For high school leavers starting out in the working world, it is very important to learn particular skills and practice how to behave in an interview or how to find all internship(实习). In some countries, schools have programs to help students onto the path to work. In the Unites States, however, such programs are still few and far between.
Research shows that if high schools provide career-related courses, students are likely to get higher earnings in later years. The students are more likely to stay in school, graduate and go on to higher education.
In Germany, students as young as 13 and 14 are expected to do internships. German companies work with schools to make sure that young people get the education they need for future employment.
But in America, education reform programs focus on how well students do in exams instead of bringing them into contact with the working world. Harvard Education school professor Robert Schwartz has criticized education reformers for trying to place all graduates directly on the four-year college track. Schwartz argued that this approach leaves the country’s most vulnerable(易受影响的)kids with no jobs and no skills.
Schwartz believed that the best career programs encourage kids to go for higher education while also teaching them valuable practical skills at high school. James Madison High School in New York, for example, encourages students to choose classes on career-based courses. The school then helps them gain on-the-job experience in those fields while they’re still at high school.
However, even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work, the job market is daunting. In the US, unemployment rates for 16-to 19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row.
“The risk is that if teenagers miss out on the Summer job experience, they become part of this generation of teens who had trouble in landing a job,”said Michael, a researcher in the US.
小题1:According to Robert Schwartz，_________.
A．there is no need for kids to go for higher education in the US
B．students should get contact with the working world at high school
C．education reform should focus on students’performance in exams
D．teenagers in the US can’t miss out on the summer job experience小题2:What’s the main idea of the text?
A．Arguments about recent US education reform.
B．Tips on finding jobs for high school leavers.
C．The lack of career-based courses in US high schools.
D．Advice for American high school leavers.小题3:The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 5 most probably means___________.
A．discouraging
B．interesting
C．creative
D．unbearable
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:A
题目分析：文章主要介绍了通过与德国的中学的情况的比较，来说明在美国中学里，还是很缺乏有关职业生涯的基本课程。
小题1:考查细节理解题。根据第六段的even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work，the job market is daunting 看出答案是B
小题2:考查主旨大意题。文章第一段的In some countries，schools have programs to help students onto the path to work．In the Unites States，however，such programs are still few and far between 点出了主题，选C。
小题3:考查词义猜测题。从下文的In the US，unemployment rates for 16-to 19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row．可猜出词义是discouraging。选A。
点评：文章兼顾细节题、主旨题、词义猜测题的考查，在解答这类问题时要求学生抓住题干文字信息，采用针对性方法进行阅读，细节的答案在文章中可以直接找到，推理就要结合句子进行推理。