Reading passage
Take the provided reading time before you play the listening passage.
Narrator:Now listen to two students discussing the letter.
Woman:So what do you think of that letter?
Man:Well, it might sound like a good idea, but I really don't think it's gonna have any of the benefits that the letter writer says it will.
Woman:So you don't agree with it?
Man:Nope. If anything, it's going to hurt our relationship with our town. I mean forcing students to volunteer, it's gonna make them see it as a chore, a nuisance, and so they're not gonna put their hearts into it, which is gonna make the university look bad.
Woman:You are saying that students doing volunteer work in town will be unenthusiastic and...
Man:Right. It'll be obvious they don't want to be there. That's sure not going to make things better, you know, in terms of how we're regarded by people in the local community.
Woman:But maybe students would learn to like it.
Man:I really doubt it. The whole idea that this is gonna to encourage students to do more volunteering in the future is just ridiculous. A lot of students are likely to come away from the experience with negative feelings about it.
Woman:Yeah, especially if their studies suffer from being forced to spend time away from them.
Man:All the students I know already complain about not having enough time as it is. So this extra work is going to be a bad experience, hardly inspiration for them to pursue more volunteer work after they graduate.
Your speaking task
The speaker expresses an opinion about the proposal in the reading passage. Summarize the proposal, state the speaker's opinion, and explain the reasons given.
Record up to 60 seconds. Nothing is uploaded until you submit it.