PartI Reading Comprehension

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One Questions 1 to 5 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 under some circumstances 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 and Pennsylvania'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.

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

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