The students in America usually begin high school at the age of 13 or 14. Some leave at the age of
16.But most finish the 4-year high school study. They do not get their first full-time work or begin
college studies until they are 17 or 18 years old.
     The high school day is about 7 hours long. Part of the day is made into classes of about 50 minutes
long. The students have lunch in the middle of the day. American students study English, history, maths,
science, art and languages. Some also learn job skills. They can learn how to use a computer or how
to mend a car. Other students may learn by working in an office, a hospital or other places one day a
week.Jean Wilton Anderson is 16 years old. She lives with her parents and two younger brothers in
Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington D. C. Jean studies at Walt Whitman High School. There are
about 1, 500students at the school. Most of them will go up to colleges.
     Jean wakes up early every morning. She begins school at about 7:30. This is her third year of high
school. Every day she takes classes to learn English, world history, physics and trigonometry (三角).
She also has a class about different religions (宗教). And she plays the violin in music class. School
ends at about 2 o'clcok in the afternoon. Yet, Jean stays 2 or more hours longer every day for sports.
Jean arrives home at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. She eats dinner. Then she starts her homework.
She also spends a lot of time talking on the telephone with her friends. Students in America have their
way of talking. They use the word "like" all the time. Jean and her girlfriends wear blue jeans and shirts
or sweaters every day.
     The boys at her school also wear blue jeans. But they like to wear blue jeans that are several sizes
too large for them.
     Like students of her age in most part of the country, Jean begins to drive a car. She does not have
her car. She must use the family's car. Most of the students in high school have their own cars. Many
of them drive their cars to school every day.