全文翻译自福克斯新闻6月7日文章
原题：Gaokao: Why China is eating our students' lunch
作者：John Moody
译者：冬天毛
冬天毛导读：
福克斯新闻真是好久不见了。这篇本来好好的说着高考，猛然开始对左翼人士发动攻击，转折太突兀，让人有点摸不着头脑。
文中以讥讽口吻提到的“多样性”指的是美国很多大学对学生规划种族比例来进行录取的现象，学名叫“积极平权行动”（Affirmative Action）， 类似于中国的少数民族加分。由于族群的竞争力和数量差异，该类政策通常会导致亚洲学生的录取成绩标准高于白人，并远高于黑人等弱势群体，引发了一部分人的不满。去年亚洲学生集体起诉哈佛大学就是由于这个原因。
福克斯新闻频道（FOX News Channel）是美国的一家有线电视新闻频道，开播于1996年10月7日，与CNN并列为美国最重要的两个新闻频道，口号为“Fair and Balanced”（公平公正）、“We report, You decide”（我报道，你判断）。福克斯新闻偏向右派（保守派）的共和党，而其余的主流媒体包含CNN、NBC等皆偏向左派（自由派）的民主党。
（维基百科）
2017年6月7日，中国山东省滨州市，中国的全国大学入学考试“高考”第一天，特警在一所高中门外站岗。
The next time your teenager whines that schoolwork is stressing him or her out, mention gaokao. It’s a one-word explanation for why China is eating our school lunch.
下次你家十几岁的小孩再抱怨学校课业让他们头大的时候，给他们讲讲高考。这个词解释了为什么中国正在抢我们学生的饭吃。
Gaokao is the three-day period each year when high school seniors in China take exams to see if they will be admitted to university. Put simply, the rest of their lives will be determined by their results.
每年，中国的高三学生参加为期三天的考试，以决定他们能否进入大学，这就是高考。简单来讲，考试的结果会左右他们接下来的整个人生。
Students study for months to prepare for the exams, which are taking place this week across China. A poor score, for whatever reason, means the student will probably never be admitted to any of the 2,200 Chinese universities, where some 20 million students are enrolled.
学生们学习数月备战考试，而高考本周就在全国进行。无论有什么理由，成绩不佳都意味着学生很有可能永远也进不了中国2000万学生就读的2200所大学中的任何一所。
“The pressure generated by gaokao is enormous and the consequences are for a lifetime,” says Bill Bennett, a former U.S. Secretary of Education who is now chairman of the group Conservative Leaders for Education. “Could we learn something from China that might help improve our educational standards? Absolutely.”
比尔·本奈特曾任美国教育部长，如今担任“保守教育领袖”团体的主席，他说：“高考造成的压力是巨大的，其结果会伴随学生一生。我们在改良教育标准这方面能不能向中国学习？这是肯定的。”
How big a deal is gaokao? Tens of thousands of neighbors gather around buses ferrying the departing students from their towns and villages to wish them well. To create better conditions for study, police enforce “no honking” traffic laws. Dancing in village squares, a popular activity in China, is suspended. And residents whose televisions are too loud get warning visits from the authorities.
高考有多事关重大？在乡镇，数以万计的乡邻们聚集在即将出发的运载学生的公交车旁，为他们壮行；为了给学生们创造更好的学习条件，警方实行“不许按喇叭”的交通法规；中国民间的流行活动，在乡镇广场上跳舞（冬天毛注：广场舞）也被暂停了；当局还派人上门对那些电视机声音太吵的居民们予以警告。
“We know how significant the gaokao is to the students, so we suspended the dancing to show our support,” said Jiang Yanping of Hunan province, in an interview with the China Daily newspaper.
湖南省的姜燕萍（音）在接受《中国日报》报纸采访时说：“我们知道高考对学生意义重大，所以我们暂停了跳舞，以示支持。”
It’s no secret that Asian societies put a high value on education. In the U.S., 93 percent of the 19 million students who identify themselves as Asian graduate from high school on time, compared with 83 percent of the general population.
亚洲社会对教育的重视是人所共知的。美国所有自认亚洲人的学生一共有1900万，他们从高中按时毕业的比率是93%，而全体学生当中的这一比率是83%。
“It’s so much pressure,” says Peggy Hsu, a New Yorker who grew up in Taiwan, which has its own gaokao tradition. “If you get sick, or don’t do well on those tests, you’re done. Gaokao relies on memorization. But it doesn’t encourage kids to solve problems or think for themselves. In America, you have the SAT and ACT tests, but that’s just one factor that schools look at. You might have leadership qualities, or do a lot of out of school activities.”
纽约人许哲珮在台湾长大（冬天毛注：许哲珮是一位台湾女歌手），而台湾有自己的高考传统，她说：“压力超大的。你要是生病，或者考得不好，那你就完蛋了。高考全靠背，而且不鼓励小孩独立思考解决问题。美国也有SAT和ACT考试，但那只是学校考察的因素之一，你也可以靠领袖资历，或是参加很多课外活动。”
Not to mention that all-important politically correct factor – diversity.
更不用说至关重要的政治正确因素——多样性了。
Compare China’s reverential attitude toward education with the U.S., where many high schools are so dangerous students pass through metal detectors every day. Or in places like Reading, Pa., where, as Fox News reported this week, a lawsuit charged that phantom teachers are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars – not to teach, but to work for the teachers’ union.
拿中国对教育的敬重态度和美国做个比较吧，我们这里的很多高中还危险到得每天用金属探测器检查学生的地步。还有像宾夕法尼亚州雷丁城这样的地方：据福克斯新闻本周报道，有人起诉称，那里的“幽灵教师”们拿着数十万美元的薪水不上课，却在教师公会上班。
Even worse is the situation on American college campuses, where students seem to think their parents sent them not to get an education, but to protest against President Trump. They riot if a conservative is invited to speak, and throw rocks at police who are trying to protect them.
比这更糟糕的是美国大学校园的状况，学生们似乎以为家长送他们不是去接受教育，而是去抗议特朗普总统的。每次有保守派人士受邀演讲，他们都会大闹一场，并对那些试图保护他们的警察扔石块。
“The left’s priorities are not about education at all,” says Bennett. “For them, it’s about civil liberties and civil rights. It’s about establishing ‘justice’ in the schools.”
本奈特说：“左翼人士优先的根本不是教育。对他们来说，重要的是公民自由和公民权利，是在学校里确立‘正义’。”
That’s not a winning formula, except for China.
这可不是什么制胜策略——除了对中国来说。
正文到此结束
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