During academic（学院的、学术的）/.ækә'demik/ project week, Lin's group chose food waste as its topic（主题、论题）/'tɒpik/. Their challenge（挑战；难题）/ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ was to explain the cafeteria's（自助餐厅）/.kæfi'tiәriә/ changing behaviour（行为；表现）/bɪˈheɪvjə/. The team has already collected basic data（数据）/ˈdætə/. They have access to（有机会使用；可获取）/hæv ˈækˌsɛs tɪ/ a digital（数字显示的、数字的）/'didʒitәl/ document（文件；文档）/ˈdɑkjəmɛnt/ from the kitchen. Its chart（图表、海图）/tʃɑ:t/ looked accurate（正确的、精确的）/'ækjurәt/, and each category（类别）/'kætigәri/ appeared to have a clear function（功能；作用）/ˈfəŋkʃən/. However, one figure（数字；图表）/ˈfɪgjər/ did not match the daily total.

Lin asked the group to analyse（分析）/'ænәlaiz/ the document and identify（识别；确定）/aɪˈdɛntəˌfaɪ/ the source（来源）/sɔrs/ of the difference. One assumption（假设）/ә'sʌmpʃәn/ was that students wasted more rice on sports days. In contrast（相比之下）/ɪn ˈkɑntræst/, the original（原始的；最初的）/ərˈɪʤənəl/ journal（日志；期刊）/'dʒә:nәl/ showed no such pattern（模式；规律）/ˈpætərn/. Mei found（建立、创立）/faund/ a comment（注解、批评）/'kɒment/ beside one paragraph（段落、短评）/'pærәgrɑ:f/: fruit had sometimes been recorded as vegetables. That small issue（问题；议题）/ˈɪʃu/ could affect（影响）/əˈfɛkt/ the conclusion（结论、结尾）/kәn'klu:ʒәn/ and the impact（影响）/ˌɪmˈpækt/ of their report.

The group needed evidence（证据）/ˈevɪdəns/ from an authority（权威；主管者）/əˈθɔrəti/. They met（meet的过去式和过去分词）/met/ Ms Chen, who managed the kitchen records. She listened to their debate（辩论；讨论）/dəˈbeɪt/ and opened another available（可用的；可获得的）/əˈveɪləbəl/ file（文件）/faɪl/. Then she said, “You may cite（引证、指引）/sait/ this document, but your final claim（理赔申请；主张）/kleɪm/ must be based on（以……为依据）/bi beɪst ɔn/ what you can confirm（确认；证实）/kənˈfɜːmd/ yourselves（你们自己）/ˈjɔrsɛlvz/.” Lin replied, “We will focus on（集中于）/ˈfoʊkɪs ɔn/ one particular（特定的）/ˌpɑˈtɪkjələr/ week and carry out（开展；执行）/ˈkɛri aʊt/ a fresh count.”

Using the corrected categories, the group began a simple experiment（实验）/ɪkˈspɛrəmənt/. They observed（觉察到、遵守）/әb'zә:v/ every lunch tray（托盘、公文盘）/trei/, recorded the amount（数量；金额）/əˈmaʊnt/, and used the same process（过程；流程）/ˈprɔˌsɛs/ each day. They repeated the count so that every result could be checked. Only then could they conclude（结束、作结论）/kәn'klu:d/ whether the pattern was real. Their approach（方法；处理方式）/əˈprəʊtʃt/ helped them determine（确定；查明）/dɪˈtərmən/ the main factor（因素）/ˈfæktər/: a new serving tool produced portions（份量；部分）/'pɒ:ʃәn/ that were too large. In addition（此外）/ɪn əˈdɪʃən/, the visual（视觉的、视力的）/'viʒuәl/ design（设计）/dɪˈzaɪn/ of the old chart made two colours difficult to distinguish（区别、辨别）/dis'tiŋgwiʃ/.

The students used a clear structure（结构）/ˈstrəkʧər/ for their new draft（气流、草稿）/dræft. drɑ:ft/. The first section（区域）/ˈsekʃnz/ explained the theory（理论）/ˈθɪri/, the next used a chart to illustrate（举例说明、作图解）/'ilәstreit/ the finding（发现、发现物）/'faindiŋ/, and the final section offered a practical（实际的、现实的）/'præktikl/ strategy（策略）/ˈstrætəʤi/. They had to refer to（查阅；提到）/rɪˈfər tɪ/ relevant（有关联的、有关系的）/'relivәnt/ literature（文献）/'litәrәtʃә/, acquire（获得、学到）/ә'kwaiә/ one more reference（参考资料；参考）/ˈrɛfərəns/, and revise（校订、修正）/ri'vaiz/ each concept（概念）/ˈkɑnsɛpt/ before they could publish（发表；发布）/ˈpʌblɪʃ/. At the presentation（赠与、描述）/.prezәn'teiʃәn/, Mei demonstrated（示范、证明）/'demәnstreit/ the serving tool and invited the audience（听众）/ˈɔːdiəns/ to participate（参加、分享）/pɑ:'tisipeit/. The group could now draw a conclusion（得出结论）/drɔ ə kənˈkluʒən/ from accurate evidence. Their outcome（结果、出口）/'autkʌm/ was modest（适度的；不大的）/'mɒdist/ but useful（有用的）/ˈjuːsfəl/: the cafeteria adjusted（调整、使适应于）/ә'dʒʌst/ its portions, and the school approved（赞同、核准）/ә'pru:v/ the report as a resource（资源）/ˈrisɔrs/ for future classes.