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】________.
【C3】

选项 A、wrong
B、dying
C、classical
D、desperate

答案B

解析 句子前半段提到拉丁语已从大学课程中消失,并且英语专业也步其后尘。由此可知空格后的a dead subject指的是拉丁语,而choice指的是英语专业。因此B项dying“将死的,垂死的”可满足语义要求,指英语专业即将消失。无法认为英语专业是“错误的”、“经典的”选择,故A项wrong和C项classical不正确。D项desperate“绝望的,拼命的”隐含在失去希望后不计后果的行动,语义不符合。
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