Question

People who have been to colleges may have written graduation papers or other kinds of papers during their four-year college life. It isn’t an easy thing for many college students, even teachers. However, a new study suggests that many of today’s college students have never experienced the challenge of writing very long papers. This may not be good news. Higher education can test a person’s academic（学业的） abilities in many ways. Most study programs require research, class discussions, and group projects. But that used to be one of the most important parts of higher education for years in the US. For example, if you asked almost any professor or student, they would likely tell you that writing was one of the skills most often examined at colleges and universities. College students should master（掌握） this skill, as it may be helpful for their work in the future.

The study includes data（数据） collected from 1,140 students at four-year colleges and universities in the US. The students were asked about the kinds of long-form writing they had done and the amount of writing training they had received. Nearly one third of them had never been required to write a paper or over.

James Moses is the president of Primary Research Group. He says ten pages or over might seem like an unnecessarily large amount of writing, especially for students in fields like Maths or science. In fact, he argues, many students avoid longer papers by choosing subjects in which they are less likely to be required.

Moses says students are likely to be attracted to those fields because many of today’s highest paying jobs are at big technology companies. But he says that many students fail to understand that there is still a great need for skilled writers in the job market. And long-form writing tasks do more than measuring how much a person can write about any given thing. They are helpful to students in many ways.

Dan Melzer, a writing teacher in University of California, agrees. He says long-form writing tasks can teach useful skills even in fields that may not seem to have to do with writing.

1.What does the new study mainly show?

A.Higher education can test many students’ abilities.

B.Long writing tasks are easier for college students.

C.Higher education pays too much attention to long papers.

D.Long writing tasks are less common at American colleges.

2.What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Writing long papers.

B.Completing group projects.

C.Testing students’ academic abilities.

D.Doing research for students’ programs.

3.According to Moses, how do many students avoid longer papers?

A.By writing several short ones to replace them.

B.By looking for jobs at big technology companies.

C.By choosing subjects not requiring them strictly.

D.By going to some universities of science and technology.

4.What’s Mose’s opinion on long-form writing tasks?

A.They are necessary for skilled writers.

B.They are still useful for college students.

C.They are not attractive in the technology field.

D.They are not helpful in Maths and science fields.

5.What would the text most probably talk about next?

A.Why long writing tasks are difficult.

B.How students can improve their writing skills.

C.How long writing tasks can test a student’s abilities.

D.Why long writing tasks are useful in certain fields.

Answer 1