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SajaySamuel_2016X-_学生贷款如何剥削学生_
Today 40 million Americans are indebted for their passage to the new economy . 现今有四千万个美国人在通往新型经济的道路上负债。
indebted:adj.感激的;负债的;蒙恩的; economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
Too poor to pay their way through college, they now owe lenders more than one trillion US dollars. 因为无法承担大学学费, 他们欠债权人的钱超过一兆美元。
owe:v.归功于;欠(债);欠(账);欠(情) lenders:n.放款人;出借方(lender的复数); trillion:n.[数]万亿;adj.万亿的;num.[数]万亿;
They do find what jobs they can get to pay off a debt that is secured on their person. 他们得做任何工作, 来偿还锁死在他们身上的债务。
In America, even a bankrupt gambler gets a second chance. 在美国, 即使是一个破产的赌徒都有二次机会。
bankrupt:adj.破产;倒闭;完全缺乏(有价值的东西);n.(经法院判决的)破产者;v.使破产; gambler:n.赌徒;投机商人;
But it is nearly impossible for an American to get discharged their student loan debts . 但对一个美国人而言,想清偿他的学生贷款, 几乎是不可能的。
discharged:v.准许(某人)离开;解雇;释放;排出;(discharge的过去分词和过去式) debts:n.负债类,债务(debt的复数形式);
Once upon a time in America, going to college did not mean graduating with debt. 曾几何时, 在美国上大学不等于举债。
Once upon a time:从前(常用于故事的开头)
My friend Paul's father graduated from Colorado State University on the GI Bill. 我的朋友保罗的父亲,毕業于科罗拉多州立大学 主修美国军事法。
Colorado:n.科罗拉多;[城]科罗拉多州;科罗拉多河; State University:n.(美国)州立大学;
For his generation, higher education was free or almost free, because it was thought of as a public good. 在他父亲的那个世代, 高等教育几乎是免费的, 因为大家公认教育是有意义的。
higher education:高等教育(指含大学以上的教育);
Not anymore. 但好景不再,
When Paul also graduated from Colorado State University, he paid for his English degree by working part-time. 当保罗从科罗拉多州立大学的英语科系毕業, 他必须得打工偿还他的学贷。
30 years ago, higher education tuition was affordable , reasonable , and what debts you accumulated , you paid off by graduation date. 三十年前, 高等教育的学费是大家都负担的起的合理费用, 你累计的债务,在你毕業那天就会偿还完毕。
tuition:n.指导;(尤指大专院校的)学费; affordable:adj.负担得起的; reasonable:adj.合理的,公道的;通情达理的; accumulated:v.积累;积聚;(数量)逐渐增加;(accumulate的过去式和过去分词)
Not anymore. 再也不是如此了。
Paul's daughter followed in his footsteps , but with one difference: when she graduated five years ago, it was with a whopping debt. 保罗的女儿步上了他的后尘, 但有一点不同: 五年前她毕業的时候, 背负了庞大的债务。
footsteps:n.脚步(footstep的复数形式);步距; whopping:adj.巨大的;天大的;adv.非常地;异常地;v.猛打;抽出(whop的ing形式);
Students like Kate have to take on a loan because the cost of higher education has become unaffordable for many if not most American families. 像凯特这样的学生,必须贷款, 因为高等教育的学费飙涨到 大部分的美国家庭都负担不起。
unaffordable:adj.买不起的;
But so what? 那又怎样？
Getting into debt to buy an expensive education is not all bad if you could pay it off with the increased income that you earned from it. 如果教育增加的收入, 能够偿还昂贵教育欠下的债务 也不错啊！
But that's where the rubber meets the road. 但出社会后,才见真章。
rubber:n.橡胶;橡皮;v.涂橡胶于…;
Even a college grad earned 10 percent more in 2001 than she did in 2013. 2001年的大学毕業生, 竟然比 2013 的大学毕業生收入多了一成。
grad:n.毕业生;校友;
So ... 所以...
tuition costs up, public funding down, family incomes diminished , personal incomes weak. 学费上涨、 公共预算下降、 家庭收入减低、 个人收入变少。
funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词) diminished:adj.减少的; v.减少; (diminish的过去式和过去分词) personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词;
Is it any wonder that more than a quarter of those who must cannot make their student loan payments ? 有没有人想过为什么有超过四分之一的学生, 无力偿还他们的助学贷款？
payments:n.付款;支付;收款;款项;报答;(payment的复数)
The worst of times can be the best of times, because certain truths flash up in ways that you can't ignore . 最坏的时机,也许就是最好的转机, 我们必须面对显而易见的事实。
flash:n.闪光; v.闪光; adj.庞大的; ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬;
I want to speak of three of them today. 我今天要举出三件事。
1.2 trillion dollars of debts for diplomas make it abundantly obvious that higher education is a consumer product you can buy. 第一:毕業文凭的 1.2 兆美金债务 很明显地告诉了大家, 高等教育是一种消费商品。
diplomas:n.学位证书;毕业文凭;执照(diploma的复数); abundantly:adv.丰富地;大量地; obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的; consumer:n.[经]消费者;[生,生态]消费者;
All of us talk about education just as the economists do now, as an investment that you make to improve the human stock by training them for work. 我们现在谈论教育的方法,更像经济学家, 把训练学生就業,改善人力储备, 视为一种投资。
investment:n.投资;投入;封锁; improve:v.改进;改善; stock:n.股票; v.库存; adj.老一套的;
As an investment you make to sort and classify people so that employers can hire them more easily. 把学生分门别类,视为一种投资, 好让雇主可以更容易地聘雇他们。
classify:vt.分类;分等; employers:n.雇主;雇用者;(employer的复数)
The U.S. News World Report ranks colleges just as the consumer report rates washing machines. 美国新闻和各国媒体,给学校的排名, 就像在消费者报导里面,评论哪个洗衣机更好一样。
The language is peppered with barbarisms . 报告里充斥着野蛮的用词,
peppered:adj.用胡椒调味的; v.在(食物上)撒胡椒粉(pepper的过去式); barbarisms:n.野蛮;原始;未开化;暴虐;
Teachers are called "service providers ," 老师是“服务業”,
providers:n.供应者;提供者;供养人;(provider的复数)
students are called " consumers ." 学生被称为“消费者“,
consumers:n.消费者;顾客;用户;(consumer的复数)
Sociology and Shakespeare and soccer and science, all of these are " content ." 社会学、莎士比亚文学、足球、科学 这些都变成了”内容“。
Sociology:n.社会学;群体生态学; Shakespeare:n.莎士比亚(英国剧作家); content:n.内容,目录;满足;容量;adj.满意的;vt.使满足;
Student debt is profitable . 助学贷款的利益丰厚,
profitable:adj.有利可图的;赚钱的;有益的;
Only not on you. 但利益不归于学生。
Your debt fattens the profit of the student loan industry. 学生的债务养肥了学贷产業。
fattens:vt.养肥;使肥沃;使充实;vi.养肥;(靠…)发财;
The two 800-pound gorillas of which -- 两个庞大的贷款公司大猩猩
gorillas:n.[脊椎]大猩猩;暴徒(gorilla的复数);
Sallie Mae and Navient -- posted last year a combined profit of 1.2 billion dollars. — Sallie Mae 和Navient 贷款公司—— 去年的整体获利高达 12 亿美金。
And just like home mortgages , student loans can be bundled and packaged and sliced and diced , and sold on Wall Street . 跟房贷一样, 学生贷款可以被包装、分割成衍生性金融产品 在华尔街贩卖。
mortgages:n.抵押贷款; v.[经]抵押(mortgage的三单形式); bundled:v.捆绑(bundle的过去分词);包;归拢;把…撵走;adj.捆绑的;附带的; sliced:adj.(食物)已切成薄片的;v.切成薄片;分配(slice的过去式和过去分词); diced:adj.切粒的;v.掷骰子;切成小方块;碎成细粒(dice的过去分词); Wall Street:n.华尔街(美国纽约金融中心和证券交易所所在地);
And colleges and universities that invest in these securitized loans profit twice. 学院跟大学 在这些抵押贷款证劵化的業务上 扒了学生两层皮。
securitized:adj.证券化的;v.证券化(securitize的过去分词);
Once from your tuition, and then again from the interest on debt. 一次从你的学费, 之后从你的贷款利息。
With all that money to be made, are we surprised that some in the higher education business have begun to engage in false advertising , in bait and switch ... 这些赚来的钱, 难道大家都不惊讶,办高等教育的这件事 已经开始与不实广告、 偷樑换柱的行为扯在一起了...
engage:v.吸引,占用;使参加;雇佣;使订婚;预定; advertising:n.做广告;广告业;广告活动;v.做广告;(advertise的现在分词) bait and switch:诱导转向法;
in exploiting the very ignorance that they pretend to educate? 假装办教育的名义,行压榨无知学生之实？
exploiting:v.利用…为自己谋利;剥削;压榨;运用;发挥;(exploit的现在分词) ignorance:n.无知,愚昧;不知,不懂;
Third: diplomas are a brand . 第三: 学历是一种名牌。
brand:v.铭刻于,铭记;打烙印于;印…商标于;n.商标,牌子;烙印;
Many years ago my teacher wrote, "When students are treated as consumers, they're made prisoners of addiction and envy ." 好几年前我的老师曾经写道, “当学生被当作消费者, 他们便成为妒意与瘾头的囚徒＂。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式) addiction:n.瘾;嗜好;入迷; envy:n.嫉妒,妒忌;羡慕;v.嫉妒,妒忌;羡慕;感到妒忌;显示出妒忌;
Just as consumers can be sold and resold upgraded versions of an iPhone, so also people can be sold more and more education. 就像消费者一直购买升级不同版本的 iPhone 手机一样, 学生也得购买越来越多的教育商品。
resold:v.再出售(resell的过去分词); upgraded:adj.提升的;更新的;加固的;v.升级;改善(upgrade的过去分词);
College is the new high school, we already say that. 我们已经听过, “专科学校变成了高中”的说法。
But why stop there? 何不变本加厉？
People can be upsold on certifications and recertifications , master's degrees, doctoral degrees. 我们可以不断推销各种证书、认证再认证、 硕士学位、博士学位。
upsold:vi.向上促销;增销; recertifications:n.换发新证; doctoral:adj.博士的;博士学位的;有博士学位的;n.博士论文;
Higher education is also marketed as a status object. 高等教育也被视为一种身分的表征。
status:n.地位;状态;情形;重要身份;
Buy a degree, much like you do a Lexus of a Louis Vuitton bag, to distinguish yourself from others. 买个学历, 就像你买 Lexus,LV 包一样, 可以彰显你的与众不同,
Lexus:n.雷克萨斯(凌志),日本丰田汽车公司旗下豪华车品牌。; Vuitton:n.威登(法国一时尚品牌); distinguish:vt.区分;辨别;使杰出,使表现突出;vi.区别,区分;辨别;
So you can be the object of envy of others. 让你成为大家忌妒的对象。
Diplomas are a brand. 文凭变成了一种名牌。
But these truths are often times hidden by a very noisy sales pitch . 但这些真相,被各种喧闹的销售话术所掩盖,
pitch:v.抛:用力扔:针对:触地:n.场地:程度:力度:推销的话:纵摇:
There is not a day that goes by without some policy guy on television telling us, "A college degree is absolutely essential to get on that up escalator to a middle-class life." 几乎每一天 你都能听到电视上的名嘴说, “大学学历是不可或缺的, 有了它你才能晋升到中产阶级的生活＂
policy:n.政策,方针;保险单; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; essential:n.要点;要素;实质;必需品;adj.完全必要的;必不可少的;极其重要的;本质的; escalator:n.(美)自动扶梯;电动扶梯; middle-class:adj.中产阶级的;中层社会的;
And the usual evidence offered is the college premium : a college grad who makes on average 56 percent more than a high school grad. 他们举出的数据通常是「大学溢酬」: 大学毕業生平均赚的钱比高中生高56%的那种大学毕業生。
evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; premium:n.额外费用;奖金;保险费;(商)溢价;adj.高价的;优质的;
Let's look at that number more carefully, because on the face of it , it seems to belie the stories we all hear about college grads working as baristas and cashiers . 让我们仔细檢视一下这些数据, 表面上, 似乎不同于我们一般听说的 大学毕業生去卖咖啡和结帐的事实。
on the face of it:adv.从表面判断;乍看起来; belie:vt.掩饰;与…不符;使失望;证明…虚假错误; grads:n.梯度;毕业生(grad的复数);分度;百分度(grad的复数); baristas:n.咖啡师;咖啡吧员; cashiers:n.[会计]出纳员(cashier的复数形式);银行本票;
Of 100 people who enroll in any form of post-secondary education, 45 do not complete it in a timely fashion, for a number of reasons, including financial . 在一百个进入专科大学的学生里, 有 45 位无法在正常时间内完成学業, 原因很多,包括财务。
enroll:vt.登记;使加入;把...记入名册;使入伍;vi.参加;登记;注册;记入名册; post-secondary:adj.中学后;专上程度; timely:adj.及时的;适时的;adv.及时地;早; financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的;
Of the 55 that do graduate, two will remain unemployed , and another 18 are underemployed . 55 位的毕業生里, 2 个会一直没有工作, 18 个在打工。
unemployed:adj.失业的;下岗的;n.(集合词)失业者; underemployed:adj.未充分就业的;学非所用的;只有部分时间被雇用的;n.大材小用的人;
So, college grads earn more than high school grads, but does it pay for the exorbitant tuition and the lost wages while at college? 是的,大学毕業生赚的比高中毕業生多, 但这些所得能够补足昂贵的学费, 和在学时损失的工资吗？
exorbitant:adj.(要价等)过高的;(性格等)过分的;不在法律范围之内的; wages:n.[劳经]工资; v.开展(运动等)(wage的第三人称单数形式);
Now even economists admit going to college pays off for only those who complete it. 就连经济学家都承认, 专科和大学是值得的:前提是你必须毕業。
But that's only because high school wages have been cut to the bone, for decades now. 而且主要理由是高中毕業生 过去几10年来的薪资被砍到见骨了。
For decades, workers with a high school degree have been denied a fair share of what they have produced. 这几10年来, 高中毕業生, 他们的付出没有得到相对的报酬,
denied:v.否认;拒绝;否定;不承认;(deny的过去分词和过去式)
And had they received as they should have, then going to college would have been a bad investment for many. 也因为他们没有得到相对应的报酬, 所以跑去上大学,但对很多人来说,上大学根本不是一个很好的投资。
College premium? 「大学溢酬」吗？（专科大学毕業生与他人的薪资所得差距）
I think it's a high school discount . 在我看来,那只是从高中生那边夺来的收入。
discount:n.折扣;vt.低估;打折扣;打折出售
Two out of three people who enroll are not going to find an adequate job. 三分之二的专科大学生不会找到适当的工作,
adequate:adj.充足的;适当的;胜任的;
And the future, for them, doesn't look particularly promising -- in fact, it's downright bleak . 未来对他们来说,似乎也不乐观—— 实际上,前途黯淡,
particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; downright:adj.明白的;直率的;显明的;adv.完全,彻底;全然; bleak:adj.阴冷的;荒凉的,无遮蔽的;黯淡的,无希望的;冷酷的;单调的;
And it is they who are going to suffer the most punishing forms of student debt. 这三分之二的人 他们所背负的学贷是最残忍的。
And it is they, curiously and sadly, who are marketed most loudly about this college premium thing. 这三分之二的人, 意外而悲哀地, 最容易被「大学溢酬」这个概念吸引。
curiously:adv.好奇地;奇妙地;
That's not just cynical marketing, that's cruel. 这种推销手法不仅冷酷, 而且无情。
cynical:adj.愤世嫉俗的;冷嘲的;
So what do we do? 所以,我们该怎么做？
What if students and parents treated higher education as a consumer product? 要是每个学生及家长都把高等教育视为一种消费产品,那又如何？
What if:如果…怎么办?
Everybody else seems to. 这彷佛是不可争的事实。
Then, like any other consumer product, you would demand to know what you're paying for. 那么,不如像其他消费产品一样, 你会想要知道你到底买了甚么东西。
When you buy medicines, you get a list of side effects. 当你去买药的时候, 你能看到会有什么副作用。
When you buy a higher educational product, you should have a warning label that allows consumers to choose, make informed choices. 当你购买高等教育产品时, 也应该有个警告标示, 让消费者在资讯透明下, 可以做出明智的选择。
educational:adj.教育的;有关教育的;有教育意义的 label:n.标签;标记;谓;唱片公司;v.贴标签于;用标签标明; informed:adj.见多识广的; v.通知; (inform的过去分词和过去式)
When you buy a car, it tells you how many miles per gallon to expect. 当你购买一辆车, 它会告诉你一加仑大概可以跑几英哩。
gallon:n.加仑
Who knows what to expect from a degree say, in Canadian Studies. 像是主修“加拿大学”, 的预期薪资是怎样的。
There is such a thing, by the way . 这可不是我信口胡诌的。
by the way:顺便说一下;
What if there was an app for that? 要是有一个 APP 程式呢？
One that linked up the cost of a major to the expected income. 一个可以把主修科目与未来收入连结的程式。
Let's call it Income-Based Tuition or IBT. 我们先叫它做＂以未来收入为基础的学费＂或＂IBT＂。
One of you make this. 你们其中一个人要做...
(Laughter) （笑声）
Discover your reality. 挖掘真相。
(Laughter) （笑声）
There are three advantages , three benefits to Income-Based Tuition. 它有三个优点, IBT 有三个优点。
advantages:n.有利条件; v.有利于;
Any user can figure out how much money he or she will make from a given college and major. 任何人都可以找出 主修科目与未来收入的相关性。
Such informed users are unlikely to fall victim to the huckster's ploy, to the sales pitch. 这样的使用者就不会掉入 销售人员的花言巧语 与销售手段。
unlikely:adj.不大可能发生的;非心目中的;非想象的;难以相信的; victim:n.受害人;牺牲品;牺牲者;
But also to choose wisely. 可以更明智地选择。
Why would anybody pay more for college than let's say, 15 percent of the additional income they earn? 应该不会有人为了 增加15％的收入而进专科大学吧？
additional:adj.附加的,额外的;
There's a second benefit to Income-Based Tuition. IBT 第二个优点:
By tying the cost to the income, college administrators would be forced to manage costs better, to find innovative ways to do so. 一旦把学费和未来收入一起评估, 管理大学的主事者,就会被迫把成本管理地更好, 找到更有创意的方式来办教育。
administrators:n.[管理]管理员;完全程序(administrator的复数形式); innovative:adj.革新的,创新的;
For instance , all of you students here pay roughly the same tuition for every major. 举例, 这里全部的学生,不管主修哪一科,都支付一样的学费。
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地;
That is manifestly unfair, and should change. 这相当不公平,所以要改变。
manifestly:adv.显然地;明白地;
An engineering student uses more resources and facilities and labs and faculty than a philosophy student. 工程系学生使用的设备、 实验室、教职员的资源肯定比 哲学系学生多。
engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词) resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); facilities:n.设施;设备;特别装置;特色;场所;(facility的复数) labs:n.实验室;实验大楼;(lab的复数) faculty:n.科,系;能力;全体教员; philosophy:n.哲学;哲理;人生观;
But the philosophy student, as a consequence , is subsidizing the engineering student. 但最后好像是哲学系学生在补贴 工程系学生学费一样。
consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论; subsidizing:vt.资助;给与奖助金;向…行贿;
Who then, by the way, goes on and earns more money. 但后者的收入是比较好的。
Why should two people buy the same product, pay the same, but one person receive half or a third of the service. 为什么两个人购买了相同的产品、 支付同样的费用、 但其中一个人却只收到一半或三分之一的服务。
In fact, college grads, some majors, pay 25 percent of their income servicing their student debt, while others pay five percent. 事实上,大学毕業生,有一些主修科目, 要多支付 25% 的收入给他们的债权人, 而其他主修科目要支付 5% 。
That kind if inequity would end when majors are priced more correctly. 当这修主修科目价格修正后,这种不平等现象才会终结。
inequity:n.不公平,不公正;
Now of course, all this data -- and one of you is going to do this, right? 当然,有了这些数据 你们其中一个人要去做,好吗？
All this data has to be well designed, maybe audited by public accounting firms to avoid statistical lies. 这些数据要好好地设计, 可能需要公立的会记单位来审计监督, 避免统计骗局。
audited:adj.受审查的;受审计的;v.审计;旁听(audit的过去分词); statistical:adj.统计的;统计学的;
We know about statistics , right? 我们都知道那是怎么回事吧？
statistics:n.统计数字;统计资料;统计学;(statistic的复数)
But be that as it may, the third and biggest benefit of Income-Based Tuition, is it would free Americans from the fear and the fact of financial ruin because they bought a defective product. 但暂且不谈。 第三个 BIT 的优点: 它会把美国人从购买了不良商品 造成的财务问题中解救出来。
ruin:n.废墟;毁坏;灭亡;v.毁灭;使破产; defective:adj.有缺陷的;不完美的;n.有缺陷的人;不完全变化词;
Perhaps, in time, young and old Americans may rediscover , as the gentleman said earlier, their curiosity , their love of learning -- begin to study what they love, love what they study, follow their passion ... 也许,有一天, 老一辈跟年轻一辈的美国人会再度发现, 如同之前那位先生说的, 再度找回他们的好奇心、对学习的热爱-- 念他们喜欢念的、 读他们喜欢读的... 追随他们的热情,
rediscover:vt.重新发现;再发现; curiosity:n.好奇,好奇心;珍品,古董,古玩; passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
getting stimulated by their intelligence , follow paths of inquiry that they really want to. 被他们自己的天份所激励, 挖掘自己想问的问题。
stimulated:adj.受激的;v.刺激(stimulate的过去式和过去分词); intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报; inquiry:n.询问;查询;打听;调查;
After all, it was Eric and Kevin, two years ago, just exactly these kinds of young men, who prompted me and worked with me, and still do, in the study of indebted students in America. 别忘了,这是艾利克跟凯文, 两年前, 怀抱着现在年轻人一样的梦想, 来找我幫忙、一起工作, 到现在仍坚持着 研究如何让美国学生摆脱债务。
prompted:v.促使;导致;提示;给(演员)提词;(prompt的过去分词和过去式)
Thank you for your attention. 感谢各位的聆听。
(Applause) （掌声）