Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, put a plan to make higher education at public universities free at the cent

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问题     Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, put a plan to make higher education at public universities free at the centre of his upstart campaign for the presidency in 2015. The idea seemed radical, even gimmicky. Now some democrats oppose the notion, for example Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, and their arguments still pack a punch. Why indeed should taxpayers’ money be spent on the children of the rich rather than more generous financial aid for the poor?
    Across much of the rich world, a public-university education is free or nearly free, apart from the cost of books and living expenses. But those in America and Britain pay tuition fees which are high and growing higher. Places like America and Britain pass some of this increase on to students in the form of higher fees, with the understanding that poorer students will receive financial aid while richer ones will bear the full tuition bill.
    To many politicians in these places, this seems just. Unlike primary or secondary education, university is a minority pursuit in most advanced economies. Only about 45% of adults aged 25 to 34 have some post-secondary education. Those people tend to come from richer families. A universal programme that mostly benefits a well-off not-quite-half of the country would seem a strange aspiration for egalitarian-minded politicians. Better to target aid at those from poorer families.
    However, supporters of free university marshal a number of practical arguments. University attendees are more likely to come from wealthier families precisely because university is not free. Several analyses of the introduction of tuition fees in Britain found a negative effect on university attendance. A report produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that an increase of £1,000 ($1,243) in tuition fees is associated with a decline of 3.9 percentage points in the rate at which recent school-leavers choose to go on to university. Work by Thomas Kane of Harvard University found a response of similar magnitude in America. And research by Susan Dynarski of the University of Michigan and Judith Scott-Clayton of Columbia University concludes that both attendance and completion rates are higher when education is more affordable.
    But the most powerful arguments for free university are about values rather than economic efficiency. There are broad social benefits to a well-educated citizenry, because new ideas allow society as a whole to prosper. Amid constant technological change, a standing offer of free higher education may represent an important component of the social safety-net. Universality reinforces the idea that free education is not a makeshift form of redistribution, but part of a system of collective insurance forming an egalitarian society.
Egalitarian-minded politicians believed a universal programme should__________.

选项 A、provide a free public-university education
B、cover the rising cost of higher education
C、make a balance between the rich and the poor
D、better benefit students from poorer families

答案 D

解析 根据题干关键信息Egalitarian-minded politicians和a universal programme定位至第三段倒数第二句。该句提出A universal programme that mostly benefits a well-off not-quite-half of the country would seem a strange aspiration for egalitarian-minded politicians.(对于推崇平等主义的政客来说,一项普及计划主要惠及的是不到全国人口一半的富裕人群似乎是个奇怪的愿望),接下来原文提到Better to target aid at those from poorer families.(最好给予那些来自较贫困家庭的人援助),由此可知,推崇平等主义的政客希望普及计划最好让来自较贫困家庭的学生受益,故选项[D]为正确答案。
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