Listening 6 — Homework

Now, turn to section 3. Section 3. You will hear a conversation between two students in the Education Department who are discussing their first assignment. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 28. Listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 28.

Cleo: Hey, Ted, what are we going to do about this assignment?

Ted: Well, Cleo, I think it's pretty straightforward.

Oh? Yeah. The topic is Why Study Abroad?

I suggest we do a survey of international students, collate the responses, make a graph, and exhibit our findings in the form of a poster.

Cleo: Wow, you have given this some thought, haven't you?

Ted: Of course. This is only the first assignment.

There will be a lot more to come.

So, let's get this one out of the way quickly.

Cleo: Well, how do we do the survey?

Ted: I think we need to find a good selection of foreign students.

Cleo: So, how about we go over to the English Language School at lunchtime and talk to some of the students there?

Ted: That's not a bad idea, but we shouldn't limit ourselves to that department.

Why not? Well, think about it.

They'll all give the same reason, to learn English.

Cleo: Of course, you're right.

Well, one of us could cover the language school, and the other could go around the business school.

Ted: Yes. I know there are a lot of internationals there, too.

But I think a random sample from foreign students on campus might give us a better range of answers.

Cleo: Hmm. What are we going to ask them?

Why are you studying abroad?

Ted: An open question like that could mean we get hundreds of different responses.

It would be better if we made up, say, ten reasons and asked each respondent to place them in order of importance.

Cleo: You're right. That would certainly make collation easier.

Any ideas about what these ten reasons might be?

Ted: Sure. I've got enough foreign friends to know quite a lot about what motivates them.

Cleo: Okay. Number one is...

Ted: I think that's obvious.

How about study abroad is the best way to learn a language?

And number two is obvious as well.

Cleo: I know. Study abroad gives you the chance to travel.

What's third? It's either culture or friendship.

Okay. Let's go for culture.

Ted: Study abroad gives you firsthand experience of a different culture.

Cleo: Not just that, but it gives you new experiences as well.

Not all of them are good, but it's meeting those challenges and adapting to new situations and solving problems and so on.

Ted: Let's make that a separate reason.

How about study abroad will compel you to develop new skills?

Cleo: Sounds good. Then study abroad promotes international friendship.

What are we up to now?

Um, wait. That was number five.

Ted: Do you think learning about yourself is the same as developing new skills?

Cleo: No, I think it's quite different.

Probably more closely related to culture.

You really mean embracing new concepts and perceptions, don't you?

Ted: Yes. And reconsidering one's own beliefs and values.

Or at least seeing them through new eyes.

Cleo: We could make the next one and call it something like, study abroad provides the opportunity to learn about yourself.

Ted: We ought to throw in a few about study and work, because I'm sure that rates highly with many foreign students.

Cleo: Of course. Study abroad gives you the opportunity to expand your academic, um...

Ted: Academic what? Let's simplify it.

Make it the opportunity to study different subjects.

Cleo: Yes, good. It can also enhance the value of your degree.

How's that? Well, I think you can take courses you would never have had the opportunity to take on your home campus.

And employers will know also that your language skills have been given quite a boost.

Ted: Isn't that the same as number seven?

Cleo: No, I think it's a separate issue.

Ted: All right, keep it.

Now, I think this next one is more important.

Cleo: Shall I change the order?

Ted: No, no need. The students are going to rank them according to their views.

Cleo: So what is it?

Ted: Study abroad enhances employment opportunities.

Cleo: Ugh, why didn't I think of that?

Anyway, there's one even more obvious than that.

Ted: Let me guess. Study abroad broadens your mind?

Cleo: Exactly. Okay. Now we have 10.

Ted: Let's print off 100 questionnaires and go and do the survey.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 29 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 29 to 30.

Cleo: Did you hear about the National Geographic Survey of American Students between the ages of 18 and 24?

Ted: Yes, it sounds as if they could benefit from study abroad.

Did you know that only 1 % of U .S.

students currently study abroad?

Anyway, back to that National Geographic Survey.

It was carried out internationally, and it was Sweden that came out on top.

Cleo: It's really amazing, isn't it?

When given a map of the world, only 13 % of American students were able to find Iraq, and the same for Iran.

Ted: I know, and not surprisingly I suppose, Afghanistan didn't fare much better.

83 % couldn't locate it on the map.

There must be something about that region.

76 % couldn't identify Saudi Arabia either.

Cleo: But Asia didn't come off much better.

Over half the students couldn't find Japan on the map.

But do you know what's really incredible?

Ted: Yes, I do. 11 % of them couldn't even find their own country.

Cleo: It's no wonder the USA scored near the bottom.

Only two points above Mexico, which was ranked last.

That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Test 1. Listening. Section 3. You will hear a tutor and two students discussing the best ways to study. Listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

Tutor: Well, how are you both settling in?

Kareena: Fine. Yes, no problems.

So far anyway. Good.

Tutor: Remember that as your personal tutor, I'm here to help you if you do have any difficulties.

Now, as you know, lectures start on Monday, so I thought we'd look at a few ways of making the most of them, especially in terms of the notes you take.

Let's begin by thinking about what you can do before you even go to the lecture.

Kareena: Any ideas? Um, make sure you're up to date with all the background reading so you know plenty about the subject already.

Tutor: Yes, that's essential. The lecturer will assume you have that knowledge.

Carlos: Anything else, Carlos? Well, uh, check what the topic's going to be of the lecture that is.

Tutor: I'd go a bit further than that and consider what the content may be.

Then you could ask yourself some questions that you want answering and listen out for the relevant information during the lecture.

Okay. Now that brings us to the lecture itself and the actual business of writing notes.

But there is a lot to deal with there, so we'll come back to that later.

What I'd like to do for the moment is continue with the process of note -taking and move on to the next stage.

Any suggestions for what that might be?

Kareena: When the lecture is over, you mean?

Tutor: Yes. Once you're able to sit down somewhere quiet with your notes.

Uh, read them? More than that.

You need to make sure they'll still make sense to you weeks, months later.

Edit them? Yes, that's what's needed.

It's well worth spending a few minutes on it.

Any missing words, anything difficult to read, things you didn't have time to jot down.

Now is the time to do so, while everything's still fresh in your mind.

Kareena: Right. And after that, when's the best time to revise them?

Tutor: When do you think, Carlos?

Carlos: Um, I'd say just before the next lecture in the same subject.

Tutor: Precisely. That's a vital time to look at them again for obvious reasons.

But it's definitely not the only time.

When should you revise them again?

Kareena: A month later, maybe?

Tutor: Sooner and much more often than that.

I'd recommend you look at them again once a week.

That's why it's so important they're complete and easy to follow.

Right. Let's go back to note -taking and begin with the basics before the lecture has even started.

What should you do when you walk into the room?

Carlos: Get a good seat at the front, if you can.

Where you can hear clearly and avoid distractions.

Tutor: Yes, though obviously others will have had the same idea, so it's as well to get there a bit early.

So, when the lecture's underway and you're busy jotting things down, what should you try to ensure?

Kareena: That you're getting all the main points.

Tutor: And what if you don't catch something?

Something you know must be important.

Kareena: I'd leave a space, then I could check it later, perhaps by asking a question at the end and fill it in afterwards.

Tutor: That's an excellent way to deal with it, yes.

And there's something else I'd like to mention here.

Talking about going through notes afterwards, it's absolutely vital that what you write is legible for one very good reason.

It saves time. You'll waste many hours during the course if your revision is held up because you can't read what you've written.

Okay, what else can we do to make listening and note -taking more efficient?

Kareena: Well, I always listen out for signpost words.

Carlos: Sorry, what are they?

Kareena: They're the ones lecturers use to say where they're going.

A bit like a signpost at a road junction, I suppose.

Things like, the first reason is, however, to sum up and so on.

Tutor: Yes, they can tell you when something important is coming and help you organize your notes too.

Test 1. Listening. Section 3. No answer, question 30.

Tutor: Is there anything else you can add, Carlos?

Carlos: There's something I think's very useful, but it's later after the lecture is finished.

Tutor: That's fine. Go on.

Carlos: Well, what I do is go through what I've written down, summing up the main points in a few words in the margin on the left -hand side of the page.

I try to use words that'll jog my memory so that I can remember what everything's about when I look at them again.

Tutor: Yes, that can work very well.

What some people do to review their notes is cover up their full notes from the lecture, maybe with a piece of paper or a card and concentrate just on what they've put in the margin, trying to recall the details.

Then they move the cover down a little and check whether they were right.

Kareena: Or you could put your main points on another piece of paper and clip them together.

Instead of covering and uncovering, you just hold a page in each hand.

Tutor: Sure. It's down to personal preference, really.

Everyone has their own learning style.

That is the end of section three.

Test 2. Listening. Section 4. You will hear part of a talk about the design of the zip fastener. Listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 34.

I think you all have a copy of the printed notes and diagram, but I should point out before we go any further that there are a few mistakes in those notes, so please correct any notice as we go along.

Right. As you can see, we are going to be looking at the zip, or zipper, as it's known in the U .S., which is where it had its origins in 1851.

In fact, it was initially given the rather less catchy name of the automatic continuous clothing closure by the person that invented it, Elias Howe, who also designed the first sewing machine.

It wasn't until 1893, though, that someone actually tried to market the zip when Whitcomb Judson, another American inventor, took what he called the clasp locker to the World's Fair held that year in the U .S.

His hook and eye system was a commercial disaster, and it was another 15 years before the buying public began to take an interest.

This time, a more reliable model with facing sets of teeth named the hookless fastener designed by a Swedish engineer called Gideon Sundback.

Attached to clothing, purses, and other items, it sold quite well.

Gradually, this new alternative to buttons caught on, as people realized the advantages of a fastener that only needed one hand to operate, that children could use, that left no visible gaps, and so on.

The British firm Kinnock began producing and selling the ready fastener in large numbers in 1919, and a few years later, the zipper designed and given its modern American name by B .F.

Goodrich, made Mr. Goodrich extremely rich indeed.

Test two, listening. Section four, now listen and answer questions 35 to 40.

If its use in trousers was a major factor in establishing the zip as a fashion icon, despite its occasional tendency to trap parts of the wearer's anatomy, another major breakthrough came with a separable zip, the kind that opens at both ends.

This type, still widely used in a range of items, from jackets to tents, is shown in the diagram.

Let's look first at the right hand side of the illustration, at the material attached to the item of clothing, the bag, or whatever.

This is the tape, which is usually made of fairly tough fabric.

At the end of that, there's what is known as the heat seal patch, the cotton and nylon laminated material used to reinforce the tape.

Now, alongside the heat seal patch is a small piece of metal used only on a separating zip, whose function is to enable the two halves of the zip to join.

This is known as the pin.

Opposite that on the other half of the zip in the diagram is a device which correctly aligns the pin.

The box, as it's called, begins the joining of the zip halves.

Running up the inside edge of each half are dozens, possibly hundreds of metal teeth, each of which has a small hook and an equally tiny hollow.

Moving up and down the teeth to open and close the zip is a piece of metal called the slider.

This is operated by means of a pull tab, so -called, because logically enough, the wearer or user pulls it in one direction or the other.

To close the zip, a wedge inside the slider pushes the hook of each tooth on one side into the hollow of each offset tooth on the other.

To open it, the wedge forces them apart.

To prevent the slider coming off the teeth at the other end, there is a top stop on both sides of the zip.

This basic design has changed little in the many years since it was first introduced, although nowadays, of course, zips, zippers, are available in a whole range of shapes, sizes, and materials.

That is the end of test two.