At the start of the semester（学期）/si'mestә/, every freshman（大一新生）/ˈfrɛʃmən/ and undergraduate（大学本科生、大学肄业生）/.ʌndә'grædjuit/ in Mira's program（语境补充词）/ˈproʊˌgræm/ had to take part in（参加）/teɪk pɑrt ɪn/ a compulsory（被强制的、强迫的）/kәm'pʌlsәri/ research workshop in the main auditorium（听众席、礼堂）/.ɒ:di'tɒ:riәm/. The dean（院长、主持牧师）/di:n/ explained that the curriculum（课程、学程）/kә'rikjulәm/ should build intermediate（中间物、调停者）/.intә'mi:diәt/ skills before students began a thesis（论题、论文）/'θi:sis/. Yet faculty（才能、能力）/'fækәlti/ feedback（反馈、反应）/'fi:dbæk/ showed that many learners（学习者、初学者）/'lә:nә/ could repeat a formula（客套语、公式）/'fɒ:mjulә/ without understanding its logic（逻辑、逻辑学）/'lɒdʒik/. The principal（校长、首长）/'prinsipәl/ question was simple: could the workshop measure aptitude（资质、才能）/'æptitju:d/ rather than memory?
In response to（回应）/ɪn rɪˈspɑns tɪ/ that concern, Mira's team rewrote（语境补充词）/riˈroʊt/ the language section of the manual（手册、指南）/'mænjuәl/. Students had to classify（分类、归类）/'klæsifai/ each noun（名词）/naun/ and pronoun（代词）/'prәunaun/, choose a conjunction（连接词、联合）/kәn'dʒʌŋkʃәn/ or preposition（介词）/preposition/, correct a plural（复数）/'pluәrәl/ form, and repair a clause（子句、条款）/klɒ:z/ with a missing comma（逗点、逗号）/'kɒmә/. Then they gave every paragraph a useful heading（标题、起始字）/'hediŋ/. Mira, who edited（编辑）/ˈɛdət/ the first transcript（抄本、副本）/'trænskript/, noticed a missing heading. The team found that clear labels improved cohesion（结合、黏聚）/kәu'hi:ʒәn/, but clarity（清楚、明晰）/'klærәti/ also depended on a coherent（互相耦合的、清晰的）/kәu'hiәrәnt/ line of thought. If the sequence（序列、续发事件）/'si:kwәns/ remains unclear（不易了解的、不清楚的）/.ʌn'kliә/, readers（语境补充词）/ˈridərz/ will not comprehend（理解、包括）/.kɒmpri'hend/ the argument.
The second task combined astronomy（天文学）/ә'strɒnәmi/ with arithmetic（算术、算术知识）/ә'riθmәtik/. A small apparatus（装置、器具）/.æpә'reitәs/ produced audio（音频的、声音的）/'ɒ:diou/ signals from a model telescope. Students had to keep track of（持续记录）/kip træk əv/ each digit（数字、位数）/'didʒit/, work out（算出；解决）/wərk aʊt/ a proportion（比例、比率）/prә'pɒ:ʃәn/, place the results in sequence, and turn them into a graph（曲线图、图表）/græf/. They used an index（索引、指针）/'indeks/ to filter（滤波器、过滤器）/'filtә/ the records, compute（计算、估算）/kәm'pju:t/ an average, and explain the code（代码、密码）/kәud/ behind the display. Every claim was verified（证明、查证）/'verifai/ against the original graph. This task helped the class define（定义）/dɪˈfaɪn/ evidence and derive（得自）/di'raiv/ a conclusion from observable（可遵守的、可庆祝的）/әb'zә:vәbl/ results.
The final task used a microphone（扩音器、麦克风）/'maikrәfәun/ and a student journalism（新闻业、报章杂志）/'dʒә:nәlizm/ forum（论坛、公开讨论的广场）/'fɒ:rәm/. Each group had to make use of（利用）/meɪk juz əv/ an interview, edit its transcript, and formulate（用公式表示、明确叙述）/'fɒ:mjuleit/ a short editorial（编辑的、主笔的）/.edi'tɒ:riәl/. The faculty has already collected feedback from two classes. According to（根据）/əˈkɔrdɪŋ tɪ/ the responses, students preferred a collective（集体的、聚集的）/kә'leiktiv/ task in which they could collaborate（合作、勾结）/kә'læbәreit/ and be responsible for（负责）/bi riˈspɑnsəbəl fər/ different stages. The forum also revealed whether speakers were proficient（高手、专家）/prә'fiʃәnt/ enough to explain a difficult idea without hiding behind technical language.
At the end, the dean asked students to be familiar with（熟悉）/bi fəˈmɪljər wɪθ/ the complete process: identify a problem, select a method, verify the evidence, and present the result. The revised curriculum did not promise that every undergraduate would immediately produce a perfect thesis or earn a diploma（文凭、毕业证书）/di'plәumә/. It did something more practical. It showed whether students could connect language, data, and public explanation, then improve their work after precise feedback.