1. Talk about an important experience that you recently had. Describe what happened and explain why it was important to you.

I recently attended a prayer meeting of BAHAI. The host is a couple. They hold the meeting at their apartment every week. We prayed in the living room together and recited the scripture. Also, we all talked about our happy events and unhappy events happened recently and exchanged our ideas about everyone’s events. It was important to me because it’s the first time I attended a small prayer meeting like that and we talked without concealment. It’s like a whole new experience to me. In addition, I made some friends there.

2. Some people think that family members are the most important influence on young adults. Others believe that friends are the most important influence. Which do you agree with? Explain why.

I believe friends are the most important influence. We all know that one takes the behavior of one’s company. Friends are always our companies. We play games together, keep secrets and talk anything we like. We share interests and hobbies. For example, many of my friends like playing basketball because I like playing basketball very much. I learned a lot from my friends, their way of talking and their behaviors. However, I rarely spent time with my cousins or with my parents. They might have some influence on me, but they are definitely not the most important influence. In a word, because we are closest to our friends, friends have the most important influence on us.

I believe family members are the most important influence on young adults. Young adults need directions when they are growing up. Even though they spend most of the time with friends, they get instructions from family members, especially parents. Take myself as an example, when I was the college, my father always told me the importance of “How to study by oneself.” He called me every week and gave me instructions. On the other hand, even though I spent much time with my friends playing video games or basketball, I didn't feel that I was influenced by them. All they talked about was how to play and how to get laid and I didn't like that.   

3. The woman expresses her opinion of the university's new policy. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.

The business apartment will now require all students to have one semester work experience in a local company so that students can develop leadership and organizational skills and may secure permanent employment after graduation. The woman in the conversation doesn’t think the policy will help students. Firstly, the students don’t do the work that can develop leadership and organizational skills. Typically, students are there to do basic jobs such as typing and filing. Secondly, there are many other universities in this area that have the same requirements so there must be a lot of students holding the same positions. So after graduation, the competition for business jobs will actually be fierce.

4. Using the professor's example, explain what an establishing shot is and how it is used.

Establishing shot is an image shown briefly at the beginning of a scene in order to communicate background information to viewers and establish mood or feeling of the scene. The professor uses a movie he recently watched as an example. At the beginning of the movie, You can see an image of a city with tall buildings, skyscrapers. In the city the cars and signs are old-fashioned. It seems like the city is in the 1940s. Also, before the scene started, the city seemed gloomy. It was mostly darkness, with little light from street lamps and it was raining, kind of foggy. These give viewers a dark, gloomy mysterious feeling. So when detectives are talking in an office, the professor had already known that the scene is a located in tall building, big city, sometime in the 1940s and the event is dark, gloomy and mysterious.

5. Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which solution you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your recommendation.

The woman has to move out of her apartment right away because there is something wrong with the water pipe and it’s going to take about two weeks to fix it. Also, the mid-term exams are coming up. The first solution is to stay at some friends’ place. The woman can sleep on the living room couch. But their place has already got four people, it’ll be a little crowded. Plus, there will be many distractions. The second solution is live in a hotel near campus. She could get a room there. But her budget is very tight now, even if the weekly rate is reasonable, it’ll still end up costing her some money. Considering the options and problems, I would recommend her to choose the first solution. Since her budget is tight, living at the friends’ place can save her money. Concerning the problem of distractions, she can just study in classrooms and only sleep on the couch at night.

6. Using points from the lecture, explain how the passion plant and the potato plant defend themselves from insects.

The professor talks about two different ways plants develop to protect themselves from insects. The first way is use physical features. For example, the passion plant has leaves with spiky hairs sticking out. The hairs are so numerous and dense that there is no room for insects to land. Since insects can’t land on the leaves, they can’t eat the leaves. The second way is to use chemical defensives. For instance, potato plant releases a kind of chemical whenever insects start eating its leaves. The chemical it releases can discourage the insects from wanting to eat more, so the chemical makes insects feel full, and then insects stop eating the plant.