2017考研英語閱讀《經濟學人》：讀大學是否還值得

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Higher education

高等教育

Is college worth it?

讀大學還值得嗎?

Too many degrees are a waste of money. The returnon higher education would be much better if collegewere cheaper

太多的學位只是浪費金錢。如果讀大學更便宜，高等教育的回報會更高

WHEN LaTisha Styles graduated from Kennesaw State University in Georgia in 2006 she had$35,000 of student debt. This obligation would have been easy to discharge if her Spanishdegree had helped her land a well-paid job. But there is no shortage of Spanish-speakers in anation that borders Latin America. So Ms Styles found herself working in a clothes shop and afast-food restaurant for no more than $11 an hour.

2006年當 LaTisha Styles從 佐治亞州的 Kennesaw州立大學畢業的時候，她欠下35000美元的學生貸款。如果她的西班牙語學位能夠幫助她獲得報酬優厚的工作的話，債務會很容易償清。但在這個與拉丁美洲接壤的國度，從來不缺能說西語的人。所以Styles女士為了每小時不高于11美元的薪水，淪落服裝零售和快餐店。

Frustrated, she took the gutsy decision to go back to the same college and study somethingmore pragmatic. She majored in finance, and now has a good job at an investment consultingfirm. Her debt has swollen to $65,000, but she will have little trouble paying it off.

受挫碰壁的她勇敢地作出決定，重新回到大學學習更為實用的課程。她主修財務，現在在一個投資咨詢公司得到了一份好工作。她的學生債務“膨脹”到65000元，但在未來償清債務問題不大。

As Ms Styles's story shows, there is no simple answer to the question “Is college worth it?”Some degrees pay for themselves; others don't. American schoolkids pondering whether totake on huge student loans are constantly told that college is the gateway to the middle class.The truth is more nuanced, as Barack Obama hinted when he said in January that “folks canmake a lot more” by learning a trade “than they might with an art history degree”. An angry arthistory professor forced him to apologise, but he was right.

正如Styles的故事表現的這樣，對于“讀大學是否值得?”這個問題并沒有簡單的答案。有些學位物有所值，而有些則不是。美國的在校生們在權衡是否要背上巨額學生貸款負擔時， 經常被告知大學是通往中產階級道路的門戶。而事實更為微妙，正如奧巴馬1月講話中暗示的那樣，相比獲得一個藝術史學位，通過學習一門技術“人們可以賺得更多”，。一位憤怒的藝術史教授要求他道歉，但奧巴馬是對的。

College graduates aged 25 to 32 who are working full time earn about $17,500 more annuallythan their peers who have only a high school diploma, according to the Pew Research Centre, athink-tank. But not all degrees are equally useful. And given how much they cost—a residentialfour-year degree can set you back as much as $60,000 a year—many students end up worseoff than if they had started working at 18.

年齡在25到32歲之間全職工作的大學畢業生，相比只有高中文憑的同齡人每年平均多賺17500美元，根據智庫PEW研究中心的說法。但并非所有的學位都一樣的有用處。并且根據獲得學位的成本----一個住校的四年學位可能每年傾盡你6萬美元--很多學生相比如果18歲就開始工作，境況更糟。

PayScale, a research firm, has gathered data on the graduates of more than 900 universitiesand colleges, asking them what they studied and how much they now earn. The company thenfactors in the cost of a degree, after financial aid (discounts for the clever or impecunious thatgreatly reduce the sticker price at many universities). From this, PayScale estimates the financialreturns of many different types of degree (see chart).

一個研究公司PayScale已經收集超過900所大學的畢業生的數據，詢問他們學到了什么以及現在收入的多少。公司然后在排除財政補貼(對于天資聰穎或一文不名的學生的補助很大程度上削減了很多大學學費的“吊牌價”)后，把獲得學位的成本計入考量。在財政補貼。據此， PayScale公司評估許多不同學位類型的財務回報。

Hard subjects pay off

困難的課程付出有回報

Unsurprisingly, engineering is a good bet wherever you study it. An engineering graduate fromthe University of California, Berkeley can expect to be nearly $1.1m better off after 20 yearsthan someone who never went to college. Even the least lucrative engineering coursesgenerated a 20-year return of almost $500,000.

不奇怪的是，工科無論是否學習都是一個很好的賭注。加州伯克利大學工科畢業生相比從未讀過大學的人預期20年后多賺幾乎110萬美元。即使最不賺錢的工科課程也會在20年期產生幾乎50萬美元的回報。

Arts and humanities courses are much more varied. All doubtless nourish the soul, but not allfatten the wallet. An arts degree from a rigorous school such as Columbia or the University ofCalifornia, San Diego pays off handsomely. But an arts graduate from Murray State University inKentucky can expect to make $147,000 less over 20 years than a high school graduate, afterpaying for his education. Of the 153 arts degrees in the study, 46 generated a return oninvestment worse than plonking the money in 20-year treasury bills. Of those, 18 offeredreturns worse than zero.

藝術和人文學科的差異更為多樣化。 所有課程毫無疑問可以滋潤靈魂，但并非所有學科都會使錢包豐厚。學風嚴謹的大學例如哥倫比亞大學或加州大學圣迭戈分校的藝術學位收入豐厚。但肯塔基州的Murray州立大學的藝術畢業生，在付完學費后可預期相比高中畢業生在20年只少賺147000元。本項研究中的153個藝術學位，其中有46個產生的投資回報低于將錢投入購買20年期的財政部債權的收益。其中，有18個回報為負值。

Colleges that score badly will no doubt grumble that PayScale's rankings are based onrelatively small numbers of graduates from each institution. Some schools are unfairly affectedby the local job market—Murray State might look better if Kentucky's economy were thriving.Universities that set out to serve everyone will struggle to compete with selective institutions.And poor colleges will look worse than rich ones that offer lots of financial aid, since reducingthe cost of a degree raises its return.

得分很低的院校毫無疑問會嘟噥抱怨PayScale的排名體系基于每個學校數量相對較少的畢業生。一些學校不公平地受到本地就業市場的影響--- 如果肯塔基州的經濟蓬勃增長，Murray州立大學的就業也許看起來會好很多。 決心想要服務每個學生的大學將要努力和精挑細選的機構激烈競爭。 經費不足的大學相比財大氣粗的能提供很多財政資助的學校看起來更糟糕，因為降低獲得學位的成本也提升了其收益率。

All these caveats are true. But overall, the PayScale study surely overstates the financial valueof a college education. It does not compare graduates' earnings to what they would haveearned, had they skipped college. (That number is unknowable.) It compares their earnings tothose of people who did not go to college—many of whom did not go because they were notclever enough to get in. Thus, some of the premium that graduates earn simply reflects the factthat they are, on average, more intelligent than non-graduates.

所有的這些附加說明都是真實可信的。但總體來說 PayScale公司的研究一定過度闡述了大學教育的財務價值。研究并沒有將畢業生的收入與其所學到的知識相比較，如果他們中途輟學的話。(這個數據不可知。)研究將大學畢業生的收入和那些沒有讀大學的人相比較---其中很多人沒有讀大學的原因是不夠聰明而不能登堂入室。因此，大學畢業生獲得的一些額外收益僅僅是反應了一個事實，那就是平均來說他們比沒讀過大學的人更為聰明。

What is not in doubt is that the cost of university per student has risen by almost five timesthe rate of inflation since 1983, and graduate salaries have been flat for much of the pastdecade. Student debt has grown so large that it stops many young people from buyinghouses, starting businesses or having children. Those who borrowed for a bachelor's degreegranted in 2012 owe an average of $29,400. The Project on Student Debt, a non-profit, saysthat 15% of borrowers default within three years of entering repayment. At for-profit collegesthe rate is 22%. Glenn Reynolds, a law professor and author of “The Higher Education Bubble”,writes of graduates who “may wind up living in their parents' basements until they are oldenough to collect Social Security.”

無可質疑的是自從1983年以來，每個學生讀大學的成本相對通脹率已經上升了大約5倍，并且在過去十年多數時間內大學畢業生囊中羞澀。學生貸款增長如此巨大以至于阻礙很多年輕人購房，創業和生養子女。 2012年為獲得學士學位而借貸的學生平均負債29400美元。一個非盈利機構“學生貸款工程”說，15%比例的學生在進入還貸程序三年內有違約行為。對于盈利大學，這個比例是22%。一位名為Glenn Reynolds的法律教授，同時也是《高等教育泡沫》一書的作者，把大學畢業生描寫為“可能淪落到住進父母的地下室，直到年齡足夠大到可以去領社保救濟金”。

That is an exaggeration: students enrolling this year who service their debts will see themforgiven after 20 years. But the burden is still heavy for many. It does not help that nearly athird of those who take out such loans eventually drop out of college; they must still repaytheir debts. A third transfer to different schools. Many four-year degrees drag on longer, andso cost more. Overall, the six-year graduation rate for four-year institutions is only 59%.

這有夸大之嫌，今年招收的得到貸款服務的新生可預見在20年后還清貸款。但(還貸)負擔對許多人來說依然沉重。這對其中三分之一得到貸款卻最終輟學的人不會有幫助;他們依然要償還債務。另有三分之一的學生轉到別的學校。許多四年的學位可能會拖得更久，因此也會耗費更多。總體說來，四年的大學機構六年的畢業率只有59%。

The lousy national job market does not help, either. A report by McKinsey, a consultancy, foundthat 42% of recent graduates are in jobs that require less than a four-year college education.Some 41% of graduates from the nation's top colleges could not find jobs in their chosen field;and half of all graduates said they would choose a different major or school.

糟糕的國內就業市場更是雪上加霜。咨詢機構麥肯錫發布的報告顯示，42%的最近畢業的學生從事的工作，大學四年的教育并非必須。國家頂尖學府的41%的畢業生不能在選擇的領域找到職位，并且一半大學畢業生說他們會選擇另外的專業或學校。

Chegg, a company that provides online help to students, collaborated the study. DanRosensweig, its boss, says that only half of graduates feel prepared for a job in their field, andonly 39% of managers feel that students are ready for the workforce. Students often cannotwrite clearly or organise their time sensibly. Four million jobs are unfilled because jobseekerslack the skills employers need.

給大學生提供在線教育幫助的Chegg公司參與了這項研究合作。公司老板Dan Rosensweig說，只有一半的畢業生覺得在專業相關領域的工作做好了準備，只有39%的經理人認為畢業生已經做好了工作準備。畢業生經常不能清晰地寫作或合理地安排時間。因為求職者缺乏雇主所需技能，有400萬的工作崗位虛席以待。

Grading the graders

給評分者評分

For all their flaws, studies like PayScale's help would-be students (and their parents) make moreinformed choices. As Americans start to realise how much a bad choice can hurt them, they willdemand more transparency. Some colleges are providing it, prodded by the federalgovernment. For example, the University of Texas recently launched a website showing howmuch its graduates earn and owe after five years.

盡管有這么多的缺陷， 像PayScale公司的研究在幫助準畢業生們(及其父母)做出有信息依據的選擇。當美國人開始意識到一個錯誤的決定會造成損害，他們也會要求更多的信息透明度。一些大學在聯邦政府敦促下，提供信息透明。例如，德州大學最近開發了一個網頁顯示其畢業生在五年后的盈虧。

“Opportunity”, said Mr Obama on April 2nd, “means making college more affordable.” In time,transparency and technology will force many colleges to cut costs and raise quality. Onlineeducation will accelerate the trend. In 2012, 6.7m students were taking at least one onlinecourse. Such courses allow students to listen to fine lecturers without having to pay forluxurious dormitories or armies of college bureaucrats. They will not replace traditionalcolleges—face-to-face classes are still valuable—but they will force them to adapt. Those thatoffer poor value for money will have to shape up, or disappear.

奧巴馬總統在4月2日所說，“機遇意味著使得大學更容易負擔得起”。 透明度和科學技術會使得很多大學及時裁剪開銷并提高教學品質。在線教育會加速這個趨勢。2012年有670萬 學生至少參加一項在線課程。這樣的課程允許學生聽到優秀的講座，而不用為奢侈公寓和行政人員埋單。在線課程并不會取代傳統大學--面對面的課堂教育依然非常有價值--但在線課程會迫使其適應潮流。那些提供較少經濟價值的將要開始改進，或者消失。譯者：魯里奧

重點講解：

1.graduate from 畢業

例句:Nowadays, after students graduate from seniorhigh school, most of them will enter a university orcollege.

如今，當學生從高中畢業，其中大多數將進入大學或學院。

2.go back to 追溯到

例句:Then it put the surge back in place, but said it wouldn't take their share of profits&all money would go to the drivers.

隨后它又恢復了峰時價格，不過表示不會拿自己那份分成&多收的錢也都歸司機。

3.according to 根據

例句:They will swap posts in a year's time, according to new party rules which rotate theleadership.

根據輪流擔任領導的新政黨章程，他們在一年后會輪換職位。

4.answer to 回答

例句:He advocated anarchism as the answer to social problems.

他提倡以無政府主義來解決社會問題。