Part 3 projecting self-work 3 handling questions

1. A) Answer the following questions:

1. What skills are important for a speaker while he or she is debating?

2. Is it a good idea to ask a question that you plan to answer during your speech to focus the audience’s attention on the topic of your presentation (that is a rhetorical question)?

3. What makes a speaker less nervous while debating?

b) What verbal stratagem (A or B) do you use 1) when you are a speaker who is responding to a question, 2) when you are a listener who is asking a question?

A.	B.
Digressing Buying time Self-correcting Placating Avoiding giving an answer	Opinion giving Clarifying/ confirming/ paraphrasing Disagreeing Attending Information seeking

c) Study the list of English clichés below. Divide them into four groups to fill in the table.

A.	B.	C.	D.
Say your opinion	Ask for the opinion	Accept	Reject

1. That's certainly true.

2. May be, but I still think that it makes sense to…

3. Yes, I do because…

4. That’s a good idea, but…

5. Well, I think…

6. Of course.

7. I think we should…

8. I disagree because

9. Excuse me, if you don't mind me saying. I think you'll find there are very good reasons for restricting the channels for some other beers.

10. No, I don’t because...

11. What do you think?

12. I’m afraid, but I disagree with you.

13. Great.

14. That's interesting you should say so and I look forward to hearing more about that in our discussions.

15. Do you think…?

16. Have you got any views on this?

17. Could you remind us some of the…

18. Thank you very much for your answer/you gave us a very clear idea about…

19. Would you agree?

20. I agree because

21. How do you feel about this?

22. That’s a good idea.

23. Yes, that’s right

24. Supposing …

25. I’m not sure about that…

26. So, it makes sense…

27. Yes, but…

28. I’m afraid…

29. That’s true, but…

4. Make a list of your own clichés to describe a verbal stratagem for a Speaker/ Listener. Learn them by heart.

2. A) What types of questions do you remember? Give 2-3 examples for each type.

b) Study the list of some typical conference questions. What types of questions can you find in the list?

1. How do you know that…?

2. What makes you say that?

3. Can you give me an example of…?

4. Has that ever happened before? How often does that happen?

5. What led up to this? 

6. Who conducted the experimental work? 

7. How does this system work?

8. What do you think about global mobility of engineers/managers? Is it a positive or negative phenomenon?

9. How will you use the information you obtained?

10. Is the Russian tutorial system different from European one?

11. Are there any advanced internship programs for engineers in Asian countries?

12. Did you take part in the pilot projects you have mentioned in your report?

13. Could you define the main idea of your report?

14. Why is it important to discuss the issue you spoke about?

15. Have you heard about any automated signaling systems have been implemented by Network Rail in the UK?

16. Did you mean that railways in China are more developed than in Russia? Why or why not?

17. According to information presented in your report, is the Russian Federation going to develop high-speed railways actively?

18. Can you name any foreign analogues of this technology?

19. Could you summarise the main conclusions of your research?

20. Could you explain why it is possible to use the algorithms for automatic dispatcher without a human?

21. Which principle of effective traffic management presented in your report do you consider the most effective?

22. Could you give characteristics of the computer program you have created to estimate the optimum rail route?

23. Please summarise the main results of your research applying to Russia?

24. Could you explain the definitions that you have mentioned in your report?

c) Read the passage and write 10-12 questions of different types (general, special, subject, alternative, disjunctive, indirect, rhetorical) you may ask the speaker.