Just seven years ago, the Texas Legislature prescribed that all high schoolers must pass two math courses and geometry to graduate. This summer, the state reversed course, easing its【C1】______math, science, and social-studies requirements to【C2】______class time for job training. Texas legislators want to create a more【C3】______system that helps students who aren"t headed to four-year colleges enter the workforce. But that【C4】______carries some risks.【C5】______it"s true that not all students will go on to college, pulling back on college preparatory coursework has to be【C6】______carefully in a state like Texas, with its hundreds of thousands of low-income and【C7】______students. They"re the students who would benefit from college the most. New laws in Texas, as well as in Florida, de-emphasize the math class required for【C8】______to four-year colleges. Knowledge of these subjects is considered an indicator of college readiness【C9】______the Common Core standards, which have been【C10】______by 45 states, including Florida. More than half of public-school students in both states are nonwhite and from low-income families. It"s particularly【C11】______that these Hispanic and African-American students leave high school qualified to further their e-ducation—【C12】______they don"t plan on doing so right away. A college【C13】______is the most important driver of social mobility. By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require some kind of postsecondary education according to surveys. 【C14】______speaking, Texas"s earlier college-prep course-work recommendations didn"t fit reality.【C15】______the high bar, only about half of the state"s high school graduates immediately headed off to college of any kind. "We wanted to give students and parents more flexibility, to not only be college-prepared—which I think we"re doing a pretty good job of—but perhaps to【C16】______that preparation to folks who may not be going to college," Representative Jimmie Don Aycock, who【C17】______the Texas House"s Public Education Committee, says of the revision. The goal isn"t to dumb down the curriculum, he says, but to let kids【C18】______a path that might not have been【C19】______to them before. The state"s educational system still rewards schools when students【C20】______college readiness.
【答案解析】解析：上段提到德州降低学业要求，帮助学生做职业准备。因此，应认为Texas legislators打算建立的课程体系让学生有更多选择。此处可与第五段的We wanted to give students and parents more flexibility相呼应，故D项flexible意为“灵活的”符合上下文语义要求。