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  3. Each autumn, teachers spend many hours writing references in support of their pupils’ university applications, and university ad

Each autumn, teachers spend many hours writing references in support of their pupils’ university applications, and university ad

admin2010-02-26  57
问题     Each autumn, teachers spend many hours writing references in support of their pupils’ university applications, and university admissions tutors subsequently spend many hours reading them. Indeed, the official advice is that when there are more qualified applicants than can be accommodated, or when applicants’ suitability for professions is being assessed, admissions staff should consider "additional information, including references". The pressure to widen access has brought us to the point where references are hardly worth the paper they are written on. Of course, some applicants’ results may not do them justice and will not therefore be an accurate predictor of future achievement. However, the almost total absence of anything but positive comments makes it impossible to distinguish between such applicants and those for whom higher education may be a step too far.
    It is the same story with access courses, which provide ma opportunity for those who left school without qualifications to develop their confidence and study skills. Not all access students will be able to achieve a higher education qualification, but I cannot recall one who was not predicated by his or her access tutor to pass with flying colors and be an ideal candidate for higher education. Taking up referees’ invitations to contact them for more information, in the hope that this may indicate that they are wishing to say something they are not prepared to write, rarely proves fruitful. I am repeatedly told that they are "not free to talk", or they express discomfort at being asked for specific information. "I’m sure you see how difficult it is for me", "I don’t really know her that well" and "I rather wish you hadn’t asked me that" are among the most common responses.
    Even university tutors are overstating the truth. One stated that an applicant had "gained passed in four modules and then decided to leave the course". Further inquiry revealed that he, and another who "came to the view that teaching was not for her", both left because they had failed. I also suspect that the student who "has many skills and qualities that, unfortunately, are not easily demonstrable through our system of academic assessment" was heading in a similar direction. If a pupil, has "faced the challenge of A-level work", is he or she rising to it or not? This is like trying to communicate in an unfamiliar language. Since in most cases we cannot establish what is meant, let us abandon the whole system of academic references for university entry and save us all the time and effort.
What is the author’s suggestion towards the system of academic reference for university entry?
选项
答案Abandoning the whole system of academic references for university entry.
解析 本题空白处问“从第三段段首的引语中，我们可以判断大学导师的行为如何”。相关部分在文中第三段第一行： "One stated that an applicant had  gained passed in four modules and then decided to leave the course. Further inquiry revealed that he, and another who ’came to the view that teaching was not for her’，both left because they had failed."(有位导师声称一位申请人已经通过了四个模块后决定放弃这门课程。进一步调查则表明这位申请人和另外一位突然意识到教学不适合她的申请人都是因为考试不及格而退出的)，接着作者对这样的情况提出质疑："I also suspect that the student who ’has many skills and qualities that，unfortunately，are not easily demonstrable through our system of academic assessment’ was heading in a similar direction"(我怀疑“有多项技能，而在我们的学术评估系统中却不幸难以表现出来”的学生也是类似的情况)。这些都证明了段首的观点，即：大学导师经常夸大事实。因此，空白处应该填"overstating the truth"。
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