本文選自經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人2023年3月9日文章，原文標(biāo)題：American universities are pursuing fairness the wrong way

這篇文章主要討論了美國大學(xué)的招生政策，認(rèn)為取消標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試成績的要求并不是解決公平問題的最佳方法。相反，應(yīng)該取消校友子女錄取優(yōu)惠等不公正的入學(xué)途徑。文章還指出，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試雖然與特權(quán)有關(guān)，但卻是招生申請(qǐng)中最難以用金錢扭曲的部分，因此放棄考試并不是一個(gè)好的解決方案。文章呼吁大學(xué)需要更多的數(shù)據(jù)來解決教育不平等問題，并且應(yīng)該努力打造一個(gè)真正的以能力為本的精英主義制度，而不是維持這種以世襲為主的現(xiàn)狀。

Drop legacy admissions—not standardised exams.

放棄傳統(tǒng)的錄取-非標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試

The best American universities wish to be ruthlessly discriminating(歧視) on academic merit—and beacons for diversity on everything else. Trying to accomplish both at once can prompt mistakes. Lately Columbia University, an Ivy League member in New York, has been making a lot of them. Last year it admitted to submitting incorrect data to a college-rankings outfit in a bid to seem more exclusive than it really is. And on March 1st, in a bid to seem more inclusive than it is, Columbia said it would drop the requirement for applicants to submit standardised exam scores.

美國最好的大學(xué)希望在學(xué)術(shù)成績上毫不留情地區(qū)別對(duì)待，并在其他方面樹立多元化的榜樣。試圖同時(shí)完成這兩項(xiàng)任務(wù)可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致錯(cuò)誤。最近，哥倫比亞大學(xué)，一個(gè)常春藤聯(lián)盟的成員在紐約，已經(jīng)作出了很多。去年，它承認(rèn)向一家大學(xué)排名機(jī)構(gòu)提交了不正確的數(shù)據(jù)，試圖讓自己看起來比實(shí)際情況更排外。3月1日，哥倫比亞表示，為了讓自己看起來更具包容性，它將取消申請(qǐng)人提交標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試成績的要求。

in a bid to 為了

Campaigners claim that exams favour the privileged. Evidence for this is thin. Maths problems involve neutral things like numbers and algebra; reading-comprehension tests are rarely about silverware or yachting. The bias, however, is said to be latent. Because scores are correlated with race and parental income, the exams must therefore be contaminated with racism and classism.

活動(dòng)家們聲稱考試偏袒特權(quán)階層。這方面的證據(jù)很少。數(shù)學(xué)問題涉及像數(shù)字和代數(shù)這樣的中性事物;閱讀理解測(cè)試很少涉及銀器或游艇。然而，這種偏見據(jù)說是潛在的。由于分?jǐn)?shù)與種族和父母收入相關(guān)，考試必然沾染種族主義和階級(jí)歧視。

be contaminated with 被污染上

This confuses disparity with discrimination. Tests correctly measure educational inequality, which begins before kindergarten and grows as a result of bad policy. Just as smashing thermometers does not prevent climate change, so abandoning the measurement of educational inequality will not magic it away.

這混淆了差距和歧視?？荚囌_地衡量了教育不平等，這種不平等在幼兒園之前就開始了，并由于糟糕的政策而加劇。就像打碎溫度計(jì)并不能阻止氣候變化一樣，放棄對(duì)教育不平等的衡量也不會(huì)讓它消失。

替換名詞詞組教育不平等，就可以得到一個(gè)高亮部分是滿分句型：就像打碎溫度計(jì)并不能阻止氣候變化一樣，放棄對(duì)……的衡量也不會(huì)讓它消失。

In fact, for meritocrats to abandon exams is self-defeating. Scores may be correlated with privilege, but they are probably the hardest part of an admissions application to warp with money. Children of the rich can get ample help in completing their coursework (which may receive inflated grades), hire professional writers to “edit” their essays and even spend lavishly on consultants who will help craft a delectable（美味的） smorgasbord of extra-curricular activities. Yet research shows that intensive tutoring has a marginal effect on test scores. That is why, in the Varsity Blues scandal of 2019, very rich parents paid to have others sit their children’s exams.

事實(shí)上，精英放棄考試是弄巧成拙。分?jǐn)?shù)可能與特權(quán)有關(guān)，但它們可能是入學(xué)申請(qǐng)中最難用錢扭曲的部分。富人的孩子在完成他們的課程作業(yè)（可能會(huì)得到夸大的分?jǐn)?shù)）時(shí)可以得到充分的幫助，聘請(qǐng)專業(yè)作家“潤色”他們的論文，甚至可以慷慨地聘請(qǐng)顧問，幫助他們制作一個(gè)美味的課外活動(dòng)自助餐。然而，研究表明，強(qiáng)化輔導(dǎo)對(duì)考試成績的影響微乎其微。這就是為什么在2019年的校園藍(lán)調(diào)丑聞中，非常富有的父母花錢讓別人參加孩子的考試。

get ample help in 在某方面可以得到充足幫助

Have a marginal effect on 在某方面的影響微乎其微 ；marginal=limited，margin本身是邊緣的意思，這里延伸為不起眼的意思

Worse, supposedly progressive universities like Columbia operate affirmative-action(平權(quán)行動(dòng)) schemes for deep-pocketed dullards in the form of “l(fā)egacy” admissions that shower advantages on the relatives of alumni(校友). One study found that undergraduates at Columbia are more than 100 times more likely to belong to the top 0.1% of families by income than to the poorest 20%. The best way to promote fairness would be to eliminate such a regressive pathway to admission.

更糟糕的是，像哥倫比亞這樣被認(rèn)為是進(jìn)步的大學(xué)以“遺產(chǎn)”錄取的形式為財(cái)大氣粗的笨蛋實(shí)施平權(quán)行動(dòng)計(jì)劃，給校友的親屬帶來好處。一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，哥倫比亞的本科生屬于收入最高的0.1%家庭的可能性是最貧窮的20%家庭的100倍以上。促進(jìn)公平的最佳途徑是消除這種倒退的入學(xué)途徑。

deep-pocketed 口袋很深，比喻為擁有堅(jiān)實(shí)的資金基礎(chǔ)。

The best way to promote fairness would be to eliminate such a regressive pathway to admission. ?滿分句型，可用作觀點(diǎn)句，只要替換admission即可百搭，表示各種解決方法。

In the 1920s Harvard moved to a “holistic” admissions system because its president thought it had too many Jewish students (who excelled on the standardised exam adopted in 1905). A century later, Harvard is being sued over a holistic admissions system that limits the number of Asian-American students, who also do well on tests. Based on that case, the Supreme Court is expected to rule that race-based affirmative action is unconstitutional. A cynical observer might conclude that universities are jettisoning quantitative measures, the lawsuit’s key evidence, to make discrimination harder to detect.

20世紀(jì)20年代，哈佛轉(zhuǎn)向了“整體”招生體系，因?yàn)樾ｉL認(rèn)為該校猶太學(xué)生太多（他們?cè)?905年采用的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試中表現(xiàn)優(yōu)異）。一個(gè)世紀(jì)后，哈佛大學(xué)因限制亞裔學(xué)生數(shù)量的整體招生制度而被起訴，而亞裔學(xué)生在考試中也表現(xiàn)出色。根據(jù)該案，預(yù)計(jì)最高法院將裁定基于種族的平權(quán)行動(dòng)違憲。 一個(gè)憤世嫉俗的觀察者可能會(huì)得出結(jié)論，大學(xué)正在拋棄定量指標(biāo)，訴訟的關(guān)鍵證據(jù)，使歧視更難發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Fixing educational inequality requires more data, not less. Susan Dynarski, an economist at Harvard, makes the case that free, universal testing helps unearth promising young talent from rough backgrounds. Timely reminders about financial aid also help. For decades, elite universities have sought skin-deep diversity to paper over abysmal(深不可測(cè)的) socioeconomic diversity, a failing that is exacerbated by legacy admissions. If the Supreme Court rules that stratagem out, universities should not devote their energies to maintaining an undesirable status quo, but to crafting something better: a true meritocracy shorn of an unjustifiable, hereditary mediocracy.

解決教育不平等需要更多的數(shù)據(jù)，而不是更少。哈佛大學(xué)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家蘇珊·戴納斯基（Susan Dynarski）認(rèn)為，免費(fèi)的普遍測(cè)試有助于從艱苦的背景中發(fā)掘出有前途的年輕人才。及時(shí)提醒有關(guān)經(jīng)濟(jì)援助的信息也會(huì)有所幫助。幾十年來，精英大學(xué)一直在尋求膚淺的多樣性，以掩蓋糟糕的社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)多樣性，而傳統(tǒng)的錄取方式加劇了這一失敗。如果最高法院排除了這一策略，大學(xué)就不應(yīng)該把精力花在維持不可取的現(xiàn)狀上，而應(yīng)該花在創(chuàng)造更好的東西上：剔除了毫無道理的世襲平庸者的真正的精英統(tǒng)治

Skin-deep 比喻不深入本質(zhì)，只停留在表層，故理解為膚淺，等同于superficial

paper 名詞為論文，但是這里是動(dòng)詞用法，表示用紙糊住，延伸為掩蓋的意思。