Educators are seriously concerned aboutthe high rate of dropouts among the doctor of philosophy candidates and theconsequent loss of talent to a nation in need of Ph. D. s. Some have placed thedropouts loss as high as 50 percent. The extent of the loss was, however,largely a matter of expert guessing. Last week a well-rounded study waspublished. It was published. It was based on 22,000 questionnaires sent toformer graduate students who were enrolled in 24 universities and it seemed toshow many past fears to be groundless.
The dropouts rate was found to be 31per cent, and in most cases the dropouts, while not completing the Ph. D.requirement, went on to productive work. They are not only doing wellfinancially, but, according to the report, are not far below the income levelsof those who went on to complete their doctorates.
Discussing the study lastweek, Dr. Tucker said the project was initiated ‘because of the concernfrequently expressed by graduate faculties and administrators that some of theindividuals who dropped out of Ph. D. programs were capable of competing therequirement for the degree. Attrition at the Ph. D. level is also thought to bea waste of precious faculty time and a drain on university resources alreadybeing used to capacity. Some people expressed the opinion that the shortage ofhighly trained specialists and college teachers could be reduced by persuadingthe dropouts to return to graduate schools to complete the Ph. D.’
“Theresults of our research” Dr. Tucker concluded, “did not support theseopinions.”
1. Lack of motivation was the principal reason for droppingout.
2. Most dropouts went as far in their doctoral program as wasconsistent with their levels of ability or their specialities.
3. Mostdropouts are now engaged in work consistent with their education andmotivation.
Nearly 75 per cent of the dropouts said there was no academicreason for their decision, but those who mentioned academic reason cited failureto pass the qualifying examination, uncompleted research and failure to passlanguage exams. Among the single most important personal reasons identified bydropouts for non-completion of their Ph. D. program, lack of finances was markedby 19 per cent.
As an indication of how well the dropouts were doing, a chartshowed 2% in humanities were receiving $ 20,000 and more annually while none ofthe Ph. D. ‘s with that background reached thisfigure. The Ph. D. ‘s shone inthe $ 7,500 to $ 15,000 bracket with 78% at that level against 50% for thedropouts. This may also be an indication of the fact that top salaries in theacademic fields, where Ph. D. ‘s tend to rise to the highest salaries, are stilllagging behind other fields.
As to the possibility of getting dropouts backon campus, the outlook was glum. The main condition which would have to prevailfor at least 25 % of the dropouts who might consider returning to graduateschool would be to guarantee that they would retain their present level ofincome and in some cases their present job.
1. The author states thatmany educators feel that
[A] steps should be taken to get the dropouts backto campus.
[B] the fropouts should return to a lower quality school tocontinue their study.
[C] the Ph. D. holder is generally a better adjustedperson than the dropout.
[D] The high dropouts rate is largely attributableto the lack of stimulation on the part of faculty members.
2. Research hasshown that
[A] Dropouts are substantially below Ph. D. ‘s in financialattainment.
[B] the incentive factor is a minor one in regard to pursuing Ph.D. studies.
[C] The Ph. D. candidate is likely to change his field ofspecialization if he drops out.
[D] about one-third of those who start Ph. D.work do not complete the work to earn the degree.
3. Meeting foreignlanguage requirements for the Ph. D.
[A] is the most frequent reason fordropping out.
[B] is more difficult for the science candidate than for thehumanities candidate.
[C] is an essential part of many Ph. D.programs.
[D] does not vary in difficulty among universities.
4. Afterreading the article, one would refrain from concluding that
[A] optimismreigns in regard to getting Ph. D. dropouts to return to their pursuit of thedegree.
[B] a Ph. D. dropout, by and large, does not have what it takes tolearn the degree.
[C] colleges and universities employ a substantial numberof Ph. D. dropouts.
[D] Ph. D. ‘s are not earning what they deserve innonacademic positions.
5. It can be inferred that the high rate ofdropouts lies in
[A] salary for Ph. D. too low.
[B] academic requirementtoo high.
[C] salary for dropouts too high.
[D] 1000positions.
Vocabulary
1.dropout 輟學者，中途退學
2.well-rounded 全面的
3.attrition 縮/減員，磨損
4.drain 枯竭
5.bracket 一類人，（尤指按收入分類的）階層
6.lagging behind other fields 落后于其它領域
7.glum 陰郁的
答案詳解
1.A.許多教育工作者感到應采取步驟讓輟學者回校學習，特別是有些學科。這在第三段最后一句話：“有些人建議高級專家和大學教師短缺現象可以通過勸說輟學者返回校園完成博士學位來減少。”
B.輟學者應回到稍第幾的學校去完成學業。
C. 有博士學位的人一般比輟學者具有較好的適應性。
D.高輟學率主要原因在于教師方面缺乏刺激鼓勵。這三項文內沒有提。
2.D.約三分之一開始就讀博士學位的人沒有完成學業取得學位。第二段第一句：“輟學率為31％。大多數情況下，輟學人不能完成博士學位學業，就去從事生產性工作”。
A.輟學者的經濟收入比博士生低許多。這是錯的。見倒數第二段：“作為輟學者干得真不錯的證明，統計圖表說明2％人文學科的輟學者年收入為20000多沒勁，沒有一個同樣背景的博士生達到這個數字。7000至15000美元年收入水平為博士生的78％，輟學者僅為50％。“
B.在博士學習中刺激因素較小。
C. 博士預備生如果中途退學很可能改變其專業領域。
3.C.博士生應達到外語要求的水平是許多博士生課程的一個基本組成部分。這在第四段有所表示：“約75％的退學者說，他們決定退學并不是處于學術的原因，而處于學術原因的退學者提出：難以通過資格考試，難以完成研究，通不過外語考試“。這里看出外語是博士生課程的基本組成部分。
