VOA慢速英语20060330a

EDUCATION REPORT - Students Face New Worry: Wrongly Scored College-Entry TestsBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, March 30, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

About five hundred thousand students took the SAT college-admissions test last October. The College Board, which owns the test, says about five thousand of them received wrong scores.

The problem became known after two students questioned their scores. They asked to have their tests scored again, this time by hand instead of by computer. Further investigation¹ led to more and more wrongly scored tests. Most of the scores were too low.

College Board spokesman² Brian O'Reilly says only four students gained three hundred points or more. He says most gained ninety points or less.

A perfect SAT score is two thousand four hundred points.

The College Board is not telling students or colleges about scores that were too high. Mister³ O'Reilly says students should not be punished for something out of their control.

He says the scores were no more than fifty points too high. He tells us correcting them would not have affected⁴ college acceptance⁵ decisions.

The tests went to a processing center in Texas. Pearson Educational Measurement⁶ has scored the SAT for the College Board since March of last year. The company took the place of E.T.S., the Educational Testing Service.

The College Board says humidity⁷ in the air caused the paper to expand and change the position of the answers. It says the problem affected tests with light or incomplete⁸ answer marks.

Mister O'Reilly says Pearson has already corrected the problem. He says the company has improved its computer systems and will now scan⁹ all answers two times.

The College Board has asked schools to reconsider any students they rejected before their SAT scores were increased. Higher education officials say acceptance decisions are based only partly on test scores. But higher scores can mean more financial aid.

Now, lawyers are reportedly looking to represent people who want to take the College Board to court.

Students are not the only ones who have been affected by testing mistakes recently. E.T.S. has just agreed to pay eleven million dollars to settle cases involving a test for teachers.

Thousands who took the Praxis in two thousand three and two thousand four received scores that were too low. More than four thousand of them were told they had failed when they had passed.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

3 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。

6 measurement   

n.测量，衡量；(量得的)尺寸，大小

参考例句：

• I can find the size of something by means of measurement.我可以用测量法求得某物的体积。
• He has made an accurate measurement of my garden.他准确地丈量了我的花园。

7 humidity   

n.湿度，潮湿，湿气

参考例句：

• The house is not comfortable tonight ,because of the high humidity.由于湿度高，今晚屋子里不舒服。
• It's difficult to work because of the humidity.由于空气潮湿，工作很困难。

8 incomplete   

adj.不完全的，不完善的

参考例句：

• The building was left incomplete.那座楼没有完工就停下来了。
• His novel was incomplete when he died.他死的时候他的小说没有写完。

9 scan   

n.审视，浏览，扫描，押韵，细查；vt.细看，浏览，扫描，详细调查，信件扫描（指BBS处理直递邮件或会议邮件时，对所有或特定信区做检查的动作）

参考例句：

• The first scan was bad, so I had to do it again.第一次扫描不好，所以我得重做。
• A scan determines the position of the baby in the womb.扫描可以确定胎儿在子宮中的位置。