NARRATOR：

Listen to a conversation between two students.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Hey, Mike. How's it going?

MALE STUDENT：

[unhappy] OK.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Something the matter?

MALE STUDENT：

Well, sort of.

I'm taking this French class...

FEMALE STUDENT：

[following] OK...

MALE STUDENT：

And one of the class requirements is a weekend trip to Canada-

to Montreal, which is in the French -speaking part of Canada.

It's only like five hours from here, so next weekend the whole class is going up on a bus. We're supposed to practice French...

you' know, talk to people,

and we're going to a play.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Sounds like fun.

MALE STUDENT：

Yeah, I'd love to go...

FEMALE STUDENT：

But...?

MALE STUDENT：

Well, we'll be crossing an international border, so in order to go, you need a passport.

The professor told us a while ago to be sure to get a passport, but I completely forgot to apply for one.

FEMALE STUDENT：

What are you gonna do?

MALE STUDENT：

Well, I talked to my professor, and she said I could fulfill the requirement a different way, if I want.

Instead of going on the trip, I could stay here and write a short paper about Montreal.

Yeah,

I'd have to do a little research and write about three pages, talk about Montreal-its history or whatever-in French.

It wouldn't be too hard...

FEMALE STUDENT：

But then you'd miss out on a great trip to Montreal.

MALE STUDENT：

I know.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Well, you know, there's another option. You can probably still get a passport in time if you go directly to a U.S. passport office and pay extra.

Then you could go!

MALE STUDENT：

Yeah, actually, I looked into that. I can still get a passport in time,

but to get it at the last minute's expensive-

like a hundred and fifty dollars.

And I don't know if I want to spend that much.

FEMALE STUDENT：

[conceding] That is a lot of money...