2021年英语专八真题听力 演讲

Current Challenges Confronting U.S. Higher Education

当前美国高等教育面临的挑战

Good moming, everyone.

大家早上好。

In our last lecture, we discussed challenges that face universities and colleges worldwide.

在上一次讲座中，我们讨论了世界各地大学和学院面临的挑战。

Today, we'll take a special look at U.S. higher education and see what challenges U.S. higher education is facing.

今天，我们将特别关注美国高等教育，了解美国高等教育面临的挑战。

OK, let's get started.

好的，让我们开始吧。

The first challenge we are examining in today's lecture is the force of the marketplace on higher education.

我们在今天的讲座中考察的第一个挑战是市场对高等教育的影响。

Many people believe that the marketplace has overtaken state govemment as the dominant extemal force,shaping and reshaping American higher education,

许多人认为，市场已经超过了国家政府，成为主导的外部力量，塑造和重塑美国高等教育，

even for public colleges and universities.

即使是公立学院和大学。

You may ask, why is it so?

你可能会问，为什么会这样？

Well, as is always the case, govemment support is not keeping pace with educational expenditures.

好吧，一如既往，政府的支持并没有跟上教育支出的步伐。

So, in many ways the market is having more bearing on higher education than govemment.

因此，在许多方面，市场对高等教育的影响大于政府。

In order to create more flexibility, many public colleges and universities are now asking for less govemment regulation and supervision.

为了创造更多的灵活性，许多公立学院和大学现在要求减少政府监管和监督。

In some instances, they are even asking for less state money in return for more autonomy.

在某些情况下，他们甚至要求减少国家资金，以换取更多的自主权。

And, their argument is that the current structures and accountability requirements have hindered their capacity to be effective and efficient.

而且，他们的论点是，目前的结构和问责要求阻碍了他们提高效率和效率的能力。

The ability to set their own tuition fees and secure freedom from state policies and regulations in areas,such as purchasing and building,

有能力自行制定学费，并确保在某些领域不受国家政策和法规的约束，比如购买和建造，

represent just some of the additional autonomy that public institutions are seeking.

只是公共机构寻求的一些额外自主权。

And many are pressing for new legislation to provide this freedom through a range of innovations,

许多人迫切需要新的立法，通过一系列创新来提供这种自由，

including public corporations, charter colleges, state enterprise status and performance contracts.

包括公共公司、特许学院、国有企业地位和履约合同。

So, what is the result of these efforts?

那么，这些努力的结果是什么？

Well, the result is that activities and research in certain fields and disciplines,

结果是，在某些领域和学科的活动和研究，

for example, engineering, applied natural science and agricultural science become higher institutional priorities because they have stronger market value than other programs such as humanities do.

例如，工程学、应用自然科学和农业科学成为更高的机构优先事项，因为它们比人文科学等其他项目具有更强的市场价值。

So, what has happened is that institutions create new programs,

所以，所发生的是，机构创造了新的项目，

alter academic calendars and pursue different financial aid policies to capture more and better students,

改变学术日历，推行不同的资助政策，以吸引更多更好的学生，

in particular those who can afford to pay high tuition.

尤其是那些有能力支付高额学费的人。

For instance, executive MBA programs are increasingly popular.

例如，高管MBA课程越来越受欢迎。

Also, institutions seek contracts and partnership agreements and enhance research programs with practical applications that have large financial payouts.

此外，各机构寻求合同和合作协议，并通过实际应用加强研究项目，从而获得巨额财政支出。

In order to do so, they are changing their institutional structures.

为了做到这一点，他们正在改变其体制结构。

And how do they do it?

他们是如何做到的？

Let me tell you, institutions would add new units that focus on generating extemal grants and bringing new technology to market.

让我告诉你，各机构将增加新的部门，专注于产生外部资助，并将新技术推向市场。

They would build conference centers and create for profit subsidiaries.

他们将建造会议中心，并创建盈利子公司。

All of these are done to generate more revenue for institutions.

所有这些都是为了为机构创造更多收入。

What are the implications of this?

这意味着什么？

Well, the implications are that academic research is increasingly focused on marketable knowledge.

好吧，这意味着学术研究越来越关注市场知识。

Entrepreneurial priorities are taking precedence, services are being outsourced,

企业优先考虑，服务外包，

and students are carrying an increasing burden to pay higher tuition fees for their education.

学生们承担着越来越大的负担来支付更高的学费。

Then how do university administrators view this trend?

那么，大学管理者如何看待这一趋势？

That is, the marketplace is showing stronger impact on how institutions are run.

也就是说，市场对机构运行方式的影响越来越大。

In fact, university administrators see little option except to respond to the marketplace.

事实上，大学管理者除了对市场做出反应外，几乎看不到其他选择。

The reason is if their institution does not react effectively,

原因是如果他们的机构没有有效反应，

it will not have the necessary resources to offer high quality and diverse academic programs.

它将没有必要的资源来提供高质量和多样化的学术项目。

Institutions unable to compete may face hard circumstances because govemment support continues to fall,

无法竞争的机构可能面临艰难的环境，因为政府支持继续下降，

students become better informed consumers and advances in technology also widen the number and reach of competitors.

学生成为更知情的消费者，技术的进步也扩大了竞争对手的数量和范围。

In turn, the ability to compete for students, resources, faculty and prestige becomes a driving strategic force.

反过来，竞争学生、资源、师资和声望的能力成为一种驱动战略力量。

At its extreme, competition can overtake more traditional academic values.

在极端情况下，竞争可以超越更传统的学术价值观。

However, the downside of pursuing market goals without appropriately balancing them against the public good is,

然而，追求市场目标而不适当地平衡它们与公共利益的缺点是，

is that institutions will no longer be able to fulfill their social responsibility to produce well-educated citizens and face the threat of losing their privileged place in society as they resemble more closely other market driven organizations.

机构将不再能够履行其培养受过良好教育的公民的社会责任，并面临失去社会特权地位的威胁，因为它们与其他市场驱动的组织更为相似。

Now, let's move on to the second challenge facing U.S. higher education,

现在，让我们进入美国高等教育面临的第二个挑战，

that is the tension between competition and equality in admissions decisions.

这就是招生决策中竞争与平等之间的紧张关系。

Since World War Two, U.S. higher education has been engaged in a process of massification,

二战以来，美国高等教育一直处于大众化的过程中，

that is expanding to serve students from all walks of life.

这项服务正在扩大，以服务于各行各业的学生。

Motivating this effort is a widespread belief in the power of education to create social and economic mobility,

推动这一努力的是人们普遍相信教育的力量可以创造社会和经济流动性，

and a belief in the morality and social value of making higher education accessible to everyone.

以及对让每个人都能接受高等教育的道德和社会价值的信念。

Research data bear out public perceptions.

研究数据证实了公众的看法。

When young people from low-income backgrounds complete a bachelor's degree.

当低收入背景的年轻人完成学士学位时。

Their income and employment characteristics after graduation are equivalent to their peers from more affluent backgrounds.

他们毕业后的收入和就业特征与来自更富裕背景的同龄人相当。

So, education can truly be the great equalizer.

因此，教育可以真正成为伟大的均衡器。

Although there is widespread public faith in the value of higher education,

尽管公众普遍相信高等教育的价值，

the progress of massification has been slow and uneven.

大规模化进程缓慢且不均衡。

And why is it slow and uneven?

为什么速度慢且不均匀？

Well, one, higher education did notadmit significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities until after the civil rights of the 1960s forced change.

首先，高等教育并没有接纳大量的种族和少数民族，直到20世纪60年代的民权迫使变革之后。

Second, despite significant expenditures on financial aid,

第二，尽管财政援助支出巨大，

minority and low-income individuals are still less likely to attend college than whites or students from middle-and upper-income families.

少数族裔和低收入人群上大学的可能性仍然低于白人或中高收入家庭的学生。

Although access gaps have nowadays narrowed somewhat, large gaps remain between completion rates.

尽管准入差距如今有所缩小，但完成率之间仍存在很大差距。

Low-income students come to college less prepared and must balance academic demands with work and family responsibilities.

低收入学生上大学准备不足，必须平衡学业需求与工作和家庭责任。

Finding ways to increase the enrollment rates of low-income students and encourage their success once enrolled are two of the most important problems facing American higher education.

如何提高低收入学生的入学率并鼓励他们在入学后取得成功，是美国高等教育面临的两个最重要的问题。

One of the challenges to meet these goals is that they can conflict with the other central tenets of American higher education,

实现这些目标的挑战之一是，它们可能与美国高等教育的其他核心原则相冲突，

that is, market competition and resistance to govemment control,as I said before.

正如我之前所说，即市场竞争和对政府控制的抵制。

for example, institutional competition for the most academically talented students is likely to encourage increased use of tuition discounting for students who have no financial need.

例如，学校对最有学术天赋的学生的竞争很可能会鼓励对没有经济需求的学生更多地使用学费折扣。

And this could divert resources away from low-income students who need financial aid.

这可能会把资源从需要经济援助的低收入学生身上转移出去。

Similarly, institutions may seek to distinguish themselves in the academic marketplace by becoming more selective in admissions decisions,

类似地，各院校可能会通过在招生决策中变得更具选择性来寻求在学术市场上脱颖而出，

thus reducing the number of low-income students admitted.

从而减少了低收入学生的入学人数。

However, a primary role of govemment is to mediate the potentially negative effects of competition by insisting that institutions adhere to their missions,

然而，政府的主要作用是通过坚持机构坚持其使命，调解竞争的潜在负面影响，

and that institutions provide need-based financial assistance to students.

各机构向学生提供基于需求的经济援助。

So, a constant preoccupation of American higher education is this tension between the competitive,

因此，美国高等教育一直关注的一个问题是，

ambitious nature of institutions and the interests of govemment in promoting important public goals,

机构的雄心勃勃性质和政府在促进重要公共目标方面的利益，

primary among them, broad access and widespread success for all students.

其中最重要的是，所有学生都能获得广泛的机会和广泛的成功。

OK, for today's lecture, we have briefly discussed some of the major challenges facing U.S. higher education,

好的，在今天的讲座中，我们简要讨论了美国高等教育面临的一些主要挑战，

such as the impact of the marketplace on institutions and the tension between competition and promoting public goals.

例如市场对机构的影响以及竞争与促进公共目标之间的紧张关系。

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