Question Bank (50+)

Real SBA prompts have a topic + 3 statements (one per student). This page gives you 50+ realistic prompts grouped by the 5 most common question types the Mock SBA hinted at. Practise them. Sample answers are in Sample Answers.

The 5 question types you'll likely face

Based on the Mock SBA on A Midsummer Night's Dream, the prompts almost always fall into one of these:

Type	Example wording	What examiners look for
A. Decisions / actions	"Good or bad decisions in the story"	Analysis of motive, consequence; you must take a position
B. Alternative endings	"If you could change the ending…"	Creativity + logical consequence
C. Lessons / messages	"The most important lesson…"	P.E.E.L with a strong Link to modern life
D. Modern relevance	"Why does this story matter today?"	Direct Link to teenagers / Hong Kong / society
E. Promote Shakespeare	"How would you make students excited about this?"	Creative ideas, practical activities

Type A — Decisions / actions

A1. Macbeth

• Topic: Good or bad decisions in Macbeth
• A: I think Macbeth made a bad decision when he listened to the witches.
• B: Lady Macbeth made a worse decision when she pushed her husband to murder.
• C: Macbeth's worst decision was to kill Banquo — that was the point of no return.

A2. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: Whose decision led to the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet?
• A: Friar Laurence made the worst decision by agreeing to marry them in secret.
• B: Lord Capulet's decision to force Juliet to marry Paris triggered the tragedy.
• C: Romeo's decision to kill Tybalt was the real turning point.

A3. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: Risky decisions in The Merchant of Venice
• A: Antonio made a foolish decision to sign the bond with Shylock.
• B: Bassanio made a selfish decision to ask Antonio for the loan.
• C: Portia made a brave decision to disguise herself as a lawyer.

A4. Across all three

• Topic: The most courageous decision in any of the three stories
• A: Macbeth's decision to face Macduff in single combat was courageous.
• B: Juliet's decision to drink the potion was the most courageous.
• C: Portia's decision to defend Antonio in court was the most courageous.

A5. Macbeth

• Topic: Lady Macbeth's choices
• A: Lady Macbeth made the right decision to push her husband — he wanted it too.
• B: Lady Macbeth made a tragic decision because she underestimated her own conscience.
• C: Lady Macbeth's decision shows that ambition can be more dangerous than greed.

A6. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: Juliet as a decision-maker
• A: Juliet's bravest decision was to defy her father.
• B: Juliet's bravest decision was to take the potion.
• C: Juliet's bravest decision was to die rather than live without Romeo.

A7. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: Shylock's choices
• A: Shylock chose revenge over money.
• B: Shylock chose to defend his dignity, not his profit.
• C: Shylock chose to act on years of humiliation, and that explains his demand.

Type B — Alternative endings

B1. Macbeth

• Topic: A different ending for Macbeth
• A: I'd want Macbeth to refuse the witches' prophecy and stay loyal to Duncan.
• B: I'd want Lady Macbeth to survive and seek forgiveness.
• C: I'd want Macduff to spare Macbeth's life and put him on trial instead.

B2. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: A different ending for Romeo and Juliet
• A: I'd want Friar Laurence's message to reach Romeo on time.
• B: I'd want Juliet to confront her father openly instead of taking the potion.
• C: I'd want both families to reconcile before the deaths.

B3. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: A different ending for The Merchant of Venice
• A: I'd want Shylock to be shown true mercy and keep his fortune.
• B: I'd want Portia to reveal her identity at the start of the trial.
• C: I'd want Antonio to publicly apologise to Shylock for his earlier insults.

B4. Across stories

• Topic: If you could rewrite one character's fate…
• A: Lady Macbeth — let her live and become an advocate for honest leadership.
• B: Romeo — let him marry Juliet openly with both families' blessings.
• C: Shylock — let him remain wealthy but with a transformed view of revenge.

B5. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: A modern setting for Romeo and Juliet
• A: I'd set it in modern Hong Kong, with rival school cliques.
• B: I'd set it on social media — the families feud through online posts.
• C: I'd set it in a refugee context where the lovers are from warring states.

B6. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: A new ending for Shylock
• A: Shylock should be allowed to walk away with his original 3,000 ducats.
• B: Shylock should be invited into a public reconciliation ceremony.
• C: Shylock should have refused the trial and accepted the 6,000 ducat offer instead.

Type C — Lessons / messages

C1. Macbeth

• Topic: The most important lesson from Macbeth
• A: The lesson is that unchecked ambition destroys the ambitious, not just their victims.
• B: The lesson is that guilt punishes us more than the law ever could.
• C: The lesson is that fate doesn't take away our choice — it just gives us an excuse.

C2. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: The most important lesson from Romeo and Juliet
• A: The lesson is that inherited prejudice destroys the next generation.
• B: The lesson is that parents who refuse to listen lose their children.
• C: The lesson is that acting on emotion before reason ends in tragedy.

C3. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: The most important lesson from The Merchant of Venice
• A: The lesson is that mercy is the highest form of justice.
• B: The lesson is that prejudice creates the very revenge it fears.
• C: The lesson is that the most valuable things rarely look the most valuable.

C4. Across stories

• Topic: Which Shakespeare story teaches the most useful lesson for teenagers?
• A: Macbeth — because it warns about the cost of ambition.
• B: Romeo and Juliet — because it shows how parental control backfires.
• C: The Merchant of Venice — because it teaches us about prejudice and mercy.

C5. Macbeth

• Topic: What Macbeth teaches about leadership
• A: Good leaders know when to stop.
• B: Good leaders listen to honest advisers, not flatterers.
• C: Good leaders don't surround themselves with people who only push them harder.

C6. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: What Romeo and Juliet teaches about communication
• A: A single message can save or destroy lives.
• B: Talking honestly to family is harder than running away.
• C: When we act on emotion, we shut down communication.

C7. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: What The Merchant of Venice teaches about justice
• A: The letter of the law isn't always the spirit of the law.
• B: Justice without mercy is just revenge in robes.
• C: Loopholes can be used for good — but they're still loopholes.

Type D — Modern relevance

D1. All three

• Topic: Why does Shakespeare still matter to teenagers today?
• A: Because human feelings — love, jealousy, ambition — haven't changed.
• B: Because the family pressure in his plays is still our reality.
• C: Because the moral dilemmas in his plays are exactly what we debate on TikTok.

D2. Macbeth

• Topic: Macbeth in 2026
• A: Macbeth would be a tech CEO chasing a unicorn valuation.
• B: Macbeth would be a politician swayed by social-media prophecies.
• C: Macbeth would be a star student pushed into Ivy League by tiger parents.

D3. Romeo and Juliet

• Topic: Romeo and Juliet in 2026
• A: The feud would be online — between two TikTok fandoms.
• B: The lovers would meet on Discord and fail to meet IRL.
• C: The "delayed message" would be a misread WhatsApp.

D4. Merchant of Venice

• Topic: The Merchant of Venice in 2026
• A: Shylock would be a payday lender; the trial would happen in small claims court.
• B: The bond would be a Terms-of-Service contract nobody read.
• C: Portia would be a young female lawyer fighting workplace sexism.

D5. All three

• Topic: Which character would have the most followers on Instagram?
• A: Lady Macbeth — strategic, polished, viral posts about leadership.
• B: Romeo — emotional, poetic captions, a heartbroken fandom.
• C: Portia — smart, sharp, would post legal explainers.

D6. All three

• Topic: What Shakespeare teaches us about mental health
• A: Macbeth shows guilt as a kind of madness — like PTSD.
• B: Romeo shows the danger of impulsive teenage decisions.
• C: Merchant shows how prejudice harms the mental health of the targets.

D7. All three

• Topic: Shakespeare and Hong Kong students
• A: Hermia → HK students forced into specific university degrees.
• B: Macbeth → HK rat-race ambition culture.
• C: Shylock → minorities who feel unfairly treated.

Type E — Promote Shakespeare's stories

E1. Reading activities

• Topic: Activities to promote Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare at our school
• A: A chatbot where students chat with characters (Macbeth, Juliet, Portia).
• B: A short video competition recreating key scenes in a modern Hong Kong setting.
• C: A "Shakespeare Day" with cosplay, food from the stories, and a quiz.

E2. Social media

• Topic: Using TikTok / IG to promote Shakespeare
• A: 30-second character explainers in Cantonese with English subtitles.
• B: "POV" reels — "POV: you're Macbeth waking up after the murder."
• C: A meme account where each meme links to a moral from the booklet.

E3. School events

• Topic: A school-wide reading event
• A: A read-aloud relay in the library: 1 page per student.
• B: A debate competition: "Was Shylock a victim?"
• C: A drama showcase: each class adapts one story.

E4. For younger students

• Topic: Promoting Shakespeare to F.1 students
• A: A comic-book version of each story made by S.5 students.
• B: A "choose your own adventure" quiz on the school website.
• C: An assembly where S.5 act out one minute from each play.

E5. Cross-subject

• Topic: Bringing Shakespeare into other subjects
• A: With Computer Science → build a "Macbeth decision simulator" game.
• B: With Liberal Studies → debate "Is Shylock's punishment fair under HK law?"
• C: With Visual Arts → recreate the casket scene as a modern installation.

Bonus questions (rare but possible)

F1. Characters you most/least admire

• Topic: The character I most admire across the three stories
• A: Portia — for using her intelligence to save a friend.
• B: Juliet — for her bold choice to defy her family.
• C: Macduff — for his loyalty to Scotland and his family.

F2. Friendship

• Topic: True friendship in the stories
• A: Antonio and Bassanio show the deepest friendship.
• B: Mercutio's death shows the cost of friendship.
• C: Banquo's loyalty to Macbeth highlights what real friendship is.

F3. Women in Shakespeare

• Topic: Strong women in the stories
• A: Lady Macbeth — powerful but tragic.
• B: Juliet — articulate and brave.
• C: Portia — intelligent and active.

F4. Quotes

• Topic: The most powerful line from the booklet
• A: "Sleep no more!" — Macbeth, P.2.
• B: "A pound of flesh" — Shylock, P.12.
• C: "Faithful and most unhappy lovers" — narrator, P.11.

F5. Comparing endings

• Topic: Which ending hits hardest?
• A: Macbeth — total destruction of a tyrant.
• B: Romeo and Juliet — two children's deaths to end an adult feud.
• C: Merchant of Venice — a "happy ending" with one ruined man.

How to use this question bank

• Week before exam: answer 1 question per night out loud, recording yourself.
• Group sessions: pick 3 questions per session — one from Type A, one from Type C, one from Type D or E.
• Day before exam: don't try to memorise specific answers; just review the types of questions so nothing surprises you.

→ Sample full P.E.E.L answers for 15 of these questions: Sample Answers.

→ Need the P.E.E.L structure refresher? P.E.E.L Framework.