Audio Scripts - 359

Task #5 – New Dormitory Policy

Woman: Hey, Toni, check out the poster for the new dorms. Nice. Internet ready.
Laundry in the basement. And a fridge in each!

Man: I prefer the old dorms. They give the school character. These new dorms
look like ugly apartment buildings. Not only that but they have nothing
to do with the school’s philosophy of maintaining “traditional educational
values in a traditional New England setting.”

Woman: Schools have to evolve to meet the needs of each new generation. Our
generation is used to certain conveniences, the internet being one.
Personally, I can’t wait to use the exercising room. The card locks are a
nice touch too.

Man: Electronic card locks? Give me a break. What I don’t like is the fact that
the room assignments are first-come, first-served. I think second year
seconds should have priority over first years when it comes to choosing
rooms. I’ve already invested plenty in this school. As a returning second
year student, I should at least have some rights. But with this system, I
will be competing with first years. I just don’t think it’s fair.

Woman: First-come, first-served makes everybody equal. Also, it’s a good way of
determining whether or not you are serious about studying here.

Man: Yeah, well, I’ve decided not to come back.

Man: What policy? What’re talking about?

Woman: There’s a new policy posted on the board here. It says before I can
graduate I have to complete 48 hours of volunteer work. Over three
months, that’s four hours a week. Where am I going to find four hours a
week? I have a part-time job. I can’t quit. I need the money. Sorry, but I
can’t afford to spend time volunteering.

Man: But think of all the experience you will gain. Volunteering looks good on
a resume, you know. Employers want to know if you’re involved with the
community. My father’s a lawyer. He does free legal work all the time.

Woman: Yeah, well, your father doesn’t have to write a graduate thesis.
Volunteering will rob me of time I’m going to need for researching and
writing next semester. This new policy puts way too much pressure on
graduating students. Graduating students should be focused on
researching and writing. This is not adding to our educational
experience. It’s simply a distraction.

Man: C’mon, four hours a week is not going to kill you. I mean, really, you
could do an hour a night for four nights, or all four hours on Saturday
morning. Four hours won’t be that hour to fit into your schedule.

Woman: What I don’t like is this is the first time I’ve heard about this policy. If the
university is suddenly going to change the graduation requirements, they
should at least give us six months warning. If I had known, I might’ve
switched schools. Now I have no choice. If I don’t volunteer, I don’t
graduate.
doesn’t stop there.

Bull sharks thrive in any kind of water, including fresh water. Scientists have
found bull sharks thousands of miles up the Amazon and as far up the Mississippi
River as Illinois. In Nicaragua, bull sharks have even been seen jumping rapids like
salmon to get upstream. In Australia, a bull shark travelled eighty miles up an
inland waterway system and killed a swimmer. Bull sharks are apex predators with
most human deaths attributed to them.

So what are your chances are being attacked by a bull shark? Not very good, I’m
afraid. In fact, more people die every year from falling coconuts than from shark
attacks. Remember that the next time you’re on vacation, sitting under a coconut
tree and worrying about whether to go into that beautiful clear blue water or not.
the western. In Hollywood westerns, the kidnapped maiden is always rescued in
the end with the Indians all dead and the good guys returning to the safety of their
own land. This is exactly what happens in Star Wars. With Luke Skywalker leading
the rebel force, he frees Princess Leia and together she and Luke are honored as
heroes in their homeland. In the end, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are
unerring symbols of good conquering evil, a civilizing force in an otherwise savage
new frontier called space.

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Audio Scripts - 363

Task #3 – Charles Darwin
Everyone knows Charles Darwin as the man who wrote On the Origin of Species. On
the Origin of Species sold well in Darwin’s lifetime, however it did not sell as well as
another popular Darwin book. That book, published in 1881, is titled The
Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, With Observations on
Their Habits. With the publication of this book, Darwin revolutionized soil and


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