1、Unit 2 College PressuresDear Carlos: I desperately need a deans excuse for my chem.（化学） midterm（期中考试）, which will begin in about one hour. All I can say is that I totally blew it this week. Ive fallen incredibly（难以置信地，非常地） , inconceivably（不可思议地） behind.敬爱的卡洛斯院长：还有一个小时就要化学期中考试了，我急切需要一个院长给我点建议。我唯一能说的就
2、是，我这周过得浑浑噩噩，课业落下一大截。Carlos: Help! I am anxious to hear from you. Ill be in my room and wont leave it until I hear from you. Tomorrow is the last day for帮帮我！我非常需要你的回应！我会一直在房间里等，直到你给我回应。明天就是最后一天.Carlos: I left town because I started bugging out again. I stayed up all night to finish a take-home make-u
3、p exam and am typing it to hand in on the tenth. It was due on the fifth. PS: Im going to the dentist. Pain is pretty bad.我离开城镇是因为我又得赶时间开溜了。我熬了一整晚做完家庭完成的考试，然后打印出来在第十周上交。规定截止时间是第十五周。PS:我要去看牙医。牙疼的厉害。Carlos: Probably by Friday Ill be able to get back to my studies. Right now, Im going to take a long wa
4、lk. This whole thing has taken a lot out of me.也许周五我能赶回来继续学习。现在，我要走一段好远的路了。这些事情让我疲惫不堪。Carlos: Im really up the proverbial（谚语的，众所周知的）creek（小溪）. The problem is I really bombed the history final. Since I need that course for my major I我真的是有大麻烦了。我考砸了历史期末考。由于我的专业要求学这门课，我Carlos: Here follows a tale of woe
5、. I went home this weekend, had to help my Mom, and caught a fever so didnt have much time to study. My professor讲个悲伤的故事。我这周末回家，帮我妈做事，结果发烧了，没怎么学习。我们教授.Carlos: Aargh! Trouble. Nothing original but everythings piling up at once. To be brief, my job interview.不是吧！真遭罪。祸不单行啊。话说，我的工作面试.Hey Carlos, good ne
6、ws! Ive got mononucleosis（单核细胞增多症）!好消息！我得了单核细胞增多症！Who are these wretched（可怜的） supplicants（祈求者）, scribbling（乱写，潦草地书写） notes so laden（苦恼的） with anxiety（焦虑，渴望）, seeking such miracles of postponement（延期） and balm（香油，镇痛软膏）? They are men and women who belong to Branford College（布兰福德学院） , one of the twelve
7、 residential colleges （住宿学院） at Yale University, and the messages are just a few of the hundreds they left for their dean, Carlos Hortas - often slipped（塞入） under his door at 4 a.m. - last year.这些可怜的祈求者是谁？字条上潦草的字迹如此痛苦焦虑。乞求着延期的奇迹和止痛剂。这些男女都是布兰福德学院，耶鲁大学 12 个住宿学院之一的学生，而以上不过是他们给院长 Carlos Hortas 成百纸条中的寥寥几
8、个。去年，这些纸条总是被塞入他的办公室门里，在早上 4 点。But students like the ones who wrote those notes can also be found on campuses from coast to coast - especially in New England and many other private colleges across the country that have high academic standards and highly motivated students. Nobody could doubt that the
9、 notes are real. In their urgency and their gallows humor（黑色幽默，绞刑架上的幽默） they are authentic（真实的） voices of a generation that is panicky（恐慌的，惊慌失措的） to succeed.然而像这样写小纸条的学生，在全国各地是常见的尤其在新英格兰，很多有高水平学术和高度自发自觉的学生的私立院校。没人会怀疑这些纸条真实性。从这些迫切性和黑色幽默不难看出一代人迫切渴望成功的真实声音。My own connection with the message writers is
10、that I am master of Branford College. I live in its Gothic quadrangle and know the students well. (We have 485 of them.) I am privy to their hopes and fears - and also their stereo music and their piercing cries in the dead of night (“Does anybody ca-a-are?”). If they went to Carlos to ask how to ge
11、t through tomorrow, they come to me to ask how to get through the rest of their lives.我是耶鲁大学布兰福德学院的院长。我住在校内，非常了解学生。 （我们有 485 名学生。）我常听他们诉说自己的希望和恐惧也常听他们的立体声音乐和他们在夜深人静时发出的刺耳喊叫（“ 有什么人关心吗？”） 。他们问 Carlos 明天怎么办，他们到我这儿来，问我如何度过余生。Mainly I try to remind them that the road ahead is a long one and that it will
12、have more unexpected turns that they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They do not want to hear such liberating news. They want a map - right now - that they can follow unswerving to career security, financial security, social
13、security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.我主要是试图提醒他们，前面的路途漫长，沿途中的曲折将比他们想象的要多。将来有时候会改变工作，改变职业，改变整个的态度和处理问题的方式。他们不想听这种无关紧要的消息。他们现在就想要一张地图，能据以直接通向业保障、经济保障、社会保障，也许还通向一座预购的坟墓。What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy（湿冷的） grip 紧握） ， （柄，支配） of the future. I wish them a chance to savor （
14、品尝） each segment 部分）of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim（冷酷的，残忍的） preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive （有益的，教育性的） as victory and is not the end of the world.我的希望是所有学生能从未来的严酷无情中得到一些解脱。我希
15、望他们有机会把他们每一阶段的教育纯粹作为一种经历来享受，而不是作为一种为下一步作准备的令人厌倦的要求。我希望他们有权利失误、有权利跌倒，并懂得失败同胜利一样有教育意义，而不是世界的末日。My wish, of course, is nave. One of the few rights that America does not proclaim （宣告，公布） is the right to fail. Achievement is the national god, venerated（尊敬） in our media the million-dollar athlete, the wea
16、lthy executive and glorified in our praise（赞扬） of possessions（财产）. In the presence of such a potent（强有力的）state religion, the young are growing up old.当然，我的希望是天真的。在美国人没有声明拥有的为数不多的权利之中，有一个便是失败的权利。成就是民族之神，它在我们的媒体中受到崇拜身价百万的运动员，富有的主管人员在我们对财富的赞扬中得到荣耀。年轻人就是在这样一种强有力的国教的熏陶下长大的。I see four kinds of pressure wo
17、rking on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. Its easy to look around for villains to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the stu
18、dents for driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains（坏人）, only victims.我发现有四种压力影响着今天的大学生：经济上的压力，父母的压力，同伴的压力，和自己导致的压力。四处寻找罪魁祸首并不难指责大学收费太高，指责教授布置作业太多，指责父母望子成龙过于心切，指责学生把自己逼得太紧。但罪魁祸首是没有的，只有受害者。“In the late 1960s,” one dean told me, “the typical question that I got from students was Why is th
19、ere so much suffering in the world? or How can I make a contribution? Today its Do you think it would look better for getting into low school if I did a double major in history and political science, or just majored in one of them? ” Many other deans confirmed this pattern. One said: “Theyre trying
20、to find an edge（边缘，优势） the intangible（无形的，难以言喻的） something that will look better on paper if two students are about equal.”“1960 年代末， ”一位院长对我说， “学生问我的典型问题是 “为什么世界多磨难？” 或“我能做些什么？” 如今问的是“ 你觉得，如果我学历不高但有历史和政治科学的双学位，会不会比较好？或者只是学其中一门？”其他院长也面临这样的的问题。其中一个说：“他们尝试找到一种优势当两个学生差不多的时候，可以让成绩看起来更好的无形东西。 ”Note the e
21、mphasis on looking better. The transcript has become a sacred document, the passport to security. How one appears on paper is more important than how one appears in person. A is for Admirable and B is for Borderline, even though, in Yales official system of grading, A means “excellent“ and B means “
22、very good“. Today, looking very good is no longer good enough, especially for students who hope to go on to law school or medical school. They know that entrance into the better schools will be an entrance into the better law firms and better medical practices where they will make a lot of money. Th
23、ey also know that the odds are harsh. Yale Law School, for instance, matriculates 170 students from an applicant pool of 3,700; Harvard enrolls 550 from a pool of 7,000.对看起来更好的追求。使得成绩单成为一种神圣的文本，安全的护照。这些书面表达的内容比一个人本身表达的内容更重要。A 是被艳羡的， B 是勉强接受的，即使在耶鲁大学官方评分系统里，A 是“极佳”，B 是“ 非常好”。如今，非常好已经不够好，尤其是对于那些想继续法律或
24、医学学习的学生。他们知道更好的学校意味着更好的就业公司，更好的医疗实践能让他们金银满钵。他们还知道成功很难。以耶鲁大学的法学院为例，3700 个申请者只有 170 个被录取；哈佛大学 7000 申请者中录取 550 个。Its all very well for those of us who write letters of recommendation（推荐信） for our students to stress the qualities of humanity that will make them good lawyers or doctors. And its nice to t
25、hink that admission officers are really reading our letters and looking for the extra dimension（方面） of commitment（承诺，保证，委托） or concern. Still, it would be hard for a student not to visualize these officers shuffling（洗牌） so many transcripts studded（镶嵌）with As that they regard a B as positively shamef
26、ul.对于我们这些做院长的人来说，为学生写推荐信，并在信中强调学生的人文素养与品质倒也是件好事，这些素养与品质也将使他们成为优秀的律师或医生。同样值得高兴的是，招生面试官在认真阅读我们的信的同时，也会留意其它能够确保学生品质的证书或是有关文件。然而，一个学生很难想象到的是，面试官已经阅遍无数标满了 A 的成绩单，在他们眼中，一个 B 就会被理所当然地认为是可耻的。The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of the “g
27、entlemans C”, when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety of courses - music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion - that would send them out as liberally educated men and women. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates
28、 who have this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know countless students whose inquiring minds exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I dont know if they are getting As or Cs, and I dont care. I also like them as people. The country
29、needs them, and they will find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They cant.对于想毕业去找工作的学生来说，这种压力也是几乎一样沉重的。拿个 C 等成绩便万事大吉的日子早已过去了，那时的学生可以轻松地度过大学生活，广泛涉猎各门课程：音乐、艺术、哲学、古希腊罗马文学、人类学，诗歌，宗教等，这些课程把一批批经受过人文教育的学生送出校门。如果我是雇主，我宁愿雇佣那些有这种视野和好奇心的毕业生，而不是那些囿于追求简单科目和高分的毕业生。我所认识的许多学生都能以他们勤学好问的头脑使振奋起来。我喜欢听他们的想法。我不知道他们
30、考试成绩是 A 还是 C，我不在乎。我也喜欢作为人而存在的他们。国家需要他们，他们也会找到令自己满意的工作。我告诉他们对未来放松一点，而他们往往放松不下来。Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Tuition, room, and board at most private college now comes to at least $ 7,000, not counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting ric
31、h. But they are equally battered by inflation. Tuition covers only 60 percent of what it costs to educate a student, and ordinarily the remainder comes from what colleges receive in endowments, grants, and gifts. Now the remainder keeps being swallowed by the cruel costs higher every year of just op
32、ening the doors. Heating oil is up. Insurance is up. We are witnessing in America the creation of a brotherhood of paupers colleges, parents, and students, joined by the common bond of debt.我也不能责怪他们。他们生活在残酷的经济体制下。大多数私立学校的学费、住宿费和学费达到至少 7000 美元，这其中还不包括书本费和杂费。这也似乎暗示着大学正在变得富有。然而，大学会受到通货膨胀的打击。在大学将一名学生培育成
33、才所需的成本里，学费只占了百分之 60，其余部分来自其在赞助、赠款和礼物上获得的收入。如今，只要一打开门办校，成本就年年上涨，这剩下的百分之 40 的价值因而不断缩水，油价在上涨，保险费在上涨，什么都在涨。我们在美国目睹着一个贫困群体的创立 由于背负巨债，大学、父母和学生们都一同落入了身无分文的境地。Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part time at college and full time during the summer, to accrue $ 5,000 in loans after four y
34、ears - loans that he must start to repay within one year after graduation. Exhorted at commencement to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth. How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? I have used “he”, incidentally, only fo
35、r brevity. Women at Yale are under no less pressure to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. In fact, they re probably under more pressure. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male job, society hasnt yet
36、caught up with this fact.如今，一个学生，甚至是一个上学时部分时间打工，暑假里全日打工的学生，在四年之后欠下 5，000 美元债务的情况并不罕见这笔债务学生必须在毕业后一年之内开始偿还（顺便说一句，并非像许多非大学生的人们所以为的那样都是低息贷款） 。虽然在毕业典礼上学生们被鼓励迈步走向社会，但他们刚出发就已经落后了。为准备迎接这一结帐之日，他们整个大学期间又怎能不感压力沉重呢？耶鲁的女生比男生压力更大，因为她们要向自己、父母和社会证明她们值得接受昂贵的教育。因为虽然她们离开大学时已经具备了出众的才能，完全可以给一贯由男性从事的工作注入新鲜的领导力量，但是社会的进步还没
37、有到认识这一事实。Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined.伴随着经济压力的是来自父母的压力。这两者不可避免地深深交织在一起。I see many students taking pre-medical courses with joyless tenacity. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know
38、 them in other corners of their life as cheerful people.我看到学生们下定决心毫无欢乐地在修医学预科课程。他们去实验室，就像是去看牙医。这使我感到悲哀，因为我知道他们在生活的其它方面都是些高高兴兴的人。“Do you want to go to medical school?” I ask them.“你想进医学院吗？” 我问他们。“I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not really.”“我想是这样的吧， ”他们不能肯定地说，或者“ 并非真的想。 ”“Then why are
39、you going?”“那你为什么还打算进呢？”“Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. Theyre paying all this money and.”“父母要我当医生。钱都是他们付的，而且”Poor students, poor parents. They are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean well; they are trying to steer their sons and daughters toward a
40、 secure future. But, the sons and daughters want to major in history or classics or philosophy - subjects with no practical value. Where is the payoff on the humanities? It is not easy to persuade such loving parents that the humanities do, indeed, pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by st
41、udying subjects such as history and classics - and ability to synthesize and relate, to weigh the cause and effect, to see events in perspective - are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost any general field. Still, many parents would rather put their money on courses th
42、at point toward a specific profession - courses that are pre-law, pre-med., pre-business, or as I sometimes heard it put, pre-rich.可怜的学生们，可怜的父母们。他们被困在一张最古老的由爱与责任以及负疚感交错的网中。父母们初衷良善，他们试图引导自己的儿女们通往一个有保障的未来。只是儿女们想主修的是历史或文学一些不“实用”的专业。读人文科学的回报在哪里呢？要说服爱心拳拳的父母们人文科学确有回报，不是件容易的事。学习历史和文学之类的学科所获得的智力综合、相互联系、通因明果
43、、洞察深入正是那些在商界乃至几乎一切领域具有创造力的领袖所必需的能力。然而，许多父亲们仍然宁愿将金钱花在职业指向明确的课程上法律预科、医学预科、商业预科我有时称之为“财富预科”。 But, the pressure on students is severe. They are truly torn. One part of them feels obligated to fulfill their parents expectations; after all, their parents are older and presumably wiser. Another part tells
44、them that the expectations that are right for their parents are not right for them.然而学生身上的压力就非常严重了。他们真的备受折磨。一方面他们觉得有义务实现父母的期望，毕竟父母比自己年长，应该较为见多识广。另一方面，他们又觉得父母的期望对于父母是合适的，但对于自己却未必合适。I know a student who wants to be an artist. She is very obviously an artist and will be a good one - she has already had
45、 several modest local exhibits. Meanwhile she is growing as a well-rounded person and taking humanistic subjects that will enrich the inner resources out of which her art will grow. But her father is strongly opposed. He thinks that an artist is a dumb thing to be. The student vacillates and tries t
46、o please everybody. She keeps up with her art somewhat furtively and takes some of the dumb courses her father wants her to take - at least that are dumb courses for her. She is a free spirit on a campus of tense students - no small achievement in itself - and she deserves to follow her muse.我认识一个想当
47、艺术家的学生。她显然就是一名艺术家的样子，而且将会成为一名优秀的艺术家她的作品已经有过好几次小型本地展览了。同时，她也正在成长为一个多才多艺的人；她正在攻读人文学科，这些学科的丰富内涵将会充实她的艺术素养。但她的父亲对此强烈反对。他认为搞艺术是一个“愚蠢”的事情：艺术生总是踌躇不定，又试图取悦所有人。而她暗自坚持了自己的艺术爱好，并按父亲要求去上一些“愚蠢”的课程至少这些课对她来说是显得愚蠢的。在校园里，在一群神经兮兮、又碌碌无为的学生之间，她就像一个自由的灵魂她顺从自己的本心是值得的。Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also inter
48、twined, and they start almost at the beginning of freshman year.来自同伴的压力和自我导致的压力也是相互交织的，而且它们从一年级一开始就出现了。“I had a freshman student Ill call Linda,” one dean told me. “Who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I could
49、nt tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda.”“我有一个一年级的学生, 我就称她为琳达吧， ”一位老师告诉我， “她进来对我说她的压力极大，因为她的室友芭芭拉比她聪明得多而且整天用功。我没法启口告诉她两个小时之前芭芭拉也进来这样说过琳达。 ”The story is almost funny - except that it is not. It is symptomatic of all the pressures put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it
