走遍全世界39: 美国的辍学问题

Articles in magazines and newspapers and special reports on radio and television reflect the concern of many Americans about the increasing dropout¹ rate in our junior and senior high schools.

报刊杂志上的文章以及广播电台的特别报道反映了许多美国人对中学日益增长的辍学率的担忧。

Coupled with this fact is the warning that soon we will no longer have workforce² to fill the many jobs that require properly-educated personnel.

伴随而来的警告是，我们很快将缺乏足够的劳动力以满足那些需要受过一定教育的人员所从事的工作。

The highest student dropout rate is not a recent development. Ten years ago, many urban schools were reporting dropout rates between 35 and 50 percent. Some administrators³ maintain that dropouts remain the single greatest problem in their schools. Consequently, much effort has been spent on identifying students with problems in order to give them more attention before they become failures.

不是最近才大道最高辍学率的。据报道10年前许多城市学校的辍学率就在35%到40%之间。有的管理者坚称辍学仍然是他们学校仅有的最严重的问题。结果是，为了在学生失败前给予更多的关注，学校花费了更多的努力找出有问题的学生。

Since the dropout problem doesn't only start in senior high school, special programs in junior high school focus on students who show promise but have a record of truancy⁴, that is, staying away from school without permission. Under the guidance of counselors⁵, these students are placed in classes with teachers who have had success in working with similar young people.

由于辍学问题不仅仅发生在高中，在初中，一些特殊项目也在开始关注那些有前途但却有逃课记录的学生，逃课也就是未经许可而缺课的行为。

Strategies to motivate students in high school include rewarding academic excellence⁶ by designating scholars of the month, or by issuing articles of clothing, such as school letter jackets formally given only to athletes.

按照咨询师的建议，这些学生被放在某些教师的班级中，而那些教师曾有过成功教育类似青年的经验。在高中，激励学生的措施包括评选月度奖学金获得者以作为对学生学术成果的回报，奖励服装类商品，如只把校服正式授予校运动员。

No one working with these students claims to know how to keep all students in school. Counselors, teachers, and administrators are in the frontlines of what seems at times to be a losing battle. Actually, this problem should be everyone's concern, since uneducated, unemployed⁷ citizens affect us all.

没有一个和这些学生打交道的人宣称知道如何把所有的学生留在学校。咨询师、教师和行政管理人员冲在这场有时看似必输的战争的前面。事实上，这是我们每个人都应该关心的问题，因为未接受教育的、无职业的公民会影响我们所有人。

英语词汇整理：

1. reflect v. 反映，反思

eg: I have reflected upon his suggestion.
我已经认真思考了他的建议。

短语：
reflect on 思考；反省；回想
reflect upon 考虑（回想；回顾）

2. dropout n. 退学学生

eg: I was harvard's most successful dropout.
我是哈佛最成功的辍学生。

短语：
dropout student 失学儿童
college dropout 大学辍学者

3. junior adj. 下级的，年少的 n. 三年级生，年少者

eg: Their youngest daughter Amy's a junior at the University of Evansville in Indiana.
他们最小的女儿埃米是印第安纳州埃文斯维尔大学的三年级学生。

短语：
junior high school 初中
junior student 大三学生
junior staff 初级人员；资历较浅的员工；基层员工

4. senior adj. 年长的，资格较老的 n.长辈，大四学生

eg: The position had to be filled by an officer senior to Haig.
这个位置必须由一名职位比黑格高的军官来填补。

短语：
senior high school 高中
senior management 高级管理
senior staff  高级职员
senior executive 高级执行官
senior citizen 老年人

5. workforce n.劳动力，职工总数

eg: Only about half of the original workforce remains⁸.
只剩下大约原来一半的劳动力。

短语：
workforce capability⁹ 劳动力能力
workforce Planning 劳动力规划
Workforce Level 劳动力水平

6. personnel n. 人员，职员:

eg: There has been very little renewal¹⁰ of personnel in higher education.
高等教育事业中人员更新很少。

短语：
technical personnel 技术人员
personnel training 人员培训
service personnel 保修人员；服务行业人员

7. urban adj.城市的，都市的

eg: For a small state it has a large urban population.
作为一个小州，其城市人口算是很多了。

短语：
urban population 城市人口
urban life 城市生活，都市生活

8. maintain v. 维修，保养

eg: The house costs a fortune to maintain.
维修这房子花费巨大。

短语：
maintain contact with 与......保持联系
maintain in 维持......；保持......
maintain order 维持秩序

9. consequently adv.所以，因此

eg: She was a bright and eager student and, consequently, did well in school.
她是个聪明好学的学生,因此学习成绩很好。

10. identify v. 识别，鉴定

eg: There are a number of distinguishing characteristics by which you can identify a Hollywood epic¹¹.
通过其诸多与众不同的特点,你可以识别出好莱坞的史诗影片。

短语：
identify oneself 证明自己(的身份)
identify oneself with 认为......等同于，与一致

11. truancy n. 逃学，玩忽职守

eg: Truancy is common at this school.
在这个学校旷课是很普遍的。

短语：
truancy officer 劝学员
internal truancy 校内逃学
recessive¹² truancy 隐性逃课

12. permission n. 同意，许可

eg: With your permission, he'll go. 
如果你允许，他会去的。

短语：
without permission 未经许可
with one's permission 如果......允许的话
ask for permission 征求许可；请求允许
grant permission准许

13. guidance n. 引导，指导

eg: Under his guidance, we finished the work smoothly¹³.
在他的指导下，我们顺利地完成了工作。

短语：
under the guidance of 在......的指引下
take someone under one's guidance 使某人受自己的指导，置某人于自己的庇护之下

14. motivate v. 激发，刺激

eg: They are motivated by a need to achieve.
他们被成功的需要激励着。

短语：
motivate the action 促进这项活动
motivate one's pupils 激励学生

15. designate v. 指定 adj. 指定的

eg: She designated the place where we were to meet.
她指定了我们将会面的地点。

短语：
designate sb as 称某人为......
designate sb for (to) some office 任命某人担任某职

佳句采摘：
Consequently, much effort has been spent on identifying students with problems in order to give them more attention before they become failures.
结果是，为了在学生失败前给予更多的关注，学校花费了更多的努力找出有问题的学生。

1 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

2 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 truancy   

n.逃学，旷课

参考例句：

• Schools need to reduce levels of truancy.学校需要减少旷课人数。
• It was a day for impulse and truancy.这是个适于冲动或偷懒的日子。

5 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

6 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

10 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

11 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

12 recessive   

adj.退行的，逆行的，后退的，隐性的

参考例句：

• Blue eyes are recessive and brown eyes are dominant.蓝眼睛是隐性的；而褐色眼睛是显性的。
• Sickle-cell anaemia is passed on through a recessive gene.镰状细胞贫血通过隐性基因遗传给后代。

13 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。