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Conversation 2 - Reschedule the medieval history test

Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a professor and the student.

Woman: Jeff, I’m glad you’d drop by. I’ve been meaning to congratulate you won the class leadership award.

Man: Thanks, Professor Brownson. I was really happy to get it and a little surprised. I mean, there were so many other people nominated.

Woman: Well, I know the award was well deserved. Now, what can I do for you today?

Man: I needed to talk to you about the medieval history test. You know, the one scheduled for Friday afternoon?

Woman: Yes?

Man: Well, there’s this trip that my French class is taking, we’re going to Montreal for the weekend.

Woman: Montreal! That’s my favorite city. What will you be seeing there?

Man: Uh, I’m not sure yet. Well, the reason, the main reason I wanted to go, is that we’ll be rooming with French-speaking students there. You know, so we can get a chance to use our French to actually talk to real French speakers.

Woman: It sounds like a great opportunity. But, then, there’s that test.

Man: Yeah, but, well, the thing is the bus leaves right in the middle of when our history class meets this Friday. So, well, I was thinking maybe I could take the test on a different day, like, Monday morning during your office hours?

Woman: Uh, Monday morning. Um, that would not be, oh wait, let me just see one thing. Uh ha, OK, that’s what I thought. So, for your class, I was planning a takehome exam. So, you could just take the test along with you, uh, let’s see, I guess you could come to class Friday just to pick up the test, that way you’ll still make your bus, and then find some quiet time during your trip to complete it, and you can bring it to class Wednesday when I’ll be collecting everyone else’s.

Man: Hum, uh, during the trip, well, I guess I could, so I should plan to take my books and stuff with me.

Woman: You’ll definitely need your class notes. I’m giving you some short essay questions to make you think critically about the points we discussed in class. Just state, uh, state and defend your opinion, analyze the issues, speculate about how things might have turned out differently. So, you see, I don’t care if you look up dates and that kind of things, what I want is for you to synthesize information, to reflect back on what we’ve read and discussed, and to form your own ideas, not just to repeat points from the textbook. Does that make sense?

Man: Yeah, I think so. You’re looking for my point of view.

Woman: That’s right. The mid-term exam showed me that you know all the details of who, where and when. For this test, I want to see how you can put it all together, to show some original thinking.

Man: That sounds pretty challenging, especially trying to work it into this trip, but, yeah, I think I can do it.

Woman: I’m sure you can.

Man: Thank you, Professor Brownson.

Woman: Have a great time in Montreal.