Listening audioscript

17.WHY IS IRON PYRITE CALLED FOOL’S GOLD? 
18.IN WHAT WAY IS IRON PYRITE SIMILAR TO GOLD?
19.WHAT IS IRON PYRITE COMPOSED OF? 
20.ACCORDING TO THE PROFESSOR, WHICH IS TRUE ABOUT IRON PYRITE?
21. ACCORDING TO THE PROFESSOR, HOW DOES IRON PYRITE
REACT TO 
HEAT?
22. WHAT WILL THE PROFESSOR HAVE THE STUDENTS TEST IN THE LAB?
 
LISTENING REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 1 and 2) 
Page 163
[ mp3 029-030]
 
Questions 1 through 7. 
Listen to a conversation between a professor and a 
student. 
(Student) 
Thanks for seeing me, Dr. Barton. 
(Professor) 
No problem. It’s my office hour…. What did you want to talk about? 
(Student) 
I wanted to discuss the topic I’ve chosen for the paper I’m supposed to 
be writing for your anthropology course. The topic I’m thinking about is a 
bit unusual. 
(Professor) 
What topic did you have in mind? 
(Student) 
Well…I wanted to write about a test used by the Roman military to test 
soldiers’ eyesight. 
(Professor) 
Hmm …an eyesight test used by the Roman military? Are you sure this is 
related to our anthropology class?
(Student) 
It’s not obvious right away, but I am going to relate it to the class 
material. 
(Professor) 
Well, tell me about it. What was this eyesight test? 
(Student) 
Well, it was a test that the Romans used to determine if their soldiers 
would fight as foot soldiers on the front lines or as archers behind the 
front lines. I sort of doubt the upper classes, who usually served in the 
cavalry and rode on horseback, had to take this test. 
(Professor) 
OK. Go on. 
(Student) 
So, Roman soldiers had to go through certain tests to see how … or, to 
gauge their ability to perform as soldiers. One of these tests was just to 
count the stars in the constellation, the Big Dipper. This test was 
supposed to find out how good their vision was. 
(Professor) 
It sounds kind of interesting, but I’m not seeing the connection to what 
we’re doing in class. 

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LPREP IBT 3 E AudioScript 
20
(Student) 
I know it’s not obvious. That’s why I wanted to come by and explain it to 
you. This would take forever by e-mail, and it’s better if I can show you 
the pictures I have. 
(Professor) 
Alright, then. Let me see what you’ve got. 
(Student) 
See. Look at this picture of the Big Dipper. You can see the seven stars 
in the Big Dipper. The star at the bend of the handle of the Big Dipper is 
called Mizar, and Mizar is a binary star. If you look closely, there’s a 
second star called Alcor next to Mizar. If a Roman soldier’s eyesight was 
good enough to see Alcor, he could fight as an archer. If he couldn’t see 
Alcor, he had to fight on the front lines as a foot soldier. 
(Professor) 
So this eye test was based on the ability of the soldier to see Alcor next 
to Mizar. 
(Student) 
Yes, exactly. 
(Professor) 
I’m still not sure … well, let’s put it this way … how would you relate this 
to the material in the anthropology course? 
(Student) 
I’d relate it to the idea of “survival of the fittest.” 
(Professor) 
Hmm … interesting … and how would you do that? Survival of the fittest 
has to do with the idea that those who’re strongest or have some other 
physical or mental advantage will be more likely to survive, and … 
(Student) 
OK, so, this test for eyesight was used by the Romans and also other 
groups of people for hundreds of years. In Roman times, some of the … 
well, I think I read that Marcus Aurelius, you know, the famous Roman 
Emperor, wrote about it and how it was making the Roman army 
stronger. 
(Professor) 
What do you mean exactly? 
(Student) 
Roman soldiers that passed the test had a better chance of surviving for 
longer. 
(Professor) 
And why is that?
(Student) 
Well, soldiers with better eyesight weren’t on the front lines. But, those 
with worse eyesight were sent to the front lines and, more often than not, 
were killed there. Archers stood a better chance of survival, so they were 
around to father children. And, then their kids would also have tended to 
have better eyesight than the children of those who failed the test. This is 
how I’m going to support the concept of survival of the fittest. 
(Professor) 
I see. Now it’s becoming a bit clearer. Uh … that was kind of a round-
about explanation. 
(Student) 
Sorry. Sometimes I tend to do that. That’s why I thought an e-mail would 
probably not have been the way to go.
(Professor) 
Is there any strong evidence that it actually worked that way? I mean, 
that the Romans ended up with better eyesight overall? 
(Student) 
I think so because I found a source that says that over time, more and 
more people had been able to pass the test. I still have to research some 
more information, but I think I want my thesis to be something along the 
lines of … uh, since the number of people who passed the test increased 
over several generations, this could be attributed to survival of the fittest.
(Professor) 
As long as in your paper you concentrate on that particular idea—of 
survival of the fittest—and then use this example of an eye test to 
support the concept, I think you could have a solid paper. 
(Student) 
That’s what I’ll do then. Thanks, Dr. Barton.