Listening audioscript

How does the information in the listening passage add to the ideas presented in 
the reading passage? 
 
 
MINI-TEST 6 
 
LISTENING 
Page 446
[ mp3 204-205] 
 
Questions 1 through 5. 
Listen as a student consults with his professor. 
(Professor) 
Hello, come on in. 
(Student) 
Hello Professor Johnson. I’m Jake Barnes, from your American Lit. 140 
class. 
(Professor) 
Yes, I recognize you, Jake, but it’s nice to meet you. What can I do for 
you? 
(Student) 
I have a question about the paper – the one where we’re supposed to 
pick one book by an author we’ve studied. 
(Professor) 
OK. What’s your question? 
(Student) 
Um, so I was thinking of doing The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest 
Hemingway, and, well, the thing is that, I can tell from your lecture on 
Hemingway that he isn’t one of your favorites. 
(Professor) 
Ah, yes, I suppose my opinion is sometimes too…apparent. 

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LPREP IBT 3 E AudioScript 
129
(Student) 
Well, I don’t want to write a paper that’s going to irritate you… 
(Professor) 
Oh, I see what you mean. Actually, Jake, I would welcome a paper on 
Hemingway. My attitude apparently comes out in the lecture, and maybe 
that’s why hardly anyone ever writes about him in my class. But by all 
means, go ahead. It’ll be a nice change. 
(Student) 
Isn’t it a bad idea though to write about things that contradict your 
professor? 
(Professor) 
Well, if you do it carelessly…uh, if you do research poorly and make 
unfounded claims, then it might irritate the professor. But in general, if 
the professor is, well, professional…and confident, then they will mostly 
admire students who think for themselves. 
(Student) 
Um, so what kind of advice can you give me for writing about ideas that 
are different from my teachers’? 
(Professor) 
Are you talking about this paper specifically, or in general? 
(Student) 
I mean generally. If I want to disagree with my professor in a written 
assignment, do you have any advice? 
(Professor)
OK, so, like I said, do solid, thorough research to back up your ideas.
Um, in this case I don’t despise Hemingway, so you’re not stepping on 
my toes. If you are challenging a professor’s cherished beliefs, however, 
you’re really going to have to check and cite your sources, um, show that 
you’ve done thorough background work, and make strong, sound 
arguments. 
(Student) 
So if I’m going to poke my professor in the eye, I should make sure my 
fingers are clean. 
(Professor) 
Uh…well, yeah. That’s an interesting analogy, but I think it sums it up: in 
other words, if you are going to challenge a strong belief, be sure your 
evidence can’t be disproven. Oh, and along the same lines, as you put 
it, um… poke gently. 
(Student) 
What do you mean? 
(Professor) 
Don’t make claims that are just designed to contradict or provoke your 
professor. For instance, with this book, The Sun Also Rises…um…do 
you remember what I said about the relationship between the main 
characters? 
(Student) 
I think you called it poisonous. 
(Professor) 
Exactly. So if you write a paper that claims that every relationship should 
emulate theirs…and I swear I would try to be objective and fair…but I 
might be inclined to look harder for flaws in your arguments. 
(Student) 
OK, I see. So I shouldn’t propose things that would be considered, um, 
defiant by my professors. 
(Professor) 
Again, I don’t want to discourage you from challenging the ideas you’re 
presented with. And it depends on who the professor is and how you do 
it, and a hundred other things. But for me, and I think most of us…uh, 
question, ask and challenge, but if you’re going to go after our strong 
convictions, then you’d better make sure that you’re standing on solid 
ground. 
(Student) 
Well, I’m not gonna try to prove that this book shows that Hemingway 
was tolerant of all people or anything too far from what you’ve said. 
(Professor) 
Do you have any ideas of what you’re going to talk about? 

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LPREP IBT 3 E AudioScript 
130
(Student) 
I’m not exactly sure yet, but I think I want to talk about his iceberg theory.
I think it’s great how he wrote whole passages and then took them out 
deliberately. 
(Professor) 
That sounds great, Jake. That’s one of the most fascinating things about 
that particular book. For me, some of those writing techniques almost 
make up for my dislike of the characters. 
(Student)
I’ve found some places where…uh, I know there are all kinds of things 
going on under the surface, or like where he wrote a lot more and then 
just removed it and um, and left this space for the reader to interpret.
(Professor)
Yes, I’ll be very interested to read about that – I’m really glad you came 
by and cleared up your doubt instead of just avoiding something you 
thought I might not like. 
(Student)
Me too. Oh, and thanks for the advice on questioning my professors. 
(Professor)
Sure.