试题出自试卷《湖南大学2013年考博英语真题》

We all want to stand first in line, first in the hearts of our country, first in the polls, first in the standings. The （1）of Number One is surely an important thing in sports, but for universities, being first is not as important as being （2） the best.
The twenty-first century shows no （3）of interest among researchers, institutions, donors, boards of trustees, and governments in using various university rankings to （4）the performance of higher education institutions. Most national research universities measure themselves （5）a wide range of dimensions that the institutions believe important for determining improvement and success. At the same time, no single indicator or composite number （6） represents what an individual institution has done, can do, or will do. To improve the quality and productivity of a （7）national research university, its faculty, students, staff, and supporters need to （8） a number of indicators that,（9）together, give a reasonable approximation of accomplishment and strength （10）to the best universities in the country.
Many indicators （11） this purpose, but most observers know that research （12） more than anything else in （13） the best institutions. In its annual reports, The Center provides both the （14） research and development expenditures and the highly-competitive federally （15）research and development expenditures as indicators of research scale. （16）the dollars give a good approximation of research activity, （17） is the faculty who provide the critical resource for university success, and The Center reports the number of members of the National Academies among an institution’s faculty along with the number of significant faculty awards earned as indicators of faculty distinction. Students provide a （18）indicator by reflecting both the externally perceived quality of the institution and （19） with their own credentials an important contribution to that quality. For the graduate and research instructional dimension, The Center provides the number of doctorates （20）and the number of postdoctoral appointments supported; and The Center offers median SAT scores as indicators of student competitiveness.