of Defense wasted $ 70 billion over two years .
3. They are also likely to be costly ; something the military and national security apparatus is particularly known for .
4. In security mistakes are much more likely to be a matter of life and death than in most other walks of life .
5. This applies as much , if not more , to the security apparatus than other walks of life .
6. Transparency is fundamental in making sure that mistakes dont happen , or when they do that they are found and corrected quickly with appropriate accountability .

This House believes transparency is necessary for security


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. Initially , this was the case however , by 2004 , Japan was contributing 19 per cent of the UN budget , second only to that of the United States -LSB- 1 -RSB- .
2. In third place , contributing 8 per cent , was Germany , another state lacking a veto power and any ability to overrule the interests of P5 nations , all bar one of whom contributed less to the UN budget -LSB- 2 -RSB- .
3. Funding contributions to the United Nations should directly relate to the influence that member organizations thereafter have on its actions ; with the veto in place , this is no longer the case .
4. The Permanent Five , as the group of nations granted the most constitutional power in the United Nations , should contribute a proportional amount of resources to the institution .
5. A fairer , more equitable model would insist on a greater proportionality between ones contribution to the United Nations and ones ability to influence its actions .
6. -LSB- 1 -RSB- Blum , 2005 -LSB- 2 -RSB- ibid
7. Furthermore , India and Brazil , whilst not contributing financially to the degree of Japan and Germany , have permitted large swathes of their armed forces to join U.N. peacekeeping operations to fulfil the mandates handed down by the Security Council .
8. Despite these financial and military contributions , the states concerned get no greater say in the interests and actions of the organization .

The Permanent Five no longer contribute to the United Nations to a degree expected of their special status.


That all states should immediately ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families.
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Ratifying the U.N. Convention would improve diplomacy between source countries and receiving countries.


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. The ASBO is the latest example of excessive state interference in the lives of citizens .
2. Certainly there are problems in the way people conduct themselves but if such behaviour isnt criminal , then its up to families and communities to fix it .
3. Their powers are wide and undefined too wide , meaning that Judges and magistrates can do pretty much whatever they like .
4. ASBOs address the symptom , not the condition .
5. ASBOs arent intended to deal with that kind of problem : theyre the tool of the state controlling behaviour .
6. Restraining orders exist .
7. The law of nuisance exists .
8. Either conduct is criminal , or it is not .
9. The powers granted to the state in its efforts are disproportionate to the problems concerned .
10. Just because a problem exists , doesnt mean its the job of the state to try and fix it .


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Independence may have ended some of the worst aspects of imperialism but it exacerbated the problem of borders .
2. Africa has since seen the problems that this has created and should realise the need to break from the colonial legacy .
3. Imperialism and Colonisation is one of the great wrongs of history where much of the globe was carved up without any reference to the facts on the ground .
4. When the west drew borders peoples were split , and kingdoms and cultures carved up .

This House would redefine African borders to reflect ethnic groups


This House would make the raising of business and labour standards a prerequisite for developmental aid
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Labour standards are necessary to protect basic human rights


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. This has happened before : World War I started out as a local conflict between the Austro-Hungarian empire and Serbia , but through their security alliances inadvertently drew in all the major powers of the world .
2. The clause that an attack against one means an attack against all -LRB- Article V -RRB- runs the risk of entangling the entire alliance in an unwanted conflict .
3. Given that many members of NATO have unstable countries near their borders -LRB- i.e. Turkey bordering Iraq -RRB- there is a risk they could become involved in a small regional war , which then inadvertently draws in the entire world .

NATO runs the unacceptable risk of accidental escalation


Cyber attacks can do serious damage to the state
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. All these instances cause disruption and leave the targeted country vulnerable with the government unable to operate successfully .
2. For example , massive cyber attacks can cause serious disruption to economy by targeting financial , banking and commercial services ; they can target government websites and steal confidential information that would compromise country 's security , as was the case with USA in 2007 -LSB- 10 -RSB- ; they could target power grids and shut down infrastructure on a massive scale across the country .
3. Many states are dependent on flawless functioning of government and financial services online , and attacking them would cause mass disruption .
4. Large scale cyber attacks can result in substantial harms to the state equivalent to those of an armed attack .
5. Given the damage of possible attacks to the state , large-scale cyber attacks should be considered an act of war .
6. For these reasons USA 's Pentagon decided to consider a cyber attack that ` produces the death , damage , destruction or high-level disruption that a traditional military attack would cause ' an act of war -LSB- 12 -RSB- .
7. This way , for instance , a large scale cyber attack from Russia on Georgia 2008 caused massive disruption to government , banking services , and communication within and outside of the country -LSB- 11 -RSB- .


Sentences: 1. Tactical voting is likely to be used less , and minority voices are not as likely to be overshadowed by popularly claimed opinions .
2. There would be less stifling of discussion , voters would not be subjected to possibly biased information or misused statistics at this critical time of thinking and making a wise choice .
3. Therefore , we propose that opinion polls not be published 2 weeks prior to an election .
4. This does not harm free expression because it is serving a specific purpose at a specific time .
5. This would ensure a more democratic discussion immediately prior to the decision making process of voting .
6. Since there is information on public opinion in all of the other weeks of the year , this two week moratorium would solve some of the harms of published opinion polls .
7. For instance , during times of national security or disaster certain citizen behaviour is restricted .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Opinion Polls should not be published 2 weeks in advance of an election.


ACC could deal with pan-African problems that the ICC does not address
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. An ACC could deal with piracy off the coast of East Africa , where there is no effective court system , due to Somalia amounting to a failed state .
2. However , an African Criminal Court could not only deal with the existing crimes , but create pan-African solutions in terms of dealing with a number of issues where Africa needs particular solutions .
3. The ICC is limited to only a small number of crimes .
4. It has been suggested that offences such as unconstitutional change of government , drug trafficking , piracy and corruption should be added to the jurisdiction of an African Criminal Court .
5. , , 13 June 2012 , http://www.irinnews.org/report/95633/analysis-how-close-is-an-african-criminal-court
6. IRIN , Analysis : How Close is an African Criminal Court ?
7. Similarly , unconstitutional change of government prosecutions could amount to a deterrent to coups .


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. Freedom of speech certainly may be curtailed when real harms can be shown to arise from it .
2. Extremist sites serve as centers of dangerous dissent , whose members threaten all of society .
3. They promote a message that is fundamentally bad speech , because it can not it can not be argued with and promotes aims that are so anathema to free society that its dissemination represents a true threat to peoples safety .
4. The threat extremists represent to free society demands that their right to speech online be curtailed .
5. By blocking these sites , ISPs certainly are denying some freedom of speech , but it is a necessarily harmful form of speech that has no value in the global commons .
6. Thus , there is essentially no real loss of valuable speech in censoring extremist websites .
7. Kaplan , E. Terrorists and the Internet .
8. Council on Foreign Relations .
9. 8 January 2009 .

The freedom of speech can be curtailed when it represents a serious threat to society


Sentences: 1. Countries can be more efficient and productive if they produce what they are best at based on their domestic resources and populations , and trade for other goods .
2. It is the same in the international economy .
3. In order to maximize efficiency in the international economy , countries need to utilize their comparative advantage .
4. Therefore all markets should strive for highest efficiency .
5. The right resources and technology must be combined to produce the right amount of goods to be sold for the right price .
6. Operating at maximum productivity is one of the most important aspects of an efficient economy .
7. Comparatively it makes more sense for someone else to do the carpentry , and for Mary to be the lawyer .
8. Mary has an absolute advantage in law and carpentry , but someone else has a comparative advantage in carpentry .
9. If Mary is the best carpenter and lawyer in the US , but makes more money being a lawyer , she should devote more of her time to law and pay someone for her carpentry needs .
10. This means producing what you are best at making , compared to other countries .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Free trade promotes global efficiency through specialization.


This house supports the creation of single-race public schools
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Black students should have the choice to attend these schools if they wish.


1. The new simple form of English would be taught in schools so the next generation and subsequent generations would grow up knowing it .
2. There would be a significant divergence in how different people spell many English words .
3. Changing the whole language is going to take a long time in order to make a complete change .
4. Even if the all the English speaking nations agreed on a method of simplifying the language there would be millions who would need to unlearn some of what they were taught .
5. As such it should not pose a problem to have different the different formats of English operating alongside each other .
6. However this would not be a problem as there are already many instances where different generations , or different regions spell or speak the same language in different ways .
7. Indeed standardisation of spelling only dates from the 18 Century when Samuel Johnson published his .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. The drinking age should be lowered to remove the glamorisation of alcohol and resultant binge drinking , and instead focus on frequent but moderate alcohol consumption .
2. Limited alcohol consumption can actually be beneficial for a persons health , and is linked to a lower risk of coronary heart disease in healthy men and women .
3. A 2009 survey showed that , in the US , there was a higher rate of binge drinking among high school students -LRB- 41.8 % -RRB- who reported current alcohol use than among adults where , even in high-risk categories , binge-drinking rates did not rise above 25.6 % .
4. If the drinking age were lowered , the perceived need to binge drink would be removed too .

Lowering the age limit would create healthier long-term drinking habits.


This house would grant the EU a permanent seat on the UN Security Council
What is a possible side to this debate?

Only a more representative United Nations Security Council is legitimate.


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Personal letters , charity reports , photographs and even visits help to build a bridge between the developed and developing world -LSB- 5 -RSB- .
2. More and more people are able to talk to each other around the world , and it is important that less fortunate people in poor countries are connected to the rest of us and have the opportunity to communicate with us .
3. Sponsorship creates a personal connection - the children get to learn about their sponsors and the sponsors get to learn how their money helps people .
4. This continued attention to the positive effects of sponsorship is really important to help poorer countries , especially at a time when worldwide economics are in trouble and charities are most at risk from begin forgotten -LSB- 6 -RSB- .

This House Would sponsor children in developing countries. (Junior)


This House would boycott sports events in states with repressive regimes
What is a possible side to this debate?

Repressive regimes do not represent Olympic values


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. There is no equality of opportunity in cases of past discrimination .
2. A good example of this can be seen in the example of Brazil , where poverty is much more wide-spread in African communities who were previously used as slaves .
3. Affirmative action helps level the playing field for selection by assisting those who are held back from a continual historical denial of opportunity and providing them the equality of opportunity everyone deserves .
4. Discrimination in the past not only leaves a feeling of rejection by ones community , but also a legacy of disadvantage and perpetual poverty .
5. Affirmative action evens the playing field for those who have suffered past discrimination .
6. The denial of opportunities for education and employment in the past has left families in situations where they are stuck in a poverty trap and can not afford to achieve the basic opportunities that others can as they are stuck in a cycle of poverty .
7. Discrimination is not only psychologically damaging , but tangibly .

Affirmative action removes the cyclical disadvantages of discrimination


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Obviously we are not advocating imposing democracy on every country which does not have it , but if there are strong enough institutions and conditions , imposition can work and there have been past successes like Germany and Japan post WWII that show the worth of imposing democracy / .
2. Certain factors may increase the chance of success : for example imposing democracy on a nation with which there were once colonial relationships increases the expected lifespan of the democracy .
3. Democratic transitions in general also tend to be more successful if economic conditions are better .


Sentences: 1. Iran has been training the Jaysh al - Shabi , a Syrian government-controlled force modelled on Iran 's Basij militia .
2. Syria 's government has been receiving outside support from a variety of sources ; Russia and Iran being the most prominent .
3. The rebels have received some support for Qatar and Saudi Arabia but not to the extent the Syrian government has .
4. Far from just providing weapons , both Iran and Hezbollah from Lebanon have been sending fighters to support the Syrian government .
5. Anyone with an interest in the free Syrian cause should realise that they can not do so simply by sitting on their hands expecting a victory when those doing the fighting are only provided diplomatic support .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Would balance the support for Syrian government


Claim: Predicting and protecting the future nation
What evidence supports this claim?

1. In a much more practical sense historical data may well breach national security .
2. They may well be instances , such as in the case given in the introduction , where governments may even be unaware that there were issues of national security involved until they are brought to light .
3. Data that was not significant fifty years ago may become of great significance later on .
4. To take a simple , hypothetical example .
5. Laws relating to the ownership of the sea are relatively obscure and often based on ancient negotiations or treaties that are mostly about something else .
6. They frequently involve custom and precedent and , for the most part , nobody really makes a fuss about the exact details .
7. Until , of course , someone finds an oil field underneath that stretch of ocean or the fish supplies of a neighboring area become depleted .
8. At his point , the exact details of those negotiations and treaties become a source of great interest .
9. Thus for example documents relating the Senkaku/Daioyu islets may have been uncontentious and irrelevant in the 1950 may now be of vital importance in an international dispute between China and Japan over the islands .
10. In a scenario such as this , there may well be vital national issues that were not predicted at the time of the negotiation or ratification of a treaty .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Additionally , this eventually leads to more waste and overproduction , reversing all the potential benefits of industrial 3D printing .
2. This happens because individual consumers tend not to be concerned about the sustainability implications of every purchase : they will do so even less when 3D printers allow instant gratification .
3. On one hand , it can make people more dependent on material possessions , which makes it harder for them to attain more sustainable forms of happiness .
4. While 3D printing may revolutionise professional manufacturing and lead to less waste , in the household it promotes mindless consumerism .
5. By producing anything desired cheaply and more accessibly , without even having to leave your house , they encourage people consume much more than they otherwise would .

This House would ban the sale of 3D printers to households


Claim: Collective Bargaining Leads to an Overpaid Public Sector
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Biggs , Andrew G. Why Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Is Right About Collective Bargaining .
2. This is , in and of itself , problematic because the public sector , due to being shackled to the needs of public opinion often take fewer risks than the private sector and as such results in fewer innovations than work in the private sector .
3. This is problematic because it leads to a drain of workers and ideas from the private sector to the public .
4. As such , public sector workers can earn significantly more than their equally skilled counterparts in the private sector .
5. This is significantly different to private enterprise where public opinion of the company is often significantly less relevant .
6. Further , governments in particular are vulnerable during negotiations with unions , due their need to maintain both their political credibility and the cost effectiveness of the services they provide .
7. The reason this happens is that collective bargaining means that workers can often , through the simple idea that they can communicate with the government and have a hand in the decision making process , make their demands much more easily .
8. In the United States there is a salary premium of 10-20 percent in the public sector .
9. The workers within the public sectors of Western liberal democracies often get paid more than people of equal education and experience who are employed in the private sector .
10. The public sector is often significantly overpaid .


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. The worlds ills are perfectly explained by the natural , amoral development of the Universe , of life , and of humanity .
2. The reality of the Universe , however , is incompatible with a God of goodness , as He is conventionally described by todays predominant religions , which stem from the Abrahamic tradition .
3. If God , or the gods , were good there would be no evil in the world .
4. Disasters would not kill millions of innocents , disease and hunger would not claim the lives of children every day , war and genocide would not slaughter people indiscriminately as they have done for countless bloody millennia .
5. The world is awash with blood , pain , and suffering .
6. No loving God would make a world so imperfect and troubled .

This House believes atheism is the only way


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. If a debatable goal were scored , play would stop anyway while one team celebrates and the other protests to the officials .
2. Football is no more fluid a sport than any of the others .
3. GLT would only be used on a goal decision , much like tennis uses challenges only once a rally has stopped .
4. It has become a natural aid to sport .
5. A survey of its implementation in the 2011 Australian Open demonstrates the impact that guaranteeing correct decisions had on several games .
6. Technology has been proven to work across a wide range of sports from tennis , cricket and rugby .

GLT is used across a range of other sports


This House would treat the desecration and destruction of high-value sites and property of cultural heritage as a crime against humanity.
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Our world cultural heritage is extremely important and its destruction would constitute a crime against humanity.


1. Most experts are agreed that it is statistically unlikely that Earth is the only life-bearing planet , to date we have not been serious investigating this issue despite the enormous implications it has for almost every area of human thought and activity .
2. The moon also provides a better base for SETI than Earth as Radio telescopes on the far side of the moon would be shielded from the interference of Earth .
3. Equally the Moons slow rotation would allow light-based observatories to undertake experiments lasting for days at a time .
4. Any civilization that is serious about space exploration would probably have to start with the moon .
5. Its a comparatively simple mission which would allow us to learn the pitfalls and problems while staying within a few days of earth .
6. Colonizing the Moon should not be seen as an end goal in and of itself but rather a platform for reaching out further into the universe .
7. The moon makes a better base than Earth for a number of reasons .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

It would be the first step in colonizing space – the moon is preferential to Earth as a base for investigating life elsewhere in the universe


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. This then ensures that universities have better access to the brightest people .
2. For instance , Stanford University 's online course on Artificial Intelligence enabled people from 190 countries to join , and none of students receiving a score of 100 percent where from Stanford -LSB- 14 -RSB- .
3. Relocating to the best universities is a budgetary concern , but also family and social relations concern for many people , which prevents all the best people from even applying to universities that would suit them the best .
4. Online courses can recruit students from anywhere in the world much easier than traditional universities can because students do n't need to travel far away for the best education .
5. Improving the pool of students would automatically result in better academics , professionals and science , which would benefit the society better .

Online courses are a way to higher academic excellence


Claim: Transparency helps reduce international tension
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Transparency is necessary in international relations .
2. States need to know what each other are doing to assess their actions .
3. Without any transparency the hole is filled by suspicion and threat inflation that can easily lead to miscalculation and even war .
4. The Cuban missile crisis is a clear example where a lack of transparency on either side about what they were willing to accept and what they were doing almost lead to nuclear war .
5. It is notable that one of the responses to prevent a similar crisis was to install a hotline between the White House and Kremlin .
6. A very small , but vital , step in terms of openness .
7. Today this is still a problem ; China currently worries about the US pivot towards Asia complaining it has aroused a great deal of suspicion in China .
8. A huge deficit of strategic trust lies at the bottom of all problems between China and the United States .
9. The result would be an inevitable arms race and possible conflict .


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Thus for example Saudi Arabia is willing to pump less oil -LRB- and so get less money in the short term at least -RRB- in order to create stability in the oil market by having enough excess capacity to prevent price spikes .
2. Governments without elections can engage in long term planning and make unpopular decisions without fear of the consequences .
3. Even mature democracies have sometimes seen their governments make use of the levers of government to boost their electoral chances ; for example Margaret Thatchers government stoked the economy in the Lawson boom in 1987 which just happened to be an election year .
4. Democracy and elections are about popularity but popular decisions are not always the right ones .
5. Congdon , Tim , , 2007 , p. 73

This House would have no elections rather than sham elections


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. The sheer volume of advertising in our society is incredible .
2. You can not watch television , ride on a bus or even walk down the street without someone trying to sell you something or inform you of something .
3. Recent research suggests people living in a city today sees up to 5,000 advertisements a day .
4. 50 % of those surveyed said they thought ` advertising today was out of control ' .
5. People should n't have to go about their lives having their minds saturated with such a vast quantity of , in most cases , redudant and profiteering information .
6. They should be able to go about their daily lives in peace without being forced to watch , listen or view an advertisement .

There are too many advertisements in everyday life.


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. This allows universities to improve their academic credentials and their academic output , which benefits the students and the society .
2. Even if some of administrative costs remain , that would still substantially increase the amount of resources to be spent entirely on teaching and research .
3. Across 72 US public universities the average administrative cost was about 8 % of spending with the highest , at the University of Connecticut at 17 % -LSB- 15 -RSB- .
4. Traditional Universities are forced to spend a lot on administration and facilities , such as renting and maintaining buildings and parking lots , providing student support for accommodation , renting student halls , subsiding transports costs and meals , supervising university areas and so on .
5. There would be no need for lecture halls and student accommodation as students would just work from home , and even professors could mostly work from home .
6. All these costs can be cut or abandoned all together if universities move to online teaching .

This House believes that the traditional university will be replaced by online learning


Claim: Collective Bargaining is Needed to Voice Opinion
What evidence supports this claim?

1. The bargain between normal unions and private enterprise involves all parties being brought to the table and talking about the issues that they might have .
2. However , the public sector represents the benefits of taxpayers , the politicians and the unions .
3. The power that unions exercises means that negotiations can happen without the consent or involvement of the public sectors stakeholders , the public .
4. Even though power in a democracy is usually devolved to the politicians for this purpose , given the highly politicised nature of union negotiations , government office-holders who supervise union negotiations may act inconsistently with the mandate that the electorate have given them .
5. This is because public unions often command a very large block of voters and can threaten politicians with this block of voters readily .
6. This is not the same as a private business where officials arent elected by their workers .
7. As such , collective bargaining rights for public union undermine the ability of taxpayers to dictate where their money is being spent significantly .
8. Union Bargaining Just A Dream For Many Gov Workers .


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Business owners would be expected to comply with standard business laws and regulations .
2. Moreover , the government could enact special regulations appropriate to this industry , such as age restrictions on workers and clients , and mandatory condom use .
3. The resources that are currently allocated to arrest , prosecute , and incarcerate sex workers and clients could be reallocated for better uses .
4. For example , these resources could be used to better address the sexual abuse of minors , sexual assault , substance abuse , mental health problems , and the many public and individual needs that go unmet .
5. Removing criminal penalties from the sale or purchase of sexual services , and regulating sex markets so that they protect participants and non-involved third parties , would be socially beneficial .
6. In particular , sex enterprises and businesses could be made safer for workers , clients , and the communities in which they operated .
7. By allowing sex businesses to operate openly , providers , clients , and business owners can become law-abiding , productive citizens , who contribute to their communities .
8. Sex businesses and workers would pay taxes , and other licensing fees .


Claim: The public sector is an extension of the elected executive
What evidence supports this claim?

1. Political parties also function as peer networks .
2. Membership of a party gives individuals a certain sense of belonging and allows them to influence and define the identity of other members .
3. Many political parties such as the BNP portray themselves as victims of repression by a liberal elite , while at the same time remaining cognitively blind to the fact that liberal forms of political discourse are the basis of their organisations existence .
4. Under these circumstances , individuals whose view of the world has been systemically distorted by their beliefs are more likely to use positions of power to correct the imbalances that they perceive in society .
5. Indeed , extremists are more likely to ignore their duty to act impartially because of the heterodox nature of their beliefs .
6. The term extremism implies a willingness to depart from moderate and open discourse , and to set aside social convention in the pursuit of political beliefs .
7. Without appropriate vetting , this duty can not be fulfilled .
8. Notable failures under the status quo include the discovery that a number of workers employed by the UK tax authorities to oversee support payments to poor minority families had been deliberately reducing the amounts of money families received .
9. Thus , members of racist or extremist political movements should not be employed by the government , as there is a risk that they will prioritise their own beliefs and political objectives over those of the electorate .
10. Not only do governments have a duty to ensure that they pursue egalitarian and equitable employment policies , they also have a much more important duty to ensure that the machinery of the state is effective and efficient .


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. If their party remains popular , or if their seat is a safe one , then incompetent and unethical politicians will often be re-elected regardless of their personal failings .
2. In any case , regular elections seldom focus on the record of one particular candidate for a legislature , but are a referendum on their party as a whole .
3. And after three years or so , many voters may have forgotten about their offending behavior , allowing them to get away with it .
4. Elections only come around every four years or so , allowing unethical or incompetent politicians to do a lot of damage in office before facing the judgment of their constituents .
5. Such was the case in California , where immediately before the recall , Gray Davis -LRB- a Democrat -RRB- was re-elected simply because the local Republican Party had self-destructed .

Elections every four years are not enough to ensure representation.


This House opposes televising all criminal trials, and the ICC is no exception
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Unruly defendants can play up to the cameras


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. This has the advantage of allowing school rooms , facilities and other resources to be used more efficiently , thus providing a better education without putting even more strain on government budgets .
2. Year-round schooling often goes hand in hand with multi-tracking , where different groups of students at the same school are on different schedules .

This House would introduce year round schooling.


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. As a result it should have a seat at the worlds foremost foreign policy institution .
2. The UNSC could turn the EUs soft power outwards to help the world .
3. Being a member of the UNSC would deepen Europes commitment to international peace-keeping and peace-making missions , something which currently varies very widely between member states , and push them to spend sufficient on equipping their militaries for such missions .
4. Croatia was at war with its neighbors fifteen years ago and part of Yugoslavia twenty years ago but will become the 28 member of the EU in 2013 .
5. It has also had successes in encouraging reform in the countries of Eastern Europe and is continuing to do so in the Balkans through enlargement .
6. Europe has been successful in creating peace on a previously warlike continent .
7. Given this history , the EU can contribute a lot of knowledge and experience on how to use soft power in a foreign policy context .
8. The Economic integration is a means to this goal , by making member states economically too dependent on each other for them to want to declare war on each other .
9. The political resolution of the Congress of Europe in 1948 said it is the urgent duty of the nations of Europe to create an economic and political union in order to assure security and social progress the creation of a United Europe is an essential element in the creation of a united world .
10. The EU might function as an economic union , but its original goal was to prevent war from ever happening again on the European continent .

This house would grant the EU a permanent seat on the UN Security Council


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Reducing inequality therefore both makes society safer and makes it more likely to help those at the very bottom .
2. By behaving charitably and fostering a culture of generosity one ensures that the community will assist them in the future .
3. The wealthy should also consider the possibility that a wealthy individual can fall on hard times and need charity in the future .
4. The pattern is uniform across all races in the United States , the longer they stay in school , and therefore the more chance they have of finding a job , the less chance of ending up in prison .
5. For example , of those black students who did make it to college , only 2 % were incarcerated .
6. In the United States in 2008 , 37 % of black high-school dropouts were incarcerated ; if more money was given to charities that support the poor sectors of society that are the most likely to drop-out , crime rates would inevitably come down .
7. In order to make one 's own society safer one ought to give generously to charities that support the poor .
8. The wealth gap is strongly correlated to crime .


Claim: Children who commit crimes are victims of circumstance.
What evidence supports this claim?

1. We should address these circumstances rather than punishing them .
2. Studies show that they are often vulnerable children who have grown up in poverty , been uncared for by their parents , moved house a lot , been abused , been victims or members of gang activity , and often skipped school .
3. Rather than sending these children to young offender institutes , often harming their education and training them to be criminals , we should take other measures .
4. As in Norway , for example , social authorities should take action to secure the child 's development through counselling or time in a special care unit .
5. Measures should depend of the child 's circumstances , rather than how bad their crime was .
6. This is more likely to reduce criminal behaviour in the future .
7. In addition , there are issues about ` class ' here .
8. Rich children are less likely to be criminalised because their parents can deal better with the situation and pay for better lawyers .


Sentences: 1. Soros , George , How to save the European Union , , 9 April 2013 , Bloomberg , Rates & Bonds , accessed 15 October 2013 , Soros , George , How to save the European Union , , 9 April 2013 , Soros , George , How to save the European Union , , 9 April 2013 ,
2. Right now , sovereign-bonds are not affordable for the government as their interest rates are extremely high .
3. Greece has an interest rate of 9.01 % , Portugal 6.23 % , and Italy and Spain near 4.30 % .
4. If we choose to bundle the bonds together we will obtain a single interest rate that will lower the price of bonds and permit countries to borrow more , the price would be closer to Germanys than Greeces as the Eurozone as a whole is not more risky than other big economies .
5. More than that , the markets wont be worry anymore of the possible default of countries like Greece ; as the bonds are backed up by the ECB and indirectly by other countries in the union , the debtors will know that their loans will be repaid because in the last resort more financially solvent countries take on the burden .
6. Introducing Eurobonds will lower interest rates for bonds issued by national governments so making the loans affordable .
7. The most recent example of this problem is the need of recapitalization of banks in Cyprus .
8. Although government debt and interest rates were not the direct problem if the government had been able to borrow at low interest rates to recapitalize its own banks then it would have not needed a bailout from the rest of the Eurozone .
9. In order to avoid these kinds of solutions and put people back to work in countries like Portugal , Italy or Spain , national governments need a bigger demand for their bonds so that interest rates go down .
10. When the risk of default is eliminated , the demand for government bonds will rise and the interest rates will go down .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Eurobonds even up interest rates within the Union


This House would build the Hyperloop
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Fastest possible transportation over a short distance


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. In just the same way when a new area of potential conflict arises that too must be regulated by treaty .
2. Just as importantly there are rules on what weapons can be used through various treaties that ban weapons such as the Land Mine Ban , and on when a state can legally initiate conflict through the UN Charter .
3. Warfare and conflict is currently regulated by the Geneva Conventions that seek to limit the effects of armed conflict and regulate the conduct of the involved actors .
4. Conflict needs to be regulated , and something that can start conflicts even more so .
5. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols , , 29 October 2010 , Convention on the prohibition of the use , stockpiling , production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction , , 18 September 1997 , Brookes , Adam , US Pentagon to treat cyber-attacks as acts of war , BBC News , 1 June 2011 ,
6. As a result it is most sensible to draw up the rules and regulations early , to ensure everyone knows the consequences and prevent damage by making sure that states agree not to engage in offence cyber-attacks against each other .
7. While cyber warfare is not currently a large scale threat it is still a form of conflict that could escalate just like any other - the Pentagon has explicitly stated it could respond militarily to a cyber-attack .
8. The internet and the threat of cyber-conflict is that new area at the moment .

Arenas of potential conflict must be regulated


Summarize the argument implied by these sentences?

1. Only recently have the people finally voted against him , but it was too late , as his power had become too entrenched to unseat him .
2. The uphill battle that will always exist to unseat incumbents makes term limits necessary .
3. Such has been the case in the United States , for example , where presidents are almost always re-elected for a second term .
4. Leaders are re-elected because they have better name recognition both with the electorate and with lobby groups .
5. Incumbency provides a huge election advantage .
6. Leaders and politicians generally , almost always win re-election .
7. These leaders often command huge followings and mass loyalty , which they use to maintain power in spite of poor decisions and corruption in many cases .
8. Such has been the case in Zimbabwe with Robert Mugabe winning presidential elections in spite of mass corruption and mismanagement .
9. People have a tendency to vote for those who they recognize , and firms tend to support past winners who will likely continue to benefit their interests .
10. This problem has become particularly serious in developing world in which revolutionary leaders from the original independence movements are still politically active .

Term limits check the power of incumbency as an election-winning tool and allow new and energetic leaders and ideas to flourish.


What debate topic are the following sentences about?

1. Allowing mandatory minimum sentences to be applied in cases like this undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system .
2. Regardless of how severe a view one takes of recidivism , such a punishment is clearly excessive and grossly disproportionate to the current offense .
3. In -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , a four-time felon received the mandatory minimum sentence upon conviction of stealing three golf clubs with a combined total value of less than $ 1,200 .
4. In California , the first two strikes must be considered serious or violent , but the mandatory minimum sentence of 25-years may be imposed upon conviction of any third felony offense .
5. Three strikes laws mandate that courts impose upon offenders a lengthy minimum sentence upon conviction of a third offense .

This House would strike out three-strikes laws


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. Federation of Veterinarians of Europe , Slaughter of animals without prior stunning , , FVE/02/104 , 2002 ,
2. It follows that we should require stunning .
3. When we have two methods of killing the animal available , it is inhumane to use the more painful one .
4. Rendering the animal unconscious stops it feeling pain immediately .
5. Although animals cant tell us if they are in pain , the best metrics we have brain activity , eye movement and making sounds indicate that the animals are in pain during this period .
6. Depending on the species of animal , it can survive for anything between 20 seconds and 2 minutes after this .
7. This is normally done by cutting the neck .
8. All slaughter methods which do not involve stunning work by bleeding the animal so that it suffers brain-death .
9. Slaughter without stunning is painful for the animal .

This House would ban the slaughter of animals which have not been stunned first


1. These loans can weigh heavily on the minds of university students , and put inordinate amounts of pressure to perform well .
2. In the United States , for example , obtaining loans for university is the norm .
3. When fees are put in place in countries , many people find it extremely difficult to find the funds to pay for it , leading many people , and even most in some countries , to seek school loans .
4. University fees , in countries where they are implemented , are usually quite high .
5. This can lead to individuals taking jobs to which they are not necessarily best suited in order to get started on debt repayment immediately .
6. The pressure does not end when an individual graduates , since he must then begin to pay off the debts accrued while in university .
7. This is quite understandable when one considers the degree of pressure a young person would feel if his school loan was collateralized against his family home .
8. This pressure can lead to students dropping out .
9. With free university education , everyone can go to college without crushing debt burden , can study what they wish , and can leave with a qualification and no onerous debt obligations .
10. Even still , repayment of loans can take many years , even decades , leaving individuals under the thumb of creditors for much of their working lives .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

The burden of fees and loans are too great to expect young people to shoulder, particularly for more financially disadvantaged individuals


This House Would Make Vaccination Compulsory
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

It is the state’s duty to protect its community


Sentences: 1. Full-body scanners come in here .
2. As the former homeland security secretary , Michael Chertoff states , you need to find some way to find those weapons .
3. Such machines , properly used , are a leap ahead of the metal detectors used in most airports , and supporters say they are necessary to keep up with the plans of potential terrorists .
4. Screening technologies with names like can show the contours of the body and reveal foreign objects .
5. What this means is that the full-body scanners have the ability to detect hidden weapons , which are not necessarily large enough to be noticed otherwise , or metallic , to be seen by metal detectors .
6. argued the New York Times after the Detroit Christmas bombing .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Full-body scanners are an effective tool of counter-terrorism


What claim can be made from the following pieces of evidence?

1. Rather than pouring wasted resources into attempting to suppress drug use , the state would be better off running information campaigns to educate people about the risks and consequences of taking different types of drugs .
2. Since the pleasure gained from drugs and the extent to which this weighs against potential risks is fundamentally subjective , it is not up to the state to legislate in this area .
3. Individuals are sovereign over their own bodies , and should be free to make choices which affect them and not other individuals .


Sentences: 1. Unlike Germany or Japan , where ethnicity has traditionally been the criteria for citizenship , the USA is a melting-pot , uniting people of diverse origins under one flag .
2. Throughout US history the children of non-citizens have been accepted as true Americans , paying taxes , being drafted and fighting for the flag in wartime , and being elected to office .
3. A child has no choice where it is born , and the child of non-citizen parents should be recognized as a citizen just as much as the child born to those who can trace their citizenship back through many generations .
4. The United States is famously a nation of immigrants , welcoming `` huddled masses yearning to breathe free '' on the Statue of Liberty .
5. As enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution , ` all persons born or naturalized in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof , are citizens of the United States ' .
6. This is what America stands for , what made the nation great ; it is a proud history which should not be rejected .

What claim can be made from these sentences?

Citizenship should be tied to the land of birth


1. Second most phones today have apps -LRB- programs -RRB- to enable learning using the phone , or else through the internet .
2. Phones can access online courses and lessons which can be provided in fun ways and can in some cases instantly tell you if you have the right answer .
3. Having a mobile phone helps us to learn in a lot of different ways .
4. First we learn about technology ; about how to use the mobile phone .
5. It may even sometimes be possible to do homework on a phone and send it to your teacher .
6. Even without the internet phones can be used to provide short assignments , or to provide reminders to study .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?


This House believes long term cooperation between Russia and the United States is possible.
What is a possible side to this debate?


What is the debate topic for the following sentences?

1. A government that destroys an indigenous culture must similarly work to reverse their destruction .
2. `` Living With the Past , '' FOCUS September 1997 , Vol .
3. 9 , Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center .
4. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 , the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act , and the 1887 General Allotment Act are just a few examples of legislation used to destroy Native American communities in the US .
5. Settlers in Australia are similarly responsible for a multitude of massacres , as well as several decades of forced separation of aboriginal children from their parents in an effort to `` Christianize '' them .
6. While the current citizens of Canada , the US , and Australia are not guilty of the crimes of their predecessors , they nevertheless reap the benefits of those atrocities while today 's indigenous populations still suffer from the lasting impact of oppression .
7. When chemical companies make huge profits at the expense of damaging the surrounding community 's environment , those companies are expected to pay reparations .

This House would protect aboriginal culture


This house believes that the United States should be isolationist
What argument could one make about this debate topic?

Isolationism is the political philosophy on which the United States is founded and its pursuit is what made it great.


1. It does , however , raise the question that if the intent of this song was to be blasphemous a necessary component of proving it to be so then why did they do such a bad job of it and spend so much their time going on about politics ; it would suggest somewhat incompetent activists .
2. The very fact that this has become a shows the extent to which those who able to step back from the situation recognise this for what it is ; a clear abuse of presidential power given the thinnest sheen of respectability by a compliant church .
3. Amnesty International and the overwhelming majority of the International media have reached that conclusion .
4. Its a fairly straightforward artistic device .
5. Such religious content as was contained in the protest fairly obviously relates to the setting and is not the main content of the song .
6. The name and chorus of the song performed was Virgin Mary , Chase Putin Out .
7. Pussy Riots protest was politically focussed , the response seems politically driven and now they are prisoners .
8. Where any punishment required for this act and Proposition contends that there was not then it was at most a mild public order offence .
9. It is very hard to see what would be a better definition of the phrase political prisoner .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

The focus of their song was one of political dissent rather than religion


Warrants are needed to prevent abuse
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. This system is the only thing left that prevents government agencies to violate our rights .
2. -LRB- 1 -RRB- -LRB- 2 -RRB- David Kravets Justice Departments Warrantless Spying Increased 600 Percent in Decade , 09.27.12 -LRB- 3 -RRB- Trevor Timm , Law Enforcement Agencies Demanded Cell Phone User Info Far More Than 1.3 Million Times Last Year , July 9 , 2012
3. No matter what , George Orwells books should not be perceived as a model for shaping our society .
4. At the end of the day , without any oversight , it would be extremely easy for the government to abuse this power given to it by electronic surveillance tools , without us ever knowing it .
5. In the light of the recent NSA events -LRB- 1 -RRB- , we must try and see past this curtain of fog the government has put in front of us , trying to make us believe that everything it does , it does for our own good and that in this process the law is being respected to the letter .
6. Unfortunately , if the necessary system of checks-and-balances between the government and the masses or judicial courts is lacking , it will always find ways to abuse its powers and violate our rights .
7. Even with the warrant currently being mandatory when trying to tap ones phone , we see that Justice Departments warrantless spying increased 600 percent in decade -LRB- 2 -RRB- .
8. If the government is currently invading our lives when we have specific laws banning it from doing so , why should we believe that this phenomenon wont escalate if we scrap those laws ?
9. The government 's biggest limitation when actively trying to spy or follow a large group of people was technological ; it was difficult - if not impossible - to follow a lot of people for days at a time .
10. But with surveillance tools its becoming cheaper and easier , as is proven by the astounding 1.3 million demands for user cell phone data in the last year seeking text messages , caller locations and other information -LRB- 3 . -RRB-


Recognition when credit is due
Come up with some evidence to support this claim.

1. See further readings : Moyo , 2009 .
2. The prize is therefore for absolute gains in governance , not relative to other countries .
3. The prize is only awarded when credit is due - if leaders have made a significant positive impact this will be recognised and rewarded .
4. Mugabe , Kabila , and Kenyatta are but a few articulating the years of sustained bad governance .
5. The past few years have seen African governments , and heads of state , reluctant to leave office ; driving political coups ; and leading violent crimes against humanity .
6. The Mo Ibrahim prize therefore encourages the good institutions that are necessary for prosperity -LRB- Acemoglu and Robinson , 2013 -RRB- .
7. Instead it encourages improved control over aid and money transferred to African states , it shows that rewards are given based on merit .
8. The state would continue to function on undemocratic governance , and the reward would become a new example of dead money .
9. As the prize is not always awarded it avoids the pitfall that distributing a financial prize where no change has been made to political institutions would reinforce a system .


Sentences: 1. In the age of global terrorism it is a huge risk to allow undocumented individuals to enter and roam freely within any country .
2. So essentially the asylum system provides a loophole for unrestricted immigration , which is both expensive , and dangerous for states .
3. And worse still , even if countries decide that an applicant has no basis to their claim they are frequently unable to deport them because they often go missing , as 75,000 in Britain have , or because , perversely , they may be punished on return to their country for having sought refuge .
4. The majority of those who apply for asylum are working-age males , which implies that there is a strong economic angle .
5. It is not clear that the system works at all .

What claim can be made from these sentences?


1. The democratic process is diminished when changing opinion polls interrupts substantive dialogue .
2. Voters become the consumers of political marketing .
3. Candidates become overly involved in defending and explaining poll data .
4. When opinion polls become the constant focus of the media , politicians are forced to pander to an ever-changing public marketplace instead of developing a consistent party or personal philosophy .
5. The advantage would be less political marketing and room for better democratic discussion .
6. Even though poll data would be available during the earlier election season , a plan to control opinion polls would begin to diminish such a focus .
7. Rather than the marketing of a person , important political ideas and public policy discussion occur .
8. Without the excessive use of poll data , a candidates message can be more than an advertisement .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

Politicians will be less likely to engaged in political marketing and speak more directly to substantive issues.


1. This could not happen by people power alone ; Gaddafi was willing to crack down to prevent it like Assad in Syria did .
2. The uprising sparked off as a concern for freedom in the country , people were tired of the oppressive regime and wanted to be liberated .
3. After the civil war , people were able to participate in an election of the national assembly considered free and fair for the first time in Libya -LSB- 1 -RSB- .
4. Western intervention in the civil war helped the citizens gain power and force to fight for their rights , by providing them with training , intelligence and logistics among others hence ejecting the oppressive leadership a symbol for liberation .
5. More democratic and accountable government institutions have been set up , NGOs welcomed and civil society empowered .
6. The part of the Mo Ibrahim index that rates participation and human rights rose from 20 % in 2010 to 30.5 % in 2012 -LSB- 2 -RSB- .
7. -LSB- 1 -RSB- -LSB- 2 -RSB- -LSB- 3 -RSB-
8. Libya is becoming much freer with freedom house upgrading the country from not free to partially free -LSB- 3 -RSB- .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?


1. Profit-led corporations owe a very specific duty to their shareholders - the individual who support and constitute the corporation .
2. Under the corporate-laws of almost all liberal democracies , business corporations must act in their interests , and this invariably means generating profit and increasing the value of the equity that each shareholder has in the business .
3. Corporations , unlike natural persons , are inflexible in their motives and influences .
4. Free speech is preferable to conflict because it acts as a conduit for compromise , but before compromise can take place it must be possible for the participants and audience in a discussion or an exchange of views to be influenced by their opponents arguments .
5. Were a business corporation to announce that it would no longer operate with profit as its core priority , it would collapse .
6. Even if this process might not be inevitable in the real world , it still informs corporate culture to a significant degree .
7. Because this duty is a legal one , and failure to uphold it can be cause to remove corporate decision makers -LRB- directors and executives -RRB- from their jobs and even to bring them to trial .
8. This behavioural imperative is absolute .
9. Natural persons are flexible and pragmatic ; at the very least they have the potential to be so .
10. Profit-led corporations are not .

What is the general argument implied by these sentences?

Corporates that attempt to address social issues damage political discourse.