Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. prey     B. internalize     C. attachment     D. initial       E. insufficient F. struggling G. capped H. edge I. imposed     J. suspected   K. ignorance

As colleges and universities nationwide revealed their admission decisions, news broke of a dramatic decline in acceptance rates-and not just at Ivy League schools. The shift meant that many high school students who pinned all their hopes on particular dream schools might find themselves 【小题1】 with real disappointment.

Why were admissions so low these years? It’s a number game. These years, colleges saw the number of applicants soar to record-high levels. But considering 【小题2】 budgets, the number of spots colleges could offer had to be 【小题3】. As a result, both state schools and private colleges kept seeing their acceptance rates fall rapidly.

It’s not that most students won’t get into colleges at all. Instead, there are more than enough spots nationwide for every qualified applicant to find a place for study. But for many, the school they end up enrolling in may not have been their first, or even third choice. The 【小题4】 strike of rejection, in some cases, could be heartbreaking. These are kids who are used to being the best of the best.

But some of the pressure is 【小题5】, without excuses, by students themselves, according to Laurence Steinberg, professor of Psychology. He thinks that Americans fall 【小题6】 to their own addiction to school rankings and fame. Students and their parents have formed strong commitments to particular schools long before admission decisions are made. “When they are rejected, it’s like being rejected by a boyfriend or girlfriend,” Steinberg says. “They 【小题7】 it: What’s the matter with me? What could I have done differently?”

That emotional 【小题8】 is often only about what school name students will paste on their parents’ cars but it may also lead to families’ 【小题9】 of what may actually be the suitable school for the students.

Actually, painful as the rejection is, in the long run, getting into a high-ranking university doesn’t necessarily mean competitive 【小题10】 in terms of job prospects and earnings. A research shows that many students rejected by highly selective schools earn as much as Ivy League graduates. What really matters is how seriously students take their studies.