英语时文

时文时间：2013考研英语泛读文章第一篇

这是一篇关于英国教育现状的文章，英国人其实和我们一样遭受着大学资源匮乏的困境，英国的中学生想读好大学依然不容易，即使是交高价也不行，A-level的信封和装有我们的大学通知书的印有刘翔的EMS信封没有两样。

It is as much a summer ritual as Wimbledon. Every August Britain’s 18-year-old school-leavers tear open envelopes containing their A-level results and see whether they have done well enough to get into their chosen universities. The most successful students (and the prettiest ones) find their pictures splashed across the national newspapers. The less fortunate face the prospect of

try ing to get a place through “clearing”, the mopping-up exercise in which state universities offer their unfilled places to the best of the rest.

这是同温布尔顿网球公开赛一样的传统。每年8月，英国18岁的毕业生们会拆开装有自己“A-level”课程成绩单的信封，看看自己是否足够优秀，是否能升入心仪的大学。最出色的学生（也包括最靓丽的）会看到自己的照片刊登在全国各大报纸的显著位置。稍逊一筹的学生们则要通过“清算大学剩余名额”的过程来努力争取在大学的一席之地。在这个筛选过程中，公立大学会把未招满的名额提供给余下学生中的佼佼者。

But this year, thanks to both the parlous state of government finances and renewed attempts to make universities compete among themselves for students, the landscape is significantly different. Undergraduates starting in the autumn will be the first to pay up to 9,000 ($14,000) a year for tuition, almost triple the previous maximum. Fears that higher fees would deter poorer students from applying have not been borne out. While there has been a small fall in the application rate among English students (somewhat different rules apply in devolved Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), the drop was sharper among those from wealthier areas.

但在今年，由于政府财政的窘境，以及政府再次尝试促使高校间为生源展开竞争的原因，高等教育的形势有了显著的变化。今年秋季开学的新一届大学生们将是第一批支付每年高达9000英镑学费的学生，这几乎是之前最高额度学费的三倍。有关高额学费会影响较贫困学生申请的担忧并未得到证实。英格兰学生的申报率有微弱下滑（在权力下放的苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰地区的规则有所不同），而来自相对富裕地区的学生申请率下滑却更为明显。

The problem is not lack of applicants but lack of places. As David Willetts, the universities minister, points out, universities are still heavily oversubscribed—even with higher fees, around a quarter of students will fail to get places. Since fees are paid upfront by the government and repaid by students only if they get a decent job, to keep down costs to taxpayers admissions are determined by strict quotas. In effect, the state decides how many students will go to university.问题不在于没人申请而在于缺少高招名额。正如英国大学事务国务大臣戴维·威利茨所指出的，目前英国大学仍处于申请过度超额的状态——即使有高额的学费，依旧有约四分之一的学生无法上大学。由于大学学费是先由政府预付，只有当学生找到体面的工作后，再由学生偿付，因此，为了降低纳税人的开支，大学的招生数量要受到配额的严格限制。实际上，是国家决定着多少学生能上大学。

In previous years, quotas applied to all students at state-funded universities. This year the

best-performing among them—those with AAB grades or better on their A-levels—are excluded, which means that the universities able to attract them (ie, the best ones) can expand as much as