很多同学们在进行
Narrator
1. What is the talk mainly about?
(A) A comparison of two approaches to decision-making
(B) A formula for evaluating business plans
(C) A process for improving decision-making
(D) A method for gaining consensus within groups
2. In the lecture, the professor describes the steps in AHP. Indicate whether each of the following is a step in the process. Click in the correct box for each phrase.
| YES | NO | |
| Establish the goal | ||
| List alternative courses of action | ||
| Select key criteria and subcriteria | ||
| Make pairwise comparisons | ||
| Revise the goal based on choices |
3. Why does the professor mention the floor plan of a house?
(A)To give an example of a factor that would influence a decision
(B)To give a personal example of a time he found AHP to be useful
(C)To show that AHP can be applied to the design of houses
(D)To name some criteria that are not important in decision-making
4. According to the professor, what is one important result of using AHP?
(A) People can make decisions more quickly.
(B) People are provided with several different outcomes.
(C)People can take advantage of the latest technology.
(D)People can better understand the decisions they make.
5. What does the professor mean when he says this:
[This text will only be heard.]
Professor
Now there’s some AHP software out there that lets you do the math, but I’m not gonna get into that level of detail now. The important thing that I want to talk about is not the mathematics of it so much as the concept.
(A)He wants the students to use the AHP software for an assignment.
(B)He does not think the AHP software is useful.
(C)He wants to give only a general explanation of AHP.
(D)He thinks the students can understand the mathematics without his help.
Narrator
Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Professor
Of the houses you’re considering, uh, is cost more important than location or, say, one has a big kitchen but only two bedrooms. Is that OK?
6. Why does the professor say this:
[This text will only be heard.]
Professor
Is that OK?
(A)To express uncertainty about the process
(B)To indicate an example of a decision to be made
(C)To check the students’ understanding of the process
(D)To find out what the students prefer
Narrator
Listen to part of a discussion in an astronomy class. The professor is discussing Pluto.
Professor
Well, today I thought we’d talk about some of the reasons why Pluto’s status as a planet has been debated. You see, until recently what makes a planet a planet was one of the simpler concepts in astronomy. It’s always been deemed so, uh…so obvious, so… basic that it was never officially defined…So anyway,…uh improvements in telescopes and related technology have led to a whole host of discoveries in our solar system…with one result being that now even the generally accepted idea of what a planet is is being challenged…or at least qualified. And this directly affects the status of Pluto.
Student A
So what makes Pluto so different that it could be, um…reclassified?
Professor
Well, actually, there are several important differences between Pluto and the other planets. First, when you look at the other planets, especially the planets in the outer solar system, where Pluto orbits, you see that Pluto stands out, it’s the oddball…and I’ll give you one guess why.
Student B
It’s gotta be the size…Jupiter, Saturn and uh, Uranus and Neptune,…they’re the gas giants, and, well, Pluto isn’t.
Professor
Exactly,…uh compared to the gas giants, Pluto’s very different,…it’s neither gaseous nor a giant. See, uh Pluto is less than half the size of the next smallest planet, Mercury. It’s even smaller than our moon…and smaller than other moons in our solar system. So Pluto is very small for a planet,…maybe it’s not large enough to be
笔记区：
considered a planet.
Student A
But Pluto orbits the Sun and…I mean…well, that’s one of the things planets do.
Professor
You’re right…Most people agree that a planet orbits a sun, and Pluto certainly does that…every 248 years, but with a highly eccentric orbit. Take a look at this:
What I mean when I say ‘eccentric’ is…it’s not like the other planets’ orbits, instead it’s different in uh, two major ways. One, it’s elliptical, but the others are nearly circular. So for part of its orbit, Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune and for the rest it’s farther away. And two, Pluto orbits on a different plane. That is, all the planets orbit the Sun on the same plane, except Pluto…which orbits at a seventeen degree angle to the other orbits. Do you see where it looks like it crosses the other orbits?
Student A
[interrupting]
But I don’t see why being small and having an unusual orbit would change Pluto’s status. I mean it still has most of the features that the other planets have, doesn’t it? It’s got an atmosphere, granted it’s thin, but it’s there. It even has a moon!
Professor
That’s true. In fact, if it wasn’t for the discovery of the Kuiper belt rhymes with “piper”, there probably wouldn’t be a question about Pluto’s status….
[questioning sounds by the students]
Student B
It’s…I’m sorry, the what belt?
Professor
Uh, it’s the Kuiper belt.
It’s like a swarm of icy-rocky objects out beyond Neptune. It turns out that Kuiper belt objects, which are also called KBOs, have a lot in common with Pluto.
For one, KBOs and Pluto are made of the same stuff, namely rock and ice. And for most of its orbit, Pluto is in the Kuiper belt.
Remember when I said that Pluto has an eccentric orbit? Well, many KBOs do, too,…for the same reason,…their orbits are influenced by Neptune’s gravity. Now, without going into too much detail,…let me just say that Neptune’s gravity sort of pulls Pluto and the KBOs around…this results in orbits that are elliptical and almost exactly one and one half times longer than Neptune’s.
In light of these similarities, some suggest that Pluto’s merely the largest KBO found to date. Now, I’m saying this because several
other large Kuiper belt objects have been found, some half as large as Pluto. Some scientists believe that they might find other KBOs as large as Pluto…
Student B
So you’re saying that Pluto’s more like a KBO than a planet?
Student A
Yeah…I mean, considering everything you just said, um, if Pluto were discovered today, would it even…well,…would it even be called a planet?
Professor
Well, let’s see. You tell me.
Student A
Hmmm, well…I’d still call it a planet. Like I said before…it may be small, but it’s got an atmosphere and a moon, it orbits the Sun and…
Student B
[interrupting]
Come on…it, it’s obviously a KBO. I mean, it’s in the Kuiper belt, it’s made of the same materials, it orbits the same way and it’s way smaller than any other planet. I think it’s clear
Professor
Well, nobody knew about the Kuiper belt when Pluto was discovered, so they called it a planet. But now? I think its status will continue to be questioned until there’s an official definition for planet.