Dr. Wilson and Mr. Wang have met before.

W: Come in, please.
M: Good morning, Dr. Wilson.
W: Good morning, Wang. So nice to see you again. Take a seat.., why don’t you, please. When did you get to the university?
M: I arrived yesterday.
W: Well...are you living in the college?
M: No, I am with an English family.., actually.., because I want to improve my speaking.
W: Oh, fine. Right, did you take a language proficiency test before you came?
M: Yes. Uhh...my Overall Band is 6, but.., unfortunately my speaking is only 5.
W: OK. you know, here in this university, you have to take our own English test before you attend any lectures. So, first of all, what we’ve got to do is, we have to make an arrangement for the test date. Umm...will tomorrow be all right for you?
M: Yeah, I have time tomorrow morning.
W: Good, then. Tomorrow at ten. I don’t think the test will be any problem for you. Now, let’s make sure you make full use of your time here. Let’s put it like this. What exactly do you want to accomplish in the next 12 months?
M: I’m interested in computer language translation, I mean, from English to Chinese and Chinese to English. I’ll try if possible, to produce a software or a device which can serve as an interpreter.
W: Yes, could you be a bit more specific about.., er...the device?
M: For instance, when, you talk to the device in English it will translate your words into Chinese and vice versa.
W: Uhuh...do you mean it’ll be as competent as...er...a human interpreter?
M: Yes...well, I’ll let it deal with general situations, at least.
W: Fascinating...and how big will the device itself be, do you think?
M: The size of a cigarette pack, I think. So people can put it in their pocket.
W: Really. Well, that could be a Ph..D. project. Tell me what you have done so far.
M: In my four years of undergraduate study, I studied electronics, advanced mathematics, hardware designing, some computer languages and program writing.
W: Yes, but have you done any practical jobs? I mean, have you written any programs for practical use?
M: I was involved in a project for CAD in a shipyard.
W: The computer aided design. That was probably a good experience, but, unfortunately, it may not help your present project much. Are you familiar with C-language?
M: No.
W: Uhuh...the phonetic processing system, do you know how such a system works?
M: What do you mean by "phonetic processing system"?
W: Well, you know, English is spoken by different people with different accents. Your English accent is different from mine, and of course mine is not the same as my colleagues. So as I see it, your device would have to be able to recognise and understand different accents.
M: Oh, I see. I think I can learn C-language and a phonetic processing system here.
W: Well, that’s probably true, but you’ve only got twelve months and you want a degree, don’t you?
M: Yes.
W: OK, so there’re two ways of studying for a degree here. You either take six courses, pass their exams and have your dissertation accepted or the other way is you do some research work and submit your project report.
M: I think I’ll take the second way.
W: Fine, but are you sure you can finish your project in twelve months?
M: I don’t know but I can work twelve hours a day and seven days a week.
W: Well, I’d suggest you spend some time in our library, trying to find out what other students have done before and perhaps reconsider your own project, to some extent. You might narrow your research area, concentrating on solving one or two major problems. And, it’d be a good idea to talk to your colleagues in the lab, first. Anyway, I’m sure we can work out something good. Shall I see you again in three days’ time?
M: All right. I’ll go away and do some thinking. Then I’ll talk to you about my new plan.
W: Good. See you then.
M: Thank you. Bye-bye.