Topic Lecture
Although there is no fixed definition of "high speed rail," debaters on this topic should generally assume high speed rail trains go at this speed
90-150 miles per hour
Ideally, in rebuttal you should be making responses to each of the three parts of a contention, which are these
uniqueness, link, and impact
In crossfire, debaters ought to be always facing/looking at this person
The judge/s
When the lecturer described "condensing" this term generally means to do this in a debate (several possible answers, you just need 1 to earn points)
make the debate smaller
narrow the debate
consolidate contentions
break the debate down into smaller parts and explain why you win each part
There were three weighing mechanisms discussed in the weighing lecture including magnitude, probability, and this
timeframe
High speed rail can include both building new rail lines or this
upgrading existing track
Offense is a reason for the judge to vote for you, whereas defense is this
A reason for the judge to not vote for your opponents.
The lecturer recommended asking pointed, closed questions rather than this type of question which often allow the opponent the opportunity to speak too long
Open ended questions
To help with time allocation in summary, it was suggested that you find responses that are very similar or rely on one argument being true, and respond to all of them at once. This concept is also known as this
Grouping
When you make a decision in real life or in a debate you consider and weigh the potential costs and benefits associated with taking an action, also known as this
cost-benefit analysis
One pro argument discussed in the topic lecture was the HSR can improve a markets for trade and labor, including this market (hint: NOT the job market)
tourism
This is something debaters do at the beginning of a rebuttal to describe the most important impacts. They are frequently dropped and they can be the deciding factor in close rounds.
Do a short overview
In grand crossfire both teams typically remain seated and the length of grand crossfire is this amount of time
3 minutes
3 methods of delivery were offered for how to execute a summary speech including narrative, line by line, and this
Voters
(Bryce's personal recommendation)
Evidence quality is related to this weighing mechanism
Probability
The con arguments explored in the topic lecture for why HSR would be bad for the environment include: construction is harmful to the environment, efficiency arguments are misguided, and this
HSR construction hurts farmers by building on farmland
impact turns
The main difference between crossfire and cross examination is this
in crossfire both teams may ask and answer questions in the same time period, in cross examination only one team may ask questions and the other team must answer questions.
Although there is no mandatory time limit or maximum, it was advised that extensions of 1 contention in summary should be approximately this long
pre written 20 second long extension per contention
The two impacts everybody compared in their weighing drill on Friday were these
US-China war and global economic recession
In June 2022, The Biden administration restored a $929 million grant for California’s HSR that former President Trump revoked in this year
2019
It was suggested during the lecture to read as much offense as you can in rebuttal because of this
the first time the word crossfire was used was in military writing in this year to mean lines of fire from two or more positions which cross one another
1763
You should not do this in the final focus speech
(2 possible answers, you only need to get 1 for the points)
make new arguments
read new evidence
Root cause is an argument related to weighing using this mechanism
timeframe