Mary’s story is not unusual in Britain. According to the latest government figures, pupil absences are rising, despite schools taking a hard line on truancy (逃学).
Dr Philip James from Cardiff University thinks she knows why: “As schools make more efforts to find and punish missing students, students find better ways to avoid being caught.”
For several years, James has researched teenager truancy and discovered that most truancy was “a response to factors within the school”. Students that skip school are not necessarily less advanced or less intelligent. They complained of teachers who failed to engage them, and of “boring” lessons. “Many of them really enjoy school and believe in education, but drop out when aspects of it are ineffective.” James says.
The views of students like Adam, who believes that skipping lessons has little impact on his schooling, are common. “I only take off for a lesson, or a couple of days. It doesn’t affect my education,” he told James.
James believes that schools need to address the question of why pupils want to leave in the first place. “Pupils need help from the start.” she says. “Schools need to look at the reasons for truancy rather than the number, so that instead of walking away from school, students have the skills and chances to talk through problems and make a change.”

1.
What is one of the reasons that many students skip school according to James’ study?
1. A.
  They feel they have fallen behind in their studies.
2. B.
  They have no interest in school education.
3. C.
  They now have more interesting things to do.
4. D.
  They find some lessons and teachers uninteresting.
2.
The underlined phrase “taking a hard line” (Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “________”.
1. A.
  experiencing a problem with
2. B.
  having a strict attitude towards
3. C.
  finding it difficult to deal with
4. D.
  having little success with
3.
The writer used Adam’s comments (Paragraph 5) to show that ________.
1. A.
  school education needs improvement
2. B.
  good students also need a break from school
3. C.
  schools need to pay more attention to truancy
4. D.
  many students believe occasional truancy isn’t serious
4.
What does Dr James suggest schools do about truancy?
1. A.
  Fire all their unqualified teachers.
2. B.
  Improve communication with students.
3. C.
  Develop better ways to discover truancy.
4. D.
  Introduce more serious punishments.