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】______.
【答案解析】解析：句中one．．．，the other．．．介绍的是两种辩护言论，连接one和that从句的词需说明that English majors make better people是一些人持有的观点。A项insisting“坚称，认定”代入后，指第一种言论“坚称英语专业让人们变得更优秀”。
【答案解析】解析：根据该表达中的比较级形式，可推理所需形容词的逻辑主语应是some forms of research(某些研究类别)，less．．．than others应意为“(某些研究类别)不如其他的研究”。通常，人们会因为某个事物不具备研究价值而拒绝对它进行研究。B项deserving“值得的”置于否定词less后．指some forms of research不值得研究。
单选题
【C14】
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：冒号后表达提到英语学科自身的缺陷(discontents)，由此可推测空格处动词应说明The study of English所处的这一困境。D项suffers与介词from组成固定搭配“遭受，因……而受苦(损)”，可满足此语义要求，指英语学科“苦于其自身缺陷”。
【答案解析】解析：第二段谈到Paxson认同第二种辩护言论，即认为英语专业(至少人文学科)能创造更美好的社会，能最终给予我们真正热爱的东西(giving us other stuff we actually like)。推断她认为人文学科具有积极作用，能帮助我们更好地享受生活，选C项enjoy“享受”。