2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?  It's important to remember and learn from the past. Use details and examples to explain your opinion. 

3. The man expresses his opinion about the proposal in the student's letter. Briefly summarize the proposal. Then state the man's opinion about the proposal and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion. 

The writer of the letter proposes that university should pave running trails to increase their safety and also make them look nicer. The man in the conversation thinks the proposal is a terrible idea. As for the thing about making trails safer, the man says the writer doesn’t think about the long-term consequences of running on a hard surface. It’s too hard on bones and joints and can lead to injuries. So it’s actually safer to run on the soft surface. About making trails look nicer, the man doesn’t think people will like it. He says the main reason why people enjoy the trails now is that people can take a break from buildings and streets to feel the nature. If the university pave the trails, the trails will look similar to buildings and streets. Then people wont’ go there any more.

4. Explain how the example from the professor's lecture illustrates the experimenter effect.

 

Experimenter Effect is a problem that occurs when a researcher’s expectations affect the outcome of the experiment.  In the example, the researcher was given two groups of monkeys. He was asked to train them to pick up a ball and put it in a box. Then he recorded how many hours it took to train each group of monkeys to learn to do so. Before experiment, the researcher was told that one group is more intelligent than the other. But actually they are all the same. What's surprising is that it took the researcher two-hour less time to train the supposedly more intelligent group than the supposedly less intelligent group. This is because the researcher thought one group is smarter and would be easier to train so he smiled to them, gave them encouragement and communicated with them a lot. However, the researcher wasn’t very enthusiastic about the other group, the supposedly less intelligent group. So the researcher’s expectation actually influenced the result of the research.

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

 

The woman is in a choir and the choir is going to have a concert in a hour. All the choir members are required to wear white shirts and black pants. But the woman spilled the spaghetti all over her white shirt and she doesn’t have time to buy another new one. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to wear another shirt that’s not exactly white. It’s a little cream color. But she won’t be looking exactly same as others and some audience may be able to tell the difference. The second solution is to borrow a shirt from her roommate. But her roommate is out of town. And the woman hates to take things without asking. Personally, I would recommend the woman to borrow the white shirt from her roommate. The woman can send a text message or voice message to her roommate to inform her. Since the concert is going to start in an hour, I think the woman’s roommate will understand her action in this emergence. 

 

6. Using the examples in the lecture, explain how the position of bird's eyes is critical to their survival. 

 

The professor talks about how the position of bird’s eyes help them find food and avoid predators. Some birds have eyes that face forward to the skull so that they can clearly see and judge distance. They can focus on things with both eyes and accurately predict height, width and depth. For example, hawks position their eyes in the front. They have such a good eye sight that they can spot a tiny mouse in a field from high in the sky. When they spot a mouse, they will swoop down and catch it. So the placement of their eyes help them find food. Some other birds have their eyes positioned on each side of the skull in order to avoid predators. Their eyes on both sides help them watch for dangers. For example, when a duck is eating grass and insects, it is constantly looking out for danger from both sides. If a fox is approaching from either side, the duck will fly and escape. So the placement of ducks' eyes help them avoid predators.