"Professor’s Office"[img]2012q1/ct_etoefm_etoeflistz_1715_20121[/img] [br] What

Narrator: Listen to a conversation in a professor’s office.
Student: Thanks for seeing me.
Professor: No problem. What...
Student: I’m here. Oh excuse me.
Professor: Go ahead.
Student: I’m here because, well, I just don’t seem to be able to keep up, with the assignments, I  Q35
    mean,
Professor: I see. Is that just in my class or is this a general problem?
Student: Oh, no. I’m getting behind in my assignments in all my classes. There’s just so much.
    It’s overwhelming.
Professor: Hmnn.
Student: But I came to you because I thought you...you could give me some advice.  Q35
Professor: Well, I’ll try. So how many classes are you taking?  Q35
Student: Four, which is about average, I think.  Q36
Professor: And what are they?
Student: Sorry?
Professor: Which classes are you taking?
Student: Oh. Well, I have Western Civilization, World Literature, um, your class in Psychology of
    course, and Philosophy.
Professor: Unhuh. Well, that’s the problem. All of your courses are reading intensive classes,  Q37
Student: If you mean that I have a lot of reading to do, that’s the truth.
Professor: Look, when you registered, did you talk with your advisor?
Student: Not really.
Professor: But you had to have your advisor’s signature in order to complete the registration
    process...
Student: Yeah, but I just had him sign it. I... I didn’t really make an appointment or anything.
    See, I thought the best thing to do was to get all of my required courses out of the way
    so I could spend the last two years concentrating on my major.
Professor: And that’s a good plan, but the problem is that you selected four courses that have  Q37
    heavy reading assignments and probably papers to write in addition to tests, right?
Student: Right. But most courses have a lot of reading, don’t they? Professor: Some have more than others, and that’s what I mean by a reading-intensive class. Listen,
    if you had taken a lab course, like.., like Botany or Chemistry, well, then you
    would have had one course with a textbook and another course with a small lab manual.
    Now you’d have had to spend time in the lab to finish your experiments but you
    would have received credit for two courses and you wouldn’t have had any papers to
    write-just tests.
Student: Oh, I see, and with the literature, I have eight books to read, plus the textbook, and
    there are.., how many?.., four or five books in your class.
Professor: So when you register, you really need to think about the course requirements so you
    aren’t putting all of your reading-intensive courses together in the same semester.
Student: Like I did this time. So, maybe it’s not that I’m such a slow reader. Maybe I just have too
    much to read.
Professor: Could be. In any case, the schedule has to be at least a part of the problem.
Student: So what should I do now?
Professor: Okay, well, how are you doing in your classes?
Student: I’m getting Bs and Cs but I know I could get As if I had more time in the day. And I’m
    really worried about those Cs.
Professor: Well, here’s a possibility; Why don’t you drop one of your courses? The one that takes  Q38
    the most time,
Student: That would be my literature class.
Professor: You could take it next semester. It’s offered every term, and you would have some of
    the reading done already,
Student: But wouldn’t that mess up my graduation date?
Professor: I don’t know. You’d have to check that with your advisor to be sure.
Student: But maybe the professor would be upset, about my dropping the class. Then next
    semester, when I show up again...
Professor: You could talk with the professor and explain your plan. But if you decide to do this,
    you’ll need to do it right away because there’s a cut-off date for dropping a course and
    I think it’s the end of this month.
Student: I wish I hadn’t gotten myself into this.
Professor: Well, the main thing is to learn from it.
Student: So next semester I could take some reading-intensive courses and some that are...
    less reading-intensive.
Professor: And you should really see your academic advisor when you’re selecting courses next  Q39
    time-to talk, I mean Not just for a signature