History Seminars Should Be Shorter
Currently,all of the seminar classes in the history department are three hours long. I would like to propose that history seminars be shortened to two hours. I make this proposal for two reasons. First, most students just cannot concentrate for three hours straight.I myself have taken these three-hour seminars and found them tiring and sometimes boring. Also, when a seminar lasts that long, people stop concentrating and stop learning, so the third hour of a three-hour seminar is a waste of every one's time. Two-hour seminars would be much more efficient.
托福TPO6口语task3题目 Listening Part:
Now listen to two students discussing the letter.
(woman) I totally disagree with Tim’s proposal.
(man) Why?
(woman) Well, look, Tim’s my friend but he’s not your typical student. He stays up late partying ever y night, week nights, too.
(man) If he parties every night no wonder he can’t pay attention.
(woman) Yes, and most students aren’t like that. They come to class prepared and rested and they can concentrate.
(man) So, you’re saying that problem is really Tim.
(woman) Yes. He was in one of my classes last year and whenever I looked at him he was actually sleeping.
(man) I guess if he was sleeping, he can’t really know what’s happening, what other people in class are doing.
(woman) Right! And you want to know what does happen in that last hour of seminar? In a lot of seminars that I’ve been in, that’s when things get interesting.
(man) Really?
(woman) Yes, that’s usually when students get really involved in the discussion and start ex changing important ideas, and if the History department actually did what Tim suggests, well if they did that, what would happen is you’d lose what might be the most worthwhile part of the seminar.
托福TPO6口语task3题目 Question:
The woman expresses her opinion about the proposal that her friend Tim made in his letter to the newspaper. State her opinion about his proposal and explain the reason she gives for her opinion.
托福TPO6口语task3答案解析：
1. Reading tip
(1.1) Proposal: the history department should shorten history seminar from 3 hours long to 2 hours
(1.2) Reason 1: too long for students to concentrate
(1.3) Reason 2: last hour of the seminar is useless
2. Listening key
(2.1) Woman disagrees with it
(2.2) Reason 1: problem is Tim, not the class
(2.2.1) Details: Tim partys all the time, week nights too; other students are doing just fine; they come prepared and rested; they can concentrate
(2.3) Reason 2: last hour of the class in the most important
(2.3.1) Details: people have discussion and exchange important ideas; that’s when people start to learn important things
托福TPO6口语task3范文：
The author of the letter suggests that the history department to shorten the seminars from three hours long to two hours, because it’s too long for students to concentrate and the last hour of class is a waste of time. In the conversation, the woman disagrees with the suggestion. First of all, she thinks that Tim can’t pay attention in class because he stays up late partying every night, not that the seminars are too long for students to stay focused. Other students are doing fine. And the second reason is that the last hour of the class is the most interesting because students start to have discussions and exchange ideas. That’s when they really get involved and learn important things.