1. (2024高二下·台州开学考)  阅读理解

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 to blame for developing the expertise to place men on the moon; for dealing with our urban problems and with our worsening 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, however, 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 acknowledged task, college and universities today find themselves in a serious situation. On one hand, there is the American commitment, especially since World War Ⅱ, to provide higher education for all young people who can profit from it. The result of the commitment has been a dramatic rise in enrollments(登记入学) in our universities, coupled with a striking shift from the private to the public sector of higher education. 

On the other hand, there are serious and continuing limitations on the resources available for higher education. While higher education has become a great "growth industry", it is also at the same time a tremendous drain(耗竭) on the resources of the nation. With the vast increase in enrollment and the shift in priorities away from education in state and federal(联邦的) budgets, there is in most of our public institutions a significant decrease in expenses for their students. One crucial aspect of this drain on resources lies in the persistent shortage of trained faculty(全体教师), which has led, in turn, to a declining standard of competence in instruction.

Intensifying these difficulties is, as indicated above, the concern with research, with its increasing claims on resources and the attention of the faculty. In addition, there is a strong tendency for the institutions' organization and functioning to fulfill the demands of research rather than those of teaching.

1. （1） According to Paragraph 1, what should be the most important function of American universities?

   A . Sparing no effort to create new knowledge for students. B . Enhancing students' competence of tackling social problems. C . Making experts on advanced industries out of their students. D . Preparing their students to transmit the knowledge of the past.
3. （2） In American universities, there is a contradiction between____.

   A . more students and less investment B . education quality and economic profit C . low enrollment rate and high education demand D . private ownership and American commitment
5. （3） A serious outcome brought about by the shortage of resources is that____.

   A . many public institutions have to cut down enrollments of students B . teachers are not competent enough to perform satisfactorily in class C . some institutions are forced to reduce the total expenses on research D . there is keen competition for resources between public and private institutions
7. （4） What worsened the severity of the problems faced by American universities?

   A . The improper distribution of American universities' resources. B . The increasing argument over American universities' primary task. C . The inability of American universities' organization and fulfillment. D . The growing focus on American universities' function of research.