Cue Cards with Sample Answers on Discussion Topic

1. What was the topic about?
   I’m someone who likes having in-depth discussions with interesting people so I am going to talk to you about a time I discussed live music and artist payments.
2. Who did you speak with?
   This conversation took place just last night with a work friend when we were at a lounge bar where a popular celebrity was supposed to perform.
3. Why did you discuss it?

   As usual celebs never arrive on time in my country so most nightclubs and bars invite a relatively lesser known band or musician for the opening act. The young guy on stage

   sang his heart out and entertained the crowds with his guitar too. He even took song requests, clapped his hands, and danced for almost 90 minutes non-stop in the sweltering

   summer heat. Later, we saw him asking the bartender for a beer and he was asked to pay for it which I found outrageous. He confided in us saying he was paid just 2000 Rupees

   for performing because the club management told him he would “gain exposure” being seen at this prestigious venue, and it would also look good on his resume. They went

   as far as telling him that other struggling artists would in fact pay the club to have this chance to play here. Talk about corruption! Meanwhile, we saw tables running

   up bills of 25-30,000 Rupees – and it was just too depressing to watch!

4. And what did the discussion result in ?

   The discussion was quite fruitful. The singer joined us at our table and we threw a few ideas around.

   One was to create a kind of union comprising local artistes who would take up the issue of exploitation of artistes and raise awareness through satirical social media campaigns. Another idea was for artists to stand together and refuse to undersell themselves and perform like circus monkeys. The young singer was happy to have a chat with us and left saying he would spend his hard-earned 2000 Rupees on his mother’s medicines.

I am going to talk about a discussion I had with my parents last week. I wanted to spend some of the money I had saved on a computer game but my parents were against it. My parents are savers and are very careful with their money; they think computer games are a waste of money.

I brought it up before we went into the city to go shopping. I had been saving for some time and had my heart set on buying the game that day. So, when we were having breakfast I announced my intention to buy the game.

My dad said that computer games just encouraged kids to sit in their rooms all day and not interact. Mum agreed and said that the price of the game was extortionate and maybe I should wait until Christmas and ask for it as a gift.

I did get a bit annoyed as I had earned the money myself on the farm. My parents give me a weekly amount for pocket money. In the end, they came round to my way of thinking and agreed that I had earned the money and studied hard. We went shopping and I paid for the game and when we got home I was delighted to play it.

My parents were probably right as I do waste time playing computer games and the games are really expensive. I’m saving up again for the next edition.

I am going to talk about a time when I was talking to my friends about politics.A few weeks ago I was hanging out with some friends and the conversation was about lots of things, our studies, friends and family and sports. As the evening continued, the conversation turned to politics. My friend had a lot to say about the current government and how they had dealt with the pandemic. I listened to his point of view for quite a few minutes and some of the group also put in their two cents about the subject.

I feel a little embarrassed to say the subject didn´t interest me but the reason is because politics, the pandemic and Brexit are all we hear about on the news, TV, social media and radio now. I´m up to my ears with it. There is a lot of frustration in the country and in the world as a whole, so it is not always something I want to talk about when I’m trying to relax. The other thing is that everyone becomes a political expert and a know-it-all; I’d like to see if they could do a better job at running the country.

If I am out with friends, I prefer to talk about things that are happening to us right now and have a laugh and a joke to cheer everybody up in these difficult times. I think that although we should take an interest in politics, there is a time and a place for that conversation and that is not on a Saturday afternoon with your mates. Occasionally it gets a bit heated between friends too if they disagree. To be honest it’s a subject best avoided if you want to have a good time.

1. What was the focus of the meeting/discussion?
   I am going to talk about a discussion I had regarding some fake news regarding aliens.
2. When and where did it take place?
   The discussion took place at a coffee shop with my course friends and some acquaintances. We went there on one of our days off a couple of weeks ago, and we saw a group of younger children sitting at a table on the other side of the room. One of the acquaintances, Chad, asked us if we thought they were aliens. My friends and I were quite confused and ended up responding with nervous laughter. Chad then went on to explain how he read in the news that aliens have a way of communicating with humans through certain phone applications, to brainwash them and have them join their planet. We thought, or rather, wanted to believe, that he was joking. But he could not have been more serious. He insisted that he had read it online. My friends and I found the article, and through research, we discovered it was a conspiracy theory.
3. Did it cause you to question your own beliefs?
   I did not believe any of it for a second, however, it was quite disconcerting, to see how convinced he was by this story.
4. And how did you react to the whole situation?
   I was flabbergasted by the whole situation. I felt a little scared for him but also for everyone around us who had heard the conversation. I was worried that he was so persuaded he was right, someone who does not have the resources or the instinct to question such stories, would spread such fake news and misinformation around. Luckily, we were able to contain this quickly enough, and he seemed to rethink this information thanks to the research we had conducted.