ÔN THI B2 - Expressing and justifying an opinion

Expressing and justifying an opinion
Personally, I think / believe that ….. because ….
In my opinion,….. This is because …..
From my point of view, …
My own feeling is …
Well, first of all, …..
The first point I’d like to make is that …..
Let me explain.
In my view ….
I doubt….
To my mind, ….
I reckon ….
I suppose ….
I guess ….
I’m not sure if ….
For me, ….
Suggesting solutions and giving answers / examples
Let me give you an example.
A case in point is ….
Let me explain why I think that.
For one thing, they could ….., and for another, ……
Personally, I think that ….. / I would choose ……
Well, I think we should ….
It would probably be better if we ….
Perhaps we could …..
We might be able to ….


Speculating
Might/may/could
It’s possible that ….
I can’t see that happening.
I think it’s quite likely that ….
It’s highly unlikely that ….
There may/might be ….
Maybe/perhaps, there will be …
One possibility is that ….
I don’t know for sure, but ….
I’d say it’s fairly likely that ….
It all depends on …
My prediction is that ….
That doesn’t seem very likely to me.
There is a strong possibility that …
It might / could be that case that ….
There is every chance that ….
I can say without doubt that …
No one can predict whether …
It’s impossible to say ….
This will probably mean that …
What I think will happen is that ….
It’s very likely / unlikely that ….
Probably / probably not.
Will definitely / probably / probably won’t ….
Cycling to college or taking public transport might help.
It’s possible that we could do more to recycle our rubbish.
It’s unlikely that some countries will reduce their CO2 emission.
It would probably help if people stopped using fossil fuels.

Useful language: Clarification
What I mean is that ….
Let me put this another way ….
What I am trying to say is ….
My point is that ….
Useful language:
I’m not an expert, but ….
I read somewhere that ….
That’s a real possibility.
It has many implications.
There’s a question mark over ….
Yes, in theory ….., but in practice ….
I suppose so.
Speaking personally, ….
That’s crucial.
Useful language: Adverbs for agreement and disagreement:
I absolutely / completely / fully / totally / entirely agree
I completely / totally / really disagree
I disagree completely
I don’t agree at all.
I agree up to a point but ….
I agree to an extent but …
I partly agree but ….






What do you think about the way food is produced nowadays (factory farming, GM food, organic food)?
I think factory farming should be banned because it is cruel and unnatural. I always try to buy organic food even if sometimes it is more expensive.
Do you think all children should learn to cook at school?
In my opinion, all children should be taught to cook at school. The second point I’d like to make is that if children learned what a healthy diet is at school, then there wouldn’t be as much obesity as there is now.
What role do fast food and junk food play in your country?
I believe that fast food plays a great role in my country. Let me explain. Fifty years ago, everyone used to sit down as a family to eat dinner. Nowadays, they prefer to sit in front of the TV eating a hamburger.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of one-to-one lessons?
One-to-one lessons have several advantages. First of all, you can have the teacher’s attention all the time. Secondly, you can study at a speed that suits you. Finally, you have to think for yourself.
On the other hand one-to-one lessons have several disadvantages. First, you can’t learn from other students. Second, you don’t have the possibility of developing ideas together. Finally, you don’t have a chance to relax.


history teach us anything or is it a waste of time?
I consider that society could learn a great deal from the study of history because history has a habit of repeating itself.
Do you think history is taught well?
Personally, I think it is a subject that really needs a teacher who is imaginative and has a real interest in history. Let me give you an example of how NOT to teach history. If a teacher just reads out a list of dates, then it can become very boring and the class will be totally unmotivated
What could be done to make students want to study history?
For one thing, a teacher could take you to