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】________.
【C10】

选项 A、disciplines
B、principles
C、values
D、ideals

答案A

解析 破折号一般起进一步解释说明的作用。历史、文学等科目都属于人文学科。故A项disciplines“课程,学科”符合语义要求。B项principles“原则,准则”、C项values“价值”和D项ideals“理想”在语义上都不能对应破折号后的表达,无法涵盖历史、文学等科目。
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