Advanced Listening Practice

1. What is the core of Eleanor's argument against the monarchy?
    The cost of the royal estates starves public services of funding
    A hereditary head of state is incompatible with a modern democracy
    The country's reputation suffers from royal scandals
    Historical crimes under the crown void its legitimacy

2. How does Jonathan mainly defend keeping the monarchy?
    An uncodified constitution guards against extremism
    Royal tourism revenue effectively subsidises the economy
    Its practical value as impartial continuity outweighs theoretical concerns
    The public isn't equipped to elect a head of state directly

3. Why does Eleanor dismiss the tourism and "harmlessness" arguments up front?
    To push the debate onto the deeper constitutional question
    To insult her opponent by calling his points empty in advance
    She has figures that disprove the economic claims
    She thinks the public is tired of hearing them

4. What rhetorical technique does Jonathan use repeatedly?
    Demanding Eleanor produce a flawless alternative before she criticises
    Turning the weaknesses Eleanor names into strengths
    Interrupting to correct small historical errors
    Leaning on national nostalgia rather than legal argument

5. On what point do the two debaters actually agree?
    That a written constitution would mean more partisan legal disputes
    That the monarchy generates significant tourism revenue
    That the monarch provides a useful point of national continuity
    That the monarch doesn't interfere with parliament's lawmaking

6. How does Eleanor define the real "cost" of the monarchy?
    The slow erosion of the country's diplomatic influence
    The legal crises that come from relying on unwritten rules
    The normalising of unearned privilege and social hierarchy
    The gap between the civil list and average wages

7. What is Jonathan's main worry about an elected presidency?
    It would give one person more military power than the monarch
    It would inject partisan division into a unifying role
    It would take decades to rewrite the legal system
    It would alienate Commonwealth nations

8. What is Eleanor's stance on the difficulty of replacing the monarchy?
    The difficulty is real but not an excuse to avoid democratic progress
    The transition would be seamless, with powers passing to the PM
    Foreign experts should design a bias-free framework
    It should wait for mass public protest