CNN 2010-01-19

AZUZ: In Washington, D.C., a commission set up by Congress is investigating the U.S. financial crisis. They're looking into what caused it and hopefully how to avoid another one in the future. As part of that investigation¹, the commission has been talking with some government officials. And yesterday, it met with the chief executives of four of the country's biggest banks. The head of the commission said he wanted to hear the bankers talk about their companies' roles in causing the crisis. The executives acknowledged that their banks had made mistakes, but said they didn't realize how bad those mistakes were at the time.

 

Shoutout

MATT CHERRY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! What percent of American students earn their high school diploma? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) 50 percent, B) 70 percent, C) 85 percent or D) 95 percent? You've got three seconds -- GO! Only 70 percent of students earn their high school diplomas. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

 

Dropout² Ripple³ Effect

AZUZ: Okay, that number may surprise you. Another thing you might not realize is that getting your high school diploma can help many more people than just you. A new study looked at how communities would've benefited if more people stayed in school. Take a look at what it found out.

 

(BEGIN VIDEO)

AZUZ: Soaring unemployment, states trying to avoid running out of money: Could students dropping out of high school actually make this worse? Absolutely, says the Alliance for Excellent Education. The group's been analyzing⁴ the effects that dropouts have, not only on themselves, but on the places where they live, and they found that just getting a high school diploma can dramatically affect communities.

 

Here's how the study worked: An estimated 600,000 students dropped out of the class of 2008. The Alliance figured out how the country could've benefited if just half of them, 300,000, had gotten their diplomas. It estimated they would've earned a combined $4.1 billion more money in an average year. Then, they could've spent $2.8 billion more and invested more than $1 billion more.

 

So what? Well, all that additional spending could've supported 30,000 more jobs; you know we could use them now. And down the road, these hypothetical graduates could've bought homes valued at $10.5 billion more than what they'd have spent without diplomas. And they'd probably have the money to spend $340 million more on cars. With the taxes that come with all that spending, the Alliance estimates that states and communities would be pulling in an extra $536 million a year. And the point? To show how getting a diploma doesn't just help students, it helps the...

 

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

3 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

4 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句