Thenewstudiesshowthatfewerthanhalfofthe9thgradersinmanyofthenation’slargestcities,canevergraduate.Thestudiesclearlyshowthatthedropoutrateisn’tdropping.And,inparticular,thedropoutrateisn’tdroppingforpoorandminoritystudents.

Amazingly,thoughsomanyregrettherisingdropoutrate,ourschoolscontinuetolackformalplans--oranyplans--toteachstudentsmotivation(动机).Mostschoolshavenogameplantoensurethatstudentsunderstandthatschoolwillbecompletelynecessary.Schoolsexpectyouthandchildrentoactasthoughschoolisimportant,buttheyneverteachthemtobelievethat.

Yearsago,familiesensuredthatthe offspring recognizedthevalueofschool.Butinmanymodernfamilies,thechildrenmayfailtorecognizetheimportanceofschoollifejustbecausethesefamiliesmayactuallytellthechildthatschoolisnotimportant.Sincemanyfamiliesarenotmotivatingtheirchildrentobeinterestedstudents,youthprofessionals,liketeachersmayneedtoprovidethistraining.Otherwise,itislikelythedropoutratewillcontinuenottodrop,butonlyworsen.

Herearesomestrategiestoconvinceeventhemostapathetic(无动于衷的)studentsthattheymuststayinschool.

Askstudentsiftheywilleverneedtowork:Theworldhaschanged.100yearsago,factoryworkwastheboomingjob,anditrequirednoeducation.Today,factoriesareincreasinglyautomated.Mostcomputer-relatedjobsrequireeducationandatleastahighschooldiploma.

Askstudentswhichcenturytheywillbepreparedfor:In1900,themostcommonjobswerefarmlaboreranddomesticservant—educationnotneeded.Now,themostcommonjobsareofficeandsalesworker—educationanddiplomausuallyneeded.Anamazing6outof10peopletodayworkinastoreoroffice.

Askstudentstodeviseawaythattheemployeecouldbereplaced.Forexample,thecomingtrendinfastfoodistousecomputersratherthanpeopletoruntherestaurant.Aprototypeisapparentlyalreadybeingtested.Thestudentsshoulddiscoverthatmostjobsthatlackeducationanddiplomarequirementsmayberipeforautomation.

小题1:WhatdoestheunderlinedpartmeaninParagraph1?