When I applied under Early Decision to the University of Pennsylvania four years ago, I was motivated by two powerful emotions: ambition and fear. The ambition was to fulfill my lifelong expectation of attending an Ivy League school; the fear was that without the advantage offered by Early Decision, I wouldn't make the cut. A Penn admissions officer told me that the previous year they had accepted 45 percent of Early Decision applicants and just 29 percent of total applicants. The implication was clear: applying under Early Decision dramatically improves your chances of acceptance. At Brown University, my other favorite, applying early did not confer any advantage. While Brown was my No. 1 choice, Penn was a close second, and I desperately wanted to make sure I got into one of the two.

　　I applied just before the Nov. 1 deadline, and six weeks later I got my acceptance package. I was thrilled and relieved. While my friends spent winter vacation finishing as many as 18 applications each, I relaxed. On a school trip to France over spring break, I drank wine while everyone else struggled with international calling cards to phone home and find out where they'd been accepted. People cried about getting rejected, or began the difficult and agonizing process of choosing between two or more schools. Strangely, none of this made me feel better about having applied early. It made me feel worse. When a lot of people from my class got into Brown, I wondered if I, too, could have.

　　Penn sent a discombobulating array of material to incoming freshmen over the summer. As the pile of mail mounted, so did my concerns that I had made the wrong choice. I had been to Penn only one day, in October of my senior year. I realize now I did not know nearly enough about myself or the school. Picking classes was far more arcane than I had expected (or than it would have been at a smaller school). And when I got to the campus, I found that fraternities and sororities were a more noticeable and obnoxious presence than the 30 percent student membership had suggested to me.

　　It wasn't long before I knew Penn was not right for me and I looked into transferring. For me, it was about more than just changing schools. I wanted to have the traditional application experience I'd missed out on during my first go-round. The only school on my list that allowed transfers during the second semester of freshman year was Wesleyan, so I waited out the whole year, then applied to Yale, Brown and Wesleyan. I got into Wesleyan. The irony that I could have gotten in sooner, without getting rejected by the other schools, was not lost on me. But I know I made the right decision.

　　To high-school seniors who want to avoid making the same mistake I did, my advice is simple: don't apply under Early Decision unless you are absolutely sure that the school is your first choice. And, just as important, don't let your parents or college-guidance counselor persuade you to apply under Early Decision. They may have their own agenda, or at least their own perception of who you are and what you want. As I discovered, no one can really know what you want better than yourself, and even you may need time to figure out what that is.

1.The main reasons for the author to apply under Early Decision are _______.
　　[A]pride and ambition
　　[B]dream and fear
　　[C]easiness and effort-saving
　　[D]trouble-saving and release

2.It can be inferred from the text that the main advantage of Early Decision is that ______.
　　[A]you can graduate from the high school earlier
　　[B]you don’t worry about the results
　　[C]you needn’t take the entrance examination
　　[D]you’re more likely to be accepted

3.The description of the author’s feelings in Paragraph 2 shows that _______.
　　[A]he is satisfied with his choice
　　[B]there are many advantages of being accepted earlier
　　[C]less effort is needed under Early Decision
　　[D]he is happy with and doubts about his decision

4.We can draw a conclusion from the text that ________.
　　[A]a full consideration is needed before applying
　　[B]students should avoid the short cut
　　[C]a quick decision will do you no good
　　[D]the author shouldn’t apply under Early Decision

5.From the text we can see that the writer seems _________.
　　[A]regretful
　　[B]optimistic
　　[C]gloomy
　　[D]sensitive

　　答案：BDDAA

　　篇章剖析

　　本文是一篇记叙文，以作者的亲身经历讲述了“优先申请”政策带给自己的苦与乐。第一段讲述了我为什么要考虑使用“优先申请”政策；第二段指出这一政策在开始时带给我的甜头；第三段指出自己进大学后的苦恼和烦恼；第四段指出我的补救措施；第五段提出自己对其他人的忠告和建议。

　　词汇注释

　　take n. 【体育运动】门票收入，门票；(采取的)行动；企图，尝试

　　confer [kEn5f\:(r)] vt.授予(称号、学位等), 赠与, 把...赠与, 协议

　　agonizing[5A^EnaIzIN] adj.苦恼的, 痛苦难忍的

　　discombobulate [9dIskEm`bCbjJleIt] vt.使混乱, 使泄气, 使困惑

　　array [E5reI] n.排列, 编队, 军队, 衣服, 大批

　　mount[maJnt] vi.增长

　　arcane [B:5keIn] adj.神秘的, 不可思议的

　　fraternity [frE5t\:nItI] n.兄弟关系, 友爱, 互助会, 兄弟会

　　sorority [sE5rRrItI; (?@) -5rC:r-] n.妇女联谊会, 女学生联谊会

　　obnoxious [Eb5nRkFEs] adj.不愉快的, 讨厌的

　　lost 无影响

　　agenda [E5dVendE] n. pl. 议程

　　难句突破

　　1．And when I got to the campus, I found that fraternities and sororities were a more noticeable and obnoxious presence than the 30 percent student membership had suggested to me.

　　主体句式：…I found that…

　　结构分析：本句句形结构并不复杂，重点在于对that引导的宾语从句中对more…than的理解。

　　参考译文：进校后，我发现，大学生联谊会比比皆是，其讨嫌程度远胜过劝我参加他们组织的30%的各类学生会员。

　　题目分析

　　1．答案为B，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“I was motivated by two powerful emotions: ambition and fear.”

　　2．答案为D，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是“The implication was clear: applying under Early Decision dramatically improves your chances of acceptance.”作者特别渴望能确保他上大学，所以他才放弃了他的第一选择Brown大学，而选择了宾夕法尼亚州大学。

　　3．答案为D，属事实细节题。第二段前半部分描述了作者释然、悠闲的状态，这和他的同学形成了鲜明的对比。而最后一句“When a lot of people from my class got into Brown, I wondered if I, too, could have.”却又道出了他的不甘和遗憾。

　　4．答案为A，属推理判断题。文章前几段描述了作者依据“优先推荐”政策选择宾夕法尼亚州大学的前因后果，最后一段总结了他的经验教训。他并不是他的做法不对，而是有些欠考虑。

　　5．答案为A，属情感态度题。通读全文，作者表现更多的是悔不当初。

　　参考译文

　　四年前，当我根据“优先推荐”的原则申请