Humanities teach students to think. Where would we be without them?

Related words:

1. axe = cut = eliminate = trim v 改掉，撤銷 e.g. TV's longest running show is to be axed.
2. rescind v 廢除（法律，命令），取消
3. ambiguity n 模糊兩可，歧義
4. frivolous adj 無嚴(yán)肅目的，無意義的，無價值的

Vocabulary:

1. paranoid adj 過度焦慮的，多疑的 paranoia n. 多疑，瞎猜疑
2. ideology n 意識形態(tài)
3. at work 起作用
4. discrepancy = gap = difference 不一致，差異
5. reduce someone/ something to 使某人將至E.g. She has been reduced to near poverty 他幾乎淪落到一無所有。
6. banner n 橫幅，旗幟
7. churn sth out 不顧質(zhì)量的粗制濫造 e.g. She has been churning out novels for twenty years.
8. eloquent adj 雄辯的，有說服力
9. congenial to sth 適合，適宜的， 投緣的

Nice sentence:

1. （大學(xué)可能是很多人唯一一次學(xué)習(xí)文科的機會）Students need jobs when they graduate. But a singular opportunity has been lost if they are denied the opportunity to study foreign languages, the classics, literature,music and art. When else in their busy lives will they get that chance?
2. (為什么要學(xué)習(xí)文科）Eloquent defenses of the humanities-which explain why we need these subjects-have appeared. Those of us who teach and study are aware of what these areas of learning provide: the ability to think critically and independently; to tolerate ambiguity; to see both sides of an issue; to look beneath the surface of what we are being told; to appreaciate the ways in which language can help us understand one another more clearly and profoundly. They help us learn how to think, and they equip us to live in-to sustain-a democracy.
3. （學(xué)習(xí)人文學(xué)科的理由2）Studying the classics and philosophy teaches students where we come from, and how our modes of reasoning have evolved over time. Learning foreign languages, and about other cultures, enables students to understand how other societies resemble or differ from own. Is it entirely paranoid to wonder if these subjects are under attack because they enable students to think in ways that are more complex than the reductive simplifications so congenial to our current political and corporate discourse?(人文學(xué)科鼓勵學(xué)生的思考方式是比適用于現(xiàn)在政治和商業(yè)的簡單化思考方式要復(fù)雜的多的）