2009年12月英语四级真题精讲：快速阅读
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you
will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on
Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices
marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the
information given in the passage.
Colleges taking another
look at value of merit-based aid
Good grades and high tests scores still
matter-a lot-to many colleges as they award financial aid.
But with low-income students projected to
make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years,
some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as "merit aid",
is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.
George Washington University in Washington,
D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average
merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients（接受者）,
pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College
in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years
ago.
Now, Hamilton
College in Clinton, N.Y.,
says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid
recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be
awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.
Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally,
the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton,
for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don't meet need eligibility（资格）have
been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.
For small regional colleges that struggle
just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many
recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship
amount to keep the institution running.
But for rankings-conscious schools in
between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and
to improve their academic profits. "They're trying to buy students," says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.
Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately
students who could afford to enroll without it.
"As we look to the future, we see a more
pressing need to invest in need-based aid," says Monica Inzer, dean of admission
and financial aid at Hamilton,
which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in
US News & World Report's ranking
of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.
Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students
a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year,
"served us well," Inzer says, but "to be discounting the price for families
that don't need financial aid doesn't feel right any more."
Need-based aid remains
by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and
institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states,
is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.
Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional
merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At
least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students
in the state's public institutions.
But in recent years, a growing chorus（异口同声）of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent
decisions by Hamilton
and others may be "a sign that people are starting to realize that there's this
destructive competition going on," says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report
that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.
David Laird, president of the Minnesota
Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their
merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their
competitors.
"No one can take one-sided action," says
Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption（豁免）from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they
could jointly reduce merit aid, "This is a merry-go-round that's going very
fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying
to break away by themselves."
A complicating
factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who
don't qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as
tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.
That's one reason Allegheny College
doesn't plan to drop merit aid entirely.
"We still
believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students
truly value the scholarship," says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny's vice president
for enrollment.
Emory University
in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment（捐赠）, meanwhile, is taking another
approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students
and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its
28-year-old merit program.
"Yeah, we're
playing the merit game," acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for
undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. "The fact
of the matter is, it's not just about the lowest-income people. It's the
average American middle-class family who's being priced out of the market."
＊A few words about
merit-based aid:
Merit-based aid is aid offered to students
who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic,
athletic and artistic merit scholarships.
Academic merit scholarships are based on
students' grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They
are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high
school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with
exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay
tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients
continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by
their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.
Athletic merit scholarships are meant for
students that excel（突出）in sports of any kind, from football to track
and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since
exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee（裁判）.
Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.
Artistic merit
scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This
generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music,
dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires
that students submit a portfolio（选辑）of some sort, whether that
includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a
video of them dancing.
1.
With
more and more low-income students pursuing higher education, a number of
colleges are ________.
A) offering students
more merit-based aidB) revising their financial aid policies
C) increasing the
amount of financial aid D) changing
their admission processes
2.
What
did Allegheny College
in Meadville do
three years ago?
A) It tried to implement a novel financial aid program.
B) It added $ 2.5 million to its need-based aid program.
C) It phased out its merit-based scholarships altogether.
D) It cuts its merit-based aid to help the needy students.
3.
The
chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to
______.
A) improve teaching
quality B) boost their enrollments
C) attract good
students D) increase their revenues
4.
Monica
Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, believes ______.
A) it doesn't pay to
spend $ 1 million a year to raise its ranking
B) it gives students
motivation to award academic achievements
C) it's illogical to
use so much money on only 4% of its students
D) it's not right to
give aid to those who can afford the tuition
5. In recent years, merit-based aid has increased much faster than
need-based aid due to ______.
A) more government
funding to colleges B) fierce
competition among institutions
C) the increasing
number of top students D) schools'
improved financial situations
6. What is the attitude of many private colleges toward merit aid,
according to David Laird?
A) They would like to see it
reduced.
B) They regard it as a necessary
evil.
C) They think it does more harm
than good.
D) They consider it unfair to
middle-class families.
7.
Why
doesn't Allegheny
College plan to drop
merit aid entirely?
A) Raising tuitions have made
college unaffordable for middle-class families.
B) With rising incomes, fewer
students are applying for need-based aid.
C) Many students from
middle-income families have come to rely on it.
D) Rising incomes have
disqualified many students for need-based aid.
8.
Annual
renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain
______.
9.
Applicants
for athletic merit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee
who ______ their exceptional athletic performance.
10.
Applicants
for artistic merit scholarships must produce evidence to show their ______ in a
particular artistic field.
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