1. Imagine your life ten years in the future. Talk about one way you think your life will be different in ten years than it is now. Use details to explain your answer.

I imagine my life ten years in the future to be free. My life will be different in one way from now that I don’t have to be tied to a job. I can travel around the world, go anywhere, see different things, meet different people, broaden my horizon and thus feel the world. I don’t have to confine myself to just one place. I can go to France, South Africa, South America and Islands in the Pacific. In addition, I can be a freelancer, live on my royalties. I will have plenty of time to write novels and read all the masterpieces. This is what I imagine my life will be in ten years.

2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? 

It is important to learn about other cultures.

Use details and examples to explain your opinion. 

 I totally agree with this statement because we can learn different perspectives from other cultures. It’s important to know different perspectives to be reflective. For example, I went to the US in my sophomore year and found out that many students in the US don’t use their parents’ money. They usually work in the summer to earn tuition fees and living expenses. However, most of my classmates including me use parents’ money without even thinking about it. We believe that it’s our parents’ obligation to pay for the college and give us allowances. I reflected on this issue and thought I should take on the responsibilities myself. Then I took a government loan to pay for the tuition fees and also got some part-time jobs. Therefore, I changed my perspective because I learned a new one from another culture.

3. The man expresses his opinion about the change described in the article. Breifly 

The university choir decides to enter off-campus Singing Competitors in order to better its performance and help the music program grow. The man in the conversation likes this plan. Firstly, he thinks this change will motivate the singers in the choir. Since other schools’ choirs are very good, the university choir has to work harder to compete against them. So the university choir may practice more often than did it before and thus better the performance. Secondly, he says if the choir goes to those off-campus events, there will be many students listening to them and if the students feel good, they may choose to come to the university and join the program. Therefore, the music program will grow.  

4.  Using the example of the pronghorn and lion, explain the concept of a relict behavior.

Relict behavior no longer serves its original purpose because of changed conditions. It might be useful to the animal when habitat was different. Pronghorn lives on open grassy plains. It is superfast, actually the fastest animal in the western hemisphere. Whenever its predators appear, it’s off in a flash. The reason why it runs so fast is that long time along, the grassy plain was different. Lions used to live there and chased pronghorns. Lions were much faster than bobcat, so pronghorn’s speed was critical to its survival. But now lions are extinct. They are no longer the predators. Because of this condition change, pronghorn’s speed doesn’t serve its original purpose and thus becomes a relict behavior. 

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

The man wrote his paper last night but he forgot to take it with him. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to drive back to his place and bring the paper back. Since he lives off-campus, if he hurries, he can only come back before the class is over. Still he’ll miss part of the class. The second solution is to talk to the professor and ask her if it’s okay to send the paper later by email. But the professor always starts class on time, the man will only have chance to ask her when the class is over. I would recommend the man to take the fist solution. Since the professor is strict with late-submissions and he doesn’t know whether she’ll allow him to submit the paper later by email, it’s better to drive home and bring the paper back even if he’ll miss part of the class. 

6.  Using points and examples from the lecture, explain how the characteristics of target customers influence marketing strategy for products.

The professor talks about two characteristics of target customers that can influence company’s marketing strategy. The first characteristic is age. If a company makes toy cars, its target customers are kids. It should advertise on Television during the time kids watch television. This makes sure that the advertisement reaches the kids so the company can get people in that age group to buy toy cars. The second characteristic is geographical location where the target customers live. If a company wants to sell boats, its target customers must live near ocean and lakes since only people live near water need boats. So the company will advertise in cities and towns that are near ocean and lakes in order to reach its target customers and therefore to sell more boats.