1. Who will be Iran’s next president?
2. Will China squeeze, rather than seize, Taiwan?
3. Would an ICC indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu hasten the end of the war in Gaza?
4. Does Germany need an early election?
5. Are Haiti’s gangs getting stronger?
6. Is a summer election more advantageous for the Conservative Party than holding an election in the fall?
7. Should the West ease its rules on what its weapons in Ukraine can be used for?
8. Is the Philippines doing enough to stabilize Mindanao?
9. Should Mexico follow El Salvador’s approach to crime?
10. How can wealthier nations increase the number of people willing to do military service?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz!
Note: This will be the last news quiz of the 2023-2024 season. Questions will continue through NSDA Nationals. News quizzes will return the first week of September for 2024-2025.
This year’s Tournament of Champions of Extemporaneous Speaking, hosted by Northwestern University, attracted a disappointing field of only 41 extempers for the national extemp circuit’s second major championship.
Sasha Morel of Plano West Senior High School (TX) won a decisive victory, beating Kajal Parmar of Cary Academy (NC) by eight ranks in the final round. Morel earned five of the seven available first place ranks.
Devarsh Borah of Edina High School (MN) rounded out the top three with a third place finish. Borah finished four ranks behind Parmar.
#12 Taylor Burris of the Potomac School (VA) was the highest ranked competitor in the field and made the final round, placing sixth. The only other ranked competitor in the National Points Race who made elimination rounds was #18 Kate Liu of Plano East Senior High School (TX), who dropped in semi-finals.
Even though the field did not attract many of the extempers in the top 25 of the National Points Race, the final round featured extempers from five states.
Plano West had two extempers in the final as Abraham Zhang took fifth.
Morel is the first Plano West extemper to win the TOC since Jacqueline Wei in 2019. Plano West has had three champions at the event, including Morel, since 2018. The school also won the tournament’s sweepstakes award.
All of the extempers that reached elimination rounds will earn National Points Race points.
Here are the results of the 2024 Tournament of Champions of Extemporaneous Speaking (Click here for tab sheet):
1. What does the sacking of Sergei Shoigu signal about the future of Russia’s war in Ukraine?
2. Should the EU shrink its existing membership?
3. Does Tajikistan have a jihadism problem?
4. How will rising unemployment impact the South African elections?
5. Are the high debt levels of Western European nations too high?
6. Is North Korea gearing up for an invasion of South Korea?
7. Should Panama shut down migrants passage through the Darien Gap?
8. Has Mexican democracy slid backwards under AMLO?
9. Is the rise of digital ID systems a threat to privacy rights worldwide?
10. How would the end of Israel’s wartime coalition affect its war with Hamas?
1. Should President Biden promote his plans to tax richer Americans and corporations more?
2. Are higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles a good idea?
3. Is there too much “punditry” in American journalism?
4. Why are Democratic Senate candidates polling better than President Biden?
5. Is “judge-mandering” becoming a big problem in the American legal system?
6. Will the rise of AI worsen American income inequality?
7. Are the agreed upon debates between Biden and Trump taking place too early?
8. Is U.S. public education collapsing?
9. Can the U.S. economy wean itself off of cheap Chinese goods?
10. Is it more likely that interest rates go higher or lower by the end of 2024?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz!
1. Should Donald Trump lose his Secret Service protection if he is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence?
2. Will TikTok’s lawsuit against the U.S. government eventually reach the Supreme Court?
3. Should media organizations be given greater protection from lawsuits?
4. Does the U.S. need to rethink its approach toward autocratic states?
5. Is President Biden focusing too much of his re-election effort on shoring up his base?
6. Would the collapse of the liberal international order do significant damage to U.S. national security?
7. Does Donald Trump need to select a moderate vice presidential candidate?
8. Should the TSA be abolished?
9. Does the IRS need more funding?
10. Should the U.S. reverse its position on Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries?
1. Do more open migration policies by Western governments make it easier for totalitarian states to hold onto power?
2. Are the fates of Ukraine and Taiwan interconnected?
3. How significant is the global competition for semiconductors?
4. Should Israel have been allowed to compete at Eurovision?
5. How will East Asia’s demographic crunch affect global politics?
6. Has the Israel-Hamas war proved that Hamas is incapable of governing?
7. What does a warming global climate mean for global health outcomes?
8. Would it be a mistake for the Democratic Alliance to coalition with the ANC after the next South African election?
9. Is China winning its “cold war” with the West?
10. Will the result of the Panamanian presidential election produce positive economic results?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.
1. Should Ukraine lower its mobilization age further?
2. Is “lawfare” having a detrimental impact on Spain’s politics?
3. Has the Scottish nationalist movement collapsed?
4. Should the Japanese government stop defending the yen?
5. Is an anti-Iran alliance emerging in the Middle East?
6. How will Colombia’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Israel affect its economy?
7. What is the biggest challenge that will face the next Mexican president?
8. How would a non-junta government in Myanmar affect its neighbors?
9. Has Venezuela scrapped plans to invade Guyana?
10. Does Japan need to reform its immigration policies?
1. Is the “American dream” disappearing?
2. Should marijuana be removed from the controlled-substances list?
3. Will the Supreme Court find South Carolina’s congressional redistricting plan unconstitutional?
4. How would a major terror attack in the United States affect the dynamics of the 2024 presidential election?
5. Have university presidents poorly reacted to growing pro-Palestinian protests?
6. How can the U.S. prevent the growth of artificial intelligence systems from becoming a major threat to national security?
7. Are climate risks in the home insurance market becoming a threat to U.S. economic health?
8. How can the U.S. build a reliable rare-earths supply chain?
9. Are campus protests a preview of what could happen after a close result in the 2024 presidential election?
10. Will the strength of fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party grow after 2024?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
Updated standings for the 2023-2024 Extemp Central National Points Race have been released. Check them out by clicking here or the “Natl Points Race” tab above.
The new standings reflect the result of last weekend’s University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions (TOC). Charlotte Reitman of NSU University School (FL) was the winner of that competition and earned 100 points.
This weekend features the other prominent Tournament of Champions (TOC) event on the calendar when Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois hosts its annual TOC of Extemporaneous Speaking. The season’s second major is another third tier event and the winner will receive 100 points. All competitors who reach the quarter-final round will also receive points.
1. If Donald Trump is convicted of a felony before the Republican National Convention, should the GOP nominate a different candidate?
2. Are growing campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza becoming a major headache for President Biden’s re-election effort?
3. How can Elon Musk reverse the decline of Tesla’s stock price?
4. Does President Biden have a problem with Hispanic voters?
5. Will the Supreme Court crack down on ghost guns in Garland v. VanDerStok?
6. Has the Affordable Care Act failed to make healthcare more affordable?
7. Should colleges reclassify athletes as employees of their respective institutions?
8. How should the Supreme Court rule on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claims?
9. Should the Federal Reserve increase its inflation target to 3%?
10. Is the U.S. stock market in a precarious position?
1. Could anger over Israeli operations in Gaza produce a new “Arab Spring”?
2. What is the biggest obstacle for India becoming a great power?
3. Can a pro-Russian electoral bloc in Moldova keep the country out of the European Union?
4. Could the Philippines, instead of Taiwan, serve as the starting point for a military clash between China and the United States in the Pacific?
5. Will favorable views of Russia and China in the Sahel last?
6. Is anything working when it comes to global climate policy?
7. Should the “Global South” reject the current international system?
8. Is the British NHS falling apart?
9. Should the level of France’s public debt be a cause of concern?
10. What should be the first priority of Haiti’s transitional council?