[1] If you are applying for an American higher education, you probably dream of getting in

[1] If you are applying for an American higher education, you probably dream of getting into an Ivy League （常青藤联盟） university．The eight schools with the best reputations attract top students from the United States and many other countries． However, on average, the Ivy League schools accept less than 15 percent of applicants．And with the applicants growing in size year on year, it is becoming more and more difficult ．
[2] So how can you give yourself the best chance of admission?
[3]Having a high school grade point average （GPA） in the top 10 percent of your class and being ranked among the top few students dramatically betters your chances．But although GPA and SAT scores are important, they only tell admission deans（主任） part of the story．
[4] The whole admissions process will single out （挑选出） from a large pool of academically strong applicants the unique individuals．They stand out because they have shown in their interviews a range of virtues （优点） expected of these universities．Take Harvard for example．Although there is no guarantee of admission, the school judges applicants based on 15 additional criteria．
[5] Intellectual curiosity （求知欲） comes first tor almost all admission deans．Schools look to such students because they believe their peers find them stimulating（激励人的）inside and outside the classroom．
[6] Leadership also weighs heavily．The school would rather see an applicant who takes on additional responsibility in one or two areas where he or she is good at, rather than one who is merely very good academically．This can mean the class presidency（主席职务）, leading the cheerleading team or being the officer of a student union．
[7] Whether a person has personal warmth and cares about others counts a lot with the admission deans．Writing an essay on a personal experience, like a summer spent raising funds for the earthquake victims or teaching in a local school, can show that a person has qualities in addition to academic experience．
【小题1】According to the passage,what’s the attraction of Ivy League universities ?（no more than 3 words）
【小题2】What is the purpose of the writer? （no more than 15 words）
【小题3】Fill in the blank in the first paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (no more than 5 words)
【小题4】Based on the passage, list three additional criteria for admission besides academic performance．（no more than 10 words）① ② ③
【小题5】What does the word “They” (Line 2, Paragraph4) probably refer to ? (no more than 3 words)
the best reputations

(答案→)the best reputations 解析：文章介绍了美国常青藤大学吸引很多学生，作者介绍了一些方法告诉读者怎样申请进入常青藤大学。【小题1】细节题：从第一段的句子：The eight schools with the best reputations attract top students from the United States and many other countries．可知常青藤学校是因为名胜好吸引美国和其他国家的学生的，答案是：the best reputations【小题2】写作意图题：从第二段的句子：So how can you give yourself the best chance of admission?可知作者是想告诉读者怎样申请进入常青藤大学，答案是To tell applicants how to get into an ivy / To introduce the criteria by which an ivy admits students / To show applicants how to give themselves the best chance of admission to an ivy【小题3】完成句子题：这句话是：每年申请的人越来越多，被常青藤大学录取就越来越难了。“被录取”可以是to get a place / to be admitted / to enter an Ivy / to become a student there【小题4】细节题：文章最后三段提到除了学习成绩，还有三个标准是：①Intellectual curiosity ②Leadership ③Personal warmth and caring attitude【小题5】猜词题：从这段的第一句话：The whole admissions process will single out （挑选出） from a large pool of academically strong applicants the unique individuals．可知这里的they指的是前面提到的the unique individuals“独特的个体”。

就是这个解释