1) Say them out loud in class one by one.

- How many pages do we have to read for Monday?

- I worked hard, so don’t I deserve a good grade?

- What’s the reading assignment for next time?

- What do you want us to know for the test?

- Can you tell me what grade I’m getting?

- Will we have to turn in our homework?

- What is the book list for the course?

- What’s the assignment for tomorrow?

- Will the test cover the whole book?

- Can I talk to you about my grade?

- Do you grade on a curve (曲线)?

- Is there a final in this course?

- Will there be a review session?

- When are your office hours?

- How many A’s were there?

- What are the requirements?

- Will there be any quizzes?

- What texts are required?

- What will the test cover?

- What’s on the test?

2) Play the roles of professor and students in the following dialogue, paying attention to the underlined expressions.

Professor: OK, so much for introductions. Now let’s get down to course details. Do any of you have questions regarding how we’re going to go about things?

Student A: Is there a final in this course?

Professor: Yes. In the last week of the semester.

Student B: Will the test cover the whole book?

Professor: Just the basics given in the text. It will mainly focus on your critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Student C: Will there be any quizzes?

Professor: No quizzes, but you’re required to do a group project.

Student D: Do you grade on a curve? How many A’s were there last time?

Professor: Sometimes I slightly curve - not always. Last time there were about 30 per cent A’s.

Student E: When are your office hours?

Professor: From 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. every Wednesday. The syllabus (课程大纲) is available online.

Student A: Can we have your email address, please?

Professor: No problem. I’ll put it on the blackboard.

* Give a short oral presentation on the topic below. The following text serves as an example.

Not Creating Clones

Actually, everybody is born unique, and no two people are exactly the same. Each person has something special to be discovered about him- or herself. In my view, education is not supposed to create clones, or carbon copies of a model human, but rather to explore every student’s unique potential, or potential strengths.

Master teachers know this well. They especially don’t want their students to follow in their footsteps. Instead, master teachers encourage them to go their separate ways. Otherwise, their students’ potential strengths would be suppressed (压制) - just the opposite of master teachers’ goal.

Creating intellectual clones in higher education is practically a crime, I’d say - at least from a certain perspective. And master teachers will have none of that, thank goodness!