Hi Claire!

How's it going?

How are you enjoying college life?

Well, it's all so new right now, there's so much to take in.

Haha, I remember my first semester.

I felt the same.

How about your classes?

Well, as you can imagine, there's a lot of work already.

I bet.

So what do you study?

My major is English, but I also study American History.

That's great!

Are you enjoying the classes?

Yes, I enjoy most of them.

Have you had time to make many friends yet?

Yes, a lot actually.

That's the best thing.

There are so many clubs you can join to meet people.

So far, I joined the women's soccer team, the debate team, and the theater club.

Wow, that's a lot!

Don't get exhausted!

I won't.

Don't worry about me.

Where do you live now that you're in college?

I live in the dormitory.

It's quite close to the campus.

It's about a five-minute walk, so it's very convenient.

Do you like living there?

Not really, because there are so many of us packed into such a small space that you do not get a sense of privacy at all.

I share a room with three other girls, and there is always someone near you.

You are never alone.

If you grow up with your own room, it's very difficult to move into the dorms and to have to share a small room.

It's hard not to have your personal private space anymore.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Can you ever study?

Yes, I actually go to the library study room to read and do my assignments.

Do you study a lot?

I do, especially before tests.

How many hours?

It depends on the class.

If it's difficult, I study about six hours a day.

What about food?

What do you eat for food?

Do you have a kitchen?

Do you cook?

Are you kidding?

No, we have a cafeteria.

The food is pretty good and cheap.

How about your laundry?

How do you wash your clothes?

We have laundry machines every other floor in the dorm building.

And what do you do for fun?

Sometimes we'll literally relax in someone's room and just talk.

Other times we take the subway downtown and visit museums or go to restaurants when we have money.

Or we go to the movie theater or to the park.

Do you party a lot?

No, I'm not a huge fan of parties.

I rarely go to parties.

For the simple fact that most of the parties I attended,

I realized it was better off not going.

Hello?

Hi, Grace. This is Nora.

Have you completed the class project?

Yeah, I finished it yesterday.

How about you?

No, not yet.

I'm having a hard time with the conclusion of my report.

Do you need any help?

Maybe just a little.

Do you have time tonight?

No, I'm sorry.

Tonight we are having guests over for dinner, so it's not possible.

Okay, no problem.

How about tomorrow night? Is that okay?

Yes, sure. It's perfect.

Can you come to my place?

Or would you rather have me come over to your house?

I prefer to come to your house.

My brother is expecting company tomorrow, and they'll surely be noisy.

Hooray!

Oh, man!

Okay, then let's meet at my house.

Sounds good.

What time should I come over?

How about 5 p.m.?

I can make some delicious pancakes.

Sounds great.

I love pancakes.

I will be there tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Wonderful.

See you tomorrow night.

Hey, Kathy.

Why do you look so down?

Oh, hi, Laura.

I just got my report card.

Is it that bad?

I was hoping to get a good grade in math class, but I didn't.

That's a hard class.

I know.

I did well in all of my other classes, but that one...

You should think about the good grades you received.

Don't worry about one class.

I know, but I worked very hard, so I had been hoping to get a good grade.

This is discouraging to me.

I always struggle with math despite putting in tons of effort to understand the concepts and time to practice.

You can't excel in all classes.

You're extremely talented in something else, like English, biology, drama.

Yeah, you make a point.

Thanks for your encouragement.

Maybe I'll hire a private math tutor to increase my math grades.

How did you do?

I did well.

I was most worried about science.

How did you do in your science class?

Better than I expected, but not a perfect grade.

How about math?

I did okay.

What does okay mean?

I got a B+.

I'm happy for you, but I'm sad for myself again.

Your essay's good, but I think it would be better if you cut out this paragraph here.

Also, it'd be a good idea to add a paragraph summing up your main point at the end.

This paragraph here is a bit strong.

Why not tone it down a bit?

And your point about pollution appears in several places.

Why not deal with it in just one paragraph?

And you only touch on the issue of climate change.

Surely that deserves a bit more space.

In fact, I really think you should try to set the whole thing out better.

Why don't you just write it then, Dad?

Hey, Danielle.

How did your American Literature test go yesterday?

It was awful.

I totally flunked it.

The questions about Betty Smith were very difficult.

Really? I loved all her books.

Did you study for the test?

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to study for it.

Did you take notes during class?

No, I didn't take any notes because the professor talked too fast.

I couldn't keep up with him.

And you missed a lot of classes, right?

That's because the class started too early in the morning and I just couldn't make it.

Did you read the books and did you do the assignments?

No.

No wonder you flunked the test.

Oh, stop putting me on the spot.

What about you? How did you do on the test?

I did pretty well because I studied hard for the test.

I went to every class, took notes, did the assignments, and read the books.

Well, good for you.

You better hit the books if you want to pass this course.

I can help you if you want to.

Really? That's very nice of you.

Have you seen the new student?

Yes, he's in my science class.

He's really good looking.

Oh, then you must be happy to study with him.

I envy you.

Frankly, I don't want to be his partner for any of the experiments.

I didn't know you were so shy.

It's not that.

People who are good looking usually aren't very smart.

And I'm sure that applies to him too.

But he has no interest in schoolwork.

He seems to be the kind of guy who is obsessed with his looks and takes a lot of selfies.

That's ridiculous.

How come you can tell about a person just by appearance?

Don't you know you should never judge a book by its cover?

From my experience, it's mostly true.

Well, I heard he was a class president at his last school.

What?

Hey, Larry.

Did you hear what happened in my science class today?

No. What happened, Mike?

Someone got caught cheating on the test.

Let me guess.

It was David again?

Exactly.

He really has the guts.

That was already the third time he did it.

He really can't learn his lesson, can he?

That's right. He is totally irresponsible.

How did he cheat this time?

He wrote some things on his hand and Mrs. Miller saw it.

What did she do when she saw him?

She sent him to the principal's office.

David's parents were called to school immediately.

They were really angry with him.

I wouldn't want to be in David's school.

I wouldn't want to be in David's shoes right now.

He had it coming.

Do you think they're going to suspend him from school?

They might, since this is the third time he did it.

I feel bad for his parents.

How nice of you to grace us with your presence.

Sorry, Professor. Traffic was bad.

Then I suggest you consider leaving home a little earlier in future.

My class starts at 10.30.

I expect that yours should, too.

Sorry. It won't happen again.

I should hope not.

As I was saying, class, I have graded last week's assignments.

Before I hand them out, let me say that some of you have done remarkably well, while others have performed almost unacceptably poorly.

I'd like to remind you that these assignments count towards your final grade for the semester.

You will do well to keep this in mind before next week's assignment.

Here is your assignment, Anthony.

Please see me once the class is dismissed.

Have a seat.

Is everything all right?

Yes. Why?

You were among the top five students in my class.

Since then, your grades have been dropping steadily and you regularly miss my classes.

Forgive my intrusion, but I always take a personal interest in very good students that show great promise.

What caused this sudden change in performance?

Are you going through anything at home, perhaps, that you'd like to speak about?

Everything's fine at home, Professor.

Are there any reasons at all contributing to the sharp downturn in your grades?

Traveling isn't easy.

I have to take two buses a day to get to campus and back.

It's very tiring.

I sympathize with you. I really do.

Still, there are other students who come from longer distances and attend all my classes.

If they can make this effort,

I'm sure you can too.

I promise to study harder from now on and attend all your classes.

I see a lot of potential in you.

I still consider you to be one of my best students.

Don't make me regret my opinion.

Thank you.