A1 Level – Elementary
1. What makes you happy?
2. Do you think money buys happiness?
3. What makes a city a good place to live?
4. Do you have good friends?
5. What is the difference between health and wealth?
6. What makes a person feel safe?
7. Do you like your job?
8. What is a common way to measure quality of life?
9. Do you think clean air is important?
10. What makes a person feel calm?
11. Do you have free time for your hobbies?
12. What makes a good school system?
13. What is the opposite of a good quality of life?
14. What are some different types of stress?
15. Do you think your country has a good quality of life?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What are the key differences between objective measures (e.g., income) and subjective measures (e.g., happiness) of quality of life?
2. Describe one factor that significantly lowers the quality of life in your city.
3. What are the pros and cons of having a long daily commute on your overall well-being?
4. What role do public services (e.g., healthcare, libraries) play in improving quality of life?
5. Have you ever considered moving to a different city or country specifically for a better quality of life?
6. What kind of social connections (friends, family) are essential for a high quality of life?
7. What is the difference between personal satisfaction and societal well-being?
8. What are common challenges when trying to maintain a good quality of life during a recession?
9. How does technology (e.g., constant connectivity) both improve and hinder quality of life?
10. What are the biggest cultural differences in what people consider essential for a “good life”?
11. What is the importance of having access to green spaces and nature for quality of life?
12. Do you think work-life balance is the single most important factor for a good quality of life?
13. What are the challenges of measuring the quality of life for vulnerable groups (e.g., the elderly, the poor)?
14. What are the best ways to improve your personal quality of life without increasing your income?
15. What is the difference between standard of living (economic) and quality of life (holistic)?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. Discuss the difficulty of defining and achieving an acceptable quality of life in a world of increasing global inequality.
2. How can urban planning and city design actively promote better mental and physical health for residents?
3. What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of happiness indexes and national well-being surveys by governments?
4. Do you agree that societal progress should be measured by the quality of life of the average citizen, not just GDP?
5. Describe a time when a simple, non-material change (e.g., a new hobby) dramatically improved your quality of life.
6. To what extent should individuals prioritize financial security over personal fulfillment for long-term quality of life?
7. What role does a reliable social safety net (e.g., unemployment benefits, pensions) play in reducing life anxiety?
8. How do cultural norms about community and individualism affect the collective quality of life in a neighborhood?
9. Discuss the psychological phenomenon of the “hedonic treadmill”—quickly adapting to positive changes and returning to a baseline happiness.
10. What are the challenges of providing a high quality of life to an aging population that requires more resources?
11. How does the concept of “social capital” (networks of relationships) contribute to overall quality of life?
12. Should public funding prioritize environmental protection (clean air/water) or immediate economic stimulus for quality of life?
13. What is the difference between achieving material comfort and achieving existential meaning?
14. Discuss the concept of “digital poverty”—lack of access to technology hindering education and social participation.
15. What is the long-term impact of chronic, low-level environmental pollution on a city’s collective quality of life?
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. How does the modern expectation to be constantly “busy” conflict with the time needed to pursue activities that genuinely boost quality of life?
2. What are the ethical arguments about wealthy nations having significantly higher standards of living at the expense of developing nations?
3. Should governments legally guarantee certain components (e.g., housing, healthcare) as fundamental human rights essential for quality of life?
4. What are the psychological reasons why people living in materially rich societies can still experience high levels of unhappiness?
5. How has the rise of the attention economy (social media, constant notifications) degraded people’s ability to focus and enjoy the present?
6. Discuss the idea that true quality of life is found in resilience and the capacity to deal with adversity, not the absence of problems.
7. What is the role of legal frameworks and anti-discrimination laws in ensuring quality of life for all citizens?
8. How do our perceptions of happiness and success become distorted by media portrayals of idealized lifestyles?
9. What are the challenges of measuring “ecological well-being”—the health of the environment as a component of human quality of life?
10. Discuss the concept of “gross national happiness” (GNH) as an alternative to the traditional GDP metric.
11. What is the difference between having a high-paying job and having a job that provides a high quality of life?
12. Should citizens have a choice in where their tax money is allocated (e.g., to health, education, or environmental projects)?
13. What is the impact of excessive public debt on the future quality of life for young people?
14. How does the history of urban sanitation and public health movements reflect the earliest organized efforts to improve collective quality of life?
15. Discuss the idea that a high quality of life requires a person to find meaning beyond their individual material consumption.
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Analyze the socioeconomic factors that correlate with disparities in access to essential services (e.g., clean water, mental healthcare) that determine quality of life.
2. To what degree should the legal system restrict corporate practices (e.g., generating high noise pollution) that negatively impact the community’s quality of life?
3. Discuss the philosophical concept of “capabilities approach” and its focus on what people are actually able to do and be in life.
4. Evaluate the impact of increasing automation on eliminating low-quality jobs and potentially increasing leisure time for high-quality pursuits.
5. How does the strategic use of urban design elements (e.g., street furniture, bike lanes) influence social interaction and well-being?
6. Examine the legal challenges of holding international bodies or corporations accountable for actions that degrade quality of life globally.
7. What ethical guidelines should govern the use of AI to predict and intervene in cases of severe mental health crises?
8. Discuss the concept of “the well-being economy”—a system that prioritizes social and ecological health over simple economic growth.
9. How do different national policies on labor rights and worker representation affect employees’ perceived quality of life?
10. Analyze the interplay between the increasing lifespan of the population and the challenge of sustaining a high quality of life into old age.
11. What ethical challenges arise when a government must prioritize the quality of life of current citizens versus that of future generations?
12. Debate whether a single, unified global metric for quality of life could ever be created without being culturally biased.
13. How does the architecture of residential and commercial districts reflect a society’s value placed on privacy versus community interaction?
14. Discuss the concept of “existential crisis” and how the search for meaning underlies the pursuit of a better quality of life.
15. To what extent does the modern pursuit of technological optimization diminish the human experience of spontaneity and simple joy?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. How do you analyze the idea that the quality of life is fundamentally determined by the degree of individual freedom and autonomy in a society?
2. Formulate a critique of global economic models that require the perpetual degradation of the environment to sustain a high quality of life in developed nations.
3. Analyze the intersection of complexity theory, public policy, and the difficulty of optimizing multiple, often conflicting, components of quality of life.
4. Discuss the philosophical distinction between “happiness” (subjective emotion) and “meaning” (objective contribution) in a good life.
5. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of global political initiatives (e.g., SDGs) in raising the fundamental quality of life in the world’s poorest regions.
6. Propose a new, globally applicable metric for societal progress that rigorously incorporates environmental health and political freedom alongside economic factors.
7. Examine the psychological function of gratitude and mindfulness in enhancing the subjective perception of quality of life, regardless of circumstance.
8. How does the semiotics of advertising and media subtly communicate the social codes for an “acceptable” or “aspirational” quality of life?
9. Discuss the ethical responsibilities of global corporations to ensure that their operations do not lower the quality of life in their host communities.
10. Analyze the historical relationship between cycles of technological innovation and the subsequent reassessment of what constitutes a high quality of life.
11. Articulate the inherent tension between the collective requirement for social order and the individual’s freedom to pursue unconventional life choices.
12. Debate whether a system of mandatory “digital freedom” will be necessary to preserve human attention and focus for a high quality of life.
13. Assess the long-term societal effects of mandatory public health and mental well-being programs on individual autonomy and privacy.
14. Discuss the philosophical definition of ‘flourishing’ and how political institutions can be designed to maximize human potential.
15. How might the principles of quality of life assessment be used to model processes of organizational culture change and well-being improvement?
