Question

Many young people in the United States never finish high school. Exactly how many drop out is another issue. Recent studies of  __1__ rate have had conflicting results.

For one thing, schools define and measure their dropout rates __2__. Some researchers say about 15 to 20 percent of public school students do not  __3__ their education on time. __4__  many other experts and policymakers believe that for the past 20 years, the dropout rate has been around 30 percent. For Latino and black students, the  __5__  are even larger. Researchers say almost half of them  __6__  school. At the same time, almost half of the states let students leave school  __7__  the age of 18 without informing their parents.

Finding a good job  __8__  a high school education is becoming more and more difficult. A Northeastern University  __9__  in 2002 found that almost half of all dropouts aged 16 to 24 did not have a job. The  __10__  of a high school education can also  __11__ other problems. It is estimated that two－thirds of prisoners in the United States dropped out of high school.

Recent studies have  __12__  that the majority of students who drop out do it because they are failing. Many are  __13__ with their classes or feel disconnected from their school and teachers. Some students feel that educators place low  __14__  on them.

During the past 20 years, there have been efforts to  __15__  graduation rate through education reforms. Some communities are working on dropout  __16__ programs. These include some alternative high schools to meet special  __17__.

Experts think “early warning systems” can help __18__ young schoolchildren at the risk of dropping out of high school. They say schools also need to get  __19__ more involved, especially if their children are  __20__  school often.

1. A. research    B. finishing    C. dropout  D. completing

2. A. personally  B. individually  C. differently  D. similarly

3. A. complete   B. reach       C. practise  D. operate

4. A. And       B. Besides      C. Instead  D. But

5. A. people     B. students  C. dropouts  D. numbers

6. A. approach  B. leave  C. stay  D. enter

7. A. after     B. until  C. before  D. when

8. A. without        B. together with

C. out of         D. off

9. A. project  B. design  C. sketch  D. study

10. A. importance     B. lack

C. need          D. requirement

11. A. lead to  B. result  C. conclude  D. include

12. A. noticed  B. watched  C. shown  D. inspected

13. A. bored  B. interested  C. indifferent  D. unconcerned 

14. A. outlook  B. prediction  C. remark  D. expectations

15. A. decrease  B. reduce  C. increase  D. unite

16. A. prevention      B. conservation

C. permission      D. admittance

17. A. needs  B. ways  C. advantages  D. means

18. A. receive  B. accept  C. get  D. identify

19. A. mates  B. teachers  C. parents  D. neighbours

20. A. missing  B. staying  C. leaving  D. studying

Answer 1

. 1. 解析：選C。前后文多次提到dropout“輟學”。

2. 解析：選C。 后文提到的some researchers和many other experts and policymakers各有不同的看法，所以要用differently。

3. 解析：選A。根據上下文可以看出這部分學生沒有完成學業(yè)，故用complete。

4. 解析：選D。some researchers和many other experts and policymakers各有不同的看法，因此是轉折概念，要用but。

5. 解析：選D。前文的rate和后文的 higher，說明這里談論的是數字。

6. 解析：選B。本文主要談論輟學問題，所以此處應用leave。

7. 解析：選C。通過the age of 18 without informing their parents可看出，學生是在18歲之前就輟學了。

8. 解析：選A。becoming more and more difficult說明前文要用without。

9. 解析：選D。found that是典型的結論用語，說明前面是一個研究。后文也出現了相同的詞匯。

10. 解析：選B。can also說明與前文的類型相同即與without a high school education是同一個概念。所以此處用the lack of a high school education。

11. 解析：選A。lead to other problems導致其他的問題。

12. 解析：選C。與前文found that對應。

13. 解析：選A。failing和后文的 disconnected 說明學生對學習不感興趣。

14. 解析：選D。教育者對學生們的期望值較低。

15. 解析：選C。efforts和through education reforms說明要增加graduation rates。

16. 解析：選A。和“efforts to increase graduation rate through education reforms”有著同樣效果的措施就是“working on dropout prevention programs”，即阻止輟學計劃。

17. 解析：選A。alternative high schools作為解決輟學的一種措施是為滿足學生的需要。

18. 解析：選D。identify識別，鑒別。這里是說早發(fā)現早采取措施。

19. 解析：選C。get sb. involved意為“讓某人關注”，依據上下文應是讓孩子的父母關注，故選parents。

20. 解析：選A。miss school意為“曠課”。