Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are top of a global league table of university reputation— in a top 100 26 by U.S. institutions.

Cambridge and Oxford make the top 10—but other U.K. universities have 27 , while Asian institutions have risen.

The rankings are based on the 28 of 17,000 academics. This list is an attempt to quantify the elusive but important quality of 29 in higher education—with its findings 30 the opinions of academics around the world.

The first such ranking by the Times Higher Education magazine, published last year, had the same top five as this year—with the two Boston-based 31 , Harvard and MIT, in first and second place.

Cambridge was once again the highest ranking U.K. university in third place, 32 Stanford and University of California, Berkeley. But Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education rankings, says there is an 33 picture of U.K. universities downwards—with fewer in the top 100 and a 34 for others including Imperial College London and University College London. “Our global reputation as the home of outstanding universities has been hit,” he said.

Reflecting the rise of Asian countries as the new education superpowers, there is an increasing presence for countries such as People’s Republic of China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

35 its size and population, Switzerland is also seen as performing well, with three universities in the world’s top 100 universities.

Such rankings published by the Times Higher Education magazine do not have an official status, but they have become an increasingly significant part of how universities market themselves to students, particularly as higher education has become more globalized.