About 21，000 young people in 17 American states do not attend classes in school buildings.Instead，they receive their elementary and high school education by working at home on computers.The Center for Education Reform. says the United States has 67 public

Practice 8　　For most people the word “education” means “school” and “school” conjures up an image of a building with classrooms. But what do people think of when they hear “literacy programmes”? Probably nothing.　　Living in illiteracy is such an unknown-even a little mysterious-experience.  Yet today nearly a billion people are illiterate, not to mendon the 113 million school-aged children who do not attend school. Wonderful progress has been made during the last half of the twentieth century in the field of education. But still the number of adult illiterates, particularly women, rises. This is now the challenge of the twenty-first century-the thorn in the side of efforts to achieve Education for All (EFA). It has become clear that Education for All cannot be possible without Literacy for All.　　However, tremendous strides have been made in literacy. How has this been possible? Who brought it about? The people behind literacy efforts must be congratulated for working against all odds to bring about this achievement. But where are they? Who are they? What are their tasks like? And their problems, challenges and rewards? What inspires them? What conditions do they work and live under?

Directions:In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet.　　High Dropout Rate in US　　Many young people in the United States never finish high school. Exactly how many dropouts is another issue. Recent studies of dropout rates have had conflicting results. For one thing, schools define and measure their dropout rates differently.　　Some researchers say about fifteen to twenty parents of public school students do not complete their education. But many other experts and policymakers believe that for the past twenty years, the dropout rate has been around thirty percent. For Latino and black students, the numbers are even higher. Researchers say almost half of them leave school.　　At the same time, almost half the states let students leave school before the age of eighteen without informing their parents.　　Finding a good job without a high school education is more and more difficult. A Northeastern University study in 2002 found that almost half of all dropouts aged sixteen to twenty-four did not have a job.　　The lack of high school education can also lead to other problems. An estimated two-thirds of prisoners in the United States dropped out of high school.　　Recent studies have shown that the majority of students who drop out do not do it because they are failing. Many are bored with their classes or feel disconnected from their school and teachers. Some students feel that educators place low expectations on them. Teen pregnancies also add to the dropout problem.　　During the past twenty years, there have been efforts to increase graduation rate through education reforms. Some communities are working on dropout prevention programs. These include alternative high schools to meet special needs.　　Some programs, for example, provide free transportation and childcare to help young mothers and fathers finish school. Yet special programs can cost a lot, and many school systems have limited budgets.　　Federal spending on second-chance programs to help students finish school has decreased from the 1970s. This was shown in a report last year from the Educational Testing Service.　　Experts suggest early warning systems to help identify young schoolchildren at risk of dropping out of high school. They say schools also need to get parents more involved, especially if their children are missing school often.　　Questions:　　1．What is the researchers’ estimated percentage of school dropouts among Latino and black students?　　2．What efforts have been made to increase graduation rates?　　3．What has been done to help young parents complete their education?　　4．Who made a report about the decrease，of Federal spending on second-chance programs to help students finish school?　　5．What do experts suggest setting up to help prevent students from dropping out of school?