六级长篇阅读练习.docxVIP

Fast ReadingThe College Essay: Why Those 500 Words Drive Us CrazyA) Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D. C., where lawyer-moms are thick on the ground. Her son Doug is one of several hundred thousand high-school seniors who had a painful fall. The deadline for applying to his favorite college was Nov. 1, and by early October he had yet to fill out the application. More to the point, he had yet to settle on a subject for the personal essay accompanying the application. According to college folklore, a well-turned essay has the power to seduce (诱惑) an admissions committee. He wanted to do one thing at a time, Meg says, explaining her sons delay. But really, my son is a huge procrastinator (拖延者). The essay is the hardest thing to do, so hes put it off the longest. Friends and other veterans of the process have warned Meg that the back and forth between editing parent and writing student can be traumatic (痛苦的).B)Back in the good old days-say, two years ago-when the last of my children suffered the ordeal (折磨)--a high-school student applying to college could procrastinate all the way to New Years Day of their senior year, assuming they could withstand the parental pestering (烦扰). But things change fast in the nail-biting world of college admissions. The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up to Nov. 1 or early December for many students.C) If the time for heel-dragging has been shortened, the true source of the anxiety and panic remains what it has always been. And its not the application itself. A college application is a relatively straightforward questionnaire asking for the basics: name, address, family history, employment history. It would all be innocent enough-20 minutes of busy work-except it comes attached to a personal essay.D) There are good reasons it causes such anxiety, says Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling at the Garden School in Ja