受过最好教育的美国人分布在哪儿?

Where Are the Best Educated Americans? 受过最好教育的美国人分布在哪儿?

The best educated Americans live mainly in the northeastern United States or in California, a new study finds.

Zippia.com, a career resource website, studied education levels in all 50 states.

It found that 40 percent of adults in Massachusetts have at least a  bachelor’s degree. They completed a four-year study program at a college or university. Just three percent of Massachusetts high school students withdrew¹ from school before finishing their studies.

Other states on the top 10 list are Vermont, Virginia, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey², Minnesota, Maryland and Nebraska.

California finished in 10th place on the rankings.

Mississippi was ranked at the bottom of the list. Just 20 percent of adults there went to college. Other states near the bottom were Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Zippia used information from the U.S. Census³ Bureau⁴ to decide the rankings. The company used college graduation rates and high school dropout⁵ rates from around the country. It did not use information about college entrance exams or intelligence tests.

Zippia says there are good reasons for developing ratings⁶ of the most educated states.

“One of the many qualities that people look for in a potential location or company is the intelligence of those around them,” the report said. “So finding⁷ a state with an intelligent population makes sense for both companies and employees.”

In 2014, Forbes magazine named Boston, Massachusetts, as the smartest city in America. At the time, over 44 percent of adults living in Boston earned a college degree.   

Words in This Story

dropout – n. a person who stops going to a school or college before finishing

ranking – n. a list of things that are ordered according to their quality, ability or size

census – n. the official process of counting the number of people in a country, city, or town and collecting information about them

graduation – n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university

bachelor’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

location – n. a place or position

1 withdrew   

v.取[收]回( withdraw的过去式 )；（使）撤退[出]；提；收回

参考例句：

• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She quickly withdrew her hand from the hot iron. 她很快地将手从火烫的熨斗上缩了回来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

5 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。

6 ratings   

n.等级( rating的名词复数 )；收视率；表示电影分级的数字（或字母）；（海军）水兵

参考例句：

• He won high ratings [marks] in all his examinations. 他所有的考试都获得高分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The boat was operated by two naval ratings in dress whites. 船由两个穿着白色礼服的水兵驾驶。 来自辞典例句

7 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。