OFFICIAL31 What are the speakers mainly discussing?

[00:00.00]Narrator: Listen to part of a conversation between a student and her United States History professor.
[00:06.99]Professor: So, Amanda, you've asked a lot of questions about trade during the colonial period of the United States. [00:14.31]Has our discussion clarified things for you?
[00:17.31]Student: Well, yeah, but now, I think writing about trade for my paper isn't going to work.
[00:23.69]Professor: Oh, so your questions about shipping routes were for your research paper?
[00:28.35]Student: Yeah. But now, I see that I probably need to come up with a new paper topic. [00:33.25]Actually, there was one other idea I had. [00:36.89]I'v been thinking about doing something about community planning in the early British settlements in Eastern North America.
[00:43.38]Professor: Oh. OK. I am curious. [00:46.40]Why are you interested in doing something on community planning in colonial times?
[00:51.59]Student: Well, I am much more into architecture. [00:54.14]It's my major and I mean, planning out a town or city goes along with that. [00:58.97]I mean, not that I don't like history…I am interested in history…really interested…But I think, you know, for a career, architecture is more for me.
[01:08.27]Professor: That's great.[01:09.57] I've gotten some very thought-provoking papers from students whose interests go beyond history.
[01:14.80]Student: OK. But for the paper you wanted us to try to include a comparison, right?
[01:20.52]Professor: Yes. Actually, that was really the purpose of the assignment. [01:23.89]The way the United States developed or perhaps I should say the colonies, since the land that would become the Eastern United States…uh…there were British colonies there four hundred years ago. [01:37.63]But anyway…uh… development in the colonies differed greatly depending on geography. [01:42.76]I am looking for papers that have ideas about how something that happened one way in the Northern colonies happened a different way in the Southern colonies.
[01:52.53]Student: Is that true in terms of urban planning?
[01:55.20]Professor: Very true. Towns in the Northern colonies were centralized and compact. [02:01.11]They provided a meeting point for exchanging goods, for participatory government, and for practicing religion.[02:08.71]Houses would be built along the roads that led into town.[02:12.76]And just outside the developed area, there would usually be an open field of some sort for grazing animals and also group activities. [02:22.48]Actually, the model for planning a town in the Northern colonies was not unlike the model for the development of towns in medieval Europe.[02:31.75]After all, the colonists had just come from Europe and the medieval period was just ending.
[02:38.39]Student: Medieval Europe. But what about the South? [02:42.80]If I remember correctly… In the South, at least initially, they didn't build towns so much as they built trading posts.
[02:50.16]Professor: That's right. Most of the settlers in the North wanted to start a whole new life.[02:55.06]But most of the people who came from Europe to the South just wanted to make some money and then go back. [03:01.74]It's not surprising that some of most common buildings were storage facilities and port facilities.