A new report says only about half of all students in the main school systems of America’s largest cities finish high school. The report notes higher rates of graduation — over 70% —in areas surrounding the cities. Researchers studied high school graduation rates from the 2003, 2004 school year. They also identified the nation’s fifty largest cities. The largest, New York City, had a population of more than eight million. The smallest city was Wichita, Kansas. It had about three hundred and sixty thousand people.
Researchers used a system of measurement called the cumulative promotion index to find graduation rates. School officials in many of the cities studied said the resulting numbers were too low. That is because different areas use different methods to find graduation rates. Critics say many methods do not give a true picture of the number of students who leave high school before finishing.
Other studies have put the national graduation rate at about 70%. But experts agree that too many students are not pleting high school. They estimate the number at more than one million each year. The report was prepared for America’s Promise Alliance. The private group aims to help children receive services they need to succeed.
General Colin Powell was chairman of America’s Promise Alliance when it was formed in 1997. He attended the press conference Tuesday where the report was released. He said studies have shown that the US must do more to educate the leaders and work force of the future.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings also spoke. She said the government will propose that states use the same methods when reporting graduation rates. Alliance officials also announced the start of a nationwide campaign to improve graduation rates. It is to include a series of meetings to be held in every state over the next two years. The meetings will bring together elected leaders, business owners, students, parents and education officials. They will develop plans to increase the number of Americans who finish high school.
【小题1】The author wants to tell us .A．too many Americans do not finish high schoolB．different methods to find graduation ratesC．services American children need to receiveD．the increase of the number of Americans who finish their high school【小题2】From Paragraph 1 we can infer that .A．there are 8,360,000 people in the US’ fifty largest citiesB．Wichita in Kansas is the smallest city in the USC．50% of the people in the US don’t finish their high school educationD．high school graduation rates in or near the biggest cities are higher【小题3】 The underlined word “picture” probably can be replaced by “ ”.A．situationB．sceneC．imageD．mood【小题4】From the last paragraph, we can draw a conclusion that -.A．secretary of Education Margaret Spellings didn’t believe that number from the reportB．the government will stop using the cumulative promotion index to find graduation ratesC．secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the start of a nationwide campaign to improve graduation ratesD．the low graduation rates should be paid attention to by the government and the societyA
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(答案→)A
解析：
【小题1】A 推理题：从文章第一段的句子：A new report says only about half of all students in the main school systems of America’s largest cities finish high school.只有一半的美国学生高中毕业，也就是还有很多没毕业。
【小题1】D细节题：从第一段的句子：The report notes higher rates of graduation — over 70% —in areas surrounding the cities.看出毕业率高的地方是在大城市里或是附近。
【小题1】A 猜词题：从这句话Critics say many methods do not give a true picture of the number of students who leave high school before finishing.看出句意是：很多方法不能真正的表示学生毕业数量的情况。选A。
【小题1】D推理题：从最后一段的句子：Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings also spoke. She said the government will propose that states use the same methods when reporting graduation rates说明她认为政府应该重视这个问题。