Shut Out of Higher Education

Question 1

shut somebody/something out

Answer 1

Shut Out of Higher Education

*to stop somebody/something from entering a place

Question 2

catapult [kætəpʌlt]1

Answer 2

The system worked well at first, catapulting an untold number of Americans into the middle class and beyond. 
[VERB] If something catapults you into a particular state or situation, or if you catapult there, you are suddenly and unexpectedly caused to be in that state or situation.

Question 3

momentum [moʊmentəm] 2

Answer 3

But momentum was lost when federal and state aid failed to keep pace with tuition.
[NOUN] [TECHNICAL] In physics, momentum is the mass of a moving object multiplied by its speed in a particular direction.

Question 4

need-based

Answer 4

The public colleges made things worse by shifting away from need-based aid to so-called “merit” scholarships that favored politically powerful middle- and even upper-class families.
*가정형편에 기반을 둔

Question 5

pull back

Answer 5

And during both good times and bad, state legislatures pulled back funding, pushing more and more of college costs onto the shoulders of students who had to either take out big loans or forget about going to school at all.
[VERB] [adverb] to return or be returned to a rearward position by pulling

Question 6

relentless [rɪlentləs]2

Answer 6

The federal government tried to compensate by pumping more money into the Pell Grant program, but could not overcome relentless disinvestment by the states.
[ADJ] Something bad that is relentless never stops or never becomes less intense.

Question 7

cut [kʌt]

Answer 7

The cuts came just as colleges were overwhelmed by freshly laid-off workers who poured into classes looking for training and degrees.
[NOUN] [oft poss N] [INFORMAL] Someone’s cut of the profits or winnings from something, especially ones that have been obtained dishonestly, is their share.

Question 8

disinvest [|dɪsɪn|vɛst] 1 2

exact [ɪgzækt] 2

Answer 8

The states that disinvested most heavily exacted a punishing toll on poor students and the schools that serve them.
[VERB] [Biz:Economics] [usually foll by in] to remove investment (from)
[VERB] [FORMAL] When someone exacts something, they demand and obtain it from another person,

Question 9

reconfigure [|ri:kən|fɪɡə] 1 3

Answer 9

The C.A.P. calls on the federal government to reconfigure higher-education funding with the aim of pushing the states to reinvest.
[VERB] [tr] to rearrange the elements or settings of (a system, device, computer application, etc)

Question 10

shortfall [ʃɔ:rtfɔ:l]1

Answer 10

Under its proposed plan, a majority of federal funds would be allocated to the states based on the number of Pell Grant and G.I. Bill recipients who: are enrolled at public colleges; who can attend without borrowing because the state would make up any aid shortfall.
[NOUN] If there is a shortfall in something, there is less of it than you need.

Question 11

restore [rɪstɔ:r] 2

Answer 11

But it could well be necessary to restore access for low-income and working-class Americans who are increasingly finding themselves shut out of higher education.
[VERB] To restore a situation or practice means to cause it to exist again.