Why do we need the English major? The【C1】________is in every mouth—or, at least, is discussed extensively in columns and【C2】____

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问题     Why do we need the English major? The【C1】________is in every mouth—or, at least, is discussed extensively in columns and【C2】________. The English major is vanishing from our colleges as the Latin vanished before it, we’re told, a【C3】________choice bound to a dead subject. This spring at Pomona College, 16 students graduated【C4】________an English major out of a student body of 1,560, a terribly【C5】________number, and from other, similar schools, other, similar numbers.
    【C6】________. a number of defenses have been mounted, none of them, so far, terribly persuasive even to one【C7】________them to persuade. The defenses come in two kinds: one【C8】________that English majors make better people, the other that English majors (or at least humanities majors) make【C9】________better societies; that, as Christina Pax-son, the president of Brown University, just put it in The New Republic, "there are real, definite benefits to the humanistic【C10】________—to the study of history, literature, art, theater, music, and languages." We need the humanities, she explains patiently,【C11】________they may end up giving us other stuff we actually like: "We do not always know the future benefits of what we study and【C12】________should not rush to reject some forms of research as less【C13】________than others."
    The study of English, to be sure,【C14】________from its own discontents: it isn’t a science, and so the "research" you do is not really research. So why have English majors? Well, because many people like books. Most of those like to talk about them after they’ve read them, or while they’re in the middle. One might call this a natural or【C15】________consequence of literacy. And it’s this living, irresistible, permanent interest in reading that【C16】________English departments, and makes【C17】________of English majors.【C18】________we closed down every English department in the country, loud, good, expert, or at least hyper-enthusiastic readers would still emerge.
    As one important branch of humanities, studying English won’t be time-wasted. As Professor Paxson said, the humanities help us【C19】________life more and endure it better. The reason we need the humanities is because we’re human. That’s【C20】________.
【C7】

选项 A、improving on
B、concerning over
C、battling against
D、rooting for

答案D

解析 空格所在的to one…介词短语中,one用作不定代词,指任意一个人;them指代defenses,连同表示目的的to persuade一起作one的定语。根据表示递进意义的even及短语中各成分的语义关系,可以推测此人(one)赞同用辩护言论(defenses)来说服(to persuade)他人去认识英语专业的必要性。D项rooting for“支持”满足此语义要求,代入后短语意为“对于那些赞同为英语专业辩护的人来说”。A项improving on“改进”,改进辩护,语义不通。通常不可能通过“关注”(B项concerning over)辩护言论来劝服他人。C项battling against“与……斗争”指不支持上述defenses,与文章逻辑相反,也无法达到强调辩护言论没有说服力的目的。
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