1. What characteristics do you think make someone a good parent? Explain why these characteristics are important to you.

I think a good parent should be patient. Because children are always confused with the things around them, they ask questions every now and then. A good parent should be patient enough to give them answers. When i was very young, I always asked questions like “Why can airplanes fly?”,“Why can’t we fly?” and “Why the earth is a globe?”.  My parents answered these questions patiently and if they couldn't, they would buy books that have the answers to my questions.  I also think a good parent should be open-minded. In other words, they should respect their children's decisions when their kids are growing up. My parents always show their respect to my decisions. My major in the college is software engineering, but I decided to be an English teacher after graduation. My parents respected my decision and allow me to pursue my own interest. Thanks to my parents, I am patient and I respect other people.

2. Some students prefer to work on class assignments by themselves. Others believe it is better to work in a group. Which do you prefer? Explain why.

I prefer to work on assignments individually. There are two reasons. The first is that I like to be in a quiet place while studying. If I study in a group, I will always be interrupted by group members who talk about irrelevant things. Then it’s possible that I can’t even finish the assignments. Once, I attended a group discussion. Many people were not even discussing. They were just talking about NBA games. When it ended, I got nothing from it. The second reason is that I’d like to think independently. Studying individually gives me enough time to develop my own ideas. When studying in a group, I will always be distracted by other’s opinions and thoughts. So sometimes many assignments are not done by myself but by other group members. Like last week, I worked in a group to solve math problems. It turned out that many problems were solved by others not by myself. I felt very unhappy about it.

Personally, I like working in groups better. There are two reasons to name. First is that there is diversity in groups. Group members all have their different perspectives so some members can help other members. Last week, I attended a math group and there was one math problem I couldn’t work out. But there was one member who knew how to solve that problem and he worked out the problem in a completely different way. Then I learned from him. The second reason is that I can practice my communicative skills. In group discussions, I should be able to understand others’ ideas and at the same time to convey mine clearly in order to make the communication go well. I learn how to express myself properly and to be a good-listener.

3. The woman expresses her opinion of the change that has been announced. State her opinion and explain her reasons for holding that opinion.

Dining services will not serve hot breakfast food anymore. They only serve cold breakfast food. The woman in the conversation thinks the change is ridiculous. First of all, she thinks whether something is hot or cold doesn’t necessarily mean it is healthy. She says that in a really cold morning, a nice warm omelet is obviously better than a bowel of cold cereal. Secondly, she thinks the change will not help save money. Because if the students can’t get what they want from dining hall, they will go off-campus. Then they have to pay off-campus price, which is more expensive. So this change will not help save money but actually end up costing more.

4. Using the example discussed by the professor, explain what cognitive dissonance is and how people often deal with it.

Cognitive Dissonance is a kind of mental discomfort people feel when they experience contradictions between their actions and their beliefs. The professor uses his own experience to illustrate this phenomenon. When he was in high school, he was addicted to video games. He didn’t do well in study and even failed in chemistry. He knew he should study well in order to find good jobs and have a good career. But he just couldn’t give up video games. And this was his conflict. His solution was to change his perspective. Chemistry was the only class he did badly. He was pretty sure that he wanted to be a sociologist and being a sociologist doesn’t need to be well in chemistry. So he reinterpreted his understanding of doing well in school. Initially, he thought he should do well in all subjects to be successful in school. But then, he thought he should only do well in the subjects that are directly related to his future career. So he changed his belief to eliminate the conflict.

5. The speakers discuss two possible solutions to the woman’s problem. Briefly summarize the problem. Then state which of the solutions you recommend and explain why.

The woman won an award and is invited to attend the award ceremony. But her biology exam is scheduled at the same time. So she is struggling about what to do. There are two possible solutions. The first one is that she could write a 5-page paper instead of taking the exam. But she thinks writing a paper will take more time than preparing for and taking an exam. She’s got many other things to do. The second solution is that she could ask someone else to receive the award on her behalf. But her parents were really looking forward to seeing her on the stage. Still, she’s struggling. Well, I would recommend her to choose the first solution. Since she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents, she has to try harder to win the time to attend the ceremony even though it’ll take her more time to write the paper. It's  the trade-off.

6. Using the examples from the talk, explain how persuasive strategies are used in advertising.

The professor talks about two kinds of persuasive strategies in advertising. The first strategy is repetition. When a slogan is repeated enough times, we tend to believe what the slogan says. The example is a car commercial. A guy is driving around and keeps stopping to pick up different people, each time a narrative says“Plenty of room for friends”,“Plenty of room for family” and so on. If we hear the slogan so many times, we tend to believe the car is spacious even if it’s not. The second strategy is using celebrities. We believe celebrities are trustworthy. For example, in a car commercial, If a famous race-car driver is shown in a car and says“I like my car fast.”, people will believe the car is fast even if it’s actually not a very fast car.