1. Which of the following jobs or careers do you think would be most rewarding?

•University professor

•Environmental scientist

•Newspaper journalist

Choose one career and explain why you think it would be most rewarding. Use details and examples to support your answer.

I think being a newspaper journalist is the most rewarding. First of all, I want to say the rewarding here is not measured by money but by the experience and influence one can get. Being a journalist offers opportunities to meet a variety of people. You may need to interview government officials, wealthy businessmen or people who are least well off in the society. So you can learn many different perspectives. Also, journalists need to write articles. People will read those articles. If the articles are widespread enough, they can be very influential.

2. Some people like to study in public places where there are other people around. Others prefer to study in places where there are few or no people around. Which kind of place do you prefer? Explain why.

I prefer to study in places where there are few people around. I am not a person who likes discussion. I’d rather choose to think independently. So I always like to choose a quiet place and sit down on a bench to delve into my mind. If I am with a lot of people, some of them may be chatting, or playing games or watching videos. Most of people won’t keep quiet. Sometimes, they may move around or come in and out the room. It’s a lot disturbing studying with many people around and I’ll be constantly interrupted.

3. The woman expresses her opinion about the proposal in the letter. Briefly summarize the proposal. Then state her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.

The writer proposes to remove the old bicycles from Campus Racks because those bicycles have no owners and removing them can create room for other people’s bicycles. The woman in the conversation thinks it’s a great idea. She thinks the first reason is a safe assumption because most of the bicycles there are rusty and missing parts. She suggests that university give notice before removing those bicycles. She also thinks that removing those bicycles can help free up space. Right now, there is no room for other bicycles and university doesn’t allow tying bikes to the signpost so she always has to park her bicycle in another building and then walks to the dining hall. This is pretty inconvenient.

4. Explain how the example from the professor's lecture illustrates the practice of scatter hoarding.

Scatter hoarding is a phenomenon that hoarders store and hide food in different places. The professor uses a kind of squirrel to illustrate this phenomenon. The squirrel loves to eat nuts. Nuts are plentiful in the autumn but scarce in the winter. So the squirrels spend a lot of time finding nuts in the autumn and store them so that they can get through winter. First of all, they will prepare the nuts so the nuts can preserve. Then, they will dig holes to store those nuts. They are not putting all the nuts in just one big hole but scatter them in many different holes. In this way, if other animals find their nuts in one place, they will still have nuts in many other places. Therefore, the squirrel is a typical scatter hoarder.

5. Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing, Then state which of the two solutions from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your recommendation.

The woman is having a problem. Her flight was delayed so she didn’t get enough sleep. But she is going to make a presentation in an hour. She is pretty worried about this. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to explain to the professor, see if it is okay to put off the presentation. The second one is to have a cup of coffee and make the presentation. I recommend the woman choose the second solution. First of all, she says that she has a lot of things coming up so if she postpones this presentation, her whole schedule will be thrown off. Secondly, she actually did some preparation and there is one hour left for her to review the notes. It’s better just to stick to the plan even if it’s a little hard right now.

6. Using points and examples from the lecture, explain two ways a company can diversify.

The professor talks about two ways a company can diversify. The first way is to use the existing technology to develop a new product. For example, a company that makes television can produce computer monitors because making these two products needs similar technologies. So the company uses its existing resources to make monitor so as to reach new customers. Another way is by appealing to its existing customers. Customers have other needs. The company can fulfill their needs with different products. For example a company that sells skis can make ski jackets. Because customers with skis do winter sports, they definitely need to wear ski jackets. And they are more likely to buy the ski jackets with the familiar company’s name.