We have a full-developed 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. What causes the hysteria(歇斯底里) is the belief that scarce elite（精英）degrees must be highly valuable. Their graduates must enjoy more success because they get a better education and develop better contacts. All seems right but 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（提高） 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(偶然). 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, surprisingly, its significance is declining. The reason: so many similar people go elsewhere. Getting into college is not life’s only competition. In the next competition—the job market and graduate school—the results may change. Princeton economist Alan Krueger studied admissions to one top Ph.D. program. High scores on the GRE helped explain who got in; degrees of famous universities didn’t.

So, parents, take it easy（lighten up）. The stakes (利害关系) 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.

1. Why does the author say that parents are the true fighters in the college-admissions wars?

         A. They have the final say in which university their children are to attend.

         B. They know best which universities are most suitable for their children.

         C. They have to carry out intensive surveys of colleges before children make an application.

         D. They care more about which college their children go to than the children themselves.

2. Why do parents urge their children to apply to more schools than ever?

         A. They want to increase their children’s chances of entering a prestigious college.

         B. They hope their children can enter a university that offers attractive scholarships.

         C. Their children will have a wider choice of which college to go to.

         D. Elite universities now enroll fewer student than they used to.

3. What does the author mean by “kids count more than their colleges” Line1, para.4?

         A. Continuing education is more important to a person’s success.

         B. A person’s happiness should be valued more than their education.

         C. Kids’ actual abilities are more important than their college background.

         D. What kids learn at college cannot keep up with job market requirements.

4. What does Krueger’s study tell us?

         A. Getting into Ph.D. programs may be more competitive than getting into college.

         B. Degrees of prestigious universities do not guarantee entry to graduate programs.

         C. Graduates from prestigious universities do not care much about their GRE scores.

         D. Connections built in prestigious universities may be kept long after graduation.

5. One possible result of pushing children into elite universities is that______

         A. they earn less than their peers from other institutions　　

         B. they turn out to be less competitive in the job market

         C. they experience more job dissatisfaction after graduation　

         D. they overemphasize their qualifications in job application

Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin,

the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being

watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour.

Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of

behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans and

people respond this way unconsciously, or without realising it.

It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched.

A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are

around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.

The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption ‘I Want You’. It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.

1. According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?

         A. He does not want to be shamed by others.

         B. He needs to show he is a good person.

         C. He desires others to like him more.

         D. He feels he will receive some social reward.

2. The underlined word ‘coded’ (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to______.

         A. hidden            B. programmed     C. forgotten         D. leaned

3. What is the text mainly about?

         A. It describes changed behaviour when observed.

         B. It details ways to control people's behaviour.

         C. It tells how to make people work harder.

         D. It discusses different advertising methods.

4. According to the text, which of the following statements is True?

         A. People pretend to behave better when they are watched.

         B. Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone.

         C. People donate more money when they feel they are watched.

         D. Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster.

5. Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?

A. In a newspaper.                     B. In a scientific journal.

C. In an advertising magazine.           D. In a science textbook.