Are undergraduate grades important? Everyone knows that high marks earned at different schools or under different instructors can indicate very different levels of achievement. One professor may be a hard grader, while another is very generous or one who takes the whole business as a bit of joke. Some schools have nigh standards, whereas others are groups of intellectual people. And at all universities, there is a constant tendency towards grade inflation （the granting of ever more high marks）. That is fought vigorously at some institutions and allowed to go unchecked for long periods at others.
Another point raised against grades is how poorly they predict how much graduates will be earning 15 or 20 years after getting their degrees. As many studies have shown, there is only a very poor correlation between undergraduate’s grades and subsequent wealth. People who get good marks tend to go into the professions, not all of which are highly remunerative（有利的）.The correlation between undergraduate grades and success in business, the most common road to wealth, is virtually nothing. Many mediocre（平庸）students become successful businessman, while some brilliant and capable graduates （creative youngsters, not students with special skills in passing exams） take up relatively low-paying but interesting or satisfying careers. The general population, examining this question through a statistical lens, sees one thing very clearly that good grades don’t translate in any direct way into big bucks, and for better or for worse, the gauge（标尺） of “success” for countless Americans is the acquisition of wealth.
The result is a certain modesty about good grades in America among those who get them. A student’s parents may brag about his marks, but seldom will the student himself risk being branded a “grade-grubber” by drawing too much attention to his academic success. High marks are not something to be advertised to the world except on resumes, and anybody who boasts about them is likely to be viewed with contempt, not least by intelligent people.
1.Which of the following is true about undergraduate grades?
2.According to the passage, what is the relationship between grades and business performance?
3.Which of the following best describes the American attitude towards good grades?
4.The phrase “grade-grubber”, underlined in paragraph 3 probably means （ ）.
5.What might be the best title for this passage?
