Although it’s clear that ranking methods differ between publications, some use more unusual criteria to determine college standings. For example, Washington Monthly, a political magazine, says that its rankings —echoing John F. Kennedy —"ask what colleges are doing for the country" rather than "what colleges can do for you". This list focuses on how schools contribute to "social mobility" or raising people up from poverty, as well as how they promote "an ethic of service to the country" and pursue "scientific and humanistic research". The Washington Monthly rankings also focus on how taxpayer money, such as in federal research grants, is used, and whether they consider that money well spent.
Of course, the Internet now holds some influence over rankings, both in how they’re calculated and how they’re publicized. Some companies provide additional college and university information on subscription-only sites. Other organizations collect data from nontraditional sources like a school’s number of Google hits and links to the university’s website from the sites of other universities. This method of ranking is often called the G-Factor.
Any discussion of how rankings are compiled inevitably leads back to U.S. News & World Report. Its rankings at-tract a lot of controversy. Let’s look at how they rank schools. U.S. News & World Report presents each school with a numerical score and ranks them accordingly, with schools divided into separate categories. They are:
●National universities
●Liberal arts colleges
●Master’s universities
●Comprehensive colleges
●Business programs
●Engineering programs
The magazine provides further rankings for some categories based on regions or if a school awards doctoral degrees.
In calculating each score, U.S.News & World Report relies on data supplied to them by the schools they’re ranking. Each piece of data is measured differently in calculating the overall score. The composition of a score given to a school by U.S.News&WorldReportis as follows:
●5 percent: alumni donations
●5 percent: graduation rate (for liberal arts and national
universities)
●10 percent: financial aid
●15 percent: faculty resources (which is a collection of factors like average class size and student-to-teacher ratio)
●15 percent: acceptance rate
●20 percent or 25 percent (depending on the school type): student retention
●25 percent: peer assessment of the performance of other schools, performed by the top three officials of each school
That last part, the peer assessment, is the trickiest bit —and it’s one of the big reasons that U.S.News&WorldReportis one of the chief targets of the campaign against college rankings.
1. Rankings are the most widely used method to judge universities and colleges.
2. Every year since 1987, U.S.News&World Reporthas published rankings in magazines and guidebooks.
3. Research universities are rated by U.S.News& World Report and PrincetonReviewguidebooks.
4. Some websites provide a behind-the-scenes view with information which is absent from traditional guidebooks.
5. How a publication chooses and uses the data is crucial when examining the rankings.
6. Though different, the criteria used by various publications are not unusual.
7. The acceptance rate of better universities is usually low.
8. Rankings can be confusing because when ___________, some books and magazines may use different criteria.
9. The list published by Newsweek in August 2006 focuses on the universities’_________________ and research achievements.
10. ______________ is one of the main reasons that U.S.News& World Report is criticized fiercely by people against college rankings.
Part III Reading Comprehension
(Reading in Depth)
(25minutes)
Section A
Directions:
In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 11 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Most magazines you see on news-stands every day rely on freelance writers for their content. From fillers to features, most parts of a publication are fair games for 11 hoping to break in. You don’t have to have a cousin in the 12 world to see your name in print. But, you’ll have to 13 to the editor that you can write for his or her target audience, and the best way to learn how to do this is through research. Take note of the publication’s different departments, columns, and fillers. You will be more likely to get an editor’s attention if you pitch an idea that 14 fits an existing page. If you are part of the people the magazine targets, you may have an easier time getting your story 15 .
For example, the first 16 I wrote was for College Bound magazine. I had just finished writing for that age group at my student paper, and I was 21 years old myself. It would have been quite a 17 to get published in Modern Maturity, so I didn’t even consider it. Selling this feature was quite 18 . It was a full three months later before I heard anything. I received a letter in the mail 19 me that my feature would be accepted. I signed a rights contract and four months later I 20 a check and two copies of the magazine with my feature as the cover story!
A) declared I) straightforward
B) publishing J) sold
C) writers K) prove
D) feature L) permanently
E) magazine M) informing
F) perfectly N) received
G) teachers O) scary
H) feat |
