The 12 Top Rivalries
The 3 Top Rivalries
An article adopted from Jay Mathews, NEWSWEEK, Aug. 18-25, 2008
I. Fill in the gaps with the words given below. (11 marks)
applicants, consider, dismiss, message, process, releases, statues, turns, unfashionable, unity, wonder
Rivalry? What Rivalry? Ask our most famous colleges about their dispute with celebrated adversaries and they ______it as no longer relevant in an open-minded, caring age of national______. "Sir, we do not______ourselves rivals with our sister academies except on the fields of friendly strifes," says West Point spokesman Francis J. DeMaro Jr. Annapolis spokeswoman Deborah Goode has the same earnest ______: "We support each other and our nation on the front lines of the global War on Terror."
And they're not the only ones. Harvard, Yale and others also don't want to talk about stolen school mascots, insults spray-painted on campus ______. In academia these days, such hatreds are considered ______. But intense competition between high-quality institutions—what most people would call rivalry—still has importance in the college-admissions ______. These rivals (OK, pick a friendlier word: competitors? counterparts? bosom buddies?) are continually trying to differentiate themselves for applicants who ______which of two very similar and high-performing schools might be best for them.
We've picked 3 pairs and of colleges whose strengths and resemblances are so great that careful comparison is necessary to sort out which schools work best for which ______. In every case, no matter what the schools' press ______say, students, faculty and alumni feel as if they're in competition with one another. Like most successful American institutions, that ______out to be one of their strengths.
II. Match the beginning and the ending of the paragraphs. (12 marks – 2 marks each)
Old Ivies: Harvard vs. Yale
A) Gila Reinstein, spokeswoman for Yale, says "the Yale-Harvard rivalry is not substantial enough to merit attention."
B) There is a reason that many Yale graduates note, not bragging or anything, that every U.S. president since 1988 has had a degree from their New Haven, Connecticut, alma mater.
C) Harvard is the oldest and Yale the third oldest college in the country. Most years they are among the most difficult to get into.
D) They rank first (Harvard's $35 billion) and second (Yale's $23 billion) in the size of their endowments.
E) But they also have world-class professors and students who thrive by challenging each other. Their residential houses were designed and funded by the same man, Yale graduate Edward Harkness.
F) The argument over which school is better thoroughly bores outsiders, but applicants have no such inhibitions, particularly when they have to choose between the two. Malcom Glenn, president of The Harvard Crimson, says he preferred Harvard because it is close to a big city, Boston, but "on the surface the two schools couldn't be more alike."
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1) Their acceptance rates are both around 8 percent.
2) He knows people at both campuses, and "many would have gone to the other if not for the fact they weren't accepted."
3) They express some concern for the country since the last Bulldog candidate with a chance, Hillary Clinton, pulled out of the race.
4) But many of the 6,600 undergraduates at Harvard and the 5,300 (set to grow to 6,000 by 2013) at Yale would disagree.
5) His design is still envied as a model for undergraduate life.
6) Despite the riches they have both made efforts to remove costs for low-income students so that their lovely brick buildings won't look so much like bastions of the upper-middle class.
III. Fill inthe gaps with ONLY ONE WORD. (11 marks)
American Warriors: Annapolis vs. West Point
Craig Meekins, ______graduated from Annapolis in 2008, laughs at the notion that the two schools are _____passionate competitors. "It's an intense rivalry," he says. _____ he ran the 800 meters for the U.S. Naval Academy track team, "if the coach saw you talking to a West Point guy before the meet, it was bad news." But despite the teasing, he says, "______is still a strong sense of camaraderie, because _____ all know we're facing the same challenges." Both have a much longer list of required courses ______civilian institutions do. Both require students to participate in team sports. ______has 4,300 students, about 23 percent minorities and 20 percent women. Students at ______want to serve their country, and acquire academic and technical skills with no costs for tuition, room or______.
Many applicants apply to both, and _____ their final decisions based on atmospherics, family traditions and career prospects, just as students applying to less-regimented campuses _____.
IV. Answer the questions based on the information in the text. (10 marks)
Science Magnets: Caltech vs. MIT
The jokes never end. MIT still celebrates the 2006 theft of Caltech's Fleming Cannon and its transport to MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where 21 MIT women in bathing suits, looking uncomfortable, and one bare-chested male posed with the catch. Caltech got its revenge in 2008, when they hacked MIT’s admissions-office phone number and it announced it was the Caltech admissions office, welcoming all MIT students who wished to transfer to its sunny campus. Who would've thought hardworking geeks at both had such time on their hands?
The two schools don't have to worry about their reputations. Little Caltech with 900 students and bigger MIT with about 4,000 are both known throughout the world as research meccas that may be producing scientists who someday will solve the energy crisis, explore space and kill off spam in our time. But such minds can't be as creative without some fun. So applicants like to check out the practical jokes—called "hacking" at MIT and "pranking" at Caltech—as inspiration for getting us all to Tomorrowland.
1. MIT hacked Caltech’s phone system.
2. MIT stole something from Caltech.
3. Many MIT students want to transfer to Caltech.
4. MIT is smaller than Caltech.
5. Both universities turn out scientists.
6. At MIT they call jokes made on Caltech pranks, and at Caltech they call jokes made on MIT hacks.
7. When applying students have a look at the current jokes.
8. The author of the article argues in favor of MIT.
9. The text strongly disapproves the students’ behavior.
10. The author of the text is impartial.
This is the end of the test.
Check your marks with the help of the on the next page.
Key
I. dismiss, unity, consider, message, statues, unfashionable, process, wonder, applicants, releases, turns
II. A-4, B-3, C-1, D-6, E-5, F-2
III. Who, not, when, there, we, than, each, both, board, make, do
IV. 1-F, 2-T, 3-F, 4-F, 5-T, 6-T, 7-T, 8-F, 9-F, 10-T
If you scored 35 marks or more: FIRST CLASS PASS! Excellent job, your English is great!Now don’t neglect your foreign language skills.
If you scored 26 marks or more: CONGRATULATIONS! You have passed the exam!
If you scored less than 26 marks:don’t worry, it only takes a little more practice!
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