共用题干Unpopular Subjects?
Is there a place in today's society for the study of useless subjects in our universities?
Just over 100 years ago Fitzgerald argued in a well-written letter_______(1)Nature
that"Universities must be allowed to study useless subjects一_______(2)they don't,
who will?" He went on to use the_______(3) of Maxwell's electrodynamics（电动力
学）as one case where a"useless subject"has been transformed to a useful subject.
Nowadays this argument is again very much_______(4)in many universities.
Indeed one suspects that it is one of those arguments that must be_______(5)anew
（重新）by each generation. But now there is an added twist（歪曲）一subjects must not
only be useful,they must also be_______(6)enough that students will flock（蜂拥）
to do them,and even flock to pay to do them.
As universities become commercial operations,the pressure to_______(7)
subjects or departments that are less popular will become stronger and stronger. Perhaps
this is most strongly_______(8)at the moment by physics.There has been much
_______(9)in the press of universities that are closing down physics departments
and incorporate them with mathematics or engineering departments.
Many scientists think otherwise.They see physics as a_______(10)science,
which must be kept alive if only to_______(11)a base for other sciences and
engineering.It is of their great personal concern that physics teaching and research is under
_________(12)in many universities.How can it be preserved in the rush towards
commercial competition? A major turnaround（转变）in student popularity may have to
________(13)until the industrial world discovers that it needs physicists and starts
paying them well.
Physics is now not only unpopular;it is also"hard".We can do more about the latter
by_______（14) teaching in our schools and universities. We can also_______
(15)cooperative arrangements to ensure that physicists keep their research and teaching
up to date. _________(15)A:fix B:modify C:review D:develop