原文譯文
*註：本文摘自5月30日《經濟學人》
College blues
大學的悲傷
Could a fifth of America’s colleges really face thechop?
真的有五分之一的美國大學會面臨打擊嗎？
Problems thatpredatedthe virus have beenacceleratedby it
問題早在疫情就已存在，疫情不過是加劇了其惡化
1. MARTYNA MALECKA, acriminologystudent at Stonehill College, can’t wait for classes to restart in August. Her campus in Easton, Massachusetts, 「feels like a village」: its elegant red-brick buildingssprawl over384bucolicacres. She judges time spent there less of a coronavirus risk than staying at home in Chicago.
馬丁娜·馬蕾卡是石山學院（或譯斯通希爾學院）犯罪學專業的學生，她已經迫不及待地想要在8月份去學校上課了。石山學院位於麻薩諸塞州的伊斯頓，「學校感覺就像一個村莊」：這座古雅的紅磚牆建築佔地384畝。她覺得待在學校比待在芝加哥的家裡要安全的多，感染新冠病毒的風險要小得多。
2. Universities everywhere have madevaliantefforts to function remotely. A few, such as California State University, say they will continue teaching only online next year. Ms Malecka doubts that distance study works. She gets top marks, but laughingly admits she has 「no idea」 what she has learned after being at home since March. It is too easy to ignore lecturers who appear by video, she says, and some hardly set assignments. Like other students, families and faculty, shecravesin-person learning.
各地大學都採取措施遠程教學。加州州立大學等少數高校表示，明年他們只進行網上授課。馬蕾卡認為遠程學習效果有限。她得到了最高分，但是她笑著承認，自從3月份在家以後，她壓根不知道自己學到了什麼。她說，人們很容易忽視在視頻裡面講課的老師，而且這些老師還幾乎不布置課後作業。和其他學生一樣，馬蕾卡渴望能夠線下學習。
3. Whether or not universities get back quickly to that, many are likely to suffer. Stonehill is private and Catholic, with 2,500 students and a $200mendowment. It looksin good shape, but many similar liberal-arts colleges, especially in the north-east and Midwest, are not. Their problems arelong-standing.Nathan Grawe of Carleton College in Minnesota, who researchesdemographyand higher education, says the core difficulty is the slipping fertility rate.Overall enrolment hasdrifted downover the past few years.
不管高校能否儘快實現線下教學，但是很多高校都會遭遇困境。石山學院是一家私立的天主教大學，在校學生2500名，還有2億美元的捐贈基金。石山學院狀況不錯，但是許多類似的文科院校，尤其是東北部和中西部的文科院校，卻並非如此。他們的問題由來已久。明尼蘇達州卡爾頓學院研究人口統計學和高等教育的Nathan Grawe說核心問題是生育率的下降，這導致在過去的幾年裡，入學率總體上有所下降。
4. This squeezes smaller colleges hardest.A study by Parthenon-EY, an education consultancy, of over 2,000 colleges suggested 800 are so small orinefficientthat they maygo bust.Around one-fifth run budget deficits. Otherspile up debts, fail to build sufficientendowmentsor sustain student numbers only by agreeing to painfully bigdiscountson fees. Mr Grawe points out that eight colleges were already closing each year before the pandemic.
這對規模較小的大學打擊最大。教育諮詢公司Parthenon-EY對2000多所大學進行的一項研究表明，其中800所大學或規模太小或效率低下，可能會破產。約五分之一的大學出現預算赤字。另一些大學則由於無法獲得足夠資金，只能通過同意大幅削減學費來維持學生數量，因而債臺高築。Grawe先生指出，在疫情期之前，每年就已經有8所大學關閉。
5. Those that fail are usually small, among the 40% of higher-education institutions with fewer than 1,000 students. In the past decade these have seen enrolments slip faster than medium-sized ones. (The biggest typically still thrive.) Of the 72 colleges Parthenon found had shut since 2007, almost every one was small. They are vulnerable because they depend most on revenue from students; others find ways to hire out campuses for conferences, raise research funds, earnbequestsand the like.
在學生人數少於1000人的高校中，有40%面臨破產。在過去十年，這些學校的入學人數下降的速度超過了中等規模的學校(然而規模最大的高校仍在蓬勃發展。) Parthenon發現，自2007年來關閉的72所高校中，幾乎每一所都很小。他們很脆弱，因為他們對學生帶來的收入依賴最高；另一些人則採取將當做會議場地租出去、籌集研究資金、賺取遺贈等措施。
6. Robert Zemsky of the University of Pennsylvania, who co-wrote a recent book on the growing woes of universities, expects a 「collapse, lots of closures」 of smaller colleges, notably in the wider Midwest. He blames both demography and teaching methods that do not suit some students, noting how, at many universities, more than a quarter of freshmen quit in their first year. Curriculums, he says, are outdated, faculty are out of touch and four-year degrees should be cut to three to save costs and force a rethink of higher education.
賓夕法尼亞大學的羅伯特 澤姆斯基最近與人合寫了一本書，關注高校日益惡化的困境，他指出，規模較小的大學會「崩塌，大量關閉」，尤其是在中西部地區。他將此歸咎於人口問題和不適合某些學生的教學方法。他指出，在許多高校，超過四分之一的新生在入學第一年就退學了。他說，課程已經過時，師資脫節，四年制學位應該削減到三年制，以節省成本，這也迫使人們反思高等教育存在的問題。
7. Among the most vulnerable colleges are those that cater mostly to non-white students. 「African-Americans are more than two times as likely to attend an institution at risk, compared with whites and Hispanics,」 he says. Crystal Nix-Hines, a lawyer in Los Angeles who specialises in the education sector, also expects an 「enormouswinnowing」 of historically black colleges.
風險最大的大學是那些主要面向非白人學生群體的大學。他說：「非裔美國人進入面臨危機的高校的可能性是白人和西班牙裔美國人的兩倍多。」專門從事教育領域工作的洛杉磯律師克裡斯特爾 尼克斯-海恩斯(Crystal fox - hines)也估計，歷史上的黑人大學將「大量被淘汰」。
8.Consolidationof higher education isoverdue.Students increasingly prefer bigger and more urban institutions, so some smaller, rural ones will go. How many? Just before the pandemic, Mr Zemsky and his co-authors suggested that 10% of colleges would eventually close. He now expects 20% to shut ormerge withothers.
高等教育的整合滯後。學生們越來越喜歡規模更大的城市學校，因此一些規模較小的鄉村學校將會被淘汰。有多少呢?疫情之前，Zemsky先生和他的合著者暗示10%的大學最終都會關閉。他現在預計20%的大學或關閉或與其他大學合併。
9. The pandemic further dims their prospects in several ways. Take universities』 efforts to recruit foreign students, who typically pay full fees. For each of the past three years, enrolments of foreign undergraduates have slid. A drop in Chinese students explains much of that. Travel bans and concern that America hasbungledthe coronavirus will only put off more.
疫情在很多方面進一步使這些高校前景暗淡。如高校盡力招收那些一般都會交全額學費的外國留學生。在過去的三年裡，外國本科生的入學人數每年都在下降。中國留學生人數的下降可以解釋這一現象。旅行禁令和對美國應對疫情失敗的擔憂只會帶來更大影響。
10. The economic slump means some poorer families will not send youngsters to study. Others will delay. Funding from states for public universities is certain to fall. A report by Pew Charitable Trusts published on May 18th points out that states cut funds for higher education by 29% per student between 2008 and 2012. This time the slump is likely to be worse. Already Nevada and Ohio say they have plans to cut. The University of Michigan has talked of losing out on $1bn. Federal spending will rise ($14bn in emergency help went to universities and students under the Cares Act), but is unlikely to make up all the shortfall.
經濟衰退意味著一些不那麼富裕的家庭可能會放棄送孩子留學。還有一些人則會推遲留學計劃。各州對公立大學的資助肯定會減少。皮尤慈善信託基金5月18日發布的一份報告指出，2008年至2012年間，各州將每個學生的高等教育經費削減了29%。而這一次，削減可能會加大。內華達州和俄亥俄州已經表示他們已有削減計劃。密西根大學(University of Michigan)曾表示將損失10億美元。政府支出將會增加(根據《關愛法案》，140億美元的緊急援助將提供給各高校及學生)，但這還不能填補所有缺口。
11. Finally, many universities face possibly costly legal trouble. Ms Nix-Hines counted 134 lawsuits, mostly class-action ones,levied againstthe 「wholegamut」 of private and public colleges by late May, mostly as students sought the return of tuition fees, saying they received asubstandardservice online. Some colleges might now seek a 「liabilityshield」 to protect against future prosecutions before they reopen. For universities, it all adds up to 「their greatest challenge in history」, she says. That may sound alarmist, but it is probably true.
最終，許多大學可能會捲入耗資巨大的法律糾紛。據尼克斯-海恩斯統計，截至5月底，美國共有134起針對私立和公立大學的「全方位」訴訟，其中大部分是集體訴訟，主要是學生要求退還學費，稱他們在網上得到的服務不合格。一些高校現在可能會在開學前尋求一個「責任盾牌」，以防止再被起訴。她表示，對於高校而言，這一切都是「歷史上最大的挑戰」。這聽起來可能有點危言聳聽，但很可能是真的。
精讀解析
篇章結構
P1—P2：由馬蕾卡的例子引入，受疫情影響，各大高校進行遠程教學，而學生卻渴望能儘快恢復線下教學。
P3—P5：疫情期間，高校將遭遇困境：學生入學率下降，很多規模較小的高校關閉。
P6—P8：疫情使人們反思高等教育問題：大量吸收非裔學生的高校風險最大；高等教育整合滯後
P9—P11：疫情帶來的經濟衰退加劇高校資金問題；遠程教育還會使高校面臨法律糾紛。
重點單詞
chop/t p/n. 砍；排骨；商標；[網]削球vt. 剁碎；砍
【短語】
chop and changev. 變化無常
chop backv. 急忙倒退,突然轉向
chop logic
咬文嚼字；強詞奪理；爭辯
pork chopn. 豬排
【例句】
We had to chop a way through the undergrowth.
我們必須在矮樹林中砍伐出一條路來。
predate/pri 'de t/ v. 提早日期,居先
【例句】
We predate any police force in the country.
我們比這個國家的任何警察機關都成立得早。
The city's history predates even him.
這個城市的歷史甚至比他還要早。
accelerate/ k'sel re t/ vt. & vi. (使)加快, (使)增速
【例句】
Catalysts are something used to accelerate chemical action.
催化劑用來加快化學反應。
criminology/ krimi'n l d i/ n. 犯罪學；犯罪學家
【例句】
Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were stabbed to death, both had been studying criminology.
傑克·梅裡特和薩斯基亞·瓊斯都在恐襲中被刺死，他們當時都在學習犯罪學。
sprawl over蔓延；擴展
【例句】
A few lichens of the species Usnea melanoxanthra sprawled over the black rocks.
一些單條黑色的苔蘚品種叢生，鋪在黑色巖石上。
bucolic/bju 'k l k/ adj. 牧民生活的,田園風味的,鄉村風味的n. 牧歌;田園詩；農民；牧人
【例句】
Far from being a bucolic retreat, much of the green belt is intensively farmed.
並非是田園撤退，大部分的綠化帶被密集耕種。
valiant/'v l nt/ adj. 勇敢的n. 勇敢的人,勇士
【例句】
The valiant soldier was given a medal.
那個勇敢的士兵獲得了一枚獎章。
crave/kre v/ v. 懇求；渴望
【短語】
crave forv. 渴望
【例句】
And you may also crave more food than usual.
你也可能比平時想吃更多的食物。
long-standing/'l st di / adj. 長期存在的
【例句】
The United Kingdom and Portugal hold the longest standing alliance in the world which started in 1386.
英國和葡萄牙是歷史上最悠久的聯盟，始於1386年。
in good shape狀態不錯
【例句】
The bilateral relationship is in good shape.
雙邊關係處於良好形態。
endowment/ n'da m( )nt/ n. (經常的)資助,捐助;捐助的財物等；天賦,天資,才能；養老保險
【短語】
endowment assurancen. 人壽保險單
endowment insurance
養老保險
【同根】
endow vt. 捐贈；天生具有；賦予
【例句】
The hospital was founded on an endowment fund.
這所醫院是用捐贈基金創辦的。
demography/d 'm gr f / n. 人口統計學adj. 人口統計學的
【例句】
We see a big gap in the demography.
「我們看到過人口統計學的巨大鴻溝。
drift down漂降；降低
【例句】
It didn't happen and since then the prices have drifted down by almost 20 dollars a barrel.
但這一情況沒有發生，自那時起，每桶油的價格就跌了近20美元。
endowment/ n'da m( )nt/n. (經常的)資助,捐助;捐助的財物等；天賦,天資,才能；養老保險
【例句】
You mean situations where you need to protect the endowment.
也就是需要維護校方利益的場合。
pile up debt債臺高築
discount/'d ska nt/ n. 數目, 折扣vt. & vi. 打折扣, 減價出售；不考慮; 不全信
【短語】
at a discount
打折扣；不受歡迎，沒銷路
cash discountn. 現金折扣
【例句】
The shop has a special discount for newlyweds.
商店對新婚夫婦實行特別優惠。
inefficient/ n 'f ( )nt/ adj. 無效率的, 效率低的, 無能的, 不稱職的
【例句】
The problem with central planning is that it's inefficient.
中央計劃經濟的問題在於效率低下。
go bust破產，完蛋；失敗
【例句】
In the hugely competitive market, at least three other bike sharing companies have gone bust in recent months.
在競爭劇烈的市場中，至少有三家其他共享單車公司在近幾個月內宣布破產。
bequest/b 'kwest/n. 遺產；遺贈
【例句】
She had left me $50,000. I didn't remember her saying anything about her bequest.
她留給我50000美元。我不記得她說過任何關於她遺囑的事情。
winnow/'w n /vt. 簸；把…挑出來；精選n. 揚谷；揚谷器
【例句】
The people who have brains and courage come through and the ones who haven't are winnowed out.
那些有頭腦有勇氣的人要以通過這種動，而那些沒有頭腦和勇氣的就將被淘汰掉。
consolidation/k n,s l 'de n/ n. 鞏固,加強,強化；聯合,統一;合併；變堅固
【例句】
Consolidation makes it possible for you to store memories for late retrieval indefinitely.
鞏固使存儲記憶、並在將來進行信息提取成為可能。
overdue/ v 'dju / adj. 遲到的；過期的；未兌的
【短語】
be overdue
過期
overdue account
過期帳，逾期帳
overdue and pay a fine
逾期並交罰款；過期罰款
【例句】
The sanctions list was about a month overdue.
此次制裁名單比計劃晚了大約一個月的時間。
merge with融入（車流中）；與…結合；於…聯合
【例句】
The sparkles from these myriads of diamonds were merging with each other.
這無數億萬鑽石的晶光混和起來了。
bungle/'b g( )l/vt. &vi. 搞糟,完不成；笨手笨腳地做n. 拙劣的工作
【例句】
And a bungling criminal is caught on tape in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
而在南卡羅萊納斯帕坦堡一位笨賊被攝像機紀錄下來。
levy against對...徵收
【例句】
Flynn discussed recent sanctions, penalties that the Obama administration had levied against Russia.
弗林同俄羅斯大使討論了近期歐巴馬政府對俄羅斯施加的制裁和懲罰措施。
gamut/'g m t/ n. 全音階；全音域；整個範圍
【例句】
So should companies, which can be skewered over an expanding gamut of gripes.
企業也應該這樣做，因為它們可以針對範圍不斷擴大的抱怨進行抨擊。
substandard/s b'st nd d/ adj. 不夠標準的,在標準以下的
【例句】
He cast the company as an abhorrent peddler of heartburn and substandard bowel movements.
他把這家公司說成是一個引起胃灼熱和腸運動的令人憎惡的小販。
liability/la 'b l t / n. 責任, 義務; 傾向；債務；妨礙, 不利
【例句】
You have the liability for military service.
你有服兵役的義務。
重點句子
Nathan Grawe of Carleton College in Minnesota, who researches demography and higher education, says the core difficulty is the slipping fertility rate.
這個句子，主幹是：Nathan Grawe says the core difficulty is the slipping fertility rate.後面的of Carleton College in Minnesota點明Nathan Grawe的所屬，再後面的who researches demography and higher education是一個定語從句，修飾Nathan Grawe，說明Nathan Grawe是做什麼的。
- THE END -
堅持就會有收穫！