Task 1: Talk about two singers or musicians and the differences between them. Include examples and details in your response.
Sample
I’d like to compare my favorite singers with my parents’ favorite singers. I like to listen to music that is fast and loud. Preferably Rock or R&B. They got more “beat” in them. When I’m tired from doing too much school assignment, I need something energetic to recharge. My parents don’t like them though. They think my taste is too rough for them. They like listening to Classical music and Traditional Chinese music. I guess they’re ok, but a little boring to my taste. I tried to enjoy them once or twice, but I can’t even keep myself awake after a few songs.
Task 2: Some people prefer to eat at fast food restaurants, others prefer to eat at regular restaurants. Which do you prefer? Explain your answer in details.
Sample
I like to eat in fast food joints for the following reasons. First, it’s time saving to eat at a fast food restaurant. I can get whatever I want in minutes. There’s no need to sit down, wait for the waiters to come to my table and take my orders. Regular restaurants are usually packed, it takes about half an hour to wait for a table to open up during dinner rush. Second, fast foods are cheaper. For around ten dollars, I can get a full meal with a drink at places like the McDonald’s. At a regular restaurant, the bill can add up to forty dollars per person, and then I have to pay tips on top of that.
Task 3:
学校要求必须上三门艺术类课程，目的是让学生今后毕业了更有竞争力，并且可以帮助学生在紧张的学业中得到放松。
男学生不同意。
1) 学生失去了更多自由选课机会，不能选更多和专业相关的课(他学banking，要上finance的课)
2) 不是每个人都对艺术有天分，喜欢上这些课(他根本不喜欢雕塑，觉得是浪费时间，stressful)
Reading: The school requires all students to take three art classes so that students will be more competitive after graduation and it can help students relax from stressful study.
The man disagrees with the plan.
First, he thinks with the new plan, students will lose the freedom to choose the courses they like, and they won’t be able to choose more courses related to their major. For example, the man majors in banking and needs to take finance classes, but if he had to take art classes, he wouldn’t have time for the finance class.
Second, he says not everyone is talented enough to enjoy these classes. Take himself for example. He doesn’t like sculpture, so taking the sculpture class would be a waste of time, and could be stressful for him, too.
Task 4:
Self-serving bias.人们喜欢把成功归功于自己，把失败归咎于其他的人或事。
例如：一组人参加智力测验，研究人员对一半人说考得很好，对另一半说考得不好。前者把高分归功于自己的智力水平高，后者怪罪其他东西影响了他们。
Reading: Self-serving bias. People tend to attribute their success to their own merits, and blame others for their failure.
Example: A group of people were asked to take an intelligence test. One group was told that they did a good job, while the other group was told they did poorly. The first group said they got high scores because they were highly intelligent, while the second group said the reason they didn’t do well was that they were affected by the environment.
Task 5:
男孩的问题是他打篮球扭伤了脚，要去医院，但明天有考试。
解决方案一：女生建议他今天就去看医生，但男生担心有可能要排很久的队，不想错过review lesson。
解决方案二：明天把所有事都忙完了再去，但这样脚伤可能加重。
The man’s problem is that he sprained his ankle when playing basketball and needs to go to the hospital, but he has an exam tomorrow and wants to go to the review lesson now.
Solution 1: He can go to the hospital now, but he’s worried that he might have to wait in line for a long time and might miss the review lesson.
Solution 2: He can go to the hospital tomorrow after everything is done, but the injury might get worse.
Task 6:
讲树木在森林火灾中如何保护自己。一个方法是厚厚的树皮保证内在温度低，使得水分和营养物质不受影响，举的是fir的例子。第二个方法是树的下半部分没有树枝，所以火不会顺延到树上，举的是pine的例子。
The professor talks about two ways that trees protect themselves from forest fires.
The first way is to have thick barks. For example, the fir has thick barks that keep the temperature inside the tree low, so that water and nutrients won’t be affected by the fire.
The second way is to have no branches on the lower part of tree. For example, pine trees have no lower branches, so when the fire comes, it can’t climb up the tree.