经济学人双语精读TE-2023-05-05期英文外刊|大学：更高的期望（PDF版+Word版+音频）
Universities：Higher expectations
Students are veering away from dodgy degrees. Governments should help them
【1】It is fashionable to be gloomy about the costs and benefits of a degree. In America a majority of people now tell pollsters that they think going to university is not worth it. For the average undergraduate that is far from the truth. In rich countries people who hold a bachelor’s degree earn over 40% more than those who do not. This premium has remained lofty, even as the number of university goers has soared: some 33m people are studying undergraduate degrees across the rich world today.
【2】Yet those average figures hide queasily large differences. For a shocking share of students, the returns from attending university are puny. About 25% of men and 15% of women graduates in England would have been better off financially had they not bothered. In total, student debt has reached $1.6trn in America, 60% more than is owed on credit cards. Low earnings help explain why about a fifth of America’s student borrowers were in default before the pandemic.
【3】Those who do worst out of higher education attend shoddy institutions, are badly prepared, give up, or choose subjects that lead to low wages. Many who do complete their courses are loaded with debt and equipped with a degree of peripheral relevance that has been taught badly. They are being ripped off, not prepared for a better life.
【4】The good news is that young people are voting with their feet. A dramatic shift is taking place as students switch to subjects that are linked to better earnings. In America, for example, the numbers enrolled in computer science have more than doubled in a decade. Those studying English and history, subjects that are less likely to raise wages, have fallen by about a quarter. Some universities have begun to cull courses.
【5】Governments should seek to accelerate this adjustment in the higher education marketplace. But all too often their in stinct is to throw money at the problem. President Joe Biden wants America’s Supreme Court to approve his plan to forgive a large chunk of the country’s student debts, as a one -ff. He also hopes to tweak the rules on repayment, which will make the fed eral loan system a bit more generous. Together these changes could cost hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. The danger is that they will make America’s students less discerning about how much they borrowand what they use the money for. Without a disciplining mechanism, pricey universities will be even more inclined to raise their fees.
【6】A better alternative would be for governments to invest in giving students the information they need to make sensible choices. Britain has pulled together detailed data about how much graduates from thousands of courses at hundreds of institutions go on to earn, but it does a poor job of supplying this to all applicants. America has been working on something similar, but laws that limit federal data crunching are getting in the way. Some youngsters, often the better off ones, are already making good use of data. supplying it to everyone else should be a priority. Modest spending on career counselling in secondary schools could help re duce the billions spent on writing off student loans down the line.
【7】Governments should also be fussier about which courses their cash helps pay for. Pro grammes at all levels that wish to benefit from state funds should have to clear a basic quality hurdle—for example, that a majority of the students who enroll in them eventually end up earning more than high school graduates. Mr Biden would like a limited rule of this kind to come to America. But a decade has passed since such talk began.
【8】Some universities and colleges resist these kinds of safe guards. They argue that trying to weed out poor value courses and to focus government lending will compromise the pursuit of knowledge and penalise poor families and minorities by limiting what they can study. However, the real problem is that the status quo is leading too many people to pursue shoddy but ex pensive degrees. The goal should be an education system that steadily adapts to the shifting preferences of society and the demands of the labour market—and one that has a low tolerance for degree courses that fail young people.
①短语：1.原文：Students are veering away from dodgy degrees.
词典：veer away from 转向避开
例句：The ocean storm seems to veer away from you.
大海的暴风雨似乎避着你而转向。
2.原文：In America a majority of people now tell pollsters that they think going to university is not worth it.
词典：a majority of 大多数的；大部分的
例句：So a majority of fitness experts currently advise against stretches before exercise.
因此，目前大多数健康专家建议不要在运动前进行伸展运动。
3.原文：In rich countries people who hold a bachelor’s degree earn over 40% more than those who do not.
词典：bachelor’s degree 学士学位
例句：He is a civil servant, with a bachelor"s degree.
他是一名公务员，拥有学士学位。
4.原文：This premium has remained lofty, even as the number of universitygoers has soared: some 33m people are studying undergraduate degrees across the rich world today.
词典：undergraduate degrees 学士学位
例句：Students use our courses to gain extra credit points for their undergraduate degrees.
学生通过学习我们的课程可以在本科阶段获取额外学分。
5.原文：Those who do worst out of higher education attend shoddy institutions, are badly prepared, give up, or choose subjects that lead to low wage
词典：give up 放弃；交出
例句：There comes a point where you give up.
现在你该放弃了。
6.原文：They are being ripped off, not prepared for a better life.
词典：rip off 偷窃；扯掉；欺诈；剥削
例句：Tourists complain of being ripped off by local cab drivers.
游客抱怨被当地的出租车司机敲了竹杠。
7.原文：A dramatic shift is taking place as students switch to subjects that are linked to better earnings.
词典：taking place 发生；举行
例句：A revolution in information technology is taking place.
信息技术正在发生巨变。
8.原文：America has been working on something similar, but laws that limit federal datacrunching are getting in the way.
词典：working on 致力于；作用于；继续工作
例句：He is working on a new novel.
他正在写一部新小说。
9.原文：Modest spending on career counselling in secondary schools could help reduce the billions spent on writing off student loans down the line.
词典：writing off 划销，核销，冲销；唱衰，摒弃（某人或某物）；放弃（项目或计划）；从税中扣除；写信请求，发函；严重撞坏车以至报废
例句：German Banks are balking at writing off Greek debt.
德国各家银行在勾销希腊债务方面畏缩不前。
10.原文：They argue that trying to weed out poorvalue courses and to focus government lending will compromise the pursuit of knowledge and penalise poor families and minorities by limiting what they can study.
词典：weed out 清除；淘汰；除去
例句：It"s a great way to weed out those daily purchases that are killing your budget and stealing from your savings.
这是个剔除那些消灭预算和偷窃存款的日常采购的好办法。
②长难句
1. 原文：He also hopes to tweak the rules on repayment, which will make the federal loan system a bit more generous.
2. 分析：该句主句的结构为主（He）谓（hopes ）宾（to tweak the rules）；which引导非限制性定语从句，定语从句的结构是主（which）谓（will make）宾（the federal loan system）宾补（ a bit more generous）.
3. 译文：他还希望调整还款规则，这要求联邦贷款系统更加慷慨一些。
1. 原文：The danger is that they will make America’s students less discerning about how much they borrow and what they use the money for.
2. 分析：主句的结构为主语（The danger）系（is ）表语从句（that they will make America’s students less discerning about how much they borrow and what they use the money for.）；that引导表语从句，表语从句的结构是主（they）谓（will make）宾（America’s students）宾补（less discerning about how much they borrow and what they use the money for）
3. 译文：危险的是，这会导致美国的学生更不清楚他们借了多少钱，以及他们把钱用在了什么地方。
③写作技巧： For the average undergraduate that is far from the truth. In rich countries people who hold a bachelor’s degree earn over 40% more than those who do not.
译文：在富裕国家，拥有学士学位的人的收入比没有学士学位的人高40%以上。
This premium has remained lofty, even as the number of universitygoers has soared: some 33m people are studying undergraduate degrees across the rich world today.
译文：尽管上大学的人数激增，但这种溢价仍然居高不下：目前在发达国家，大约有3300万人在攻读本科学位。
表达：bachelor’s degree，undergraduate degrees “学士学位”，写作时在同一篇文章中一般会进行同意替换，用不同的词表达相同含义。
例句：Students use our courses to gain extra credit points for their undergraduate degrees.
译文：学生通过学习我们的课程可以在本科阶段获取额外学分。
④背景知识：
1.Disciplining mechanism：约束机制。是指用于规范和约束行为的一种机制，以确保其符合特定的标准或规则。这种机制可以在不同的领域中使用，例如教育、法律、文学等等。
⑤段落大意：
【1】大部分人认为大学不值得一上，但学历可以带来更高收入。
【2】对于相当一部分的学生来说，上大学的回报微乎其微。
【3】低质量的学位无法给学生带来回报。
【4】学生开始选择与高收入相关的课程。
【5】政府应寻求方法加快高等教育市场的这种调整。
【6】政府应该投资于为学生提供他们需要做出明智选择的信息。
【7】政府还应该更加谨慎得选择资金用于支付哪些课程的费用。
【8】我们的目标应该是建立更完善的教育体系。
PS:各位研友下载请文末点击阅读原文.
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