Question 1:

You will hear a lecture. After listening to the lecture, in 10 seconds, please speak into the microphone and retell what you have just heard from the lecture in your own words. You will have 40 seconds to give your response.

Suggested Answer:

The lecture divides all human beings into five personality types. The lecture uses the word ocean as a simple way to memorize these traits, where ‘O’ stands for openness to experience, ‘C’ for conscientiousness or honesty of purpose, ‘E’ for extroversion to determine extrovert or introvert personality, ‘A’ for agreeableness or friendliness, and ‘N’ for neuroticism to determine the stability or calmness. As per the speaker, these five are the traits that underlie just about any personality type. The speaker also quotes some evidence to impart credence to this broad division of personality traits.

Question 2:

You will hear a lecture. After listening to the lecture, in 10 seconds, please speak into the microphone and retell what you have just heard from the lecture in your own words. You will have 40 seconds to give your response.

Suggested Answer:

The lecture is about the development of self-control, or will power among children. The marshmallow test developed by the speaker seeks to reward the children who exhibit patience to wait for two of their most favorite goodies, which are otherwise before their eyes, until the researcher allows them to have the same. Those who can’t wait, have to make do with only one of the two goodies. Those who can will get both. Interestingly, the test revealed that those who exhibited patience also had a better chance of success in life, and further that such self-control could be easily taught not only to children but also to adults.

Question 3:

You will hear a lecture. After listening to the lecture, in 10 seconds, please speak into the microphone and retell what you have just heard from the lecture in your own words. You will have 40 seconds to give your response.

Suggested Answer:

The interviewer brings the professor’s attention to a new field of study, named epigenetics, and to the latter’s contention that the difference between nature and nurture is getting increasingly blurry so much so that even our genetics can be changed by the world around us. The professor explains that this is possible through the action of molecules in our cells that hover around our genes and can switch these genes on or off, or silence them on a long term basis. The experiences of the world around us bring the changes during the embryonic stages or later, though it is difficult to define the changes or the reasons for them. The professor states that these epigenetic changes might even become hereditary.