Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
听力原文： Many young people in the United States never finish high school. Exactly how many drop out is another issue. Recent studies of dropout rates have conflicting results. For one thing, schools define and measure their dropout rates differently. Some researchers say about fifteen to twenty percent of public school students do not complete their education. But many other experts and policymakers believe that for the past twenty years, the dropout rate has been around thirty percent.
(26) For Latino and black students, the numbers are even higher. Researchers say almost half of them leave school. (27) At the same time, almost half the states let students leave school before the age of eighteen without informing their parents. Finding a good job without a high school education is more and more difficult. A Northeastern University study in 2002 found that almost half of all dropouts from sixteen to twenty-four did not have a job. The lack of a high school education can also lead to other problems. An estimated two-thirds of prisoners in the United States dropped out of high school.
Recent studies have shown that the majority of students who drop out do not do it because they are failing. (28) Many are bored with their classes or feel disconnected from their school and teachers. Some students feel that educators place low expectations on them. Teenager pregnancies also aggravate the dropout problem.
Questions:26. What kind of students have higher dropout rates by the researchers？
27.How many states let students leave school before the age of eighteen without informing their parents？
28.Which of the following is not the factor causing the dropout？
(27)

A. The Latino and black students.
B. The black and poor students.
C. The black and Asian students.
D. Many who are bored with their classes.