Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks. Like high schools, American colleges are sometimes criticized for discarding requires courses and offering too (29)____________ electives. In the mid-1980s, the Association of American Colleges issued a report that called for teaching a body of common knowledge to all college students. A similar report, “Involvement in Learning,” ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Like high schools, American colleges are sometimes criticized for discarding requires courses and offering too (29)____________ electives. In the mid-1980s, the Association of American Colleges issued a report that called for teaching a body of common knowledge to all college students. A similar report, “Involvement in Learning,” issued by the National Institute of Education, concluded that the college curriculum had become “excessively work-related”. The report also (30) __________ that college education may no longer be developing in students “the shared values and knowledge” that traditionally bind Americans together.

These reports coincided with a trend away from the liberal arts. (31)____________, students were choosing major fields designed to prepare them for specific jobs. In 1992, 51 percent of the bachelor’s degrees were conferred in the fields of business and management, communications, computer and sciences, education, engineering, and health sciences.

This trend raises questions (32)___________ apply to the educational philosophy of all industrialized countries. In an age of technological breakthroughs and highly specialized disciplines, is there still a need for the generalist with a broad background and well-developed abilities to reason and communicate? And if the answer to that question is yes, should society take steps to encourage its colleges and universities to produce more such generalists? Like their (33) ____________ in other countries, American educators continue to debate these questions.

(Adapted from http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/factover/ch6.htm)