经济学人丨中国农村教育

    《经济学人》的写作有个特点，就是每篇文章开头的导语部分就是对整篇文章的概括。所以，当我们看到导语的时候，就应该对文章的主旨有一个大概的了解，在阅读中一切围绕主旨运行。

    首先介绍一下 "60% of the population" 指什么：中国总人口14亿，农村户籍人口占60%，文中的 "60% of the population" 就是指“农村户籍人口”。

    Counterproductive 中有一个前缀 "counter-"，表示“逆，反”，所以，"counterproductive" 的意思是“ 产生相反效果的，适得其反的”。“适得其反”的表达方式有很多，比如 "boomerang" "backfire" 等，我们不在这里赘述，本文以理解文章宏观脉络为主，词汇的深度学习将放在“外刊语言表达”版块。

    读到这里，我们便明白这篇文章主要说了些什么了：一、农村教育的不公平；二、这种不公平带来了两方面的危害：cruel and counterproductive.

LAST year some images went viral (become popular) on the internet in China. They showed children descending an 800-metre (2,600-foot) rock face on rickety (in bad condition) ladders made of vines, wood and rusty metal. Their destination: school. The photographer was told by a local official that “seven or eight” people had died after losing their grip. Yet the children did this regularly—there is no school at the top of the mountain in Sichuan province where they live. The photographs conveyed two striking aspects of life in the Chinese countryside: a hunger for education so strong that children will risk their lives for it, and a callous(cruel) lack of government attention to the needs of rural students.

    文章从一幅惊人的图片展开，引出了农村生活的两个方面：孩子们对知识的渴求和政府对农村学生需求的漠视。给人留下非常直观的印象，视觉冲击强烈。

    本段首先介绍了图片——孩子为了上学爬下悬崖，其次讲述了图片背后的故事——失手坠入悬崖，最后谈到了图片折射出来的现象或问题——孩子对知识的渴求和政府对农村孩子需求的漠视。从而引出主题。

    本段生词已在括号内标出，这里强调一个单词：a hunger for，表示“渴求”。我们都知道乔布斯说过这么一句话：Stay hungry, stay foolish. 这里的 "hungry" 和文中的 "hunger" 都是一个意思，只是词性不同。另外，逢年过节，尤其是春运，经常会出现一票难求的状况，人们拼死拼活的去买票，这时我们可以说：People are hungry for a ticket. 这句话将人们争先恐后去买票的场景描述出来了。

去年，中国网络上流传着一些照片，照片显示，孩子抓着抓着藤蔓、木头、锈迹斑斑的金属制成的梯子顺着800米的悬崖往下爬。他们的目的地：学校。当地政府官员告诉摄影师，七八个人失手落入悬崖。然而，孩子们仍然经常攀爬——他们生活居住的四川省的山顶没有学校。这些照片折射出了中国农村生活的两个方面：第一个是孩子们对知识的渴求，第二个是政府对农村学生需求的漠视。

In many ways, education in China is improving. Since 2000 the annual tally of students graduating from university has increased nearly eightfold, to more than 7.5m. But many rural students are neglected by China’s school system, and they are not the only ones. So, too, are the children of migrants who have moved to the cities from the countryside and poor students who want to go to senior high school.

    本段讲了两个意思：一、中国整体的教育水平大幅提高，并以每年大学毕业生增长8倍为例，论证该观点；二、因教育体制的问题，农村孩子和民工孩子并没有享受到改善的成果。

    语言层面上，我们关注两个地方。

    第一个，“每年大学毕业生总数”，我们的第一反应是 "the total number of ... every year"，但文章用 "the annual tally of ..." 表述的，把“每年”这个频率副词变成了形容词 "annual"，这个我们可以借鉴一下，使表达更加灵活多变。

    第二个， "rural students are neglected by China’s school system" 和导语部分 "discriminate against 60% of the population" 互为广义同义词，表达的都是同一个意思。

在很多方面，中国的教育有所改善。自从2000年开始，中国每年毕业生总人数增长了8倍，达到了750万。但是，许多农村学生被中国的教育体系所忽视。他们并不是唯一被忽视的，同样遭到忽视的，还有从乡村迁至城市的民工子女以及希望上高中的贫困学生。

This is not only unfair; it is also counterproductive. China faces a demographic crunch: its workforce is shrinking and it can no longer depend on cheap, low-skilled migrant labour to power its growth. Its young—especially those with rural roots—need to become more skilled. That calls for better education.

    本段也有两个意思，一、农村教育落后的两个消极影响：不公平、不利于发展；二、解释了为什么落后的农村教育不利于发展：劳动力减少导致国家更需要人才，而人才则需要教育。

    语言层面上，我们解决两个方面。

    一、A demographic crunch. "Crunch" 一词记住它的三个意思就可以了，1），嘎吱作响。这个意思一般在记叙文或小说体裁中出现。2），关键时刻。常见搭配为：when it comes to the crunch，到了关键时刻。3），困境，问题。也就是文中含义，a demographic crunch 则表示“人口困境”。

    二、those with rural roots，即 "rural pupulation"，属于广义同义词。我读文章时特别喜欢找出文中的广义同义词和大家分享，是想让大家意识到英语表达的灵活多变，在写作中切勿将句型句式固定化、僵硬化。

这不仅不公平，也不利于发展。中国面临人口问题：劳动力减少，不能再依靠低技能的廉价民工促进增长。年轻人，尤其是农村的年轻人，需要提高技术。这需要改善教育。

The government has not been completely blind to the need to ensure that rural people have enough schooling to work in factories, but it has shown little sense of urgency. The schoolchildren from Sichuan are a case in point. So perilous (dangerous) was their journey to school that officials arranged for them to board, like tens of millions of children in rural China. They travel back home only every few weeks.

    本段就讲了一个事：政府对此并非完全熟视无睹，但也没有表现出紧迫性。然后以四川的孩子们为例论证这一观点。

    语言层面上，我们解决两个地方。

    一、A case in point，意思是“恰当的例子”。在议论文写作中，通过举例论证某个观点，我们可以用到这一表达：Sth. is a case in point. 某物就是一个很好的例子。当然也可以说 Consider sth. 或 We can look to sth.

    二、Board 这里的意思是“寄宿”，动词，“寄宿在学校”应该说 "board at school"，需要加一个介词 at。“寄宿学校”可以说 "boarding school"，“走读学校”可以说 "day school".

为了可以在工厂工作，农村人口需要足够的教育，政府对于这种需求并非完全熟视无睹，但并没有表现出紧迫性。四川省的这些小学生就是一个很好的栗子。他们去学校的路程非常艰险，政府工作人员为他们安排寄宿，就像乡村中国数千万学生一样。他们每几周回一次家。

That may sound like progress. Since the population of young people in the countryside is falling so smaller schools are closing. Better to board than to trek (to walk a long distance) for miles every day to one that is still open. But conditions at these boarding schools are often appalling ( shocking and very bad). Many children do not get enough to eat, which affects their health and their ability to learn. So poor is their nutrition that they are often shorter than their counterparts (peers) at day schools.

    本段是一个转折段，政府针对上述问题，采取了一些措施，也就是让离学校远的孩子去寄宿，但这又带来了新的问题：寄宿学校生活条件差。

    生词已在括号内用同义词的形式解释，此处不再赘述。

这听上去是一个进步。因为农村青年人口在下降，一些规模小一点的学校就关闭了。寄宿，要比每天跋涉数英里去仍然在运营的学校就读好一些。但寄宿学校的条件非常糟糕。许多孩子吃不饱饭，这影响到他们的健康和学习能力。他们营养不够，通常比走读学校的同学矮一些。

And it is not just the boarders who suffer. In all kinds of education, rural children have less chance of doing well than their urban counterparts. Less than 10% of them go to senior high-school, compared with 70% of their peers in cities. That is because the government stacks the system against them.

    这一段继续讲问题：不光农村内部存在不公平的现象，农村和城市之间也存在着不公平的现象。农村内部之间，寄宿生相对于走读生处于弱势；农村和城市之间，农村学生相对于城市学生处于弱势。

    语言层面上，我们讲两个地方。

    一、注意 "their urban counterparts" 和 "their peers"，他们都是在指 "urban students"，属于广义同义词，注意 "counterpart" 和 "peer" 的使用。

    二、Stacks the system against them 中，有一个搭配，stack against sb. 使不利于。比如：

    There are too many factors stacking against me, but I don't at all care.

    有很多因素对我不利，可我一点也不在乎。

    "Stacks the system against them" 和前文出现的 "rural students are neglected by China’s school system" 相互照应，和导语部分 "discriminate against 60% of the population" 互为广义同义词，都是表达同一个意思。

不光寄宿生受到不公正的待遇，在各等级的教育中，农村学生的学习成绩不如城市学生。不到10%的农村孩子考上高中，而城市孩子则达到了70%。这是因为政府通过教育制度歧视。

Everyone in China has to attend school for nine years—until the end of junior high school. But it was not until 2007 that all rural children could do so without paying. Like city dwellers, they still have to pay for senior high school. But their families tend to be much poorer, so few can afford it. And rural schools are far more rudimentary. Local governments are responsible for running them. If officials have tax revenue to spare, they see no point in doling it out in the countryside. How can you boost growth, they wonder, by spending money on villagers who will eventually move away?

    本段谈到三个问题：一、虽然九年义务教育，但高中还要交钱，城市孩子交得起，上得了学，农村孩子交不起，上不了学，所以不公平；二、农村学校不成熟；三、政府不愿投资乡村。

    语言层面上，我们讲两个地方。

    一、"Have tax revenue to spare" 指“有多余的税收”。"to spare" 的意思是：left over or more than you need, 剩下，多余。

    二、Dole out:  to give something, such as food or money, to a particular group of people or to every person in a group. 发放；发给。例如：

    The government has agreed to dole out an additional £5 million to schools.

每个中国人必须在学校读完九年——直到初中毕业。但直到2007年农村孩子才可以免费上学。和城市居民一样，他们上高中也得交学费。但农村家庭不如城市家庭富裕，很少家庭能上得起高中。而且，农村学校很不成熟。当地政府负责这些学校的运营。如果政府有多余的税收，我们认为投资到农村没有意义。他们认为，把钱花在终将离开农村的村民身上并不会促进当地的发展。

It is no better for the migrants once they are in the cities. China’s household-registration system, known as hukou, treats rural migrants as second-class citizens. Their children are often barred from state-funded urban schools. They must pay to send them to ramshackle (in bad conditions) private ones instead, which are often worse than rural state schools. Even there, children’s education is frequently disrupted: officials have forced many such places to close, citing safety and other concerns.

    本段主要分析了户口给农村教育所带来的两个问题：一、农村孩子无法到城里的公办学校就读；二、私立学校条件差，教育经常被迫中断。

    语言层面讲两个地方。

    一、Ramshackle，同义词为 rickety, tumbledown，英文解释为：a ramshackle building or vehicle is in bad condition and in need of repair. 比如：

    a ramshackle old cottage

    一幢摇摇欲坠的旧村舍

    二、 state-funded schools 和 state schools 都表示“公立学校”，属于同义词，大家要知道“公立学校”的几种表达方式。

民工移居到城市里条件也好不到哪去。中国户籍制度——户口，将民工视为二等公民。他们的子女无法就读于公立学校。他们必须自掏腰包，把孩子送到破败的私立学校，这些私立学校的条件通常比乡下公立学校的条件还差。即使在私立学校，孩子的教育也常常被迫中断：政府官员会以安全或其他原因为由，强迫关闭这些学校。

People with rural hukou make up nearly 60% of the population. So it is vital that the system is scrapped. Everyone in China deserves the same access to public education, health care and other services. The central government must also do more to ensure that rural schools have enough money to teach and feed their pupils—basic education is too important to be left to ill-motivated local authorities. And it must give more financial support to the rural poor in order to help their children graduate from high school and enter university.

    本段是一个“观点+论证+方法论”的结构。首先，作者提出了一个重要的观点：it is vital that the system is scrapped，户籍制度应该废除，并进行论证：People with rural hukou make up nearly 60% of the population，因为农村人口占总人口近60%。 然后提出了两个方法：一、政府给农村学校钱，让农村学校不会因为教学和食宿问题而捉襟见肘；二、政府给农村贫困家庭钱，让他们的孩子可以高中毕业，进入大学。

持农村户籍的人口占总人口的比例接近60%，因此，废除这一制度很重要。每个中国人都应得到平等的教育、健保和其它服务的机会。中央政府要确保农村学校有足够的资金，用于教学和食宿——基础教育非常重要，不能交给缺少动力的地方政府。同时，中央政府必须给农村贫困人口足够的补贴，让他们的子女可以顺利读完高中，进入大学。

People from the countryside are the unsung heroes of China’s economic rise. The migration of more than 200m of them into cities, where their labour is more productive than it is in the fields, has been the rocket fuel (driver) of the country’s spectacular growth. In China, as elsewhere, education is what will make society fairer, and ultimately wealthier.

    本段结构简单，主要谈到了农村人口为中国发展做出的巨大贡献，进而谈到了促进教育公平对社会的意义。

    语言层面上，我们讲一个地方。

    Unsung hero 的意思是“无名英雄，幕后英雄”。Unsung 的英文解释是：not noticed or praised for hard work, bravery or great achievements.

    The unsung heroes of China’s economic rise 委婉的批评了中国在发展过程中对贫困人口的漠视，导致不公平的现象：这些人口为中国的经济发展做出了巨大贡献和牺牲，却没有得到公平的对待。

    农村人口是中国经济腾飞的无名英雄。2亿农民工是中国崛起的动力，这2亿民工在城市工作带来的生产力超过在乡间地头工作时所带来的生产力。中国和世界其它地方一样，教育能让社会更加公平，最终更加富裕。