[originaltext]M: Hello, Michelle. Can I help you?W: Hello, Professor. I was wo

M: Hello, Michelle. Can I help you?
W: Hello, Professor. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to, uh, talk to me about my essays.
M: Sure. Sit down.
W: Thanks. Professor, you, uh, you gave me a C plus on my last essay. That’s the third C you’ve given me now. I guess I just don’t understand what it is you’re looking for.
M: Well, you’re not alone, Michelle. I’m afraid most of the class is doing poorly this term. Now, I’ve tried to explain what I want you all to do several times now, but nobody seems to get it. I guess I’m a failure as a teacher.
W: I don’t think so. But, I’m sorry, would you mind trying one more time with me? I understand that you want to see a clear, efficient development of the thesis and all that, and I thought I’d done that this time, I really did.
M: Have you got your paper with you?
W: Yes, here it is, right here.
M: Let me have a look.
W: Sure! Here.
M: Mmm... yes... I remember now. Actually, Michelle, you have a very good thesis here. I like it. I just wish you could’ve presented it more effectively.
W: In what, in what way?
M: Well, just look at your opening sentence. This is the first sentence that the reader meets. "Most authorities consider the zygote the initiation of a new existence." Now tell me, Michelle, if the average person picked this up and started reading it, would they understand that?
W: Well, um... I hope so. I mean, I presume so. That’s what I presumed when I wrote it, of course.
M: Of course. It seems short and direct. But you must remember that when you wrote this, you had been reading and researching your topic beforehand. How many people know what a zygote is? How self-evident is the meaning of "a new existence"? That’s a very abstract phrase.
W: Yeah, I guess so.
M: Michelle, the writer’s first duty is to his readership and his second duty is to his thesis. Think of all the articles you’ve read that’ve been built on week arguments, misconceptions or untruths, and yet have become widely popular, have enjoyed wide acceptance because of the writer’s talent at communicating.
W: Yeah, there’re a lot of those. You want us to write like that?
M: Well, I certainly don’t want you to be promulgating untruths --that’s what I hope I’m helping my students avoid --but it would be worthwhile to notice how some of those writers do it. The key to effective writing is assessing your reader accurately.
W: I see, Professor. Thanks a lot!
This is the end of Conversation Two.
Questions 6-10 are based on Conversation Two.
6. What does Michelle want to talk about with the professor?
7. What does the professor think of Michelle’s last essay?
8. What is the problem of the first sentence in the essay?
9. According to the professor, why has some bad writing become popular?
10. According to the professor, what is the key to effective writing?