Question

As a professor at a large American university, there is a phrase that I hear often from students:“I’m only a 1050.”The unlucky students are speaking of the score on the Seholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which is used to determine whether they will be admitted to the college or university of their choice, or even have a chance to get a higher education at all. The SAT score, whether it is 800, 1 100 or 1550, has becomes the focus at this time of their life.

   It is obvious that if students value highly their test scores, then a great amount of their self-respect is put in the number. Students who perform poorly on the exam are left feeling that it is all over. The low test score, they think, will make it impossible for them to get into a good college. And without a degree from a prestigious university, they fear that many of life’s doors will remain forever closed.

   According to a study done in the 1990s, the SAT is only a reliable indicator of a student’s future performance in most cases. Interestingly, it becomes much more accurate when it is set together with other indication――like a student’s high school grades. Even if standardized tests like the SAT could show a student’s academic proficiency（学业水平）,they will never be able to test things like confidence, efforts and willpower, and are unable to give us the full picture of a student’s potentialities（潜力）.This is not to suggest that we should stop using SAT scores in our college admission process. The SAT is an excellent test in many ways, and the score is still a useful means of testing students. However, it should be only one of many methods used.

64. The purpose of the SAT is to test students’     .

   A. strong will             B. academic ability

C. full potentialities          D. confidence in school work

65. Students’ self-respect is influenced by their     .

   A. sores in the SAT         B. achievements in mathematic

C. job opportunities          D. money spent on education

66.“A prestigious university”is most probably   

A. a famous university       B. a technical university

C. a traditional university     D. an expensive university

67. This passage is mainly about    .

   A. how to prepare for the SAT      B. stress caused by the SAT

C. American higher education       D. the SAT and its effects

Answer 1

本文是一篇议论文，主要对SAT（美国大学本科标准入学考试即美国高中生的所谓“高考”）考试系统的利弊进行了评论。

64．B 

解析：推理判断题。从文中第三段第三句可以推断设立SAT考试系统的主要目的是为了测试学生的学术水平或能力，故B选项正确。

65．A 

解析： 细节理解题。从文中第二段第一句话可知选项A正确。

66．A

解析：词义推测题。根据常识法。从第二段最后一句话，并结合常识可知a prestigious university是指名牌大学，因此选项A正确。

67．D 

解析： 主旨大意题。结合每一段所讲的内容，不难看出本文主要是议论SAT考试系统的利弊，故选项D正确。