新托福考试必备：新托福TPO（1-24）听力原文文本TPO13

　　TPO 13
　　Conversation 1
　　Professor：
　　Good afternoon, Alex, can I help you with something?
　　Student：
　　Well, I want to talk with you about the research project you have assigned today. I um…I hope you could clarify a few things for me.
　　Professor：
　　I'll certainly try.
　　Student：
　　Ok, all we have to do is do two observations and take notes on them, right?
　　Professor：
　　Ur, that's the start, but you need to do some research, too. Then you will write a paper that is not so much about the observations, but a synthesis of what you have observed and read.
　　Student：
　　Ok….And what about the children I am suppose to observe?
　　Professor：
　　Not children, a single child observed twice.
　　Student：
　　Oh…Ok, so I should choose a child with a permission of a child's parents of course and then observed that child a couple of times and take good notes, then?
　　Professor：
　　Actually after your first observation, you go back and look through your textbook or go to a library and find a few sources concerning the stage of development, the particular child is in. Then, with that knowledge, you will make the second observation of the same child to see if these expected developmental behaviors are exhibited.
　　Student：
　　Can you give me an example?
　　Professor：
　　Well, en, if you observed a 4 year-old child, for example, my daughter is 4 years old; you might read up on cushy stage of cognitive development we covered those in class.
　　Student：
　　Aha…
　　Professor：
　　And most likely, what stage would a child of that age be in?
　　Student：
　　Um… the pre-operational stage?
　　Professor：
　　Exactly, if that's the case, her languages used to be maturing and her memory and imagination would be developed.
　　Student：
　　So she might play pretend like she can pretend when driving her toy car across a couch that the couch is actually a bridge or something.
　　Professor：
　　That is right. In addition, her thinking would be primarily egocentric.
　　Student：
　　So she would be thinking mostly about herself and her own needs, and might not be able to see things from anyone else perspective.
　　Professor：
　　En hums…
　　Student：
　　But what if she doesn't? I mean, what if she doesn't demonstrate those behaviors?
　　Professor：
　　That's fine; you'll note that in your paper. See, your paper should compare what is expected of children at certain stages of development with what you actually observed.
　　Student：
　　Ok, I have one more question now.
　　Professor：
　　What's that?
　　Student：
　　Where can I find a child to observe?
　　Professor：
　　Ur, I suggest you contact the education department secretary. She has a list of contacts at various schools and with certain families who are somehow connected to the university. Sometimes they are willing to help out students with projects like yours.
　　Student：
　　Ok, I'll stop by the educational department office this afternoon.
　　Professor：
　　And if you have any trouble or any more questions, feel free to come by during my office hours.