VOA常速英语2014--象牙塔探讨美国大学教育的沉重成本（在线收听）

'Ivory Tower' Explores Crushing Cost of US College Education 象牙塔探讨美国大学教育的沉重成本

It's a hot, muggy day at Port City Brewery in Old Town Alexandria, just a stone's throw from Washington D.C., but the heat does not slow down Brandon Attilis, a college student who spends summers working for extra cash.

距离华盛顿特区仅一步之遥的老城亚历山大港口城市啤酒厂迎来了闷热潮湿的一天, 但这种酷热难耐的天气并没有阻挡大学生布兰登·阿特里斯利用暑假打工赚取额外收入的热情。

The money will come in handy when he is away at college renting a house with two of his friends.

当他离开学校和自己的两个朋友租房时辛苦赚来的这笔钱将派上用场。

“My parents are paying the cost of the house, but I'm paying utilities.So, between the two, it's still less expensive than actually living in the dorms.”

“我的父母会付房费,但我要付各种设施的费用。相比之下, 实际上还是住宿舍要便宜些。”

Brandon has a lot going for him. He has a good work ethic, brains and pre-paid college tuition.

布兰登有点本事。他职业道德良好,头脑不错而且预付了大学学费。

“We took care of four years of college education for less than a year's costs in today's market.”

“在今天的市场环境下因为还不到一年的开销我们要花费4接受大学教育。”

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She says she and her husband began saving money for college tuition shortly after each of their children was born. But most college students today are not as lucky.

她表示自己和她的丈夫在每个孩子出生后不久就开始为大学学费攒钱。但现如今大多数大学生就不这么幸运了。

Andrew Rossi's new documentary, Ivory Tower, shows American college students drowning in debt.

安德鲁·罗西的新纪实小说象牙塔就展现了美国大学生身陷债务泥沼的窘境。

“We see that college tuition has increased by about 1,100 percent since 1978 to today."

“我们看到,大学学费自1978年到今天以来已经增长了约1100%。”

That's due to many factors, including less government support for higher education because of tighter budgets. Once students graduate, Rossi says half are either unemployed or underemployed. His documentary shows that the tough job market does not deter colleges from hiking tuition fees.

这是由于许多因素所致,包括由于预算紧缩政府缺乏对高等教育的支持。一旦学生毕业,罗西表示会有一半人马上面临失业或未充分就业。他的书表明艰难的就业市场也没有阻止大学继续提高学费。

"There are certainly those who can argue that certain Ivy league schools have a brand associated with them that might be worth paying a premium for."

“当然有些人会认为某些常春藤盟校可能因为自身名校关系因此值得他们付出佣金。”

In their effort to entice students and to raise their prestige, colleges build impressive campuses and students end up paying for those construction costs.

随着大学努力吸引学生并提高他们的信誉,高校建造的令人印象深刻的校园是由学生最终支付建设成本。

Chris Attilis experienced this firsthand when she visited campuses with Brandon.

当她与布兰登参观校园时，克里斯·阿特里斯亲身经历过这样的事情。

“They put on a good show.And walking through and looking at the granite sinks in the bathrooms I'm thinking,This is not what it was looking like when I went to school.And we had a conversation saying We're paying to send you to a country club."

“他们做了很好的展示。走进浴室看着那里摆放着的花岗岩洗手盆时我就在想,这不像是我会在学校见到的东西。而后的谈话表明我们要把你送到一个乡村俱乐部才能为这些奢华之物买单。”

According to Ivory Tower, many students choose not to pursue a college education because of the unsustainable costs. Some try online education, but Brandon notes that is not for everyone.

根据象牙塔一书记载,很多学生因为持续高涨的学费选择不追求大学教育。一些人尝试在线教育,但布兰登指出这种方式并不适合所有人。

“You have to be a real hard worker, you have to really want it."

“你必须是一个真正努力的人,你必须真正想要。”

Brandon is thankful he is getting an education without going into debt. He feels life is already like an assembly line, where he has to tackle everything coming his way-getting a business degree, building up job experience to have an impressive resume so that one day, he hopes, he can have a career and a family without the staggering debt from the ivory towers of higher education.

布兰登很庆幸自己接受的教育不用负债累累。他觉得生活已经像流水作业线,他要解决摆在面前的一切难题-获得商学学位,积累工作经验以便有一份令人印象深刻的简历,这样有一天,他希望能有一份理想的工作，组建一个家庭，但不用负担象牙塔高等教育的惊人债务。