Vol 7 Test 7 Part 3

Part 3 You will hear two students, called Jamie and Martha, discussing their environmental science course. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26.

(12:36 - 12:54)
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Hi, Martha. Do you have time to talk? We have to submit our evaluations of our course next week, and I thought it'd be useful to discuss what we both think.

(12:54 - 13:22)
Good idea. That would help refresh my memory, especially about things we did in previous years. I agree.

So, let's talk about the modules we took. What about statistics for environmental research? I've always been hopeless with numbers, so I thought that I'd learn a lot. But, you know, it wasn't at a high enough level for me.

I actually had to do a lot of reading on my own. Me too. I had to get an additional reading list from the tutor.

(13:23 - 13:39)
Now, sewage and drainage systems. I wasn't looking forward to that one. Not exactly a pleasant subject, but, you know, the module convinced me that it's an essential topic to understand for both cities and rural environments.

(13:39 - 13:56)
Right. And, in the end, not a boring subject. Not at all.

It was quite a revelation. The module on agriculture and food security could have been good. But the assigned readings were only those ancient government publications.

(13:57 - 14:31)
And the lecture notes clearly hadn't been updated for years. I know. What about the module on sustainable energy? I really got into the project we had to do to invent something functional.

I devised a windmill to power my laptop. Yep. The projects were great.

So hands-on. Though the personal battery charger I built never really worked. Too bad.

But I'm sure you learned a lot nonetheless. I did. And the government policy module? I wish it had included policy in other countries.

(14:31 - 14:58)
It was a bit inward-looking, I thought, focused just on this country. I mentioned that to the lecturer, but she said it was best to concentrate on one country in depth at first. Maybe.

And there was that module called Water Management. I must admit, I got lost in the discussion about the issues of groundwater levels and flood risk management, which weren't that essential. You weren't the only one.

(15:00 - 15:49)
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. OK.

I thought some aspects of the course organisation were particularly helpful. Can we talk a bit about that? Of course. Actually, I was disappointed that I couldn't take any module whenever I wanted.

(15:49 - 16:13)
That's true. But the variety of modules on offer was a strong point and meant I managed to cover a lot of subjects. Me too.

More than I expected. I had wanted to finish the course early by doing an extra module each term, which would have been useful, but unfortunately that wasn't allowed. I had to wait to do some modules, which I found hard to schedule.

(16:14 - 16:30)
And I think more assigned reading for the modules would have made the lectures easier to follow. That would have been good. But I was pleased that the course organisers were able to provide modules focusing on real-life issues, which we can apply later when looking for jobs.

(16:30 - 16:48)
True. And I would have hated it if it had all been theory. What about the written paper we had to do for Dr Brown? Are there any things we could suggest to improve the way that's handled? Well, I got lots of help from Dr Brown and his assistant in narrowing down what I wanted to write about.

(16:49 - 17:00)
Yes, they stopped me from doing something too ambitious. But choosing a topic right at the beginning of the module was difficult. Maybe he could postpone the decision until halfway through the term.

(17:01 - 17:12)
Good idea. I was happy with the word limit for the assignment though. Well, as usual, I could have written on and on, but the limit made me refine my thoughts, so it was OK in the end.

(17:13 - 17:49)
I wish I could have had a session with Dr Brown after he'd marked my written paper. I know it would be time-consuming, but it would have been really useful. Actually, I was satisfied with Dr Brown's written feedback.

It was amazingly detailed, so I don't think I needed more. But I wish they could arrange sessions where students get together and help each other before submitting their written work. Good idea.

If they provided time for that, it would be quite convenient. Right. Now that we've almost finished our course, it's time to think about our career prospects.

(17:50 - 19:34)
What type of organisation do you hope to work for? That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3.