Part 3. Study options. You will hear a professor talking to her student about his study options. Before you listen, you have 30 seconds to read questions 21 to 24.
Come in, Rangi. Thank you, Professor Anderson. I've been meaning to contact you, but I just got back last night.
Where have you been? Conferences in Massachusetts and New York. For physics? Yes. Great.
I'm looking forward to attending conferences one day. I imagine that won't be so far away. I was extremely impressed with your classical mechanics exam.
In fact, you were one of only two students out of 180 to get an A+. Wow, I really did enjoy the course. So how can I help you? I'm sorry to say it's a bit of a long story.
You see, I've had to rethink my studies completely, and I wonder if I'm making the right decision. You're doing two degrees, aren't you? Science and Arts. I was doing two.
I've decided to focus on science. Oh? It all came about because I wanted to study abroad for a year. I was thinking about Edinburgh.
Firstly, I sought approval from the maths and physics departments. I wanted to take quantum mechanics and computer simulations at Edinburgh. Those are third-year courses, right? Yeah, so I received approval from maths and physics.
The stumbling block was the higher authority, the science faculty. When I submitted my application, it was rejected. What? It turns out that students who study abroad for a year can only do first or second year courses, or third year courses in a subject that's not their major.
I've never heard that before. Needless to say, the lecturers who approved my transfer hadn't either, and nor does the regulation appear on the science faculty website. That'd be right.
This faculty is disorganised. So, then I thought I'd take arts courses at Edinburgh and leave the third-year maths until I came back. I quickly got approval for second-year history and philosophy from the arts faculty.
When are you heading off? That's just it. During this process, I began to think carefully about my studies. To be honest, the arts courses I've done were less challenging than the science ones, so I've decided to drop arts.
Before you listen to the rest of the conversation, you have 30 seconds to read questions 25 to 30. Where do I figure in all this? The first week after I'd made my decision, I felt fine. Without doing the arts courses, I could finish my science degree earlier.
But this week, I've had some doubts. When I started the two degrees, lecturers in the science faculty assured me that these days, scientists need a rounded education, which they get if they take some arts courses. I was even told I'd learn to write and think better if I did philosophy.
I do think the claims made by some lecturers are dubious. Then there's the fact that now I'm going to be stuck here next year. I was so excited about going to Europe.
It is disappointing to give that up. Still, the reason I wanted to contact you, Rangi, is that I'm looking for students to work six hours a week in my lab. It's paid work.
Not highly paid, but probably better than working in a bar. Also, we've just bought a new laser, which you'd learn to use. That sounds excellent.
As to going abroad, why not do your postgraduate studies in the US? There's some amazing physics being done in Massachusetts. If you like, I can send you the papers from the conference. Thanks.
Of course, I'd be sad to lose you if you did go abroad, but an A-plus student like you has a very good chance of winning a major scholarship. Goodness, I've never even considered that. Personally, I think committing yourself to science is the way to go.
Thanks, Professor Anderson. You've taken a load off my mind. Now I don't have to deal with Hegel or Leibniz.
I've plenty of time to read those conference papers. That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3.