1 Scholars and students have always been great travelers. The official case for "academic

mobility" is now often stated in impressive terms as fundamental necessity for economic and social progress in the world, and debated in corridors of Europe, but it is certainly nothing new. Serious students were always ready to go abroad in search of the purest philosophy, the most effective medicine, the likeliest road to gold.

2 Mobility of this kind meant also mobility of ideas, their transference across frontiers, their simultaneous impact upon many groups of people. The point of learning is to share it, whether with students or with colleagues. It must also have been reassuring to know that other people in other parts of the world were about to make the same discovery or were thinking along the same lines, and that one was not quite alone, confronted by inquisition, ridicule or neglect.

3 In the twentieth century, and particularly in the last 20 years, the old footpaths of the wandering scholars have become vast highways. The vehicle Which has made this possible has of course been the aeroplane, providing for the very rapid transmission of knowledge.

4 Apart from the vehicle itself, some main factors are purely quantitative and require no further mention, there are far more centers of learning, and a far greater number of scholars and students.

5 In addition one must recognise the very considerable multiplication of disciplines, particularly in the sciences, which by widening the total area of advanced studies has produced an enormous number of specialists whose particular interests are precisely defined. These people would work in some isolation if they were not able to keep in touch with similar isolated groups in other countries. Associated with this is the growth of specialist periodicals, which enable scholars to become aware of what is happening in different centers of research and to meet each other in conferences and symposia. From these meetings come the personal relationships which are at the bottom of almost all formalized schemes of co- operation, and provide them with most satisfactory stimulus.

6 But as the specializations have increased in number and narrowed in range, there has been an opposite movement towards interdisciplinary studies. These owe much to the belief that one cannot properly investigate the incredibly complex problems thrown up by the modern world and by recent advances in our knowledge along the narrow front of a single discipline. This trend has led to a great deal of academic contact between disciplines, and far greater emphasis 0n the pooling of specialist knowledge, reflected in the broad subjects chosen in many international conferences.

Literally, "academic mobility" means ______.

A．academic traveling

B．sharing ideas and experiences

C．academic research

D．transmission of knowledge