17．"The Heart of the Matter，"the newly-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences （AAAS），deserves praise for attaching 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 states and local governments，universities，foundations，educators，individual benefactors（捐助者） and others to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education．In response，the AAAS formed the Committee on the Humanities and Social Sciences．Among the Committee's 51members are top-university presidents，scholars，lawyers，judges，and business executives，as well as distinguished figures from diplomacy，filmmaking，music and journalism．
The goals identified in the report are generally admirable．Because the government supports full literacy （識字） of citizens，the report 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 introduction of a series of 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 into practice 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 2years 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 committee 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of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits．Sadly，the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing"progressive"．
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 and self-reliance-as falling outside the boundaries of routine，and sometimes legal intellectual investigation．
The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education．Yet its report may well hold back reform by obscuring（遮蔽） the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to clarify．
74．Influential figures in the Congress required that the AAAS report on how toC．
A．maintain 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
75．Which one of the following statements about what the AAAS plan suggests is true？C
A．An exclusive study of American history．
B．A greater emphasis on theoretical subjects．
C．The application of emerging technologies．
D．Funding for the study of foreign languages．
76．It can be inferred from the passage thatD．
A．professors are routinely supportive of free markets
B．intellectual investigation are put great value on in college
C．progressive public policy is out of boundaries of proper study
D．professors have prejudice against classical liberal ideas
77．Which of the following would be the best title for the text？B
A．The AAAS's Contribution to Liberal Education
B．Illiberal Education and"The Heart of the Matter"
C．Ways to Grasp"The Heart of the Matter""
D．Progressive Policy vs．Liberal Education．
分析 本篇文章選自華爾街日報(bào)．主要講的是非自由教育以及"問題核心"這個(gè)報(bào)告．
解答 CCDB
74．答案 C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題 根據(jù)題干定位"Influential figures in the Congress"與"leading congressional Democrats and Republicans"同義替換．定位的答案是asking that it identify actions that could be taken by"federal，state and …..，individual benefactors and others"to"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 humanities and social scientific scholarship and education．"也就是說答案重點(diǎn)在maintain national excellence 剛好與選項(xiàng)C 中的leading position 進(jìn)行同義替換．ABD與文章不符合．
75．答案 C 推理判斷題 推理題．Suggest 是推理題的標(biāo)志．先化選項(xiàng)關(guān)鍵詞，發(fā)現(xiàn)選項(xiàng)A是講American history選項(xiàng)B； 是講theoretical subjects； 選項(xiàng)C emerging technologies；選項(xiàng)Dfunding foreign languages．返回原文定位的時(shí)候，A 選項(xiàng)中的"exclusive 排外"并沒有在"stresses the study of history and government，particularly American history and American government；"這句話中體現(xiàn)．B選項(xiàng)中的理論學(xué)科沒有定位點(diǎn)．D選項(xiàng)與原文"increased funding for teachers"以及"greater study of foreign languages，"不符．屬于張冠李戴．"encourages the use of new digital technologies．"與選項(xiàng)C 同義替換．
76．答案 D 推理題．infer是推理題的標(biāo)志．同時(shí)根據(jù)提題干定位第五段，找professor．"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．"A 選項(xiàng)中的free markets前面的修飾詞語是conservative or liberal ideas 沒有體現(xiàn)A 選項(xiàng)中的supportive．B選項(xiàng)put great value on in college與原文不符，C選項(xiàng)中的conservative 與文中progressive public policy 不符合．故答案為D
77．答案 B 主旨大意題．先看其他題題干，我們鎖定關(guān)鍵詞是report，而report 就是"the heart of the matter"故排除C和D．而我們看A 發(fā)現(xiàn)文章并沒有講如何抓住"問題核心"的各個(gè)方法．排除A，選擇B．
點(diǎn)評 文章是根據(jù)2014年考研真題改編而來，題目只是稍加改動(dòng)．對高中生來說還是比較難的．
考生無法選擇考試的試題，但能做的是擴(kuò)寬自己的知識面，加強(qiáng)思辨能力，對一些能力較強(qiáng)的學(xué)生來說，這樣的題也算是一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)和提高．
