A1 Level – Elementary
1. Do you watch the Olympics?
2. What is a sport?
3. Do you like running?
4. What is a gold medal?
5. Do you watch winter sports?
6. What is the color of the Olympic rings?
7. Do you cheer for your country?
8. What is a swimming pool?
9. Do you know a famous Olympian?
10. What is a team?
11. Do the Olympics cost a lot of money?
12. What is a stadium?
13. Do you like competition?
14. What are three Olympic sports?
15. Do you think the Olympics are exciting?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What is the difference between the Summer and Winter Olympics?
2. Why are the Olympics held every four years?
3. What are the good things and bad things about hosting the Olympics in a city?
4. How can small countries win medals at the Olympics?
5. Should professional athletes be allowed to compete in all Olympic sports?
6. Why is there a torch relay before the games begin?
7. Do you think the Olympics bring world peace?
8. What is a doping test?
9. How does the Olympics help a city get new buildings and transport?
10. What is the difference between the opening and closing ceremonies?
11. Do you think the Olympics should add more new sports?
12. What are the problems when athletes cheat?
13. When is the best time for athletes to start training for the Olympics?
14. What are two differences between the ancient and modern Olympics?
15. How does the Olympics affect national pride?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. What are the rules for choosing which city gets to host the Olympics?
2. How does the media change the way people feel about their country’s athletes?
3. Should the costs of the Olympics be shared by all countries?
4. What is the difference between a sport that is popular worldwide and one that is only popular locally?
5. Do you believe that the Olympics are getting too focused on money?
6. What are the challenges of managing security for such a large international event?
7. How does the success of an Olympic team affect the young people in that country?
8. What is the idea of a “boycott” of the Olympic Games?
9. Is it fair or unfair when some sports get more attention than others?
10. How does a medal win change an athlete’s life and job opportunities?
11. What are the steps for properly retiring a large Olympic stadium?
12. What is the value of teaching the history of the Olympics in schools?
13. Should the Olympics be held in the same place every time to save money?
14. What are the reasons why some athletes leave their home country to train elsewhere?
15. How does the use of slow-motion cameras change how we watch sports?
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. What are the social arguments for and against allowing athletes to represent a country they don’t live in?
2. What are the moral problems when countries spend huge amounts of money on the Olympics while their citizens are poor?
3. How does the push for national glory affect the mental health of young Olympic athletes?
4. Should the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have to follow local labor laws in host cities?
5. Analyze the psychological effect of winning or losing a medal after many years of training.
6. Who is responsible for making sure the Olympics are held in a way that doesn’t harm the environment?
7. What is your view on the practice of athletes making political statements during the medal ceremony?
8. Evaluate the role of private companies in sponsoring the Olympic Games.
9. How does the concept of a “legacy” of the Games often fail to deliver benefits to the host city?
10. Discuss the concept of “sportswashing” (using sports to make a country look better).
11. What are the problems with having very strict rules about what clothes and gear athletes can use?
12. What are the legal differences between an amateur and a professional athlete in the context of the Olympics?
13. Do you agree that the purpose of the Olympics is mainly a political showcase between nations?
14. What steps should be taken to ensure that all Olympic athletes are treated equally, regardless of their sport’s popularity?
15. How does the pressure to perform well at the Olympics affect the global use of performance-enhancing drugs?
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Is it fair that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) holds so much power over global sporting events?
2. What is the right way to think about a host city’s moral duty to its poor residents when building stadiums?
3. How do the rules of the IOC influence the way countries treat their athletes and coaches?
4. When should a country be banned from the Olympics for political or human rights reasons?
5. What are the moral questions when we talk about allowing transgender athletes to compete?
6. How does the focus on national competition affect the ideal of global unity and friendship?
7. Discuss the impact of major financial corruption scandals on the reputation of the Olympic Games.
8. How should leaders use the global spotlight of the Olympics to discuss serious world issues?
9. What is the idea of “Olympic debt” and how does it burden host countries for many years?
10. What are the long-term effects on society when the cost of elite sports training is very high?
11. What are the difficulties when courts try to decide if a new sports technology is an unfair advantage?
12. How does the search for a new world record conflict with the need to protect the athlete’s long-term health?
13. Do you agree that the most important thing is the spirit of fair competition, even if judging is difficult?
14. What are the simple moral rules an Olympic spectator should follow when cheering for their country?
15. Should the government set a legal minimum for the amount of funding given to sports programs?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. What is the real difference between the ancient Greek idea of the Olympics and the modern commercial version?
2. Debate the idea: Should we completely eliminate the medal count by country to focus only on individual achievement?
3. How does the concept of a “world record” change the human idea of physical limits and potential?
4. What laws or rules are needed to control how much influence large corporate sponsors have over Olympic decisions?
5. How do historical boycotts and political protests affect the idea of the Olympics as a non-political event?
6. How can communities maintain their public spaces when they are temporarily used for the Games?
7. Argue the point that humans should stop viewing the Olympics as the highest level of sporting achievement.
8. What protection should laws give to athletes who report doping or corruption in their national teams?
9. How can we stop the problem of host cities becoming empty and abandoned after the Games finish?
10. What did old thinkers say about competition and virtue that is still important for the Olympics today?
11. What will happen to the need for human judges if AI can perfectly score all sports competitions?
12. How do people use the idea of “national pride” to avoid discussing the cost and corruption of the Games?
13. How does the experience of a global sporting event bring together people who are otherwise divided by politics?
14. What is the power of a single athlete’s story to inspire social change around the world?
15. If scientists could give every person the physical ability of an Olympic athlete, how would that fundamentally change the value of sport?
