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Part ⅡReading Comprehension (35 minutes) Passage One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. In a few weeks, high school students face the prospect of taking the much-publicized new SAT Reasoning Test, which for the first time will require them to write a timed essay. Yet colleges continue to send confusing signals about whether students applying in the fall to attend college must take the new exam.
Some schools, including Harvard, say they will accept scores from either the new test or the old SAT I, which was administered for the last time in January and did not contain a writing section. The University of Central Florida, for example, will require the new test, which will be given for the first time on March 12. Still others, such as the University of Virginia, strongly recommend that prospective applicants take the new test but also will accept the old SAT. A number of colleges are delaying a decision. The College Board, which administers the SAT, surveyed more than 1,900 four-year schools and has heard back from slightly more than 500. Of those, 81% say they will require the new test, including schools such as Harvard that are giving students a choice in what will be a year of transition.
“Anything new goes through a special lens of evaluation,” says Lee Stetson, admissions dean at the University of Pennsylvania, which judiciously will use results from the new writing section until officials have a chance to study the revised SAT’s predictive validity. A number of admissions deans are skeptical that the new exam will be an improvement. Charles Deacon, dean of undergraduate admissions at Georgetown University, says adding the essay “will create more barriers to poor kids who are less well-prepared”. The test was rushed to market because the University of California system, a major College Board customer, threatened to stop requiring the SAT, he says. The test “was developed and marketed for all the wrong reasons”. Deacon, who says he has been “badgered” by the College Board to endorse the new exam, has refused to do so.
Some schools, including Georgetown, Iowa’s Grinnell College ’s Franklin and Marshall College, say that at least for now, they will not even look at scores from the writing section when making admission decisions. “We have adopted a wait-and-see attitude,” says Dennis Trotter of Franklin and Marshall.
College Board officials counter that based on extensive field tests, they are confident the test is as reliable a predictor of freshman-year performance as the old SAT. Moreover, they say, well-trained scorers, many of them high school English teachers, will grade the essays, which student have 25 minutes to write.
Amidst all the confusion, what should students do? Admissions deans and school counselors say to be sure to check with each college for requirements. 21. If a student took the SAT in October last year, he has to take another test if he applies for .
A) University of Virginia B) Georgetown University
C) the University of Central Florida D) Harvard University 22. What does the article tell us about Harvard University?
A) It will only accept the new SAT this fall.
B) It has not made a decision on whether to accept the old SAT this fall.
C) It will require scores from the writing section this fall.
D) It will ask all applicants to take the new test a year later. 23. An important reason for negative attitudes towards the new writing examination is that .
A) the examination will add to the difficulty for those students from financially underprivileged families
B) the examination was marketed much too quickly without careful consideration
C) the examination will cause short-term confusion and lead to no long-term benefits
D) the examination was a product of the College Board and various universities 24. According to the author, what should students do at the moment?
A) Students should make clear which test is acceptable.
B) Students should contact the university for the arrangement of the test.
C) Students should ask the College Board for the latest information about the program.
D) Students should get prepared for the new examination in less that a year. 25. What can we infer from the passage about the test?
A) Students who have taken the old test are strongly advised not to take the new test.
B) As compared with the old test, the new one requires the student to write an essay in a shorter period of time.
C) The College Board has decided to invite university teachers to grade the essays.
D) The College Board has appealed to many universities to support the new examination.
21. C)细节理解题本题问如果一位学生已于去年十月参加了SAT考试，他申请哪所学校还必须再考。这个问题实际上是问哪所学校只接受新的SAT测试的成绩。根据原文可以看出，这个问题出现在列举不同学校反应的第二段，答案应为C）。
22. D)推理题本题问哈佛大学的情形。这里定位到文章第二段的开始与末尾，两处均提到了哈佛大学。段首说其对于新老测试成绩均接受。从这里可看出A）、B）、C）均不正确。段末说将给学生一年的过渡期。从这里可看出D）正是正确答案。 23. B)推理题本题问反对新的写作测试的原因。从原文中看出，第三至第五段具体谈大学对于写作测试的反应。第三段、第五段均是表达等待、观望的态度，只有第四段说的是反对的意见。这里面有两个关键的因素，一个是将会对准备不够充分的差生制造更多障碍，另一方面，也是更重要的是，大学委员会为迎合重要客户的需求，将此项考试匆忙推向市场。我们来看选项，如果将poor理解错，很可能错选A）；C）项的后半部分不可能是正确的，因为该项测试的预测效度还未出来，虽然不能说一定是好的结果，但像该选项这样说太过武断。D）项说该测试是大学委员会与几种大学共同的产品，这是不对的。大学委员会是测试的研发和推广者，各所大学都是潜在的用户。该题的正确答案是B），文中的关键词是“rush”，意思正好是“do something in a hurry, often too quickly and without much care”。 24. A)细节理解题此题问学生该怎么做。这是一道细节题，在文章的末段。此题本来不难，但选项间具有相当的迷惑性，答案应选A），学生应搞清楚大学接受哪种考试。B）是向大学咨询考试的具体安排，这是不对的。C）是向大学委员会咨询信息，这就更不对了。大学委员会是考试的设计者，今年秋天各大学要不要求新的测试成绩是各种大学自己的事情。D）项说学生应在一年内做好准备--这显然不是我们当前关心的问题。 25. D)推理题此题问我们可从文章中推知什么关于该项测试的信息。这是推导题，需要一项一项细看。A）说强烈建议已参加旧测试的学生不再参加新测试，从第二段看出这是不对的。B）说与旧测试相比，新测试要求学生以更短的时间完成写作测试，这也不对，因为旧的测试根本就没有写作部分，这从第一段可以看出来。C）说大学委员会已决定邀请大学老师来担任阅卷工作，这与文章第六段不符，文中说大部分阅卷员是中学老师。D）说大学委员会多方游说，希望更多的大学支持新的考试，这一项是正确的。首先在第四段中间可以看出像加州大学这样的大客户，对大学委员会的影响有多大。其次可以在第四段末看出，大学委员会一直缠着一位入学处主任，要求其同意使用该考试。 | 
