2015考研英语阅读理解精读P12—教育学.docVIP

2015考研英语阅读理解精读P12—教育学 　Passage 12 　　Competition for admission to the countrys top private schools has always been tough, but this year Elisabeth Krents realized it had reached a new level. Her wake-up call came when a man called the Dalton School in Manhattan, where Krents is admissions director, and inquired about the age cutoff for their kindergarten program. After providing the information (they dont use an age cutoff), she asked about the age of his child. The man paused for an uncomfortably long time before answering. Well, we dont have a child yet, he told Krents. Were trying to figure out when to conceive a child so the birthday is not a problem. 　　School obsession is spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country. Precise current data on private schools are unavailable, but interviews with representatives of independent and religious schools all told the same story: a glut of applicants, higher rejection rates. We have people calling us for spots two years down the road, said Marilyn Collins of the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati. We have grandparents calling for pregnant daughters. Public-opinion poll after poll indicates that Americans No. 1 concern is education. Now that the long economic boom has given parents more disposable income, many are turning to private schools, even at price tags of well over $10,000 a year. Were getting applicants from a broader area, geographically, than we ever have in the past, said Betsy Haugh of the Latin School of Chicago, which experienced a 20 percent increase in applications this year. 　　The problem for the applicants is that while demand has increased, supply has not. Every year, there are a few children who do not find places, but this year, for the first time that I know of, there are a significant number of children who dont have places, said Krents, who also heads a private-school admissions group in New York. 　　So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old an edge? Schools know there is no foolproof way