The new studies show that fewer than half of the 9th graders in many of the nation’s largest cities, can ever graduate. The studies clearly show that
the dropout rate isn’t dropping. And, in particular, the dropout rate isn’t dropping for poor and minority students.
Amazingly, though so many regret the rising dropout rate, our schools continue to lack formal plans--or any plans--to teach students motivation(動機). Most schools have no game plan to ensure that students understand that school will be completely necessary. Schools expect youth and children to act as though school is important, but they never teach them to believe that.
Years ago, families ensured that the offspring recognized the value of school. But in many modern families, the children may fail to recognize the importance of school life just because these families may actually tell the child that school is not important. Since many families are not motivating their children to be interested students, youth professionals, like teachers may need to provide this training. Otherwise, it is likely the dropout rate will continue not to drop, but only worsen.
Here are some strategies to convince even the most apathetic (無動于衷的) students that they must stay in school.
Ask students if they will ever need to work: The world has changed. 100 years ago, factory work was the booming job, and it required no education. Today, factories are increasingly automated. Most computer-related jobs require education and at least a high school diploma.
Ask students which century they will be prepared for: In 1900, the most common jobs were farm laborer and domestic servant—education not needed. Now, the most common jobs are office and sales worker—education and diploma usually needed. An amazing 6 out of 10 people today work in a store or office.
Ask students to devise a way that the employee could be replaced. For example, the coming trend in fast food is to use computers rather than people to run the restaurant. A prototype is apparently already being tested. The students should discover that most jobs that lack education and diploma requirements may be ripe for automation.
小題1: What does the underlined part mean in Paragraph1?
| A．Few students can afford to go to school in large cities. |
| B．A large number of the 9th grades can graduate now. |
| C．There are still quite a few 9th graders leaving school early. |
| D．Most schools in large cities have fewer and fewer students. |
小題2:Without the help of youth professionals,_____.
| A．more and more families will gradually recognize the value of school. |
| B．some parents will be more convinced of their children’s future. |
| C．it is likely that the dropout rate in schools won’t continue to drop. |
| D．the schools will make proper plans to solve the problems with dropout. |
小題3:The author takes factory work for example mainly to ______.
| A．tell us that many jobs requires certain education in the past |
| B．show that there are more factory work and employment in modern society |
| C．show that employment in the computer field grows at a high rate |
| D．emphasize that modern jobs require education and schools are necessary |
小題4:It can be inferred that______.
| A．both schools and families should answer for the high dropout rate |
| B．many new jobs don’t need children’s high school diploma |
| C．working in a store doesn’t require a high school diploma |
| D．most schools are ready to help students recognize the importance of study |
小題5: If students play the “Replace Me” game, the result would be “______”.
| A．They will know that they can ‘a(chǎn)lways’ do without a diploma |
| B．More of them will drop out early to go to work |
| C．They will discover that lack education is a disadvantage in choosing jobs |
| D．They will become better at using computers to hunt for a job |
