2015年11月29日
Task 1
Which one of the following qualities do you think a good school should have? Students who like to help each other, knowledgeable teachers or strict rules?
I think a good school should definitely have strict rules for the following reasons. My first reason is that strict rules can motivate all kinds of students to work harder because most of the times, students, especially teenagers need a little push in life. For example, when I was in high school, all students in my school were required to arrive at school at 7am to memorize English vocabulary. The school forced everyone to make wise use of the time before the first class of the day officially started. I hated it back then. But when I look back now, I realize that I couldn’t have possibly gotten such a good grade in English if my school didn’t push me. I probably would have spent my morning sleeping in or procrastinating if my school didn’t have such a strict rule. Plus, strict rules can teach students about discipline. Sometimes it’s not exactly about the rules themselves, it’s the concept of obeying the rules when asked to that matters.
Task 2
Which one do you think is more important? The process of doing something or the result at the end?
I personally believe the result at the end is important but not as important as the process of doing something. The process of doing something simply is the part that gives us all the fun and all the good memories. Take my second-grade assignment as an example, we were all asked to make a report about Thanksgiving. So I teamed up with my dad and little by little, we started this magnificent research of Thanksgiving. I remember I went online and searched for as much related information as possible, how the tradition of Thanksgiving started, how the pilgrims arrived to America and how they celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the native Americans. And my dad helped me make a list of the differences between American and Canadian Thanksgiving. We went to the supermarket together to take pictures of the ingredients people needed to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal. My dad even printed out the recipe of my grandma’s cranberry sauce for me to include in my report. I really can’t recall if I got a good grade that time, but I still remember all the fun I had with my dad and the funny pictures we took in the supermarket, until today I still keep that report because it reminds me of all the fun I had during the process of making it. Plus, through the process of doing something, there’s always something for us to learn, and there’s always something to inspire new ideas.
Task 3
The university is planning to provide three seminars for freshmen due to two reasons. The first reason is that this can prepare the freshmen for academic challenges and living independently. And the second reason is because the get-together after the seminar can offer a great platform for students to meet and get to know each other. In the conversation, the man agrees with the plan. His first reason is that students will be better prepared academically since unlike high school teachers, college professors don’t usually tell students what to do with their time, they expect students to manage their own time. A seminar like this can teach students what to do and help them plan ahead. As for the second reason, the man points out that this can also help students socially. Students get to hang out together, and they get to make new friends with people who have something in common with them.
Task 4
In the lecture, the professor introduces facial expression feedback which means our physical facial expression displays can directly impact our emotional feelings. He offers us an example to illustrate it. He gave two groups of students the same task, that is to solve some mathematical problems under different instructions. He asked the first group of students to keep smiling during the process and the second group of students to make frowning or unhappy faces while solving the problems. Later on, the first group of students claimed that they were happy while doing the math problems while the second group of students seemed to have much less fun.
Task 5
The woman’s problem is that she needs to do a vocal performance this afternoon and the professor will score it based on her performance, but she had a bad cold last week and she hasn’t fully recovered. There are two possible solutions. The first solution is to just go ahead and do it this afternoon. And the second solution is to reschedule the performance and do it next week. If I were in her shoes, I’d go for the second solution because as mentioned in the conversation, the professor has already told her it’s ok to do so, so she shouldn’t be worried. I personally don’t recommend the other solution, because even though she has practiced several times and her voice sounded ok, there’s still a big chance her performance might be affected by the cold and it may reflect on her score, it’s just not worth the risk. That’s why in this case, I think the second solution is a better option.
Task 6
In the lecture, the professor talks about two ways how oxygen in water is replenished. The first one is from internal oxygen sources. For example, plants underwater are great providers of oxygen. They’re constantly doing photosynthesis releasing oxygen to the water, that’s how animals underwater get their oxygen. Another way is through external oxygen sources. For instance, on a windy day, waves appear on the surface of the water when the air blows, and the waves can bring oxygen into the water too. Those are the two ways oxygen in water is replenished.
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