Like other academic institutions, business schools are judged by the quality of the research carried out by their faculties. At

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问题     Like other academic institutions, business schools are judged by the quality of the research carried out by their faculties. At the same time they mean to equip their students for the real world, however that is defined. Whether academic research actually produces anything that is useful to the practice of business, or even whether it is its job to do so, are questions that can provoke vigorous arguments on campus.
    The debate, which first flared during the 1950s, was reignited in August, 2007, when AACSB International, the most widely recognized global accrediting agency for business schools, announced it would consider changing the way it evaluates research. The news followed rather harsh criticism in 2002 from Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford professor, and Christina Fong of Washington University, which questioned whether business education in its current situation was sustainable. The most controversial recommendation in AACSB’s draft report is that the schools be required to show the value of their faculties’ research not simply by listing its citations in journals, but by demonstrating the impact it has in the real world.
    AACSB justifies its standpoint by saying that it wants schools and faculty to play to their strengths, in teaching methods, in the research of practical applications, or in scholarly endeavor. And research of any kind is expensive — AACSB points out that business schools in America alone spend more than $320m a year on it. So it seems legitimate to ask for what purpose it is undertaken.
    On one level, the question is simple to answer. Research in business schools, as anywhere else, is about expanding the boundaries of knowledge; it thrives on answering unasked questions. But it is also about cementing schools’ — and professors’ — reputations. Schools gain reputations from their faculties’ record of publication: which journals publish them, and how often. In some cases, such as with government-funded schools in Britain, it can affect how much money they receive. For professors, the much quoted is "publish or perish". Their careers depend on being seen in the right journals.
    How to proceed from here? If faculty refuses to accept this type of reform, AACSB’s proposals are powerless. But there is another more powerful beast — the MBA rankings. Two of the most important — those published by the Financial Times and Business Week — now score schools on their contribution to both journals they consider purely "academic" and ones they consider "practitioner", i.e. , ones managers might read.
    Business schools inhabit a highly competitive world; no matter what they may say, they care intensely about their rankings. If they find they can improve their positions by pursuing more practical research programs, their administrators’ attitudes may yet change. Whatever the defenders of academic purity may wish, there is hope for the real world yet.
What does the word "cementing"(Line 3, paragraph 4)most probably mean?

选项 A、sacrificing
B、damaging
C、Strengthening
D、changing

答案C

解析 猜词题。原句“But it is also about cementing schools’一and professors’一reputations.Schools gain reputations from their faculties’record of publication:whichjournals publish them,and how often”利用后文提到“gain reputation”荣誉获取来确保学校的地位。
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