1. Talk about a skill or ability that you consider especially important for a student to have. Use details and examples to explain your answer.

The ability to find answers one one’s own is important for students to have. As we all know, there are many problems we can’t solve by simply asking others, classmates, friends or even teachers. And sometimes we meet a problem but there is no one around to offer help. So we have to find the answers by ourselves. We can use Search Engines such as google to see if any similar questions have been asked. We can also use Internet database such as Wikipedia to see if there is any relevant items that can provide useful information to answer our questions or to help solve problems. In a word, the ability to find answers by oneself is very important.

2. More and more people are buying items on the Internet and from magazines or catalogs. Other people prefer shopping in a store. Which do you prefer and why? 

I prefer to buy things on the Internet rather than do shopping in a store. Firstly, it’s very easy to find things on Internet. You just have to input the key words into search engine on a web store, the results will be listed on the screen immediately. Then you pick the one you need and use credit card to pay the item. After a few days or so, the item will be delivered directly to your house or apartment. Secondly, Internet has more items than does store. Many times I walk in a bookstore and walk out without the book I want. But I never meet the problem buying books online. I can either buy books from Web bookstores such as Amazon or buy second-handed books from individuals. So, these are the reasons why I choose to buy items on the Internet.

3. The man expresses his opinion of the university’s plan. State his opinion and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion. 

The university is going to make a 25-dollar increase in student fee for using the campus recreation center to upgrade the facility so that more students will use the facility. Also, the decision is approved because 25-dollar is a reasonable amount of money. The man in the conversation thinks it’s a great idea. Firstly, he says people don’t go there because the facility is old and exercise equipment breaks down. If they upgrade the facility and provide new equipment, students will get more use at it. It’s not good to just let it empty. Students will be stressed out if they don’t do any exercise. Secondly, he says 25 dollars is not much, compared to the money students spend on CDs and movies. Furthermore, it’s one charge for a whole year. Considering the benefits, this is not much to pay.

4. Use the examples from the lecture to explain the concept of social learning. 

Social learning is a way people learn by watching the behavior of others. If the behavior leads to desirable results, people will imitate it. If the behavior leads to undesirable result, people will not imitate it. In the professor’s example, two kids, sister and brother are shopping with their mother. If the girl wants a toy and asks her mother to buy it for her. But the mother says no. Then the girl cries and screams. Finally the mother gives in and buys the girl the toy. At the same time, the little brother is watching all this. Next time if he wants something, he will cry and scream, which means he imitates the behaviors from his sister. But if the mom didn’t give in, didn’t buy the girl the toy and didn’t let the girl watch TV program. Again the boy is watching. Next time if he wants a toy, probably he is not gonna cry and scream. Since the behavior doesn’t lead to a desirable consequence, the boy will not imitate the behavior.

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

The woman’s got a scheduling problem. The day the woman has been assigned to teach at the school in town will be the same day her Chinese history course meets. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to take the Chinese history course in another semester. But this course is taught by a visiting professor who is amazing and will only be here one semester. Another solution is to change her teaching assignment to a different day to teach little kids. But she wants to teach old kids because that’s what she wants to do after graduation.  I would recommend the woman to take the second solution. Since the visiting professor will only be here in one semester and she is planning to go to China, it’s important to grip this opportunity. There must have some other ways to gain experience of teaching old kids but having a Chinese history course taught by a Chinese professor is not that easy.

6. Using the examples of the albatross and fulmar, explain two special adaptations that have developed to help seabirds find food.

The professor talks about two special adaptations developed to help seabirds find food. The first adaptation is the Length of wings. Usually, when birds fly, they have to flap wings up and down and uses a lot of energy. Bu albatross, a kind of seabird, has specially long wings that enable it t fly without moving wings up and down. So it can glide and float on the wind using little energy. This is so because albatross has to cover huge expanse of ocean to locate food. Another adaptation is acute sense of smell. Fulmar also has to find food scattered in the ocean and its main source of food is tiny plankton. Fulmar develops tiny tubes inside nose hole and the special tube-shape nostrils help them to pick up the scent of food. Plankton is hard to see but it gives sharp distinctive odor. So Fulmar can find plankton by smelling them even from far away.