LOS ANGELES — Spring breaks in Bali, resort-style apartment buildings with rooftop pools and tanning beds and regular dinners out at Nobu, where a tab for four roommates could easily stretch into four digits. This is life as a student at the University of Southern California. This is also life as a U.S.C. student: working an overnight shift to earn money for books, going hungry when the campus meal plan runs out and seething as friends presume that a $20 glass of wine is affordable.
The divide between rich and poor students could hardly be morevivid than it is at U.S.C., where the children of celebrities and real estate moguls study alongside the children of nannies and dishwashers. Now, the college admissions bribery scheme, which has ensnared dozens of wealthy parents accused of bribing their children’s way into U.S.C., has brought renewed attention to class divides on campus — and how different the student experience can be depending on the size of the bank account.
“U.S.C. tries to paint the campus as this beautiful place to enjoy and relish in abundance,” said Oliver Bentley, a sophomore who is among the first in his family to attend college. “There’s this idea that once you enter U.S.C., you’re all on the same playing field. That in and of itself is a lie. I have met these rich kids who have so much that I can’t comprehend, doing things that I can’t fathom.” Interviews with students on campus from across the economic spectrum show how difficult it is to navigate a university that tries to be a home for all. After decades of attracting some of Los Angeles’s wealthiest families, U.S.C. has aggressively recruited and enrolledstudents who could never afford the roughly $57,000 annual tuition.
But the reality for many is a microcosm of the economic disparities of the city the campus calls home — and as in the rest of Los Angeles, the vast majority feel ill-equipped to bridge the divide. The university has made attracting students from all backgrounds a priority and by almost any measure, its recruitment efforts have been a resounding success. The academic credentials of incoming freshmen have steadily risen, and applications to the university are at an all-time high.
洛杉矶讯:巴厘岛的春假、带屋顶的游泳池和日光浴床的度假村式公寓楼、以及在可以让四个室友的账单轻松达到四位数的NOBU餐厅定期晚餐——这是南加州大学的学生生活。这也是一名美国学生的生活:上夜班挣钱买书,校园用餐预算用完挨饿,认为20美元的酒是负担得起的。
贫富学生的鸿沟没有比USC更鲜明的了,在那里,名人和地产巨头的孩子们与保姆和洗碗工的孩子们一起读书。现在,大学招生贿赂计划已经逮捕了几十名被指控行贿使子女入学的美国富人父母,这让人们注意力重回校园阶级分层,以及依据银行存款规模不同,学生生活会有多大不同。
Oliver Bentley,大二,是家里最早的大学生,他说:“USC试图把校园描绘成一个美丽而充满享受的地方。有一种观点是,一旦进入USC,你们就在同一个赛场。这本身就是个谎言。我遇到过这些有钱人的孩子,他们有太多我无法理解的东西,做着我无法理解的事情。”对来自不同经济阶层的学生进行校园采访后显示,在一所想要成为所有人家园的大学里找到方向是多么困难。在持续接收几十年洛杉矶最富有家庭的学生后,USC已经开始积极招募并录取那些永远付不起每年5.7万美元学费的学生。
但对许多人来说,现实是这个被学校称为“家”的城市经济差距的一个缩影。就像洛杉矶其他地方一样,绝大多数人觉得自己没有能力弥合这一差距。校方已将吸引优秀学生作为首要考虑,而不论他们的背景怎样,这一举措卓有成效:新生的学历文凭稳步提高,申请者数量创历史新高。
presume 以为,认为
affordable 负担得起的
vivid 生动的
sophomore 大二学生(拓:大一学生freshman,大三学生junior student,大四学生senior student)
comprehend 理解,领会
fathom 理解…的深意,推测,领会
aggressively 侵略地,攻击地
recruit 征募新兵(文中引申为新生招募)
enroll 注册,登记,招收
tuition 学费
academic credential 学历文凭
steadily 稳定地,持续地,稳固地
本文非限定性定语从句较多。非限定性定语从句起补充说明作用,在句子中不充当成分,缺少也不会影响全句的理解,它与主句往往用逗号隔开。定语从句有限制性和非限制性两种。限制性定语从句是先行词不可缺少的部分,去掉它主句意思往往不明确;非限定性定语从句是先行词的附加说明,去掉了也不会影响主句的意思,它与主句之间通常用逗号分开,将非限定性定语从句放在句子中间,其前后都需要用逗号隔开。
先行词可为who、whom(关系代词whom用于指人,在句中作动词宾语和介词宾语,作介词宾语时,介词可位于句首)、whose(whose是关系代词who的所有格形式,在从句中作定语。whose通常指人,也可指动物或无生命的事物)、which(关系代词which在非限定性定语从句,中所指代和修饰的可以是主句中的名词、形容词、短语、其他从句或整个主句,在从句中作主语、动词宾语、介词宾语或表语)、when(关系副词when在非限制性定语从句中作时间状语,指代主句中表示时间的词语)、where(副词where在非限制性定语从句中作地点状语,指代主句中表示地点的词语)、as(as引出非限定性定语从句时,代替整个主句, as在非限定性定语从句中作主语、表语或宾语,且引出的从句位置比较灵活,可位于句首或句末,也可置于主句中间。通常均由逗号将其与主句隔开。as有“正如……, 就像……”之意)
文中例句:
1. Spring breaks in Bali, resort-style apartment buildings with rooftop pools and tanning beds and regular dinners out at Nobu, where a tab for four roommates could easily stretch into four digits. This is life as a student at the University of Southern California.(这句要特别说明,此句容易理解成春假、游泳池公寓楼加上NOBU晚餐轻易让学生消费达四位数,但where引导的非限定性定语从句修饰的是NOBU,因此本句应连接后面一句共同翻译“巴厘岛的春假、带屋顶的游泳池和日光浴床的度假村式公寓楼、以及在可以让四个室友的账单轻松达到四位数的NOBU餐厅定期晚餐——这是南加州大学的学生生活。”)
2. The divide between rich and poor students could hardly be more vivid than it is at U.S.C., where the children of celebrities and real estate moguls study alongside the children of nannies and dishwashers.
3. Now, the college admissions bribery scheme, which has ensnared dozens of wealthy parents accused of bribing their children’s way into U.S.C., has brought renewed attention to class divides on campus — and how different the student experience can be depending on the size of the bank account.
NOBU餐厅 1994年,在纽约开设了全球第一间NOBU餐厅之后,得到众多美食爱好者与好莱坞明星青睐。如今NOBU在全球五大洲25个城市设有分店,以呈献革新的新派日式料理而享负盛名,其中比佛利山庄及伦敦分店享有米其林星级评价
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