题目内容：
Questionsarebasedonthefollowingpassage. Fordecades,AmericanshavetakenforgrantedtheUnitedStates'leadershippositioninthedevelopmentofnewtechnologies.Theinnovations(创新)thatresultedfromresearchanddevelopmentduringWorldWarⅡandafterwardswere36totheprosperityofthenationinthesecondhalfofthe20thcentury.Thoseinnovations,uponwhichvirtuallyallaspectsof37societynowdepend,werepossiblebecausetheUnitedStatesthen38theworldinmathematicsandscienceeducation.
Today,however,despiteincreasingdemandforworkerswithstrongskillsinmathematicsandscience,the39ofdegreesawardedinscience,math,andengineeringaredecreasing.
ThedeclineindegreeproductioninwhatarecalledtheSTEMdisciplines(science,technology,engineering,andmath)seemstobe40relatedtothecomparativelyweakperformancebyU.S.schoolchildrenoninternationalassessmentsofmathandscience.Manystudentsenteringcollegehaveweakskillsinmathematics.Accordingtothe2005reportoftheBusiness-HigherEducationForum,22percentofcollegefreshmenmusttakeremedial(补习的)math41,andlessthanhalfofthestudentswhoplantomajorinscienceorengineering42completeamajorinthosefields.
TheresulthasbeenadecreaseinthenumberofAmericancollegegraduateswhohavetheskills,43inmathematics,topoweraworkforcethatcankeepthecountryattheforefront(前沿)ofinnovationandmaintainitsstandardofliving.Withthe44performanceofAmericanstudentsinmathandsciencehascomeincreasedcompetitionfromstudentsfromothercountriesthathavestronglysupportededucationintheseareas.Manymorestudentsearn45intheSTEMdisciplinesindevelopingcountriesthanintheUnitedStates.
A．accelerating
B．actually
C．closely
D．contemporary
E．courses
F．critical
G．declining
H．degrees
I．especially
J．future
K．led
L．met
M．procedures
N．proportions
O．spheres
第(36)题应填__________
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答案解析：