輟學字面意思是中途停止上學，指學生沒有完成規定學業發生的中途退學行為。現在社會盡管經濟有所發展，但是還是有一部分學生因為各種原因輟學。下面，我們一起走進這份英語聽力材料中，看看美國的輟學問題。
Articles in magazines and newspapers and special reports on radio and television reflect the concern of many Americans about the increasing dropout rate in our junior and senior high schools.
報刊雜誌上的文章以及廣播電臺的特別報道反映了許多美國人對中學日益增長的輟學率的擔憂。
Coupled with this fact is the warning that soon we will no longer have workforce to fill the many jobs that require properly-educated personnel.
伴隨而來的警告是，我們很快將缺乏足夠的勞動力以滿足那些需要受過一定教育的人員所從事的工作。
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 administrators 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輟學率的。據報道10年前許多城市學校的輟學率就在35%到40%之間。有的管理者堅稱輟學仍然是他們學校僅有的最嚴重的'問題。結果是，為了在學生失敗前給予更多的關注，學校花費了更多的努力找出有問題的學生。
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 truancy, that is, staying away from school without permission. Under the guidance of counselors, these students are placed in classes with teachers who have had success in working with similar young people.
由於輟學問題不僅僅發生在高中，在國中，一些特殊專案也在開始關注那些有前途但卻有逃課記錄的學生，逃課也就是未經許可而缺課的行為。
Strategies to motivate students in high school include rewarding academic excellence by designating scholars of the month, or by issuing articles of clothing, such as school letter jackets formally given only to athletes.
按照諮詢師的建議，這些學生被放在某些教師的班級中，而那些教師曾有過成功教育類似青年的經驗。在高中，激勵學生的措施包括評選月度獎學金獲得者以作為對學生學術成果的回報，獎勵服裝類商品，如只把校服正式授予校運動員。
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, unemployed citizens affect us all.
沒有一個和這些學生打交道的人宣稱知道如何把所有的學生留在學校。諮詢師、教師和行政管理人員衝在這場有時看似必輸的戰爭的前面。事實上，這是我們每個人都應該關心的問題，因為未接受教育的、無職業的公民會影響我們所有人。
重點英語詞彙整理：
1. reflect v. 反映，反思
2. dropout n. 退學學生
3. junior adj. 下級的，年少的 n. 三年級生，年少者
4. senior adj. 年長的，資格較老的 n.長輩，大四學生
5. workforce n.勞動力，職工總數
6. personnel n. 人員，職員:
7. urban adj.城市的，都市的
8. maintain v. 維修，保養
9. consequently adv.所以，因此
10. identify v. 識別，鑑定
