Listen to a conversation between two students.
(woman) Hey, Mike, how's it going?
(man) OK
(woman) Something's the matter?
(man) Well, sort of, I'm taking this French class
(woman) OK?
(man) And one of the class requirements is a weekend trip to Canada to Montreal which is in the French-speaking part of Canada. It's only like five hours from here. So the next weekend the whole class's going on a bus. We're supposed to practice French, you know, talk to people and we're going to a play.
(woman) Sounds like fun.
(man) Yeah, I'd love to go.
(woman) But?
(man) Well, we'll be crossing an international boarder so in order to go you need a passport. The professor told us a while ago to be sure to get a passport but I completely forgot to apply for one.
(woman) What are you gonna do?
(man) Well, I talked to my professor and she said I could fulfill the requirement a differentway if I want. Instead of going on the trip, I could stay here and write a short paper about Montreal.
(woman) In French?
(man) Yeah, I’d have to do a little research and write about three pages. Talk about Montreal, its history or whatever, in French. It wouldn’t be too hard.
(woman) But then you’d miss out on a great trip to Montreal.
(man) I know.
(woman) Well, you know there’s another option. You can probably still get a passport in time if you go directly to US Passport Office and pay extra. Then you could go.
(man) Yeah, actually, I looked into that. I can still get a passport in time, but to get it at the last minute is expensive, like, 150 dollars. And I don’t know if I want to spend that much.
(woman) That is a lot of money."
Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which of the two
solutions from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your
recommendation.
Well, the man's problem is that he is taking a weekend trip to Montreal, the French-speaking part of Canada to practice his French and he will need his passport to cross the international boarder, but he forgot to apply for his passport. Accordingly, there are two solutions for the man. Firstly, he could stay home and write a short paper in French about Montreal instead of going on the trip. And maybe he might go directly to US Passport Office and pay extra to get a passport just in time. I strongly recommend that the man should stay home finishing his paper in French for two reasons. First of all, writing a paper in French is not that difficult for the man, since he could go to the library on campus to get as much information as possible including history, geographic features, populations and so on, in both photos and articles a even multimedia materials. Besides, going directly to the US Passport Office for a passport in a hurry costs just way too much. The man could save the money for some more important projects not just one single language practice weekend trip. So, I think the man should go with the first solution. (204 words)
