在
Cnversatin1
Narratr
Listen t a cnversatin between a student and an emplyee in the university library.
Librarian
Ready t check ut?
Student
Just abut. Befre I d thugh, this bk n early navigatin…I have been using this bk quite a bit fr a research prject. And I wuld like t wn it actually. And well…it’s an ld bk, and there were tw cpies n the shelf just nw, s I was wndering if I culd buy ne. I was talking t this guy the ther day, and he said the library sld bks n ccasin. Is that right?
Librarian
He is prbably talking abut ur annual bk sale. We have ne every spring.
Student
K. Hw d yu decide which bks t sell? Are they duplicates?
Librarian
A lt are duplicates. If we have mre than ne cpy f a title and it hasn’t been checked ut in a few years, in that case it might end up at the sale.
Student
I’ve actually tried t find this bk nline but n luck s far. I was really hping t buy it.
Librarian
Well, that particular bk…well, it prbably wn’t be up fr sale this year. Mst bks in the sale cme frm ff-site strage.
Student
ff-site strage?
Librarian
That’s where we keep bks that haven’t been used fr several years. They are still in the catalg, which means they can be checked ut if yu fill ut a frm. It takes maybe a day r tw t retrieve ne f them.
Student
I see.
Librarian
And then befre we decide t include a bk in the sale, we review its circulatin histry again, which can take a while. We’ve gt a lt f bks in strage.
Student
S it’s basically the unppular bks that get put up fr sale then?
Librarian
Well, that…plus the main thing is t make sure students have access t the infrmatin in the bks. A lt f them are available in electrnic frmat these days, even the really ld nes. Yu knw, they have been preserved that way.
Student
S mst f the bks fr sale are lder bks.
Librarian
Well, we get bk dnatins t. And lts f thse are new. Again, a librarian reviews them and decides whether t catalgue them r put them up fr sale.
Student
Is this sale pen t the public?
Librarian
n the secnd day. It’s a tw-day sale. The first day is fr students, faculty and staff thugh, which is great. We usually need abut twenty vlunteers fr the sale. And well, if yu vlunteer, yu get first sht at everything in advance.
Student
Really? What d vlunteers have t d?
Librarian
Yu help srt the bks and set up the tables. But keep in mind thse psitins fill up quickly.
Nw, abut this particular bk, it wuldn’t hurt t send a frmal request t the cllectin department. They might be able t let yu knw if it wuld be up fr sale.
Student
I’ll d that. Thanks.
?
Lecture1-Art Histry (Dadaism)
Narratr
Listen t part f a lecture in an art histry class.
Prfessr
All right. S last week we started talking abut the painters and sculptrs wh were part f the art mvement called Dada. But I dn’t want yu t think the ideas we intrduced last time were limited t painting, sculpture, that srt f thing. S tday I want t mve beynd the visual arts and talk a bit abut Dada in the perfrming arts, in theater.
But let’s start by reviewing what Dada is. K? As yu will recall, Dada began in Switzerland, in the city f Zurich, in 1916. The artists wh studied it were reacting against traditinal ntins f beauty, f reasn, f prgress, which had been standards f western thught since the 18th century. They lked arund. And well, I mean, the First Wrld War was raging, s they didn’t see much beauty, reasn r prgress in the wrld. Instead, they saw a wrld that was chatic, randm, a wrld that didn’t make sense. And if that’s the way the wrld was, well, they wanted their art t reflect that.
S let’s…let’s review a cuple f key ideas that were the backbne f Dada art.
First, the Dadaists wanted t cmpletely reject the classical idea f art. Classical ideas like prprtin, balance…all the things yu think abut when yu think abut great art. Great art invlved reasn, the lgic, the beauty that the Dadaists wanted t verthrw.
S, well, yu knw, t a Dadaist, classical artwrk was a reflectin f utdated thinking! That’s why Dadaists created sculptures like the nes we saw last week. Remember the stl with the bicycle wheel munted n tp? I wuldn’t exactly called that beautiful, wuld yu? But f curse it wasn’t meant t be. That was the pint!
K.
S anther key Dada idea we talked abut was the embracing f randmness. Right? Uh…if life is randm, said the Dadaists, why wuld we make art that has rder and lgic? And s we have that cllage we lked at, with an artist tk different, yu knw, cut-ut squares f clred paper, threw them nt the canvas, and wherever they landed, that was the cmpsitin f the wrk!
Anther favrite f the Dadaists was smething called chance petry. A chance pet wuld pull wrds ut f a hat and that wuld be…that wuld make up the pem! And this idea f chance and randmness was a key element f Dadaism because the whle wrld seemed s randm t them.
S nw let’s take a lk at hw Dadaist ideas represented t audiences in highly uncnventinal…well…I am nt even sure hw t categrize these theatrical events. I suppse yu just have t call them shws. These shws started in Zurich in a place called the Cabaret Vltaire.
The rejectin f classical western art, well, yu see this in the nature f what tk place at the Cabaret Vltaire. They didn’t put n plays r peras there. What they did was thrw ut all cnventins.
They mixed everything and anything tgether. They wuld…it might start with smebdy reading a pem. Then smebdy else playing an instrument, fllwed by a display f paintings, fllwed by smebdy else chanting, fllwed by smebdy else banging n a big drum, and smene dressed in a rbt cstume jumping up and dwn. S it’s nt like a play. There’s n real plt develpment here like yu’d find in the traditinal theatrical perfrmance.
The perfrmers at the Cabaret Vltaire wuld als get the audience invlved, which was extremely unusual. Think abut a traditinal play. The actin’s self-cntained. The actrs act as if there is n ne watching, right? It’s like a wrld unt itself. Well, at the Cabaret Vltaire, audience members culd get up n stage and dance, r chant, r shut and sing frm their seats.
And every night wuld be different, because there wuld be a different audience and a different set f acts and displays.
S all these culd get pretty chatic. N barriers between the perfrmers and the audience, and n barriers between kinds f art either. Think abut it: petry, paintings, music, dance…all n the same stage and ften at the same time!
This is what the Dadaists had in mind. When they set ut t make art that reflected their wn idea f reality, it didn’t make sense. But why shuld it?!
?
Lecture2-Envirnmental Engineering (APS digestin)
Narratr
Listen t part f a lecture in an envirnmental engineering class.
Prfessr
At the end f yesterday’s class, we were discussing landfills and the hundreds f millins f tns f everyday garbage which are depsited int them each year in the United States. It’s a grwing prblem! Quite simply, we are running ut f space t put ur garbage. And this is especially true fr slid rganic waste: fd scraps frm hme r fd prcessing plants, waste frm farms, that srt f thing. Did yu knw that tw thirds f the waste sitting in ur landfills is rganic material? We have gvernment recycling prgrams fr materials like plastics, glass and metal, yet widespread slutins fr rganic waste materials haven’t really been addressed in the United States. I think this is just asking fr truble in the future.
S tday I want t talk abut a technlgy that ffers a ptential slutin t the prblem—Anaerbic Phased Slids digestin, r APS digestin.
First f all, what des anaerbic mean? Anyne?
Student
Withut xygen?
Prfessr
Crrect! APS digestin uses anaerbic bacteria, nes that thrive in the absence f xygen, t cnsume, t break dwn rganic material.
Student
Excuse me. Prfessr. Um…thse anaerbic bacteria yu are talking abut…well, aren’t anaerbic bacteria als used in waste water treatment plants?
Prfessr
Yes. They are. Wuld yu like t explain this t the class?
Student
Sure! S when waste water is treated, ne f the byprducts is a thick liquid called sludge. And aren’t anaerbic bacteria used t break dwn the sludge?
Prfessr
That’s right. Anaerbic bacteria have been used in waste water treatment fr decades.
Student
S hw is this technlgy different?
Prfessr
Gd questin. The anaerbic digestin systems used in waste water plants are designed t treat sludge, nt slids. Nw, in the past, researchers have attempted t treat slid rganic waste with that same equipment.
But there was always a prblem.
In rder t prcess the slid waste, the kind we find in landfills, yu had t pretreat the slids t turn them int sludge.
First, by breaking the material apart mechanically int small particles and then adding a lt f water until yu gt a kind f thick, supy mix that the equipment culd handle. But that extra step tk time and required a lt f energy.
Student
That sunds like it wuld cst a lt.
Prfessr
That’s right. But APS digestin is designed specifically t handle slid waste. S it is much mre cst-effective.
The new technlgy prcesses rganic waste in tw phases. Remember, APS stands fr Anaerbic Phased Slids digestin.
First, the waste material is laded int a large, clsed cntainer, alng with different types f anaerbic bacteria. The bacteria break the slids dwn int acids and hydrgen gas. The hydrgen is extracted and the remaining acids are transferred int a different cntainer fr the secnd phase f the prcess. There anther type f bacteria cnverts the acids int methane gas.
Student
Aren’t hydrgen and methane gas bad fr the envirnment thugh?
Prfessr
The answer in this case is n, because they dn’t escape int the atmsphere. The gases are captured and can be burned t prduce electricity, which saves a lt f mney and ultimately decreases ur need fr fuels like petrleum and cal, which are nt nly expensive but are als plluting.
Student
S rganic waste frm landfills culd be prcessed this way?
Prfessr
It is certainly ne pssibility. And APS digestin systems are very versatile. They can be installed just abut anywhere. See, anaerbic digestin systems used at waste water treatment plants are huge tanks that hld thusands f gallns f waste water. But the APS cntainers are small enugh t be set up n site, where the waste is generated, like at fd prcessing plants r n farms. S garbage desn’t have t be transprted lng distances. As a matter f fact, a cuple f universities successfully set up demnstratin prjects. They cllected fd scraps frm dining halls and lcal restaurants and prcess them in APS facilities. Nt nly did the university save mney, we are als learning even mre abut the APS prcess.
What is the next step frward?
Well, APS digestin uses several different types f anaerbic bacteria, right? S what are the mst efficient bacteria in the prcess? If researchers can figure that ut, the highest perfrming bacteria mix fr a system culd be determined. Ultimately the gal wuld be t grw enugh f these particular bacteria t supprt large-scale cmmercial APS systems.
?
Cnversatin2
Narratr
Listen t a cnversatin between a student and her creative writing prfessr.
Student
Hell. Prfessr Thmsn. Culd I talk t yu fr a minute?
Prfessr
h. Hi. Laura. We missed yu last class.
Student
Yeah. I was sick fr a few days. Um…I was wndering...did I miss a lt f wrk?
Prfessr
Let’s see…well, we discussed the stry that yu have been assigned t read fr class. A Memry by Eudra Welty. And then we listened t a recrding f an interview with Welty. The recrding is n reserve at the library. Yu’ll need t listen t it. S…did yu have a chance t read the stry?
Student
Yeah. I did.
Prfessr
What did yu think?
Student
Well…I was a little surprised. I mean, the first time I read it anyway.
Prfessr
What surprised yu?
Student
Yu knw, it just seemed like there was nthing ging n in the stry. I mean, a girl is just sitting at the beach thinking abut ne f her memries. And at the same time, she is watching ther bathers n the beach, and srt f just thinking abut what they are ding t. And that’s all that happens! S at the end f the stry, I thught, that’s it?!
Prfessr
I knw what yu mean. There’s n surprise ending like in . Henry’s stry The Gift f the Magi r sme big adventure like in Faulkner’s The Bear.
S yu didn’t like the stry?
Student
Well, actually, while I was reading it the secnd time, I srt f realized that yu dn’t need surprises r excitement t have a great stry. . The girl’s memry and the stuff she was thinking abut while she was watching the ther peple n the beach were really interesting t read abut. And yu knw, it made me think that when I write my stry, the ne we have t write fr this class, I can maybe use my wn memries t get me started.
Prfessr
Well, in fact, I’d hped yu’d see that. f curse, there are many levels t the stry. But what I really wanted the class t take away frm it was that yu dn’t need t write abut the great exciting wrld when yu write yu stries. Even writing abut a memry can wrk.
Student
Like I culd write abut ne f the times I tk a walk in the wds when I was a kid.
Prfessr
Exactly! Yu knw, as the due day f yur stries appraches, I am hearing frm a lt f students that they are wrried because they dn’t have anything exciting enugh t write abut. But Welty said in the interview we listened t and in her autbigraphy that her wrst stries were the nes where she tried t write abut peple r places that were unfamiliar t her. That’s why a lt f her stries are set in Mississippi, where she is frm. Welty stressed that, fr her anyway, familiarity with her subject matter was the key t a successful stry.
Student
Familiarity. That makes sense. Thanks Prfessr Thmsn.
Prfessr
N prblem. Nw, dn’t frget t listen t that recrding.
?
Lecture3-Btany (Plants and Pllinatrs)
Narratr
Listen t part f a lecture in a btany class.
Prfessr
When we talk abut pllinatin eclgy, we are talking abut the relatinship between a plant and its pllinatr. Frm the plants’ perspective, the ideal pllinatr is an animal that is under-fed, ready t eat and in a hurry. The pllinatr, n the ther hand, wants t remain well-fed with as little effrt as pssible. These factrs help drive the evlutin f plants and their pllinatrs, bth f which depend n this balanced and delicate relatinship. Smetimes nly certain insects r birds can pllinate certain plant species. S t really understand pllinatin eclgy, bth the flwer and its pllinatrs must be studied.
Let’s start with flwers.
There are several imprtant factrs assciated with pllinatin: when and hw ften a plan flwers, hw lng the flwering cycle lasts, and the number f flwers that pen at the same time. Fr example, flwering may cincide with the migratin f a certain animal species that pllinates the plant, r prducing many flwers at nce may increase the number f pllinatrs a plant attracts.
ther characteristics f flwers are als imprtant. Features such as clr, scent and shape attract pllinatrs, as des the reward in the flwer, the pllen r the nectar, that feeds the pllinatr. Fr example, flwers that attract bats tend t be green r cream-clred, because visibility is imprtant. Bats are practically blind, remember. And these flwers blm at night when bats are active.
Nw, there’s a flwer in the Amazn rainfrest called a ryal water lily and the characteristics f its flwers change during the pllinatin prcess. The ryal water lily uses clr, temperature and scent t attract the beetles that pllinate it. When the flwers f the ryal water lily first pen up, when they first blm, they are white. They als emit a strng dr and their temperature rises. Prducing heat serves tw purpses. It magnifies the scent f the flwer and it helps the beetles maintain their bdy temperature. When a beetle arrives at the flwer, the flwer clses arund it fr abut 24 hurs s that the beetle becmes cvered with pllen. Then when the flwer pens, its clr changes t red and it cls dwn. When the beetle flies ut, it carries the pllen t a different, heated, white, fragrant flwer.
As yu can see, plants g t a lt f truble t attract attentin. S what kind f attentin are they attracting? And why?
Well, smetimes flwers prvide shelter fr insects, a place t lay eggs fr instance. But usually the attractin is fd: nectar and pllen. Nectar is mainly a sugar slutin, while pllen is a grain made up f part f the plant’s cell structure. In bth nectar and pllen prductin, quality and quantity vary ver time. But they are always related t the needs f the pllinatr.
Yu can see that the relatinship between pllinatrs and plants are delicate, s any number f factrs can disturb them.
Human develpment is ne. And agriculture is generally believed t be the mst harmful. It can fragment habitats in a variety f ways, reducing the number f pllinatrs, which in turn may reduce the number r size f the flwers, which f curse affects the animals that feed n them. Extic plant species nt native t the area can mve in and cmpete. Even bees brught in t pllinate crps can alter natural pllen dispersal systems f rainfrest plants.
n the ther hand, recent studies have shwn that the disruptin f ne aspect f the pllinatin cycle desn’t usually lead t the extinctin f ther species. It turns ut that plant-pllinatr relatinships are mre adaptable t change than we thught. S really it is hard t knw just hw agriculture affects the pllinatin f plants. ?
Lecture4-Business Management (The Life Cycle f Innvatin)
Narratr
Listen t part f a discussin in a business management class.
Prfessr
Last week we were talking abut innvatin in business. Remember the graph I shwed yu?
Student
The curve that lked srt f like the letter S?
Prfessr
Right. Cathy. Let’s take anther lk. D yu recall? Cathy. Hw this S-curve represents the life cycle f innvatin?
Student
Sure. Starting n the left, the new innvatin, let’s say it’s a new prduct. Almst nbdy’s heard f it r at least nbdy takes it seriusly. Then its ppularity increases, uh, slwly at first till sales really start accelerating quickly. They are where the line ges up steeply in the middle as mre and mre get excited abut the prduct and they g ut and buy it. But eventually, mving ver t the right side there, interest begins t fade and the grwth and sales levels ff.
Prfessr
At which pint the market has matured fr that prduct. We can still sell it and even marginally imprve it, but it’s nt new anymre. It n lnger ffers exciting grwth pprtunities. S a business leader might face a chice: either stick with this ld, safe, prven idea r mve n t the next big idea, a fresh innvatin. But innvatins are risky. They may succeed r they may nt.
K. A case study.
Gerge. I have heard yur Thursday night prgram n the campus radi statin. Yu like Jazz, right?
Student
Huh?! Uh…yeah…sure! But…what?!
Prfessr
K. Stay with me here. n yur prgram last week, I heard an ld Miles Davis album. Tell us abut that.
Student
Uh…Miles Davis. Trumpet. I played a CD f a Jazz classic he recrded in the 1950s called Kind f Blue. It’s my all-time favrite Jazz recrding.
Prfessr
Mine t. Wuld yu call that recrding innvative fr its time?
Student
Abslutely! Nthing at all like what he had recrded up till then. I mean, befre that Miles Davis played things s cmplex that…well…nbdy culd tuch him. But this was smething ttally new. Suddenly his playing sunded s amazingly simple.
Prfessr
And hw did peple react t this new sund f Miles Davis?
Student
Well…sme were disappinted, even angry that he’d abandn his ld style. But sn mst f his fans came arund and this new style appealed t a whle new grup f jazz listeners.
Prfessr
I guess s. Kind f Blue became the mst cmmercially successful album in the histry f jazz! S is there a lessn here anyne? Think f that S-curve I shwed yu.
Student
h! S his ld style f jazz was actually a kind f prduct, ne that had been develped pretty thrughly. And he’d taken it abut as far as he culd. S he decided t take a big risk and try smething ttally new.
Prfessr
Exactly! Smething cmpletely fresh and cl. And peple culdn’t get enugh f it. It was a brand new beginning that left lts f rm fr further develpment artistically. And as a market analyst, yu culd say that with Kind f Blue, he was jumping t the beginning f a brand new S-curve! With all that ptential fr prfitable develpment still ahead f him.
But let me ask yu smething else. This isn’t just the music f a single perfrmer, is it? Gerge.
Student
Hardly. Mre like a grup f all-stars. Alng with Miles Davis n trumpet, there is Bill Evans n pian, Jhn Cltrane n tenr saxphne…
Prfessr
Individually perhaps the best in the business. But thinking f Miles Davis as the leader f this grup, hw did he rganize and manage all these incredible talent?
Student
Well, he’d lay ut the general utline, the theme and then give each f these star perfrmers, ne by ne, the creative freedm t really shw what they culd d with it n their wn instrument, t imprvise and add smething new, but always within the same general theme.
Prfessr
S Miles Davis gets credit fr recruiting the best jazz talent anywhere and getting them t cllabrate n a fantastic musical prduct.
Everyne see the business parallels here?
And give each f these musicians credit fr seizing this pprtunity and creating great individual perfrmances.
But gd jazz is mre than just individual perfrmance, isn’t it?
Student
Definitely. Jazz musicians need t listen t each ther and g with the flw. Like, ne time smebdy gfed and came in a little early, but everyne else adjusted and went right alng with it, as if nthing were wrng. And this mistake came ut like just anther unexpected creative interpretatin.
Prfessr
Thanks. Gerge. Great insights, nes that wuld certainly apply t what we are studying here.