Many private institutions of higher education around the country are in danger. Not all will be saved, and perhaps not all deserve to be saved. There are low-quality schools just as there are low-quality businesses. We have no duty to save them simply because they exist.
　　But many promising institutions that deserve to continue are threatened. They are doing a fine job educationally, but they are caught in a financial squeeze, with no way to reduce rising costs or increase income significantly. Raising tuition(学费) doesn't bring in more income, for each time tuition goes up, the enrollment (招生人数) goes down, or the amount that must be given away in student aid goes up. Schools are bad businesses, whether public or private, not usually because of mismanagement but because of the nature of the enterprise. They lose money on every customer, and they can go bankrupt either from too few students or too many students. Even a very good college is a very bad business.
　　It is such colleges, promising but threatened, that I worry about. Low enrollment is not their chief problem. Even with full enrollments, they may go under. Efforts to save them, and preferably to keep them private, are a national necessity. There is no basis for arguing that private schools are inherently better than public schools. There .are many examples to the contrary. Anyone can name state universities and colleges that rank as the finest in the nation and the world. It is now inevitable that public institutions will be dominant (占主导地位) , and therefore diversity (多样性) is a national necessity. Diversity in the way we support schools tends to give us a healthy diversity in the forms of education.    In  an  imperfect  society   such   as   ours,   uniformity   of   education throughout the nation could be dangerous. In an imperfect society, diversity is a positive good. Supporters of public higher education know the importance of sustaining private higher education.

　　26.   According to the author's opinion schools are bad businesses because of ______.
　　A. mismanagement                                      B.  too few students
　　C.  too many students                                   D. the nature of schools

　　27.   The author used the phrase "go under" in the third paragraph to mean_______.
　　A.  get into difficulties                                 B.  have low enrollment
　　C.  have low tuition                                      D.  bring in more money

　　28.   We can reasonably conclude from this passage that the author made an appeal to the public in order to support_______.
　　A.  public institutions                                   B.  private schools
　　C.  uniformity of education                          D.  high quality of education

　　29.   Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
　　A.   High-quality private schools deserve to be saved.
　　B.   If the tuition is raised, the enrollment goes down.
　　C.   There are many cases to show that public-schools are better than private schools.
　　D.   Private schools have more money than public schools.

　　30.   Which of the following ways could possibly save private schools?
　　A. Raising tuition.                         B.  Full enrollment.
　　C. National awareness and support.           D.  Reduction of rising costs.

　　答案：26. D 27. A 28. B 29. D 30. C