“The Heart of the Matter,”the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences（AAAS）,deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America.Regrettably,however,the report’s failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.
In 2010,leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by“federal,state and local governments,universities,foundations,educators,individual benefactors and others”to“maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education.”In response,the American Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences.Among the commission’s 51 members are top-tier-university presidents,scholars,lawyers,judges,and business executives,as well as prominent figures from diplomacy,filmmaking,music and journalism.
The goals identified in the report are generally admirable.Because representative government presupposes an informed citizenry,the report supports full literacy;stresses the study of history and government,particularly American history and American government;and encourages the use of new digital technologies.To encourage innovation and competition,the report calls for increased investment in research,the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students’ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century,increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great challenges of the day.The report also advocates greater study of foreign languages,international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs.
Unfortunately,despite 2?years in the making,"The Heart of the Matter"never gets to the heart of the matter:the illiberal nature of liberal education at our leading colleges and universities.The commission ignores that for several decades America's colleges and universities have produced graduates who don’t know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits.Sadly,the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing“progressive,”or left-liberal propaganda.
Today,professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conservative or classical liberal ideas—such as free markets and self-reliance—as falling outside the boundaries of routine,and sometimes legitimate,intellectual investigation.
The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education.Yet its report may well set back reform by obscuring the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to illuminate.
According to Paragraph 1,what is the author’s attitude toward the AAAS’s report?
观点态度根据题干要求，可定位到文章第一段。在一段首句中提到报告值得称道（deserve praise），但紧接着下一句话锋一转，点出了作者对AAAS报告的评论及真正的态度。在第二句中出现的带有作者强烈感情色彩的词“regrettably”和“however”，明显是对前文praise的否定，并且在最后出现more harm than good（弊大于利），因此我们可以明确得出作者对该报告持否定的态度，所以选项A“批判性的”为正确答案。选项B“欣赏的”与原文意思明显相反；选项C“鄙视的”和选项D“容忍的”都是文中未出现的信息，故排除。
