A growing number of American universities are dropping the entrance exam requirement. More than 800 universities now allow students to apply without an SAT or ACT test score. The SAT and ACT are the two major college entrance tests in the United States.

    For years, colleges have used these tests to help measure an applicant's academic skills. But more universities are becoming "test optional." Students who apply to test-optional schools can choose whether they want to include test scores in their applications.

    George Washington University in Washington, D.C. is one of the latest schools to adopt a test-optional admissions policy for most of its applicants. It is the largest private university to drop the test requirement.

    Karen Stroud Felton is the Dean of Admissions at George Washington University. She said in a statement that the university "had concerns that students who could be successful... felt discouraged from applying if their scores were not as strong as their high school performance."

    Each of America's more than 3,000 colleges and universities has its own admission requirements. At some colleges, test scores are very important. Others are more interested in an applicant's life experience, teacher recommendations, community service, and talents.

    High school GPA, or grade point average, is another way to judge a student's ability. A GPA of 3.5 or higher (on scale from 0 to 4) is considered good. For international applicants, universities have specialists review the academic standards of different countries and convert them to GPA equivalents（相等物）.

    James Montoya is a vice president of the College Board. He says that the majority of colleges in the US still require test scores. "You will find it interesting to know that even those institutions that are test-optional often require students from particular areas—those applying for special scholarships, those with lower GPAs."

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1.Which of the following is correct according to the first paragraph?

A More and more Americans don’t like to have university education.

B More and more American universities allow students to enter without test scores.

C There are no entrance examinations in the United States now.

D The American universities are trying to drop SAT and ACT tests.

解析：选B。B。推理判断题。越来越多的美国大学放弃以考试成绩作为招生的标准，换句话说，就是越来越多的学校允许没有考试成绩的学生就读（B选项）。

2.The underlined word ‘measure’ in paragraph 2 probably means__________.

A 测量

B 权衡

C 判定

D 打量

解析：选C。C。词义猜测题。多年来，美国的大学是以学生的（高考）考试成绩来衡量学生的学业水平和技能的。所以这里的measure应为‘判定’之意。

3.Which of the following statements is not true about American university admission?

A In the United States, different universities have different admission requirements.

B Most of the US universities still use test scores to measure their applicants.

C Some US universities value students’ life experience, talents and so on.

D Students’ grade points in high school are not important for all the universities in the US.

解析：选D。D。推理判断题。美国不同的大学有不同的招生标准和要求（A选项）；虽然越来越多的大学在放弃以考试成绩招生，但就目前而言，绝大多数大学还是以考试成绩来确定招生的（B选项）；有的大学特别重视学生的‘生活经验’、‘社会实践’、‘才艺’等（C选项）。只有D选项学生在中学的考试成绩不重要是错的，因为有些学校特别重视学生在中学里的学业考试成绩。

4.Why did George Washington University drop the test requirement?

A Because it is one of the latest schools to adopt a test-optional admissions policy.

B Because it is the largest private university.

C Because some students’ scores were not as strong as their high school performance.

D Because some students may feel discouraged by their test scores.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。由第三，四段可知，美国的George Washington大学校长说：had concerns that students who could be successful... felt discouraged from applying，即考虑到有的学生本可以成功，但可能会因为考试而受挫，（D选项），所以他们才放弃以考试成绩来招生的方式。

5.The writing style of this passage is____________.

A informative

B instructive

C critical

D narrative

解析：选A。A。文体判断题。本文是一篇给大家提供有关美国大学招生动态的信息文章，故选A。