单选题：看资料，回答题 Each paragraph is marked with a letter．Answer the qu

看资料，回答题
Each paragraph is marked with a letter．Answer the questions by ．marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2．First-Generation College-Goers: Unprepared and Behind Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus withlittle academic know—how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation．
[ A] When Nijay Williams entered college last fall as a first—generation student and Jamaican immigrant,he was academically unprepared for the rigors of higher education．Like many first—generationstudents, he enrolled in a medium-sized state university many of his high school peers were alsoattending, received a Pell Grant, and took out some small federal loans to cover other costs．
Given the high price of room and board and the closeness of the school to his family, he chose tolive at home and worked between 30 and 40 hours a week while taking a full class schedule．
[ B] What Nijay didn't realize about his school—Tennessee State University—was its frighteningly lowgraduation rate: a mere 29 percent for its first-generation students．At the end of his first year,Nijay lost his Pell Grant of over $ 5,000 after narrowly missing the 2．0 GPA cut-off, making itimpossible for him to continue paying for school．
[ C ]Nijay represents a large and growing group of Americans: first—generation college students whoenter school unprepared or behind．To make matters worse, these schools are ill-equipped tograduate these students—young adults who face specific challenges and obstacles．They typicallycarry financial burdens that outweigh those of their peers, are more likely to work while attendingschool, and often require significant academic remediation (补习)．
[ D ] Matt Rubinoff directs I'm First, a nonprofit organization launched last October to reach out to thisspecific population of students．He hopes to distribute this information and help prospectivecollege-goers fmd the best post-secondary fit．And while Rubinoff believes there are a goodnumber of four—year schools that truly care about these students and set aside significant resourcesand programs for them, he says that number isn't high enough．
[ E ] "It's not only the selective and elite institutions that provide those opportunities for a small subsetof this population," Rubinoff said, adding that a majority of first-generation undergraduates tendtoward options such as online programs, two—year colleges, and commuter state schools．
"Unfortunately, there tends to be a lack of information and support to help students think biggerand broader．"
[ F] Despite this problem, many students are still drawn to these institutions--and two-year schools inparticular．As a former high school teacher, I saw students choose familiar, cheaper options yearafter year．Instead of skipping out on higher education altogether, they chose community collegesor state schools with low bars for admittance．
[ G]"They underestimate themselves when selecting a university,"said Dave Jarrat, a marketingexecutive for Inside Track, a for—profit organization that specializes in coaching low-income studentsand supporting colleges in order to help students thrive．"The reality of it is that a lot of low-incomekids could be going to elite tufiversities on a full ride scholarship and don't even realize it．"
[ H] "Many students are coming from a situation where no one around them has the experience ofsuccessfully completing higher education, so they are coming in questioning themselves and theircollege worthiness," Jarrat continued．That helps explain why, as I'm First's Rubinoff indicated,the schools to which these students end up resorting can end up being some of the poorestmatches for them．The University of Tennessee in Knoxville offers one example of this dilemma．Aflagship university in the South, the school graduates just 16 percent of its first—generationstudents, despite its overall graduation rate of 71 percent．Located only a few hours apart, TheUniversity of Tennessee and Tennessee State are worth comparing．Tennessee State's overallgraduation rate is a tiny 39 percent, but at least it has a smaller gap between the outcomes forfirst—generat．ion students and those of their peers．
[I] Still, the University of Tennessee deserves credit for being transparent．Many large institutionskeep this kind of data secret—or at least make it incredibly difficult to find The University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill, for instance, admits only that the graduation rate for its first—generation pupils is "much lower" than the percentage of all students who graduate within fouryears (81 percent)．
[J] It is actually quite difficult to fred reliable statistics on the issue for many schools．Highereducation institutions are, under federal law, required to report graduation rates, but thesereports typically only include Pell recipient numbers—not necessarily rates specific to fLrst—generation students．Other initiatives fail to break down the data, too．Imagine how intimidating itcan be for prospecitive students unfamiliar with the complexities of higher education to navigatethis kind of information and then identify which schools are the best fit．
[ K] It was this lack of information that prompted the launch of I'm First in 2013, originally as an annof its umbrella organization, the Center For Student Opportunity．"If we can help to directstudents to more of these types of campuses and help students to understand them to be realisticand accessible places, have them apply to these schools at greater frequency and ultimately get inand enroll, we are going to raise the success rate," Rubinoff said, citing a variety of colleges
ranging from large state institutions to smaller private schools．
[ L] Chelsea Jones, who now directs student programming at I'm First, was a first—generation college student at Howard．Like other student new to the intimidating higher—education world, she often struggled on her path to college, "There wasn't really a college—bound cnlture at my high school," she said．"I wanted to go to college but I didn't really know the process．" Jones became involved with a college—access program through Princeton University in high school．Now, she attributes
much of her understanding of college to that: "But once I got to campus, it was a completely different ball game that no one really prepared me for．"
[ M] She was fortunate, though．Howard, a well—regarded historically black college, had an array of resources for its first—generation students, including matching kids with counselors, comecting first— generation students to one another, and TRIO, a national program that supported 200 students onHoward's campus．Still, Jones represents a small percentage of first-generation students who areable to gain entry into more elite universities, which are often known for robust financial aidpackages and remarkably high graduation rates for first—generation students．(Harvard, for
example, boasts a six—year graduation rate for underrepresented minority groups of 98 percent．)
[ N]Christian Vazquez, a first—generation Yale graduate, is another exception, his success story settinghim far apart from students such as Nijay．"There is a lot of support at Yale, to an extent, after awhile, there is too much support," he said, half—joking about the countless resources available atthe school．Students are placed in small groups with counselors ( trained seniors on campus) ;they have access to cultural and ethnic affinity (联系) groups, tutoring centers and also have a
summer orientation specifically for first—generation students ( the latter being one of the mostcommon programs for students)．
[ O]"Our support structure was more like : ' You are going to get through Yale; you are going to dowell,' " he said, hinting at mentors (导师), staff, and professors who all provided significantsupport for students who lacked confidence about "belonging" at such a top institution．
Many first—generation college—goers have doubts about their abilities to get a college degree．