Navigating Life’s Choices and Communication Dynamics
Career and Personal Decisions
Choosing a Higher-Paying Job in a New City
Opting for a higher-paying job in a new city can offer you a fresh start. While you can always return to your original city to visit friends and family, a higher wage can significantly help you progress in society, advance your career, and achieve success. Ultimately, success is often the primary reason for pursuing a job, and if it also offers a fresh beginning, it’s a compelling opportunity to seize.
University Policy on Campus Littering
The university authority has decided that, beginning next semester, they will fine littering behavior on campus. In the listening part, the man agrees with this policy for two main reasons:
- First, he believes it will save a lot of money by reducing cleaning costs and potentially reallocating cleaner salaries.
- Second, he anticipates that the campus will foster a much cleaner environment, benefiting everyone.
The Pitfalls of False Consensus in Group Decisions
Sometimes, group members make decisions that ultimately please nobody because they mistakenly believe such a decision would make others happy. The speaker shares an example from his family:
One day, he proposed going to a downtown restaurant to enjoy their weekend. His wife agreed because she thought her husband wanted to do that, even though she herself didn’t want to go. The children also agreed, thinking this would make their parents happy. However, it turned out that the speaker didn’t want to go either; he was just afraid that the whole family would not enjoy it if he didn’t suggest something.
A Personal Dilemma: Friend vs. Meeting
The man’s problem is that he has promised his friend he will pick her up from work, but this schedule coincides with his employee meeting. There were two potential solutions:
- He could ask another friend to pick up the person, but he is uncomfortable with that plan because he promised to do it himself.
- He could stick to the original plan and be a little late for the meeting. However, in that case, he fears he will create a negative impression among colleagues.
Animal Survival Strategies
How Animals Protect Themselves While Asleep
Animals normally employ two primary ways to protect themselves from predators while they are asleep:
- Utilizing the Natural Environment: For example, some animals choose to sleep at the very end of tree branches. This way, any vibration of the branches alerts them to approaching predators.
- Maintaining Vigilance: Some animals keep their eyes open, or partially open, while asleep. For instance, ducks keep their eyes half-opened so that they can remain alert and escape danger swiftly.
The Importance of Seeking Wise Counsel
Valuable Advice: Why Seniors Offer the Best Insights
Advice is incredibly important to a person, especially when it’s the right advice at the right time! The ability to give and receive advice from others is one of the greatest gifts humans are blessed with. However, advice can vary significantly; you can receive good advice that will help you excel, or you could receive negative advice that will bring you down. When I am searching for advice, I find it best to get counsel from seniors.
Seniors have been through a lot in their lifetime and have gained a deep understanding of life through various situations and experiences. They have likely experienced the pains and pleasures of this world long before you or your peers were born. Seniors often understand the world from a broader perspective, excluding themselves from the immediate picture and including the current state of the world we live in today.
Moreover, while advice from friends can be helpful, our friends are often not much wiser than we are. Your peers and those in your same age group often experience similar struggles and joys, whereas seniors have experienced struggles and joys you haven’t even thought of encountering yet. Even though you might think seniors lived in an era when your specific hardships did not exist, they faced many hardships that are probably similar to, or even deeper than, the problems you might ever encounter.
In conclusion, advice is very important, and receiving the right advice can make a huge difference in a person’s life. I honestly think people should seek the advice of seniors rather than their peers because seniors have gone through a lot more in their life than we have.
Academic Practice Exercises
Reading Comprehension Answers
Stone
1c, 2d, 3d, 4c, 5b, 6a, 7c, 8c, 9a, 10c, 11a, 12a, 13c, 14a,b,c
FOLL
1b, 2c, 3d, 4c, 5b, 6a, 7c, 8a, 9c, 10c, 11a, 12d, 13c, 14b,d,e
Honeybee
1c, 2b, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6d, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10c, 11d, 12b, 13d, 14a,b,e
Listening Comprehension Answers
Listening L1: Girl and Professor Discussion
1d, 2a,d, 3a, 4b, 5c, 6d, 7c, 8c, 9a, 10a, 11d, 12b, 12a, 13b,c, 15d, 16a, 17c
Listening L2
1d, 2b,d, 3c, 4a, 5d, 6A, 7A, 8C, 9D, 10B, 11c, 12c, 13C,D, 14B, 15C, 16A, 17D