Fill in the blanks with the appropriate article.
While ____________ majority of scholars advocate for interdisciplinary research, only ___________ handful of institutions have successfully implemented such models.

Correct option is D

The correct option to fill in the blank is (d) the, a.
Explanation: We use the majority of + plural noun when referring to a specific, understood group (here, “of scholars” defines the set), so the majority is idiomatic and natural. With handful, the fixed expression is a handful of + plural noun meaning “a very small number”; it takes the indefinite article because the small number is not previously identified or unique.
Example: While the majority of voters favored the reform, only a handful of states enacted it.
Why other options are incorrect:
· (a) a, a — a majority can work in some contexts, but with a defined set (“of scholars”) and a generic generalization, the majority is preferred; a majority weakens the specificity.
· (b) the, the — the handful would imply a specific handful already known to the reader; here we mean an unspecified small number.
· (c) a, the — Both articles are misapplied for the reasons above.
Information booster / exceptions:
· majority/minority of + plural noun: verb can be plural when focusing on the members (The majority of scholars support…), but singular when treated as a unit (The majority is in favor).
· a number of takes plural verb (A number of students are…), but the number of takes singular (The number of students is…).
· a handful of behaves like few/several → takes a plural noun and typically a plural verb (A handful of institutions have…).