Starting this year, Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT)scores will be about more than just how many correct answers a person has on the test.The College Board in charge of the SAT recently published a new policy.It will include something called an "adversity score", based on 31 different factors and ranging from I to 100.A score of 50 is an "average level of disadvantage", said The New York Times.A higher score means a student has faced more adversity.It will cover 150 colleges later this year and be available to all US colleges in 2020.
What kind of adversity do students face? African-American students, for example, are more likely to attend underfunded(资金不足的) schools, and their families usually can’t afford extra SAT lessons.Higher SAT scores have been found to have a close tie with students from richer families and those with better-educated parents, reported The New York Times.As a result, the SAT has long been criticized for its unfairness.
The new adversity score tries to deal with that reality.If a student came from a poor neighborhood or attended a high school without enough funding, this information will be given to college administrators.While one student's SAT score may be lower than her rich classmates, college administrators may assume that she did her best in a bad situation.
This sounds good, but the College Board has received a lot of criticism for this new development.Parents are worried.They’re concerned that their children's hard work would be "completely neglected“(忽视)just because they happened to come from a rich family.
Writing in Time, Andre J.Washington and Daniel Hemel call the adversity score a half-hearted effort".They say the score fails to directly deal with racial inequality(种族不平等).They also say that the problems experienced by African-Americans are deeper than just low scores and school funding.For example, they point out that African-American students are less likely to have supportive relationships with teachers, so they are less likely to have satisfying recommendation letters.
At least they're trying, says Richard D Kahlenberg, a senior fellow aThe Century Foundation.”An imperfect adversity score is better than failing to consider the difficulty so many students get through”, he said."The adversity score is simple and direct.”
25. What does “adversity" probably mean in the passage?
A.Mess |
B.Difficulty |
C.Confusion |
D.Failure |
26. What is "that reality "in paragraph 3?
A.Schools are underfunded. |
B.The media have caused the unfairness. |
C.Parents are not well-educated. |
D.Family status greatly affects students' scores. |
27. What might the influence of ”adversity score”?
A.It will narrow the gap between the white and the black. |
B.Students from poor families are likely to benefit from it. |
C.It will encourage students to work harder for high scores. |
D.Students from rich families may have higher adversity scores.. |
28. Why is there criticism of the adversity score?
A.It fails to take students' difficulties into consideration. |
B.It will make racial inequality a more serious problem. |
C.The relationship between teachers and students will be affected. |
D.Efforts made by students from rich families will be undervalued. |