Most students who drop out of high school in the United States admit they made a mistake by quitting and some say they might have stayed if classes were more challenging, according to a report released on Thursday.
Researchers said they were surprised to find that a majority of the 467 dropouts they interviewed were not what most people would consider underachievers (学习落后的学生), troublemakers, and losers. One-third said they were failing in school, but more than six out of ten were maintaining (保持) C averages or better when they quit.
“The teacher just stood in front of the room and just talked and didn’t really involve you,” a young female respondent from Baltimore said.
“There wasn’t anybody to keep me there,” said a young man from Philadelphia who dreamed of going to college but quit high school with one year to go and is now unemployed.
“There wasn’t any learning going on,” another complained. “They make you take classes in school that you’re never going to use in life.”
Three out of four said that if they could turn back the clock, they would choose to stay, and eight out of ten said they recognized that a high school diploma (毕业证书) was important to succeed in life. Statistics show they are right. A high school dropout on average earns $9,200 a year much less than what a high school graduate earns, and about $1 million less over a lifetime compared to a college graduate.
【小题1】Most dropouts in the United States are happy to leave school.