Why Do They Do Better?

Why do some students do better than others? To find out, the Reader's Digest invited 2 130 high-school seniors to take a special academic test and then answer a list of personal questions. Among the poll's top findings:

Strong families give kids an edge in school. For instance, students who lived with two parents scored high more often on our test than students who did not. Students who regularly shared mealtimes with their families tested better than those who did not. This "family gap" showed up for students of all backgrounds.

Today's youth are far more optimistic about themselves and their futures than is generally believed. Four of five were confident they would be able to "make things better for myself and for other people". Almost the same number described their lives at home as "pretty good" or "wonderful".

As has been in other polls, not all groups tested equally well. Children with college-educated parents tested better than kids whose parents did not go past high school. Whites tended to score higher than blacks. Boys generally scored higher than girls. But more importantly, the Reader's Digest poll revealed that, within each group, strong families were a significant factor.

With the help of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., last spring, the Reader s Digest surveyed a representative cross-section of high-school seniors in classrooms across the nation. Our paper-and-pencil poll asked eight questions in each of the six subjects: math, science, literature, geography, history and government.

Short Answer Questions

1. The purpose of the Reader's Digest poll is to ____.
2. What does the word "an edge" (Paragraph 2) probably mean?
3. What did the Reader's Digest poll show?
4. One of the factors in higher scores by students in every group is ____.
5. In the Reader's Digest survey, how many questions were asked altogether?

(Keys.)