摘要： 出现这一现象，一方面是因为人口出生率下降，
另一方面是因为这些学校教学方法落后（Para. 5&6）↓ 非白人学生较多的学校更不稳定，会有大批倒闭（Para. 7） ↓
由于学生越来越倾向...
出现这一现象，一方面是因为人口出生率下降，
另一方面是因为这些学校教学方法落后（Para. 5&6）↓ 非白人学生较多的学校更不稳定，会有大批倒闭（Para. 7） ↓
由于学生越来越倾向市区的大规模大学，位置较偏且规模较小的学校很快会被淘汰或者被整合（Para. 8）
疫情也加速了这一过程。受出行禁令的影响，且不少人担忧美国治疫不力，外籍留学生的比例会进一步下滑（Para. 9）
同时因为经济衰退，家境贫困的本土学生很可能会放弃读大学，各州政府的教育补助也会大幅缩水，
联邦的援助资金也是杯水车薪（Para. 10）↓
此外，不少学校还面临着学生的诉讼，被要求退还学费。
综上，美国大学面临着巨大的挑战（Para. 11）
02 原文精读分析
Could a fifth of America’s colleges really facethe chop?
美国五分之一的高等院校是否能经受住此次淘汰危机？
【Para.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 redbrick buildingssprawlover 384bucolicacres. She judges time spent there less of a coronavirus risk than staying at home in Chicago.
玛蒂娜·马雷卡(Martyna Malecka) 就读于美国石山学院犯罪学专业，已迫不及待地想要迎接 8 月份的开学。她所在的校区位于马萨诸塞州的伊斯顿，“给人一种村庄的感觉”：校园内遍布着雅致的红砖建筑，总共占地 384 英亩；建筑周围则是一片田园景 象。玛蒂娜认为，呆在学校要比呆在芝加哥的家里更安全，感染新冠的概率更小。
blues n. (pl.) a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness 忧郁 (习语 the blues)the chop n. (BrE, informal) the cancellation or abolition of something 取消；废止all these projects are destined for the chop. 所有这些工程注定要被取消the dismissal of someone from employment 解雇hundreds more workers have been given the chop. 又有几百名工人被解雇。criminology n. [ U ] the scientific study of crime and criminals 犯罪学sprawl v. If you say that a place sprawls, you mean that it covers a large area of land. 延伸The State Recreation Area sprawls over 900 acres on the southern tip of Key Biscayne.州立休闲区占地九百多英亩，地处基·比斯坎南端。（表达建筑占地面积的时候可以使用这个动词）bucolic a. /bjuklk/ ( literary ) connected with the countryside or country life 乡村的；乡村生活的；田园的【Para.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 ignorelecturerswho appear by video, she says, and some hardly set assignments. Like other students, families and faculty, she cravesin-person learning.
世界各地的大学都为远程运作作出了顽强的努力。一些学校，如加州州立大学，表示他们明年将继续只进行在线教学。然而，玛蒂娜很怀疑远程学习是否行得通。她能拿到高分，但却戏谑地承认自己其实并“不是很清楚”自 3 月以来在家到底学了些什么。她谈道，视频授课的讲师很容易被学生忽视，而且有些老师几乎不布置作业。与其他学生、家长和教师一样，玛蒂娜渴望面对面上课。
valiant a. A valiant action is very brave and determined, though it may lead to failure or defeat. 顽强的（英勇的；勇敢的；果敢的；坚定的）Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister, inflation rose to 36%. 尽管这位财政部长作了顽强的努力，通货膨胀率还是升到了 36%。She made a valiant attempt not to laugh. 她试图强忍住不笑出来。lecturer n. (especially in Britain) a person who teaches at a university or college （尤指英国大学的）讲师He's a lecturer in French at Oxford. 他是牛津大学的法语讲师。crave v. to have a very strong desire for sth 渴望；热望SYN long for[ VN ] She has always craved excitement. 她总渴望刺激。【Para.3】
Whether or not universitiesget backquicklytothat, 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 northeast and Midwest, are not. Their problems arelong-standing. Nathan Grawe of Carleton College in Minnesota, who researches demography and higher education, says the core difficulty is theslipping fertility rate. Overall enrolment has drifted downover the past few years.
但不管各个大学是否会迅速回归线下授课，许多院校都可能要经历一番磨难。石山大学是一所私立天主教学校，拥有 2500 名学生和 2 亿美元的资助基金，看上去运转良好。但在许多与它类似的文理学院，尤其是位于美国东北部和中西部的文理学院，情况却并非如此。这些学校有许多问题由来已久。明尼苏达州卡尔顿学院的内森·格劳（Nathan Grawe）从事人口统计学和高等教育研究，他认为，核心问题是美国生育率不断下滑，因此，过去几年里，美国大学入学总人数也有所下降。
get back to sth/doing… phrase If you get back to an activity, you start doing it again after you have stopped doing it. 重新开始I think I ought to get back to work. 我想我应该重新开始工作了。If you get back to someone, you contact them again after a short period of time, often by telephone. (常指通过电话) 再联系We'll get back to you as soon as possible. 我们将尽快再跟你联系。endowment n. [ C U ] money that is given to a school, a college or another institution to provide it with an income; the act of giving this money 捐款；捐赠；资助in good shape phrase If someone or something is in shape, or in good shape, they are in a good state of health or in a good condition. If they are in bad shape, they are in a bad state of health or in a bad condition. (身体、物体) 处于（良好/不良）状况He was still in better shape than many young men. 他依然比许多年轻人都健康。Generally, if a company has lots of assets relative to liabilities, it's in good shape.一般来说，一家公司如果资产丰厚，而债务相对较少，它的运营状况就很好。long-standing a. A long-standing situation has existed for a long time. 长期存在的They are on the brink of resolving their long-standing dispute over money. 他们即将要解决彼此之间为时已久的金钱争议。slipping a. 不断下降的，退步的slip v. to fall to a lower level; to become worse 下降；退步；变差His popularity has slipped recently. 近来他已不如过去那样受欢迎fertility rate n. 生育率；人口出生率drift down v. 缓慢下降 How can banks be expected to lend more to re-inflate the economy's asset prices while wages and consumer prices continue to drift down? 当工资和消费持续下落，怎么还能指望银行借出更多钱，再通胀经济体内的资产价值？【Para.4】
This squeezes smaller colleges hardest. A study by ParthenonEY, an educucation consultancy, of over 2,000 colleges suggested 800 are so small or inefficient that they maygo bust. Around one-fifthrun budget deficits. Others pile up debts, fail to build sufficient endowments or sustain student numbers only by agreeing topainfullybig discounts on fees. Mr Grawe points out that eight colleges were already closing each year before the pandemic.
这一局面下，规模较小的大学受到的压力最大。教育咨询公司 Parthenon-EY 对 2000 多所大学进行了一项研究，结果表明，有 800 所大学规模太小或效率太低，很可能破产。约五分之一的 院校存在预算赤字。其它学校或债台高筑，或无力筹足基金，又 或单凭大幅降低学费来勉强维持学生数量。格劳先生指出，在新冠大流行之前，每年倒闭的大学就有 8 所。
go bust v. = go bankrupt 破产 We lost our money when the travel company went bust . 旅行社破产，我们的钱都赔了进去。run budget deficits phrase 出现、实行预算赤字 Morgan expects even Singapore's government to run a budget deficit this year and next. 摩根预计，就连新加坡政府今明两年也会出现预算赤字。painfully adv. extremely, and in a way that makes you feel annoyed, upset, etc. 非常地；令人痛苦地；令人烦恼地Progress has been painfully slow . 进度慢得令人焦急。【Para.5】
Those that fail are usually small, among the 40% of highereducation 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 tohire outcampuses for conferences, raise research funds, earnbequestsand thelike.
这些破产的大学往往规模很小，且属于美国高等院校中学生人数不达 1000 人的 40%院校之列。过去十年，它们招生人数下滑速度超过中等院校。(当然，最大的几所学校通常仍能不断壮大。) Parthenon 发现有 72 所大学在 2007 后纷纷倒闭，其中几乎每一所规模都不大。它们之所以如此脆弱，是因为极其依赖学生缴 纳的学费进项；另一些学校则通过把校园出租给会议举办方、筹集研究资金、争取他人遗赠等方法来增加收入。
hire out v. If you hire out a person's services, you allow them to be used in return for payment. 出租...employment agencies which hire out personnel to foreign companies. …向外国公司出租人员的职业介绍所。bequest n. ( formal ) money or property that you ask to be given to a particular person when you die 遗产； 遗赠He left a bequest to each of his grandchildren. 他给他的孙辈每人留下一笔遗产。like n. [ sing. ] a person or thing that is similar to another 类似的人（或物）（注意词性；复习）jazz, rock and the like (= similar types of music) 爵士乐、摇滚乐以及诸如此类的音乐a man whose like we shall not see again 我们再也不会见到的那种男人【Para.6】
Robert Zemsky of the University of Pennsylvania, who co-wrote a recent book on the growingwoesof 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, areoutdated, faculty areout of touchand four-year degrees should be cut to three to save costs and force arethinkof higher education.
宾夕法尼亚大学的罗伯特·泽姆斯基(Robert Zemsky)最近与人合写了一本书，着眼于美国大学日益严峻的困境。他预计规模较小的大学将会“破产，大量关门”，尤其是在更为广阔的中西部地区。他把这归咎于美国人口结构和不适合部分学生的教学方法，特别提到在许多大学，超过四分之一的新生是怎么会在第一学年就退学的。泽姆斯基表示，很多学校课程过时，教师们与学 生脱节，而且 4 年制的学位课程应该削减到 3 年制，以节省教育成本，促使人们重新考虑高等教育。
woes n.[ pl. ] the troubles and problems that sb has 麻烦；问题；困难financial woes 财政困难Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇outdated a. no longer useful because of being oldfashioned 过时的；陈旧的outdated equipment 过时的设备out of touch phrase If you are out of touch with someone, you have not been in contact with them recently and are not familiar with their present situation. 不联系的；与……脱节James and I have been out of touch for years. 我和詹姆斯已经多年没有联系了。rethink n. If you have a rethink of a problem, a plan or a policy, you think about it again and change it. 重新考虑a radical rethink of company policy 对公司规划的彻底反思【Para.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 andHispanics,” he says. Crystal Nix-Hines, a lawyer in Los Angeles who specialises in the education sector, also expects an “enormouswinnowing” of historically black colleges.
最岌岌可危的要数那些主要招收非白人学生的大学。泽姆斯基谈 道:“与白人和拉美裔相比，非裔美国人有两倍多的概率会去这 些高风险的大学。”洛杉矶律师克里斯特尔·尼克斯-海因斯(Crystal Nix-Hines)专门负责教育相关的案子，他也预测这些历 来以黑人为主的大学会面临一场“大洗牌”。
Hispanic n. A Hispanic is someone who is Hispanic. 拉美裔美国人About 80 percent of Hispanics here are U.S. citizens. 这里约 80%的拉美裔美国人是美国公民。winnowing n. 筛选；遴选winnow v. If you winnow a group of things or people, you reduce its size by separating the ones that are useful or relevant from the ones that are not. 筛选; 遴选Administration officials have winnowed the list of candidates to three. 行政官员将候选人名单筛减到三人。【Para.8】
Consolidation of 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.
高等院校整合来得有些晚。学生们越来越偏向更大、更市区化的学校，因此一些规模较小、位置偏远的学校将被淘汰。至于具体 数字，在大流行发生之前，泽姆斯基和他的合著者预计最终会有10%的大学倒闭。而现在，他预计，将有 20%倒闭或并入其他院校。
overdue a. If you say that a change or an event is overdue, you mean that you think it should have happened before now. 早该发生的This debate is long overdue. 这场辩论早就应该进行了。overdue reforms 迟来的改革A book like this is long overdue . 像这样的书早就该有人出版了。merge v. ~ (with/into) sth~ A with B~ A and B (together) to combine or make two or more things combine to form a single thing （使）合并，结合，并入His department will merge with mine. 他的部门将和我的合并。 【Para.9】
The pandemic furtherdimstheir 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 haveslid. A drop in Chinese studentsexplainsmuch of that. Travel bans and concern that America hasbungledthe coronavirus will only put offmore.
大流行从多个角度打击了这些学校，使它们的前景更为暗淡。以各个大学想法设法招收外国学生为例（这些学生通常要支付全额学费），过去三年里，每年外籍大学生的入学人数都在下滑。中国学生人数的下降基本说明了出现下滑的原因。旅行限制和对美国在新冠上应对不力的担忧只会让更多中国留学生望而却步。
dim vt./vi. If your future, hopes, or emotions dim or if something dims them, they become less good or less strong. 使变暗淡; 变暗淡Their economic prospects have dimmed. 他们的经济前景变得暗淡了。slide v. ~ (from...) (to...) to become gradually lower or of less value 逐渐降低；贬值Shares slid to a 10-year low. 股价跌到了 10 年来的最低点。explain v. ~ sth (to sb) to give a reason, or be a reason, for sth 说明（…的）原因；解释（…的）理由Well, that doesn't explain why you didn't phone. 嗳，那不是你不打电话的理由。Oh well then, that explains it (= I understand now why sth happened) . 噢，原来是这么回事。bungle v. to do sth badly or without skill; to fail at sth 笨拙地做；失败They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。a bungled robbery/raid/attempt 未遂的抢劫╱袭击╱尝试put off v. If something puts you off something, it makes you dislike it, or decide not to do or have it. 使反感; 使 对…失去兴趣(之前在沃尔玛那一篇中有提到过，Collins 对这一用法进行了更详细的归纳)The high divorce figures don't seem to be putting people off marriage. 高离婚率好像并没有使人们对婚姻望而却步。His personal habits put them off. 他的个人习惯让他们反感。 【Para.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 oflosing outon $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.
而随之而来的经济衰退意味着一些较为拮据的家庭将不会考虑送孩子去上大学。还有一些家庭会延迟入学计划。各州对公立大学的资助必然会下降。皮尤慈善信托基金（Pew Charitable Trusts）5 月 18 日发布的一份报告指出，2008 年至 2012 年间， 各州生均高等教育经费支出就已削减了 29%。而此次经济衰退 大概率会更加严重。内华达州和俄亥俄州已经表示，他们有削减这方面开支的计划。密歇根大学(University of Michigan)也谈 到过要损失 10亿美元。虽然联邦政府对大学的资金援助将会增加 (依据《CARES 法案》，将有 140 亿美元用于对各个大学和学生的紧急援助)，但不太可能弥补所有的缺口。
lose out (on sth) v. 损失…；输掉Their family would lose out on 30 years of earnings. 那么他们家庭将会损失 30 年的收入。shortfall n. If there is a shortfall in something, there is less of it than you need. 不足The government has refused to make up a $30,000 shortfall in funding. 政府已经拒绝补足 3 万美元的资金短缺。【Para.11】
Finally, many universities face possibly costly legal trouble.Ms Nix-Hines counted 134lawsuits, mostlyclass-actionones, leviedagainst the “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 “liability shield” to protect against futureprosecutionsbefore they reopen. For universities, it all adds up to “their greatest challenge in history”, she says. That may soundalarmist, but it is probably true.
最后，许多大学还可能面临天价官司。据尼克斯-海恩斯统计，截止到 5 月底，状告“全体”私立和公立大学的诉讼共有 134 份，其中大部分是集体诉讼，起诉的原因主要是大学生们提出他们在网上受到的课程服务低于标准，要求学校退还学费。目前，一些大学也许会寻求“责任护盾”来抵抗任何在复课前可能会出现的起诉。尼克斯-海恩斯称，对于大学来说，所有这些叠加在一起，构成了“它们有史以来的最大挑战”。这听起来可能有点危言耸听，但情况大概率就是这样。
lawsuit n. a claim or complaint against sb that a person or an organization can make in court 诉讼；起诉 He filed a lawsuit against his record company. 他对给他录制唱片的公司提起了诉讼。class action n. a type of lawsuit that is started by a group of people who have the same problem 集体诉讼levy v. to use legal authority to demand and collect (a fine, a tax, etc.) 使用合法权力要求和收取(罚款、税金等)SYN-imposeThey levied a tax on imports. 他们对进口货征税。The government will levy a fine on the company. 政府将对该公司征收罚款。gamut n. /'gmt/the complete range of a particular kind of thing 全部；全范围The network will provide the gamut of computer services to your home. 这个网络将为家庭提供全方位的计算机服务。substandard a. A substandard service or product is unacceptable because it is below a required standard.低于标准的Residents in general are poor and undereducated, and live in substandard housing. 居民一般都很穷、受教育程度低，而且居住条件很差。prosecution n. the process of trying to prove in court that sb is guilty of a crime (= of prosecuting them) ; the process of being officially charged with a crime in court（被）起诉，检举；诉讼Prosecution for a first minor offence rarely leads to imprisonment. 因初犯轻罪被控者很少被判监禁。alarmist a. ( disapproving ) causing unnecessary fear and anxiety 危言耸听的；骇人的A spokesperson for the food industry said the TV programme was alarmist. 食品业的一位发言人说这个电视节目危言耸听。
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