新闻听力 | 达特茅斯学院将再次要求标准化考试
达特茅斯学院将再次要求标准化考试Dartmouth Will Again Require Standardized Tests慢速 | 四级 | 高考 | 1196词 | 10min5s刘立军 供稿Part I. QUESTIONSListen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.Q1. When will Dartmouth College start requiring standardized tests from applicants?A. Fall of 2023.B. Fall of 2024.C. Fall of 2025.D. Fall of 2026.Q2. Why did Dartmouth suspend the consideration of standardized tests for four years?A. Because the university wanted to reduce the application process cost.B. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.C. To support students from wealthy families.D. The tests were found to be unreliable.Q3. According to Nat Smitobol, what was one reason universities considered going “test optional”?A. To investigate the potential impact on student diversity.B. They needed to simplify the college admissions process.C. They believed the tests were too easy for students.D. Universities wanted to lower the standards for admission.Q4. What did Dartmouth find out after reviewing its group of accepted students over four years of the test-optional policy?A. The policy helped the university save money.B. It increased the overall quality of admitted students.C. The policy encouraged more international students to apply.D. It led to a rise in applications but made selection more difficult.Q5. What is the average SAT score mentioned by Smitobol at IvyWise?A. 900.B. 1050.C. 1400.D. 1600.Q6. How does Smitobol view a 1400 SAT score for a first-generation college student?A. Average.B. Disappointing.C. Impressive.D. Inadequate.Q7. What main point does Renee Bischoff make about students applying to colleges without needing test scores?A. They can focus more on their other talents and activities.B. They are less likely to get accepted into top universities.C. They should still take standardized tests multiple times.D. They will struggle to succeed in college without good test scores.Q8. What argument does Barry Maloney make regarding college admissions?A. Test scores should be the only criteria for admission.B. Students should be discouraged from taking standardized tests.C. Colleges should mandate standardized testing to maintain standards.D. A student’s grades are a better predictor of college success.Q9. Based on Christiana Kalokoh’s experience, why might some students prefer test-optional admissions?A. They come from a wealthy background.B. They feel disadvantaged by the testing process.C. They have not participated in any clubs or activities.D. They are confident about their test-taking abilities.Q10. What concern does Laura Wells express about schools that may revert to requiring test scores?A. Her students will lose motivation to apply to top-ranked state schools.B. Her students will always perform poorly on standardized tests.C. Her students do not need any extra support for college applications.D. Her students are primarily interested in attending out-of-state schools.Part II. TRANSCRIPTDartmouth Will Again Require Standardized TestsDartmouth College, the Ivy League university in New Hampshire, announced last week that it will again require standardized tests from applicants. (Q1) American students who wish to attend Dartmouth starting in the fall of 2025 will need to send SAT or ACT scores with their applications. Students from other parts of the world will need to submit results from “an equivalent standardized national exam,” according to Dartmouth. (Q2) The university suspended its consideration of standardized tests for four years. In 2020, Dartmouth and many other American universities entered a “test-optional” period, which officials said was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.pandemic n. （全国或全球性）流行病；大流行病Why did the schools go “test optional?”Starting in the spring of 2020, schools increasingly stopped holding in-person classes. That made it difficult for students to prepare for and gather to take standardized tests. Many universities used the “test-optional” period to find out what would happen if they no longer required the SAT and ACT. Years before, a few studies said that the tests favored wealthy students. Nat Smitobol is with IvyWise, a company that offers college admissions advice in New York City. (Q3) Smitobol said universities want a diverse group of students and were not sure they were getting enough of them by looking at standardized tests.admission n. （机构、组织等的）准许加入，加入权，进入权(Q4) Dartmouth said it looked at its group of accepted students after four years. It found the test optional policy increased the number of applications but made it harder to find the best students. The university said it discovered standardized test scores were “a valuable element of Dartmouth’s undergraduate application.” In addition, the university said the tests expanded its ability to “identify talent.” That means the tests made it easier for Dartmouth to find good students who do not come from rich families or wealthy high schools. Dartmouth joins Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as top schools again requiring standardized test scores. Currently, Yale University in Connecticut, Harvard University and Duke University in North Carolina still permit students to apply without test results. They are all highly selective schools. But some experts wonder if those schools will follow Dartmouth.Students still take the test even if optionalSmitobol at IvyWise said most students still take the SAT or ACT. But he said most do not understand that they can still apply to schools such as Dartmouth even if their scores are a little low. (Q5) An average SAT score is 1050 while 1600 is perfect.“There’s kids that won’t break 1000 that can absolutely do the work at a Penn (University of Pennsylvania) or a Harvard or any of these places, there’s no doubt about it.”Smitobol said a student with good grades who is an immigrant, or whose parents did not go to college, should almost always submit their test scores. (Q6) “If you score a 1400 or above and you’re the first in your family to go to college, that would be an astronomical score,” he said.immigrant n. （外来）移民；外侨astronomical adj. 极其巨大的“And really, quite frankly, that’s way more impressive than a 1550 from a student, you know, like from an affluent background.”frankly adv. 坦率地；直率地Many students, however, say they like the freedom of choosing whether to send their scores to other schools.Better things to do than take a testRenee Bischoff is the Director of College Counseling at Hawken School, a high school near Cleveland, Ohio. She said she has some students who are good at lots of things: theater, sports, leadership activities, teaching younger students or performing community service, but they are not good at taking standardized tests. (Q7) If they choose to apply to a college that does not need a test score, they can put their energy into other things. She said some students were taking tests five times in an effort to raise their scores. “I will say to them, ‘you know what?’ You shouldn’t spend the extra time. Don’t spend the money. Don’t spend your Saturday.”“Focus your time on doing the things that are deeply meaningful to you and work hard in school. That will be the leading thing and the testing isn’t required, so let’s not spend all our time and money on that.”Barry Maloney is the president of Worcester State University in Massachusetts. He wrote an opinion piece for the Telegram & Gazette, a local newspaper, about test optional admission. (Q8) For colleges like his, he wrote, a student’s grades are “the best predictor” of their success. “If a standardized test is something you don’t want to take for admission...for any reason...you simply don’t need to,” he wrote.Christiana Kalokoh is a senior at Annandale High School in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. She was born in the African nation of Sierra Leone and moved to the U.S. as a girl. She was accepted to a number of colleges already but did not send her test scores. (Q9) She said she tried her best on the tests, but she felt intimidated and confused. She did not take a test preparation class like some students. However, Kalokoh has done well in school and taken part in many clubs and activities. She has a job to help support her family. She is the president of her school’s Bible study club and takes part in heritage night, where she teaches people about her country.The importance of hopeKalokoh said she liked the fact that she could still get into a good college without doing well on the tests.“It gives me a sense of peace knowing that if I were to study my hardest and try my best and still maybe not get such a great score, it wouldn’t completely ruin my chances of getting into that college.”She applied to the University of Virginia and James Madison University and did not send her test scores. She will find out if she has been accepted later this spring. Laura Wells is the AVID program coordinator at Annandale. The program identifies students who could do well in college, but they need extra support in order to succeed in more difficult classes. The program also gives extra help and direction on college applications. Wells helps students such as Kalokoh, who were not born in the U.S., or whose parents do not speak English. Wells said her students usually have trouble with the tests. But the ones who get “straight A’s,” the very top grades, go on to do well in college. Even if top schools require test scores, she said it is important that other schools remain test optional. The students she works with still need to believe they can go to a good college. For her, such schools in Virginia include the University of Virginia (UVA) and Virginia Tech.(Q10) “I do hope that schools like, you know UVA, Virginia Tech, still choose to be test optional because otherwise, it is really hard, I think, for students to kind of see themselves at those schools. They can accept the fact that they might not get into Dartmouth or Georgetown or Johns Hopkins or something, right? But you should have a shot at being able to go to your top-ranked state school. Yeah, that’s what I think, anyway.”Part III. KEYQ1. C. 细节题。文本中提到：“American students who wish to attend Dartmouth starting in the fall of 2025 will need to send SAT or ACT scores with their applications.” 意为：“希望从2025年秋季开始就读达特茅斯学院的美国学生将需要在申请时提交SAT或ACT成绩。” 因此答案为C。Q2. B. 细节题。文章中提到：“The university suspended its consideration of standardized tests for four years... which officials said was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”表明达特茅斯学院暂停考虑标准化考试四年是因为新冠疫情的影响。因此答案为B。Q3. A. 细节题。文本中Nat Smitobol表述：“universities want a diverse group of students and were not sure they were getting enough of them by looking at standardized tests.” 意为：“大学希望有一个多样化的学生群体，但不确定通过标准化考试就能得到足够多的学生。” 这一点显示了大学考虑实行 “考试可选” 政策背后的原因之一，可能与学生多样性有关。因此答案为A。Q4. D. 细节题。文章中提到：“Dartmouth said it looked at its group of accepted students after four years. It found the test optional policy increased the number of applications but made it harder to find the best students.” 意为：“达特茅斯表示，在四年后观察被录取的学生，发现考试可选政策增加了申请数量但更难选拔优秀学生了。” 因此答案为D。Q5. B. 细节题。文本中Smitobol提到：“An average SAT score is 1050 while 1600 is perfect.” 意为：“平均SAT成绩为1050，而满分为1600。” 根据这个明确的信息，答案为B。Q6. C. 细节题。在文本中，Smitobol说：“If you score a 1400 or above and you’re the first in your family to go to college, that would be an astronomical score” 意为：“如果你的SAT成绩为1400分或以上，并且你是家里第一个上大学的，那将是一个惊人的成绩” 因此，Smitobol认为对于第一代大学生来说，1400分的 SAT 成绩是令人印象深刻的。因此答案为C。Q7. A. 细节题。文本中Renee Bischoff说：“they can put their energy into other things.” 意为：“他们可以把精力投入到其他事情上。” 这反映了她的观点，即学生选择申请不需要考试成绩的大学时，可以更关注其他才能和活动。因此答案为A。Q8. D. 细节题。文本中Barry Maloney提及：“a student’s grades are ‘the best predictor’ of their success.” 意为：“学生的成绩是他们成功的‘最佳预测器’。” 这句话清晰地表达了Maloney对大学录取的观点。因此答案为D。Q9. B. 推理题。文本中Kalokoh提到“She said she tried her best on the tests, but she felt intimidated and confused” 可知她在测试中感到“害怕和困惑”。可以推断出，像Kalokoh这样的学生，可能因为觉得自己在测试过程中处于劣势而更喜欢“考试可选” 的招生方式。因此答案为B。Q10. A. 推理题。文本中Laura Wells说：“because otherwise, it is really hard, I think, for students to kind of see themselves at those schools.” 意为：“否则，我认为学生很难在那些学校看到自己的身影。” 可以推断，如果学校恢复要求考试成绩，她的学生可能会失去申请顶尖州立学校的动力。因此答案为A。（本文图片来源于摄图网，版权归摄图网所有)