As Student Numbers Fall, Some Colleges Make Admissions More Welcoming

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s central argument about recent admissions changes?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Colleges are abandoning campus visits in favor of online applications.
   2. Enrollment pressure is encouraging colleges to make admissions more welcoming.
   3. Faculty members are replacing admissions offices across the sector.
   4. Students are applying to fewer institutions because applications are simpler.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Enrollment pressure is encouraging colleges to make admissions more welcoming.

   Enrollment pressure is making some colleges more welcoming to applicants.

   The shift is especially visible at colleges that are under pressure to attract enough students to fill their places.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention parents working full time?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To explain why parents prefer public universities
   2. To show why campus visits have become compulsory
   3. To underscore the process’s demands on families
   4. To suggest colleges should employ parents
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To underscore the process’s demands on families

   The detail emphasizes the application process’s demands on families.

   The process can feel particularly demanding when parents are working full time as well.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “this direction” refer to in the third paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Reducing faculty involvement in recruitment
   2. Making colleges more welcoming to prospective students
   3. Increasing the number of required application forms
   4. Restricting campus visits to admitted students
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Making colleges more welcoming to prospective students

   The phrase refers to making colleges more welcoming to applicants.

   Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, has made a notable effort in this direction.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the article establish between campus visits and enrollment?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Visits guarantee that students will receive financial aid.
   2. Visits can affect whether students decide to enroll.
   3. Visits determine which applicants faculty must recruit.
   4. Visits allow institutions to avoid direct admission offers.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Visits can affect whether students decide to enroll.

   Visits can influence whether students choose to enroll.

   Its president, Marc Conner, said that welcoming students benefits both applicants and the institution, since campus visits can influence whether students ultimately enroll.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is faculty recruitment involvement presented in the article?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. As a long-established universal requirement
   2. As a measure limited to public universities
   3. As a newer expansion of recruitment responsibilities
   4. As a replacement for financial-aid policies
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   As a newer expansion of recruitment responsibilities

   It is presented as a newer expansion of recruitment work.

   Professors are meeting prospective and admitted students and opening laboratories and classrooms to them—activities that admissions offices previously handled largely on their own.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What contrast structures the final paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Abstract promotion versus tangible academic experience
   2. Private colleges versus public universities
   3. Financial aid versus application fees
   4. Faculty authority versus presidential leadership
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Abstract promotion versus tangible academic experience

   It contrasts promotional material with direct experience of academic life.

   Rather than encountering an institution only through promotional material, they can imagine being recognized, supported, and included there.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which development most directly demonstrates reduced procedural barriers?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Professors opening classrooms to visitors
   2. Students receiving admission without submitting applications
   3. Presidents explaining the value of campus visits
   4. Families managing applications alongside schoolwork
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Students receiving admission without submitting applications

   It removes the usual requirement to submit an application first.

   Public universities in 17 states now admit some high school students who have not yet submitted an application.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What qualified conclusion does the article reach about admissions culture?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Admissions has become effortless and entirely transparent.
   2. Admissions remains demanding despite becoming more approachable.
   3. Admissions is now controlled primarily by faculty members.
   4. Admissions pressure has disappeared from struggling colleges.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Admissions remains demanding despite becoming more approachable.

   Admissions remains demanding while becoming more transparent and less intimidating.

   The result is an admissions culture that remains demanding, but is gradually becoming more transparent and less intimidating.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.