Reading comprehension -TOEFL- Lesson 3
After two decades of growing student enrollments and economic prosperity, business schools in the United States have started to face harder times. Only Harvard`s MBA School has shown a substantial increase in enrollment in recent years. Both Princeton and Stanford have seen decreases in their enrollments. Since 1990, the number of people receiving Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees, has dropped about 3 percent to 75,000, and the trend of lower enrollment rates is expected to continue.
There are two factors causing this decrease in students seeking an MBA degree. The first one is that many graduates of four-year colleges are finding that an MBA degree does not guarantee a plush job on Wall Street, or in other financial districts of major American cities. Many of the entry-level management jobs are going to students graduating with Master of Arts degrees in English and the humanities as well as those holding MBA degrees. Students have asked the question, "Is an MBA degree really what I need to be best prepared for getting a good job?" The second major factor has been the cutting of American payrolls and the lower number of entry-level jobs being offered. Business needs are changing, and MBA schools are struggling to meet the new demands.

1. What is the main focus of this passage?
(A) jobs on Wall Street
(B) types of graduate degrees
(C) changes in enrollment for MBA schools
(D) how schools are changing to reflect the economy
2. The phrase "two decades" in line 1 refers to a period of
(A) 10 years
(B) 20 years
(C) 50 years
(D) 100 years
3. The word "prosperity" in line 1 could be best replaced by which of the following?
(A) success
(B) surplus
(C) nurturing
(D) education4. Which of the following business schools has NOT shown a decrease in enrollment?
(A) Princeton
(B) Harvard
(C) Stanford
(D) Yale
5. The phrase "trend of" in line 6 is closest in meaning to which of the following?
(A) reluctance of
(B) drawback to
(C) movement toward
(D) extraction from
6. As used in line 8, the word "seeking" could best be replaced by which of the following?
(A) examining
(B) avoiding
(C) seizing
(D) pursuing
7. Which of the following descriptions most likely applies to Wall Street?
(A) a center for international affairs
(B) a major financial center
(C) a shopping district
(D) a neighborhood in New York
8. The word "plush" in line 10 most probably means
(A) legal
(B) satisfactory
(C) fancy
(D) dependable
9. According to the passage, what are two causes of declining business school enrollments?
(A) lack of necessity for an MBA and an economic recession
(B) low salary and foreign competition
(C) fewer MBA schools and fewer entry-level jobs
(D) declining population and economic prosperity
10. The word "cutting" in line 15 could best be replaced by which of the following?
(A) wounding
(B) reducing
(C) dividing
(D) carving
11. As used in line 16, the word "struggling" is closest in meaning to
(A) evolving
(B) plunging
(C) starting
(D) striving
12. Which of the following might be the topic of the paragraph?
(A) MBA schools` efforts to change
(B) future economic predictions
(C) a history of the recent economic changes
(D) descriptions of non-MBA graduate programs