Task 1
Which one of the following jobs deserves a higher salary? Teacher, policeman or nurse?
Task 2
Should students be required to do volunteer work?
Task 3
The university is planning to move the theater off-campus due to two reasons. The first reason is that the theater now is way too small to accommodate the increasing number of students. And the second reason is that much better facilities can be offered in the new theater. In the conversation, the student disagrees with the plan. His first reason is that the location of the theater is extremely important for students. Most of them are reluctant to go downtown because it’s so inconvenient. As for the second reason, the student points out that students are already used to deal with the equipment they have now, they’re not trained to cope with fancier facilities, and it may not work out that well as expected in the end.
Task 4
In the lecture, the professor talks about the concept of information cascade which means people tend to follow others and make the same choice as them in spite of their own opinions when having to make a decision. He offers us an example to illustrate it. Once he went to a city he had never been to and he had to make a decision about where to have dinner. At first he wanted to go to an Italian place which was highly recommended by his guide book. But he noticed that one of the French restaurants was full of customers, so he decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it was not a very good experience, the food was worse than he expected and the restaurant couldn’t be compared to the Italian restaurant he wanted to go at first. It was full of customers probably because they all thought it was good because others chose to go there.
Task 5
The woman’s problem is that she got injured last week and she can’t perform in the dance. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to dance anyway and the second solution is to find someone to replace her. If I were in her shoes, I would go for the second solution because Beck is a great dancer, even though she’s not in the class and there’s little time to learn, I’m sure she can grasp the moves pretty quickly. I personally don’t recommend the other solution because the choreography will look weird and it may compromise the whole performance. That’s why in this case, I think the second solution is a better option.
Task 6
In the lecture, the professor talks about fish’s abilities to avoid predators. He offers us to examples to illustrate it. The first example is about zebrafish. Zebrafish have small hair cells under their membrane to help them detect predators in water. They can sense where the predator is by the water flow. The second example is about trout. Trout can stay still in flowing water. They can keep breathing while hiding under water. That’s how the professor uses these two examples to illustrate it.