美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-12-08

 A lot of young people are out looking for a job but not working one. A new report says youth employment in the U.S is at its lowest level since the World War II.  We're talking about people ages 16 to 24, the Annie E. Casey Foundation says that only half of them had jobs in 2011. And if you just look at teenagers, only one in four had a job last year. The year 2000, almost half of them did. The reasons, the lingering effects of the Great Recession. A lot of the entry level jobs the young people used to count on, like those at clothing stores or restaurants for example are going to more experienced or more educated workers. One side of that is that young people aren't getting the early working experience that would help them later on. Some organizations wanna give the students the chance to get that experience, but not through a job, at school. And not during regular classes either. This is part of something called the "Time Collaborative", and for around 2,000 students, it means they are gonna be spending more time at school.

 

We're talking about more than 40 schools in five states. Next school year, they are gonna be open an additional 300 hours, so it works out to about 90 minutes extra a day on average. It won't necessarily mean more time in science, or language arts classes, though that is possible. The organizer says the extra time could be spend on internships, on apprenticeships, or music or art programs. One goal will be to help lower performing students to do better. An analyst³ says the program could help increase test scores, but it can also increase the dropout⁴ rates. He said if the extra time looks and feels like the rest of the school day, then those at risk students might not go for it.

 

A middle schooler who spoke⁵ to one of our affiliates⁶, said student don't want more time in school. She said students want to be get a break from learning. What do you say? We want hear your thoughts on this. Let's say your school adds the extra time, an extra hour and a half. How would you want to spend it, more academic, the focus on music and drama programs, getting internship¹ or apprenticeship² credit. Tell us and tell us only your first names on our blog, cnnstudentnews.com.

 

1 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

2 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 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。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。