托福TPO14 Conversation2

TPO 14 Conversation 2 Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and his faculty adviser Advisor: Hi, Steve. I scheduled this appointment ‘cause it has been a while since we touched base. Student: I know I have been really busy--- a friend of mine works on the school paper. He asks me if I would like to try reporting so I did and I really love it. Advisor: Hey…that's sounds great! Student: Yeah… the first article I wrote, it was a profile of the chemistry professor---the one who was named Teacher of the Year. My article ran on the front page. When I saw my name, I mean my byline in print, I was hooked. Now I know this is what I want to do--- be a reporter. Advisor: Isn't it great to discover something that you really enjoy? And I read that the article too? It was very good. Student: To be honest, the article got lots of editing. In fact I barely recognized a couple of paragraphs. But the editor explained why the changes were made. I learned a lot and my second article didn't need nearly as many changes. Advisor: Sounds like you’ve got a real knack for this. Student: Yeah… anyway, I am glad you scheduled this meeting ‘cause I want to change my major to journalism now. Advisor: Um... the university doesn't offer a major in journalism. Student: Oh no… Advisor: But…. Student: I… I mean… should I transfer to another school, or major in English? Advisor: Well… wait a minute. Let me explain why the major isn’t offered. Editors at newspaper… editors… I mean when you apply for a reporting job, editors look at two things--- they want to see clips, you know, some of your published articles, they’ll also want you to try out, they’ll give you an assignment like… covering a press conference or some other event, then see if you can craft a story about it, accurately, on deadline. Student: So they don't even look at my major? Advisor: It is not that they don't look at it… it is… well, having a degree in something other than journalism should actually work to your advantage. Student: How? Advisor: Most journalists specialize these days. They only write about science or business or technology for example. Is there a type of reporting you think you may like to specialize in? Student: Well… I think it’d be really cool to cover the Supreme Court. I mean… their decisions affect so many people. Advisor: That is really a goal worth striving for. So, why not continue major in political science? And as electives, you could take some Pre-Law classes like Constitutional Law, and as for your work on the student newspaper, maybe they’d let you cover some local court cases--- ones that students and professors here would want to read about. Student: Do you know of any？ Advisor: I do. Actually, there is case involving this computer software program that one of our professors wrote. The district court is deciding if the university is entitled to any of the professor’s profits? Student: Wow…. I will definitely follow up on that!