5.

30

Speaking

#1 Your friend is a student at a business school, however your friend loves music and
wants to leave business school in order to study music at another university. What
advice would you give your friend about this situation?

#2 Some people like to face challenges by themselves. Others prefer to have help
from another person when they face a difficult situation. Which do you prefer and
why?

#3 Now listen to two students discussing the letter.

1: Did you see this letter?

2: Yea, what do you think?

1: I don’t agree. I wouldn’t change it.

2: Why not?

1: Well, nobody is really going to be looking at the view.

2: Probably not. They’ll be watching the stage.

1: Exactly. They’ll be sitting down watching the ceremony. Besides, they can always
check out the campus after the ceremony. Lots of people do that.

2: That’s true, but there are other advantages. Like she said, more space would be
great.

1: I don’t see the problem their either.

2: So you think we should limit the number of guests?

1: I don’t think that’s necessary. Our class isn’t that big. There’s plenty of room for
everybody to get tickets for their immediate family and friends, plus the university
broadcasts the event and shows it on TVs around campus, so anyone else who wants
to watch the event can.

2: Oh, I didn’t realize that. So like, I wouldn’t have to invite some of my friends from
the dorm because they can just go to the student center or something and watch it live
on TV.
1: Right.

2: Hmm… some of them might even prefer that to sitting in the hall.

1: Yea, so there’s definitely no space issue.

The man expresses his opinion of the student’s proposal. State his opinion and explain
the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.

#4 Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a biology class.

Ok, so this has been observed among wolves. As you may know, wolves live in packs;
groups that roam the forest and hunt prey together and within their wolf pack some of
the wolves are usually bigger and stronger than the others. When wolves find and
catch prey, they usually eat it together, sharing the food among members of the wolf
pack, but sometimes one wolf may try to take the food that another member of the
pack is eating. Now if the wolf with the food is bigger and stronger than the one
trying to take the food, it’s going to prevent the other wolf from taking its food by
threatening to attack the other wolf. Well, the smaller wolf won’t let the bigger wolf
attack it, so it’ll lower its head, put its head close to the ground, and flatten its fur,
keep its fur close to its body, and lowering its head and flattening its fur are both signs
of weakness, signs that the smaller wolf will give in and seeing this, the larger
threatening wolf will let the smaller wolf go without any trouble and neither of them
gets hurt.

Explain how the example from the lecture illustrates the concept of appeasement
behaviors.

#5 Listen to a conversation between two students.

1: Hey Laura! Still looking for a place to live next semester? How’s the apartment
search going?

2: Yea, I found an apartment I really like and it’s pretty inexpensive, but now I’m not
sure if I actually want to live there.

1: Why? What’s wrong?

2: Well, I was about to go ahead and take the apartment when I found out that there’s
going to be some major construction next door starting next month. They’re building
a whole new apartment building, so the construction will probably last all year.

1: Oh, and you’re worried about that?

2: Yea because construction is pretty noisy and distracting and I usually do a lot of
studying in my apartment, so I need peace and quiet when I study. I’m worried I
wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

1: So are you going to look for another apartment or something?

2: Yea, there are definitely some others available. The thing is is that they all cost a
lot more and this is really cheap.

1: Hmm… ok.

2: So the other option is just to take this apartment and if it ends up being too noisy
with the construction, I could do most of my studying at the library instead.

1: Yea, that’s what you might have to do.

2: I don’t know. Studying at home is really nice. You know, I’ve got my stuff there. I
don’t have to carry my computer, books, and stuff back and forth to the library.

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.

#6 Listen to part of a lecture in a business class.

Companies often sell products that are similar to products made by other companies,
so when they advertise their own products, these companies often try to emphasize the
difference between their products and other similar products on the market. This can
help convince consumers to buy their product instead of another. So, how does a
company do this? Well, one strategy that a company might use is to emphasize a
difference in quality. By emphasizing a difference in quality between its product and
other similar ones that have the same function, a company can help convince
consumers that its product is the one worth buying. So for example, a company that
makes computer speakers, audio speakers to play music perhaps on your computer,
well because there are so many companies that make computer speakers, one way this
company could advertise would be to emphasize the high quality of its computer
speakers; how they make the music sound better than others, that you get a much
clearer sound and can really hear all the different instruments, but sometimes a
company’s product is the same quality as its competitors products. In this case, the
company may talk about special characteristics or features of the product that make it
different from others. The company may emphasize how its product has special
appeal to consumers with different preferences, so lets say there’s a company that
makes pasta sauce. Well, there are a lot of pasta sauces on the market, so what makes
theirs different. Maybe it’s extra spicy with hot, flavorful herbs, so in advertisements
the company could say that its pasta sauce is spicier than others, so people who like
spicy sauce will buy it.

Using points and examples from the lecture, explain two ways in which companies
emphasize the difference between their products and other similar products.