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 Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT),which is used to determine whether they will be admitted to the college or university of their choice,or even if they have a chance to get a higher education at all.The SAT score,whether it is 800,1100 or 1550,has become 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 indicators-like a student’s high school grades.Even if standardized tests like the SAT could show a student’s academic proficiency(學業水平)，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(潛力).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.

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

A.strong will

B.academic ability

C.full potentialities

D.confidence in school work

Students’ self-respect is influenced by their ______.

A.scores in the SAT

B.achievements in mathematics

C.job opportunities

D.money spent on education

“A prestigious university” is most probably ______.

A.a famous university

B.a technical university

C.a traditional university

D.an expensive university

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

【小題1】B

【小題2】A

【小題3】A

【小題4】D

解析:

【小題1】這是一道細節推斷題。 根據第一段中的“which is used to determine whether they will be admitted to the college or university of their choice,or even if they have a chance to get a higher education at all”可判斷出SAT測試的目的是測試學生的學習能力。

【小題2】這是一道細節推斷題。根據第二段中的“It is obvious that if students value highly their test scores,then a great amount of their self-respect is put in the number.”可判斷出SAT的分數對學生的自尊心造成了影響。

【小題3】這是一道細節推斷題。根據第二段中的“they fear that many of life’s doors will remain forever closed”可推斷出a prestigious university是一所著名的大學，因為如果在著名的大學畢業，就會找到好的工作，否則將會使生活的大門永遠關閉。

【小題4】這是一道主旨題。這篇短文講述了SAT的測試，而這種測試對學生的一生造成了極大的影響，所以這篇短文主要是關于SAT和它的影響。