2020年经济学人 副学士学习计划(ASAP)比平权运动更重要(1)

Growing up in Morris Heights, a poor neighbourhood in the Bronx where violence was omnipresent, Joel Cabrera thought his future would be either “death or jail, because that’s what the outcomes are here”. Middle school was like “a juvenile- detention¹ facility”. High school did not interest him enough to finish. Had he stopped there, he would have faced a life on the edge of penury². Among high-school dropouts nationwide, average earnings³ are only $600 a week. To avoid that, Mr Cabrera enrolled⁵ in courses offered at his local community college. There he came across a scheme called ASAP (“Accelerated Study in Associate Programmes”) that sought to push pupils like him—city residents without family wealth or familiarity with universities— to complete two-year degrees.

乔尔·卡布雷拉在布朗克斯区的一个贫穷社区摩里斯高地长大，那里充斥着暴力，他认为自己的未来“要么是死亡，要么是坐牢，因为在这里只有这两种结果”。中学就像是一个“少年拘留所”。他也没有足够的兴趣上完高中。如果他就停在那里，他将会面临一生的穷困潦倒。全国的高中辍学者的每周平均收入只有600美元。为了避免这种情况，卡布雷拉报名了当地的社区学院的课程。在那里，他遇到了一个名为ASAP的计划（“副学士学习计划”），该计划旨在推动像他这样——没有家庭财富或对大学不熟悉的城市居民——完成两年的学位。

ASAP is designed to address a simply stated problem. Many low-income minority students enroll⁴ in college. But few finish. Only 34% of black men finish their bachelor’s degree within six years, compared with the average rate of 60%. Those individual decisions to drop out collectively amount to society-wide stratification. The racial gaps in earning college degrees have hardly budged⁶ since 1995. Simple as the problem may be to describe, the approach taken by ASAP is complicated. Rather than target one thing that derails students, the programme tries to tackle many at once. Pupils are given financial help, including money for textbooks and free MetroCards to get around the city. They must meet academic and career advisers⁷ several times a month. They are tracked by a data operation that detects pupils in precarious⁸ positions before they quit. This worked for Mr Cabrera, who continued to a bachelor’s degree, a few internships and a series of good jobs after that.

ASAP的目的在于解决一个说起来很简单的问题。许多低收入的少数族裔进入了大学。但他们之中很少有人能完成学业。只有34%的黑人男性在六年内完成学士学位，而相较而言学士学位的平均通过率在60%。那些个人决定退学总体上等于社会范围的阶层分化。自1995年以来，获得大学学位的种族差异几乎没变。也许这个问题描述起来很简单，但是ASAP所采取的方法很复杂。这项计划不是针对学生退学这一件事，而是尝试一次解决多个问题。学生们获得了经济援助，包括买课本的钱和城市的免费地铁卡。他们必须每个月与学术和职业顾问进行几次会面。他们被一个数据操作系统追踪，这个数据操作系统可以在他们退学前检测他们的不稳定状态。这个系统对于卡布雷拉来说很管用，他继续学习直到获得学士学位，也获得了几个实习机会以及后续的一系列好的工作。

1 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

2 penury   

n.贫穷，拮据

参考例句：

• Hardship and penury wore him out before his time.受穷受苦使他未老先衰。
• A succession of bad harvest had reduced the small farmer to penury.连续歉收使得这个小农场主陷入了贫困境地。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

5 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句

7 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

8 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。