10 Track 10

Review unit 1

fluency practice

review reading 2: earning power

Page 47

earning power

Everyone wants a job that pays well. Some people stop school early because they want to start earning cash right away.

Others spend years and years studying in school in order to get a better job.

Which is best? Actually, studies show that in most jobs, the higher your education, the higher your earning power.

For example, in the United States, high school graduates can make about $30,400 a year.

The people who do not finish high school averaged only $23,400 a year. Just having a document that says you finished high school, means an extra $7000!

If you stay in school, you can make more money. A person who goes to college and gets a bachelor’s degree can make an average of $52,200.

With a Master’s degree, he or she can make about $62,000. And studies show that if a person gets a PhD, he or she can make $89,000 or more a year.

Of course, people with different occupations have different salaries.

The chart below shows some average salaries for different professions in the United States.

We can learn an important lesson from this information. If you want to work and make more money spend more time in school.

Average salaries for common occupations

sales clerk $20,000

high school teacher, $44,000

firefighter $48,000

accountant $69,000

dentist $159,000