单选题 In the college-admissions wars, we parents are the true fighters. We are pushing our kids to get good grades, take SAT preparatory courses and build resumes so they can get into the college of our first choice. I've twice been to the wars, and as I survey the battlefield, something different is happening. We see our kids' college background as a prize demonstrating how well we've raised them. But we can't acknowledge that our obsession is more about us than them: So we've contrived various justifications that turn out to be half-truths, prejudices or myths. It actually doesn't matter much whether Aaron and Nicole go to Stanford. We have a full-blown prestige panic; we worry that there won't be enough prizes to go around. Fearful parents urge their children to apply to more schools than ever. Underlying the hysteria is the belief that scarce elite degrees must be highly valuable. Their graduates must enjoy more success because they get a better education and develop better contacts. All that is plausible — and mostly wrong. We haven't found any convincing evidence that selectivity or prestige matters. Selective schools don't systematically employ better instructional approaches than less selective schools. On two measures — professors' feedback and the number of essay exams — selective schools do slightly worse. By some studies, selective schools do enhance their graduates' lifetime earnings. The gain is reckoned at 2% ~4% for every 100-point increase in a school's average SAT scores. But even this advantage is probably a statistical fluke. A well-known study examined students who got into highly selective schools and then went elsewhere. They earned just as much as graduates from higher-status schools. Kids count more than their colleges. Getting into Yale may signify intelligence, talent and ambition. But it's not the only indicator and, paradoxically, its significance is declining. The reason: so many similar people go elsewhere. Getting into college isn't life's only competition. In the next competition — the job market and graduate school — the results may change. Old-boy networks are breaking down. Princeton economist Alan Krueger studied admissions to one top Ph. D. program. High scores on the GRE helped explain who got in; degrees of prestigious universities didn't. So, parents, lighten up. The stakes have been vastly exaggerated. Up to a point, we can rationalize our pushiness. America is a competitive society; our kids need to adjust to that. But too much pushiness can be destructive. The very ambition we impose on our children may get some into Harvard but may also set them up for disappointment. One study found that, other things being equal, graduates of highly selective schools experienced more job dissatisfaction. They may have been so conditioned to being on top that anything less disappoints.
单选题 Why does the author say that parents are the true fighters in the college-admissions wars?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。题干中的parents are the true fighters in the college-admissions ways出现在第一段第一句,后文解释了这个现象的原因:家长逼迫孩子们拿高分、上SAT预备课程、做简历,以便能进人家长首选的大学。由此可知,作者说家长是大学录取战争中真正的战士,是因为在申请大学的过程中,对于大学的选择和要做的准备,家长比他们的孩子更关心。四个选项中只有[D]项符合文义。文中仅提到家长心中有首选的大学,并未提到选哪所大学的最终决定权在家长手里,故排除[A]项;[B]项和[C]项文中未提及,故排除。
单选题 Why do parents urge their children to apply to more schools than ever?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。第二段第二句提到了题干中所述的现象:担心的家长们逼迫孩子们申请更多的学校。下一句提到,这种歇斯底里之下隐藏的是对名校学历必定很有价值的信赖。由此可知,家长让孩子们申请更多的学校是为了让他们进名校,故答案为[A]项。其他三个选项在文中没有提及,故排除。
单选题 What does the author mean by saying "Kids count more than their college" (Line 1, Paragraph 4)?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:推理判断题。该句后文提到,名校文凭不是唯一的指标,而且它的价值还在降低。进大学不是人生中唯一的竞赛。下一场竞赛是就业或考研,结果可能会变化。据此推断,该句的意思是:能体现孩子们能力的不仅是获得哪所大学的文凭。四个选项中只有[C]项符合文义。
单选题 What does Krueger's study tell us?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。根据题干中的Krueger将本题出处定位于第四段最后两句。据他研究,要申请一个顶尖的博士项目,起作用的是GRE成绩而不是名校文凭,故答案为[B]项。文中仅提到名校生并不能保证申请到博士项目,并未比较申请大学和申请博士项目的难易程度,故排除[A]项;[C]项文中未提及,故排除;第四段倒数第三句提到,校友关系网正在瓦解,[D]项与文义相悖,故排除。
单选题 One possible result of pushing children into elite universities is that______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。文章末尾提到一项研究发现,在其他条件相当的情况下,名校毕业生更容易对工作表示不满意。由此可知答案为[C]项。其他三个选项文中未提及,故排除。