Integrated Speaking Flashcards
The following text is an excerpt from the Great Plains University student newspaper.
The student dean announced yesterday afternoon that, due to professor preferences and changing academic schedules, starting next semester, more classes will now be held on Fridays. Classes that were previously held for 90 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays will now be held Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for 60 minutes each. Tuesday and Thursday classes will keep their original schedule.
(Female student): Did you see the announcement in the student newspaper that we’re going to have more Friday classes?
(Male student): I did, and I think it’s great news.
(Female student): Why do you feel that way? I was really disappointed to read that.
(Male student): I think it will be helpful to see your professor more often during the week. For some of my classes, if I have a question on a Thursday, I need to wait all the way until Monday to see the professor again.
(Female student): Don’t your professors have office hours when you can stop by and ask them a question?
(Male student): Some of them do, but they’re not always at a good time for me. With Friday classes, I’m guaranteed to see them. Also, I think shorter classes will make it easier to learn new information without feeling overwhelmed like I sometimes did with longer classes.
(Female student): I suppose that’s true. I’m still disappointed about it though because I usually spend my Fridays at my job.
(Male student): You can’t work with Friday classes?
(Female student): No, even one class in the afternoon would mean I couldn’t work a full shift, so it really messes up my work schedule, and I’m using that money to help pay for tuition.
(Male student): Yeah, Friday classes may make it harder for me to go home on the weekends since I can’t leave on Thursday, but I still think it’s a good decision overall.
Question: The man expresses his opinion on the announcement in the student newspaper. State his opinion and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.
(Male Professor): Beginning in the 1400s, Western Europe began to undergo numerous changes. People were coming out of a time filled with disease, warfare, and turmoil in the Catholic church. As their fortunes began to improve, people began to focus more on cultural movements, eventually leading to a cultural rebirth known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance lasted approximately two hundred years and resulted in many changes. Today we’re going to be focusing on artwork created during the Renaissance period.
Renaissance art began in Italy, and, even though it eventually spread to other areas, Italy remained the epicenter of this art style. One of the biggest innovations of Renaissance art was that human emotions were depicted much more in art. Most of the art produced in the Middle Ages, the time period before the Renaissance, was commissioned by the Catholic church and was used mainly for religious purposes. The point of the art was to further religious devotion, not to contemplate emotions of human still on Earth. That changed drastically with Renaissance art. During this time, there was a much larger emphasis on how humans lived life on Earth and how they felt. While most figures in art produced during the Middle Ages had flat, expressionless faces, the emotions of figures were often very clear in Renaissance art. If someone in a painting was sad, there might be tears falling from their eyes. If they were angry, their face might be contorted in a grimace, if they were happy, they might be smiling.
One example of this is Michelangelo’s Pietà, a sculpture completed in 1499 that depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother, Mary. In the sculpture, Mary is looking downcast while Jesus’ outstretched body suggests pain and suffering. Another is da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with her famous, mysterious smile. Generations of people have wondered what she was thinking while her portrait was painted.
Another defining feature of Renaissance art was how realistic the art appeared. Previous works of art often appeared flat and stylized and didn’t depict people or the world very realistically. During the Renaissance, there were many new patrons willing to pay for art, and since they had different tastes, artists had more flexibility to study new techniques and create more realistic art. Perspective, vanishing points, shadows, and light began to be used frequently to create more lifelike figures and landscapes. A famous painting that shows the rules of perspective is Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, painted in 1498. Even though it was painted on a flat surface, you get the sense that Jesus and the twelve apostles are actually in a three-dimensional room.
Question: Using points and examples from the lecture, describe two ways Renaissance art differs from art in the Middle Ages.
Sculpture Courses to Be Discontinued
University administrators announced yesterday that the sculpture program, a division of the art department, will be eliminated. “The main reason is a lack of student interest,” reported one administrator. “Although the number of art students has increased, fewer and fewer art majors are taking sculpture classes.” Furthermore, the department’s only sculpture professor is retiring this year. “Given the art department’s limited budget,” the administrator explained, “it just doesn’t make sense to hire a new full-time professor to teach sculpture for only a handful of students.”
Narrator: Now listen to two students discussing the article.
Male student: Everything alright?
Female student: Yeah, I’m just upset about that article I showed you this morning …
Male student: Why, what’s the big deal?
Female student: Well, as an art major, I think it’s a big loss for the department. The university’s got it all wrong.
Male student: What do you mean?
Female student: Well, the low enrollment isn’t because art majors don’t want to take these classes. Problem is, who has time to take them when there are so many other
requirements?
Male student: I don’t understand.
Female student: See, the classes they’re eliminating are all optional. The required courses are mostly painting and drawing, and they take up all our time. What we really need are different requirements—then art majors could take a better variety of classes
… all the things we’re interested in.
Male student: That makes sense. But, the thing about the professor …
Female student: Well, that’s true. But still, they’re being drastic. If money’s the problem, they could hire a part-time professor! Or, most of the professors in the department
have secondary fields …
Male student: Really?
Female student: Yeah! At least a few painting teachers are also great sculptors. I’m sure one of them could teach a class.
The woman expresses her opinion of the university’s plan. State her opinion and
explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.
Many animals use coloration to protect themselves from predators. One defensive strategy involving the use of coloration is what is known as revealing coloration. Animals employing this strategy have an area of bright color on some part of their body; this bright color is usually hidden from predators’ view. When approached by a predator, the animal suddenly reveals the area of bright color; this unexpected display of color startles or confuses the predator and provides the would-be prey with an opportunity to escape.
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture from a biology class.
Professor: There’s a large tropical insect called the peanut bug—yes, like the peanuts that you eat—uh, and the peanut bug’s front wings are colored so that they blend in with
their surroundings. But its back wings—which are usually closed and hidden—
have these bright, colorful spots on them. And when the peanut bug’s attacked, it
suddenly opens its back wings, and out pop these big, bright colors. And that
surprises the predator, and gives the peanut bug a chance to get away.
Um, and then you have a butterfly … called the morpho butterfly. And parts of the
morpho butterfly’s wings are very shiny, they reflect a lot of sunlight; when this
butterfly is resting, this shiny part of its wings is hidden … Now, morpho butterflies
are often attacked by birds … So when a bird approaches, the morpho flies away …
and when the morpho flap its wings, all the bird can see are flashes of light reflected
from the morpho’s wings. Those flashes of light make it very difficult for the bird
to follow the morpho, and the morpho is usually able to get away.
Using the examples of the peanut bug and the morpho butterfly, explain the concept of
revealing coloration.
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in a business class.
Professor: Today, we’ll talk about how companies determine the initial price for their
products, by that I mean, when they first introduce a product in the market. There
are different approaches, and today we’ll discuss two of them. They are quite
different … each with their own advantages. One approach or strategy sets the initial price of the product high, followed by a lower price at a later stage. Why? Well, … when introducing a new product, companies want to build a high-quality image for it. Products that cost more are believed to be of higher quality. So, during the early stages of the product life cycle, companies can make very high profits from consumers willing to pay more for a high quality product, and although consumers know that prices will
eventually go down, they’re also willing to pay more to get the product sooner.
This approach works very well with … oh … innovative, high-tech products, for
example. Now just think about when video recorders, or … video cameras … or
even cell phones … first came out. They were very expensive, but then they became much more accessible. Another very common strategy sets an initial price low. Now this happens when the market is already saturated with the product and the strategy is to undercut its competitors. Say, there’s a newly starting computer maker trying to gain market share. So what do they do? Well, they offer a computer at an affordable price,
lower than existing brands. By doing this, the company appeals to new consumers
who weren’t probably even interested in getting a computer and … well, of course
… to existing consumers who might now be tempted to switch brands. Now, how
does this company make profits with its low-priced computer? Well, one thing
that’s often done is to encourage their customers to buy accessories also
manufactured by them, like printers, or software, for example.
Using the points and examples from the lecture, explain the two pricing strategies
described by the professor
University to Build New Auditorium (45 SEC)
The university has decided to demolish the old campus auditorium and replace it with a new one. The auditorium is one of the oldest original buildings on campus, and administrators say it is showing signs of its age: sagging floors, peeling paint, a drafty interior, and outdated decor. The new auditorium, by contrast, will have a clean, modern appearance. Also, the old auditorium is too small to accommodate the number of current students. The new auditorium will be bigger, with a greater number of seats to accommodate a larger student body.
Narrator: Now listen to two students discussing the article.
Male student: I wish they wouldn’t do this.
Female student: Really? But the place is so old…
Male student: Yeah, but I like that. I think it’s a nice, historic-looking building.
Female student: Hmm … well, I guess it’s kinda pretty…
Male student: It’s an important part of the university’s history. It was one of the first things
built on campus…we should preserve that … not get rid of it.
Female student: That’s a good point. But what about the need for an expansion?
Male student: I don’t think it’s necessary.
Female student: But it was built when the university was so much smaller.
Male student: That’s true, but think about it: have you ever seen the space completely full?
Female student: Well … uh, no, I guess not.
Male student: Me either. There are never any events when the entire student body is there. In fact, there are usually just a small number of students in the audience for a play
or a concert.
Female student: That’s true.
Male student: So why make it bigger, if it works as-is?
Female student: I see what you mean.
The man expresses his opinion of the university’s plan. State his opinion, and explain
the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.
Flow
In psychology, the feeling of complete and energized focus in an activity is called flow. People who enter a state of flow lose their sense of time and have a feeling of great satisfaction. They become completely involved in an activity for its own sake rather than for what may result from the activity, such as money or prestige. Contrary to expectation, flow usually happens not during relaxing moments of leisure and entertainment, but when we are actively involved in a difficult enterprise, in a task that stretches our mental or physical abilities.
Narrator: Listen to part of a talk in a psychology class.
Male professor: I think this will help you get a picture of what your textbook is describing. I had a friend who taught in the physics department, Professor Jones, he retired last year. . . . Anyway, I remember . . . this was a few years ago . . . I remember passing by
a classroom early one morning just as he was leaving, and he looked terrible: his
clothes were all rumpled, and he looked like he hadn’t slept all night. And I
asked if he was OK. I was surprised when he said that he never felt better, that he
was totally happy. He had spent the entire night in the classroom working on a
mathematics puzzle. He didn’t stop to eat dinner; he didn’t stop to sleep . . . or
even rest. He was that involved in solving the puzzle. And it didn’t even have
anything to do with his teaching or research; he had just come across this puzzle
accidentally, I think in a mathematics journal, and it just really interested him, so
he worked furiously all night and covered the blackboards in the classroom with
equations and numbers and never realized that time was passing by.
Explain flow and how the example used by the professor illustrates the concept.
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a biology course.
Female professor: Human beings aren’t the only animals that use tools. It’s generally recognized that other animals use tools as well . . . use them naturally, in the wild, without any human instruction. But when can we say that an object is a tool? Well, it
depends on your definition of a tool. And in fact, there are two competing
definitions—a narrow definition and a broad one. The narrow definition says
that a tool is an object that’s used to perform a specific task . . . but not just
any object. To be a tool, according to the narrow definition, the object’s gotta
be purposefully changed or shaped by the animal, or human, so that it can be
used that way. It’s an object that’s made. Wild chimpanzees use sticks to dig
insects out of their nests . . . but most sticks lying around won’t do the job . . .
they might be too thick, for example. So the sticks have to be sharpened so
they’ll fit into the hole in an ant hill or the insect nest. The chimp pulls off the
leaves and chews the stick and trims it down that way until it’s the right size.
The chimp doesn’t just find the stick . . . it . . . you could say it makes it in a
way.
But the broad definition says an object doesn’t have to be modified to be
considered a tool. The broad definition says a tool is any object that’s used to
perform a specific task. For example, an elephant will sometimes use a stick
to scratch its back . . . it just picks up a stick from the ground and scratches its
back with it . . . It doesn’t modify the stick, it uses it just as it’s found. And it’s
a tool, under the broad definition, but under the narrow definition it’s not
because, well, the elephant doesn’t change it in any way.
Using points and examples from the talk, describe the two different definitions of tools
given by the professor.
