Task 1

　　Which one of the following jobs deserves a highersalary? Teacher, policeman or nurse?

　　Personally speaking, I think policemen should getpaid more money than the others for two reasons.Firstly, policemen face higher risks when at work.Police officers today are confronted with all sorts ofproblems, from petty theft to horrifying homicides.When we read newspapers or watch TV today, we cansee police officers get hurt or even get killed in a lotof extreme cases. Just last month, 3 French policemen were fatally wounded in the terroristattack. So it's only fair and naturally policemen get paid more. Plus, policemen usually work waymuch harder. My neighbor used to be a policeman before he retired. It seemed like he wasalways at work. He always arrived home late and sometimes he was on call for 48 hours in arow. That's why I think policemen deserve a higher salary.

　　Task 2

　　Should students be required to do volunteer work?

　　I think students should be required to do volunteer for the following reasons. Firstly, it'simportant for students to learn to give back to the community at an early age. I first startedvolunteering when I was only 8 years old, I remember it was right before Christmas and myparents signed us up for volunteering in the soup kitchen in my neighborhood. I was theyoungest volunteer there that day and I used a big ladle to serve hot soup to the homeless.That was kind of a milestone in my life because that was when I understood the importance ofsharing what we have with the less fortunate and I also realized how good it feels when weknow we are capable of helping others. Today volunteer work has become a big part of who Iam and I think all students should learn the meaning of volunteering from an early stage of life.Plus, it's a good chance for students to sharpen their communication skills. In volunteerwork, more often than not, you will have to work with others in a group, that's a goodopportunity for students to learn to be great listeners while getting their own voices heard atthe same time.

　　Task 3

　　The university is planning to move the theater off-campus due to two reasons. The firstreason is that the theater now is way too small to accommodate the increasing number ofstudents. 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 ofthe theater is extremely important for students. Most of them are reluctant to go downtownbecause it's so inconvenient. As for the second reason, the student points out that studentsare already used to deal with the equipment they have now, they're not trained to cope withfancier 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 meanspeople tend to follow others and make the same choice as them in spite of their own opinionswhen having to make a decision. He offers us an example to illustrate it. Once he went to acity he had never been to and he had to make a decision about where to have dinner. At firsthe wanted to go to an Italian place which was highly recommended by his guide book. But henoticed 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 therestaurant couldn't be compared to the Italian restaurant he wanted to go at first. It was full ofcustomers 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 tofind someone to replace her. If I were in her shoes, I would go for the second solutionbecause Beck is a great dancer, even though she's not in the class and there's little time tolearn, I'm sure she can grasp the moves pretty quickly. I personally don't recommend theother solution because the choreography will look weird and it may compromise the wholeperformance. 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 toexamples to illustrate it. The first example is about zebrafish. Zebrafish have small hair cellsunder their membrane to help them detect predators in water. They can sense where thepredator is by the water flow. The second example is about trout. Trout can stay still inflowing water. They can keep breathing while hiding under water. That's how the professoruses these two examples to illustrate it.