The social sciencesare less likely than other intellectual enterprises to getcredit for (get credit for: 因...而得到好评) their accomplishments. Arguably,this is so because the theories and conceptual constructs of the socialsciences are especially accessible: human intelligence apprehends truths abouthuman affairs with particular facility (with facility: 容易). And the discoveries ofthe social sciences, once isolated and labeled, are quickly absorbed into conventionalwisdom, whereupon (whereupon: adv.于是, 因此) they lose their distinctiveness as scientific advances.
This underappreciationof the social sciences contrasts oddly with what many see as their overutilization.Game theory is pressed into service (press into service: v.暂时征用) instudies of shifting international alliances. Evaluation research is called uponto demonstrate successes or failures of social programs. Models from economicsand demography become the definitive tools for examining the financial base ofsocial security. Yet this rush into practical applications is itself quite understandable:public policy must continually be made, and policymakers rightly feel that evententative findings and untested theories are better guides to decision-makingthan no findings and no theories at all.
20. Theauthor confronts the claim that the social sciences are being overutilized with
(A) proof thatoverextensions of social science results are self-correcting
(B) evidencethat some public policy is made without any recourse to social science findingsor theories
(C) a long listof social science applications that are perfectly appropriate and extremelyfruitful
(D) theargument that overutilization is by and large the exception rather than therule(E)
(E) theobservation that this practice represents the lesser of two evils underexisting circumstances