Task 1

Your university is planning to require all first-year students to take a class in which they would learn how to use the resources available at the university library and apply those skills in writing a long research paper. Do you think this is a good idea?Explain why or why not, using specific examples and details

Task 2

Reading

Overnight Visit Program for Prospective Students

High school students often visit different university campuses, including ours, when deciding which university to attend. This year, the university has restructured its campus visit program to help these prospective students decide if our university is right for them The new visits will last longer-they will involve an overnight stay in a dormitory to allow prospective students to observe and participate in more campus social activities. Additionally. the current students with whom prospective students stay will be from the prospective students academic department. That way, current students can answer questions and give prospective students a more personalized understanding of the academic program they are interested in.

The woman expresses her opinion about the plan described in the article. Briefly summarize the plan. Then state her opinion about the plan and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.

Task 3

Reading

Umbrella Effect

When the survival of a certain species is threatened as a result of habitat loss and human activity. scientists often take measures to protect that species. Sometimes these efforts may have an indirect positive effect on other species living in the same habitat. This is known as the umbrella effect. The umbrella effect occurs when the efforts to protect one particular species result in the protection of other species-species that may or may not been hangered. Protecting a species that requires a significant amount of resources to survive can create an especially strong umbrella effect, since it may make those same resources available for other species to use as well.

Explain how the professor’s example involving plovers illustrates the umbrella effect.