حل تشریحی سوال شماره 21 زبان انگلیسی - عمومی

PART C: Reading Comprehension Directions: Read the following two passages and select the choice (1), (2), (3), or (4) that best answers each question. Then mark the correct choice on your answer sheet. Passage 1: In a country where government and families alike are tightening their belts and trying to make do with less, you could be pardoned for thinking that private education would be in a bit of a jam right now. And yet, although fees at independent schools in Britain have approximately doubled over the last two and a half decades, pupil numbers are the highest since records started in 1974. Although there are numerous reasons why parents might choose to fork out an average of £12,500 per year on their child's education, there is one which stands out more than any other: their reputation for getting their students into elite universities, such as the Ivy League colleges and Britain's most prestigious universities: Oxford and Cambridge. Private schools with experience in these admissions processes run like well-oiled machines. Their informed careers advisers have in-depth tactical knowledge of which colleges would best suit each candidate, and help them to edit their personal statements to reflect the qualities that elite universities are looking for. Interview training sessions guide young applicants through an interview system which has been deseribed as being 'more reminiscent of an old-boy network than justice for society'. Those with family members. and teachers who have successfully gone through the admissions process are at a considerable advantage to those who are the first to apply among their social group. Consequently, the social mix of students at the top universities remains sadly biased towards the rich and privately educated although thanks to increasing numbers of bursaries providing free private school education to academically gifted youngsters, it is possible to be one without the other. Even so, the fact is that 7% of British children go to private schools, while more than 40% of the intake at Oxford and Cambridge is privately educated, and this statistic depicts a worryingly skewed trend. The proportion matters because, although there are obviously plenty of other universities offering excellent study programs, an Oxbridge or Ivy-League degree undoubtedly enhances employability in the ruling professions. According to recent studies by the UK educational charity "The Sutton Trust", over 30% of leading professionals in the United Kingdom, including almost 80% of lawyers, 47% of highflyers in financial services and 41% of top journalists attended Oxford or Cambridge.