Grob you've got two ears and one mouth.
Your fuel consumption is a guess because you have no direct measurement - you have an guess based upon whatever the usual use of the aircraft is.
Generally that will be circuits at a flying school. It sounds like your instrutors either have little understanding of flying cross country - or you have an interesting way of eliciting information - neither seem a good way of behaving.
Cross country the consumption can vary by well over 50% - flying rich - who knows - the numbers are not in the POH. How accurate are they?
Sector recce??? - if you can only fly yourself around areas you already 'know' then you are not navigating at all! Which will make fuel circles pretty much irrelevent.
Yes the terminolgy is full of bravado - why? It is far better to actually know what you are talking about.