"The Heart of the Matter," the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), deserves praise for aff

admin2017-01-17  30

问题     "The Heart of the Matter," the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America. Regrettably, however, the report’ s failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.
    In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by "federal, state and local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others" to "maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education." In response, the American Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the commission’s 51 members are top-tier-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism.
    The goals identified in the report are generally admirable. Because representative government presupposes an informed citizenry, the report supports full literacy; stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government; and encourages the use of new digital technologies. To encourage innovation and competition, the report calls for increased investment in research, the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students’ ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great challenges of the day. The report also advocates greater study of foreign languages, international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs.
    Unfortunately, despite 2% years in the making, "The Heart of the Matter" never gets to the heart of the matter: the illiberal nature of liberal education at our leading colleges and universities. The commission ignores that for several decades America’s colleges and universities have produced graduates who don’t know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits. Sadly, the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing "progressive," or left-liberal propaganda.
    Today, professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conservative or classical liberal ideas—such as free markets, self-reliance—as falling outside the boundaries of routine, and sometimes legitimate, intellectual investigation.
    The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education. Yet its report may well set back reform by obscuring the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to illuminate.
Influential figures in the Congress required that the AAAS report on how to

选项 A、retain people’ s interest in liberal education.
B、define the government’s role in education.
C、keep a leading position in liberal education.
D、safeguard individuals’ rights to education.

答案C

解析 细节题。根据题干信息及出题顺序定位至第二段。本段第一句意为“2010年,国会民主党和共和党领导致函美国人文与科学院,要求确定可以被‘联邦、州和地方政府、大学、基金会、教育者、个人捐助者和其他人’采纳的行动,以‘维护国家卓越的人文学科和社会科学学术与教育’。”题干Influential figures in the Congress, required分别是原文leading congressional Democrats and Republicans,asked的同义复现。题干中的to表示asked的目的,因此答案来自asking that it identify actions…to“maintain national excellence in…”,这与C项keep a leading position in liberal education(保持人文教育的领先地位)一致。故选C项。A项“保持人们对人文教育的兴趣”,B项“确定政府在教育中的地位”,D项“保护个人受教育的权利”,原文均没有提到。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1LEZ777K
0

随机试题
最新回复(0)