OFFICIAL38 What do the speakers mainly discuss?

[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to a conversation between a student and his ecology professor. [00:04.28]FEMALE PROFESSOR: How's it going, Tom?[00:06.53]MALE STUDENT: Great. I was—oh! I wanted to tell you?[00:09.43] y'know the guest speaker you brought into class last week, from the wildlife conservation center?[00:14.13]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Susan Brown, yes. She's an old friend from graduate school.[00:17.68]MALE STUDENT: Her talk, on wildlife-population modeling?well, it was very theoretical?[00:22.59]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Mmm. It was certainly a change of pace from what we usually do.[00:26.57]MALE STUDENT: Yeah, but I think I pretty much followed along. [00:29.23]Plus, I like to see people get so passionate about ecology?[00:32.52]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Oh right?ecology's your major field of study, isn't it?[00:36.70]yes, Susan Brown's certainly a lively speaker. [00:39.86]What a shame she didn't go into teaching.[00:42.11]MALE STUDENT: Um, anyway, what I—Well, a while ago, I saw this blurb in the school paper about a—an exchange program, that's part of the study-abroad office... uh, [00:51.67]and today there was a booth set up in the student center with a coupla students answering questions about the university's programs in foreign countries. [00:58.91] Seeing the booth reminded me about the article in the paper and?[01:01.73]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Thinking about going abroad in the coming year?
[01:04.16]MALE STUDENT: Actually, I just spent last summer studying in Tokyo?[01:07.40]I think that satisfied my urge to travel.
[01:09.85]FEMALE PROFESSOR: It must've been quite an experience.[01:11.65]MALE STUDENT: Definitely. Taking all those language courses was really challenging. [01:15.57]But what I wanted to find out at the booth was?it's, um, a domestic exchange program. Not studying abroad, but studying for a year somewhere else here in the United States.
[01:25.24]FEMALE PROFESSOR: I don't think I've heard of that.[01:27.07]MALE STUDENT: Well, neither had the guys in the booth. [01:29.21]They didn't know what I was talking about. [01:31.40] But when I talked to the supervisor in the study-abroad office, it turns out we're part of a—a group of universities throughout the U.S. that does a domestic-exchange program.[01:40.39]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Huh! So, you spend, what, a year at another university, and your classes count toward your degree here?
[01:46.81]MALE STUDENT: Yeah, and I'd pay the same fees?tuition, room, and board...that I pay here. [01:51.41]So it doesn't really cost any extra.[01:53.42]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Interesting.[01:54.52]MALE STUDENT: And, y'know, I've lived here in southern Florida my whole life. [01:57.66]And I've always been interested in Montana? [02:00.11]the university in Montana, where I want to go, has classes that deal specifically with the ecology there, like... [02:05.60]I'm interested in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. [02:09.36]It's such an important ecosystem, being the source of three major rivers, and I want to learn more about it.
[02:14.64]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Wow, this is a unique idea. [02:16.93]The climate, the plants, and wildlife...it's really different from here. Probably the culture too, in a way. And don't forget about all the outdoor activities you could do there...hiking, skiing, and the national parks?[02:30.81]MALE STUDENT: That's true. [02:31.88]Uh, anyway, I'll have to get my application together in the next month or so. And I'll need two letters of recommendation?one from a professor in my major department?[02:40.26]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Consider it done.
[02:41.12] MALE STUDENT: Thanks.