In the academic discussion task a professor posts a question, two students have already replied, and you add a contribution of your own in about ten minutes. What scores is a clear position, real engagement with what the others said, and one reason developed with something concrete. These 40 items train exactly that, and nothing else.
Read it, read both posts, then read the question again. Your contribution has to answer that question, not the conversation the students drifted into.
Not the side you believe. The side you have a city, a number or a personal case for.
‘I side with Mei, though for a different reason.’ One sentence, no greeting, no throat-clearing.
‘As Andrew points out …’ then either extend the point into a case he did not consider or show what it leaves out.
A reason, its mechanism, and a concrete example. That is about seventy words and it is what the rubric calls elaboration.
Often, tends to, in most cities. Overstated claims are easy to mark down and cost nothing to soften.
Finish with the consequence of your argument, not with ‘in conclusion, this is my opinion’.
Articles, plural endings, subject-verb agreement. These are the errors that accumulate in a fast post.
Not this“Hello everyone, I am very happy to join this interesting discussion.”
This“I side with Mei, though for a different reason.”
A greeting spends fifteen of your hundred words and contributes nothing to the score.
Not thisRestating Mei’s reason in different words.
ThisAdding what her reason does not cover.
The task asks for a contribution; a paraphrase of a classmate is not one.
Not thisListing three reasons in three short sentences.
ThisDeveloping one with an example.
Elaboration is the criterion, and three bare assertions read as thinner than one worked-out point.
Not thisWriting about parking policy when the question is buses versus bike lanes.
ThisAnswering the question asked.
An off-task post cannot score well however fluent it is.
Not this“Everyone knows buses are terrible.”
This“Buses tend to run below capacity outside peak hours.”
Register and hedging both matter; the first version is unsupported and informal at once.
Not thisRunning to three hundred words and leaving no time to check.
ThisWriting about a hundred and twenty and reading them back.
Length is not a criterion; accuracy is, and the last minute is the cheapest score you will find.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
2Complete with a number.
5Complete with one verb beginning with e.
6Write one sentence that engages with Andrew and then adds a new idea.
One good answer
Andrew is right that buses serve people who cannot cycle, but that actually strengthens the case for bike lanes: every commuter who moves onto a bike frees a seat for someone with no alternative.
7Complete with one plural noun beginning with w.
9Complete with one adjective beginning with a.
11Complete with one noun beginning with e.
13Complete with one verb beginning with r.
15Write the closing sentence of a post that argues for expanding bus service.
One good answer
For a city with an aging population and long winters, the bus network carries more people per dollar than a new bike lane would, and that is where I would spend first.
18Complete with one noun beginning with p.
20Complete with one noun beginning with d.
22Complete with one noun beginning with l.
25Complete with one noun beginning with g.
26Complete with one noun beginning with p.
28Write one sentence that disagrees with a classmate politely.
One good answer
I take Andrew’s point about accessibility, though it overlooks how much of the bus budget goes on routes that run nearly empty outside rush hour.
29Complete with one adjective beginning with d.
31Complete with one plural noun beginning with a.
33Complete with one noun beginning with r.
35Complete with one noun beginning with t.
39Complete with one plural noun beginning with p.
40Give one habit that lifts a discussion post from adequate to strong.
One good answer
Name a classmate’s reason, say what it gets right, then show the case it does not cover and supply a specific example from a city or situation you know.
Note
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Around a hundred words is the usual minimum and a little over that is comfortable. What matters is one developed reason, not the word count itself.
No. You can agree with one, disagree with both, or take a third position. What you cannot do is stay neutral: the task requires a stated view.
Academic but not stiff. Full sentences, hedged claims, no slang or abbreviations, and no need for essay furniture such as ‘firstly’ and ‘in conclusion’.
Avoid numbers you cannot stand behind. A named situation — your own city, a route you use, a season — gives the same specificity without inviting doubt.
Choose the side you can illustrate. The score rests on how well the position is developed, not on how sincerely it is held.
It uses its own criteria, weighted towards relevance, the development of your contribution and the range and accuracy of your language in a short piece of writing.