Question

for many years, the cost of faculty salaries and benefits rose faster than tuition and contributions to endowments, so that some ____ were in danger of becoming ____.
students -- dropouts
colleges -- expensive
unions -- superfluous
universities -- insolvent

Explanation:

We analyze the context: the sentence is about costs (faculty salaries/benefits) rising faster than income (tuition, endowments contributions). We evaluate each option:

• "students... dropouts": Doesn't relate to cost vs income imbalance. Eliminate.
• "colleges... expensive": "Expensive" doesn't fit the financial danger (insolvency) context. Eliminate.
• "unions... superfluous": Unions aren't the subject of cost - income imbalance here. Eliminate.
• "universities... insolvent": Universities have faculty, tuition, and endowments. If costs outpace income, they face insolvency (financial ruin), which fits.

Answer:

D. universities... insolvent