Task 1: Talk about an activity you would like to participate in the near future, explain your answer in details.
Sample
An activity I would like to participate in is volunteer teaching. My friend Tony did it last week and he told me how great it was. They went to a small, under-developed village that’s far from the city. Tony was assigned to teach them English. he taught them some basic greeting skills which they thought was fun. During class breaks, they gathered outside to play sports. Some kicked around a soccer ball, some played badminton and some played pingpong. Everyone had a good time. Before they left, we made some donations to the school. People donated money, books and school supplies. I would to join them next time.
Task 2: While doing group projects, some students prefer to lead, others prefer to support. Which do you think is better and why?
Sample
I prefer to lead when doing a group project for the following reasons. First, I can develop leadership skills that’ll be useful for my future career. Though planning what to do and communicating with other group members, I learned how to make things happen more efficiently. I can bring such experience up during my future job interviews, so I’ll leave a better impression on the interviewer. Second, not everyone likes to be a leader, because it comes with responsibility and pressure. On the other hand, I’m pretty comfortable coming up with an agenda and email it to everyone, and making sure when we meet, we are focused on our goal.
Task 3
Reading:
Notice: The university requires first year students to take a study skill course
Reason 1: To help them prepare for school life
Reason 2: The class will be limited to 20 students
Listening:
The man disagrees
Reason 1: Students do need different skills now that they’re in university, things are different from when they were in high school, like the man didn’t have a clue when he wrote his first research paper
Reason 2: Small class is better because students get to interact with the professors, they can ask questions and share ideas, when he took big classes, all he could do was sitting there and listening
Task 4
Definition: Composite signaling means that animals usually combine 2 or more signals to convey a meaning that is different from individual signals.
Example 1: When the professor walked his dog in a busy street, his dog reacted aggressively when a truck passed by and made noise, it raised its ears and wanted to chase down the truck, it eventually calmed down after the truck was gone
Example 2: When the professor’s neighbor walked her dog, it raised its ears and wagged its tail when she was coming over, these two combined signals showed that the dog wanted to play instead of fighting
Task 5
Problem: The woman signed up for a camping trip, but she doesn’t have a tent
Solution 1: To borrow one from her friend
Pro: /
Con: It’s kind of old and has small holes on it, she might have to live in a wet tent if it rains
Solution 2: To buy a new one
Pro: /
Con: She’ll have to pay, also if she doesn’t like camping, it will be a waste of money
Task 6
2 benefits of weeds
Example 1: Farmers allow weeds to grow when they plant coffee on steep slopes, because weeds help hold fertile soil and prevent the plants from being washed away by rain
Example 2: Weeds also help control insects, certain insects love to eat coffee plants but they like eating weeds more, so farmers allow weeds to grow among coffee plants to prevent the coffee plants from being eaten by insects