...:
You will hear a discussion between a business student called Marco and his personal tutor about the courses that Marco should take.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 23 on page 5.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 23.
TUTOR:
Hi Marco, come in.
MARCO:
I've got a bit stuck trying to select courses for next semester.
MARCO:
Could you help me please?
TUTOR:
First of all, most people just go for the areas of business that they're interested in.
TUTOR:
But even if something doesn't look very stimulating, it's important that you can use it once you get a job.
TUTOR:
It's not much good choosing areas that aren't going to be helpful later on.
MARCO:
I want to go into management, so I'll need to think about that.
MARCO:
And should I start specialising in a particular area yet?
TUTOR:
I don't think that's wise at this stage.
TUTOR:
It's better to aim for a wide variety of subjects, especially as management covers so many possibilities.
TUTOR:
You shouldn't be limiting your choices for later on.
TUTOR:
You should also look at how the course is made up.
TUTOR:
Will you have regular seminars and tutorials, for example, as well as lectures?
MARCO:
Some of the lecturers are quite big names in their fields, aren't they?
MARCO:
Should I aim to go to their courses?
TUTOR:
Well, remember that the lecturers who aren't well known may still be very good teachers.
TUTOR:
I'd say we have a consistently high standard of teaching in this department, so you don't need to worry about it.
...:
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 24 to 30 on pages 5 and 6.
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Now listen and answer questions 24 to 30.
MARCO:
Well, that's a great help.
TUTOR:
Now, last time we met, you mentioned doing team management, didn't you?
MARCO:
I'm still quite keen on the idea.
TUTOR:
The trouble is that because of changes in the content of various courses, team management overlaps with the introduction to management course you took in your first year.
TUTOR:
So what you learned from it would be too little for the amount of time you'd have to spend on it.
MARCO:
I'll drop that idea then.
MARCO:
Have you had a chance to look at the outline I wrote for my finance dissertation?
MARCO:
I left it in your pigeonhole last week.
TUTOR:
Why exactly do you want to write a dissertation instead of taking the finance modules?
TUTOR:
It'll be pretty demanding.
MARCO:
Well, I'm quite prepared to do the extra work because I'm keen to investigate something in depth instead of just skating across the surface.
MARCO:
I realise that a broader knowledge base may be more useful to my career, but I'm really keen to do this.
TUTOR:
Well, I had a quick look through your outline and the first thing that struck me was that you'll have to be careful how you set about it.
TUTOR:
As the way you've organised it seems unnecessarily complex.
TUTOR:
The data that you want to collect and analyse is potentially valuable, but you'll need to narrow down the subject matter to make the whole thing manageable.
MARCO:
I'll have another look at it.
MARCO:
I was talking to Professor Briggs about it yesterday and I got some more ideas then.
MARCO:
For part of the dissertation, I was thinking of trying to persuade finance managers from three or four companies to let me ask them about their company finances.
MARCO:
If not, I think I'll have to change to another topic.
TUTOR:
Well, go ahead then.
TUTOR:
I could give you some names.
TUTOR:
Now, let's talk about practicalities.
TUTOR:
Your dissertation must be finalised by the end of May, so you should aim to finish the first draft by the end of March.
MARCO:
Yes, it shouldn't be a problem.
MARCO:
I'll need to register for the dissertation, won't I?
MARCO:
Is that with the registrar's department?
TUTOR:
No, it's internal to this department, so you just need to let the secretary know.
TUTOR:
Do that as soon as you're sure you're going to write the dissertation.
TUTOR:
Then, to analyse your statistics, you're going to need some suitable software.
TUTOR:
If I were you, I'd drop into the computer office and ask them for a copy.
MARCO:
So, if I revise my outline...
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That is the end of section three.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.