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In recent years American society has become increasingly dependent on its universities to find solutions to its major problems. It is the universities that have been charged with the principal responsibility for developing the expertise to place men on the moon; for dealing with our urban problems, and with our deteriorating environment; for developing the means to feed the world’s rapidly increasing population. The effort involved in meeting these demands presents its own problems. In addition, this concentration on the creation of new knowledge significantly impinges on the universities’ efforts to perform their other principal functions, the transmission and interpretation of knowledge -- the imparting of the heritage of the past and the preparing of the next generation to carry it forward.
With regard to this, perhaps their most traditionally sanctioned task, colleges and universities today find themselves in a serious bind generally.
A. many public institutions have to cut down enrollments of students
B. teachers are not qualified enough for satisfactory performance in classes
C. some institutions have to reduce the expenses on research
D. there is keen competition for resources and attention of faculty between public and private
In the past fifty years, American society has changed a great deal. Fifty years ago, most Americans lived in small communities. They rarely moved from one area to another and knew their neighbors at least by name if not by close, personal relations. Life was so personal in those days that people often joked about it.They said that a person could not even stay home from church on Sunday without the whole town knowing about it. It was difficult to keep one’s secret in a small community like that, but there was usually a sense of safety, of belonging, and of community togetherness in such places. Except for church and the local movie theater, there was not much entertainment. Some people dreamed about moving to the exciting life of the big cities, but most people were happy to live all their lives in the same community.
Few people experience this type of lifelong relationship or sense of community togetherness now. The American society is much more unsettled now
A. To show how American society has changed.
B. To compare two different ways of American life.
C. To tell the meaning of the American people's attitude towards life style.
D. To prove that modern life is better than the life in the past.
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