[originaltext] W: Hi, David. How are you going with your tutorial paper on Au

W: Hi, David. How are you going with your tutorial paper on Australian studies?
   M: I’ve finished it actually.
   W: Great. What did you do it on? I’m still trying to find an interesting topic.
   M: Well ... after some consideration I decided to look at the history of banana
   growing in Australia. W: Banana growing!
   M: Well ... it’s not as boring as you’d think. And I wanted to tie it into the work I’ve been doing on primary industries and the economy. Anyway I bet there are a few things you didn’t know about bananas!
   W: Such as?
   M: Such as the fact that bananas were among the first plants ever to be domesticated.
   W: Oh, really? I suppose you’re going to tell me the whole history of banana growing now, aren’t you?
   M: Well, it’d be a good practice run for my tutorial next week. I’ll do the same for you some time.
   W: OK. So where were these bananas first domesticated?
   M: According to my research, the Cavendish banana, which is a type of banana and the first type to be cultivated here, actually originated in China but they had a fairly roundabout route before they got to Australia.
   W: You mean they didn’t go straight from China to Australia?
   M: No, they didn’t. It seems that in 1826, bananas were taken from South China to England. There was an English Duke who was particularly fond of bananas and he used to cultivate them in his hothouse, which is where you have to grow them in England, of course, because of the cool climate and they became quite popular in the UK. So he was the one responsible for cultivating the Cavendish banana which was then introduced into Australia.
   W: I see. And we’ve been growing them ever since?
   M: Yes.
   W: Are they hard to grow?
   M: Well, yes and no. To grow them in your garden, no, not really. But to grow them commercially you need to know what you’re doing. You see you only get one bunch of bananas per tree and it can take up to three years for a tree to bear fruit if you don’t do anything special to it. But this period is greatly reduced with modern growing methods, particularly in plantations where you have perfect tropical conditions.
   W: Right! So what are you looking at? One year? Two years?
   M: No, no, around 15 months in good conditions for a tree to produce a bunch of bananas. And once you’ve got your bunch you cut the bunch and the plant down.
   W: That’s interesting! I’m sure the tutorial paper will go really well. You certainly seem to have done your research on the subject.
   M: Let’s hope so.
   This is the end of Conversation One. Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.
   Question 1
   What does the man think of his research topic?
   (pause: 10 seconds)
   Question 2
   Which country did the Cavendish banana originate in?
   (pause: 10 seconds)
   Question 3
   Why did the English Duke introduce bananas to England?
   (pause: 10 seconds)
   Question 4
   According to the man, why are bananas difficult to grow?
   (pause: 10 seconds)
   Question 5
   With modern methods, how long would it take to produce a bunch of bananas?
   (pause: 10 seconds)