voa economic report - Economics Not Such a Dismal Science for US High School Students

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is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

How do American high school students know about economics? A report shows that seventy-nine percent of twelfth-graders have at a basic level of understanding.

The results come testing eleven thousand five hundred students last year in and private schools.

In fact, students did better economics than in history or science.

Only forty-seven of those tested reached the basic level in history. fifty-four percent performed at or above the basic level science.

This is the first time the federal government measured economic understanding among high school students. The study done as part of the National Assessment of Educational , called the Nation's Report Card.

Only one-third of the states require it, but most students these days study economics in high school. In nineteen eighty-two-, forty-nine percent high school graduates had taken an economics class. By thousand five it was sixty-six percent.

The study rated at three levels: basic, proficient and advanced. Forty-two percent students reached the proficient level. Three percent tested at highest achievement level.

Students received a score with point value between zero and three hundred. The report male students scored an average of four points higher female students. And students from schools in large cities not do as well as those from other places.

Students answered questions in three major areas: market economy national and international economy.

Seventy-two percent could describe risks and possible rewards of leaving a job for education. Fifty-two percent knew what happens to money deposited banks. But only eleven percent understood how changes in unemployment rate affect pay, spending and production.

The next testing will take place in two thousand twelve.

what does happen to most of the money deposited checking accounts at a commercial bank? A) It is to pay the bank's expenses. B) It is loaned other bank customers. C) It is kept in the vault until depositors withdraw the funds. Or, D) It paid to owners of the bank as return on investment.

The correct answer: B) It is loaned other bank customers.

And that's the VOA Special English Report. For a link to the full report, including sample questions, go to voaspecialenglishcom.. I'm Mario Ritter.

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