VOA慢速英语2015 英国少数民族比白人更容易上大学（在线收听）

UK Minorities More Likely Than Whites to Attend University 英国少数民族比白人更容易上大学

For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report:

这里是美国之声慢速英语《教育报道》节目：

A surprising new study says minority students in the UK are more likely to go to college than their poor white classmates.

一项最新研究惊人地表明，英国的少数族裔学生比他们贫穷的白人同学上大学的几率更大。

In fact, poor white British students are the least likely of all groups to go to university.

事实上，贫穷的英国白人学生是上大学几率最低的族群。

The researchers said they were surprised by what they found.

研究者称，他们也对研究结果感到惊奇。

White British students did not have the highest educational attainment at school.Attainment means how well students show knowledge and skills on tests.

英国白人学生却没有最高的高校学历。学历的意思是学生在考试中展示出来的知识和技能的水平。

Poor white British students’ participation rate at university was “much lower” than ethnic minorities.

贫穷的英国白人学生的大学入学率比少数族裔“低很多”。

Ellen Greaves is one of the authors.

艾伦·格里夫斯是研究者之一。

That was a very interesting and surprising finding.The proportion of peoples from Pakistani, from Bangladeshi, from Black Caribbean groups,who have typically lower attainment on average … for them to be going in much higher rates on to university was the big surprise.

“这个结果很有趣，也很令人吃惊。通常认为平均学历不高的巴基斯坦人、孟加拉国人和加勒比黑人……上大学的比例却要高得多，这让人着实吃了一惊。”

The researchers first wanted to know which British students went to college.From government data, they measured students’ attainment, finances and ethnicity.

研究者首先想知道哪些英国学生上了大学。他们利用政府数据衡量了学生们的学历、收入状况和种族。

Some of the results were predictable, the authors found.Such as, poor students of any ethnic group are less likely to go to college.

研究者发现，有一些结果是可以预测的。比如，不管哪个种族，穷学生都不太可能上大学。

And that women are more likely to go to college than men.Or that students from Chinese and Indian families are more likely to go to college than other ethnic groups.That mirrors gender and ethnic proportions in the U.S., too.

女性比男性上大学的几率更大。与少数族裔相比，中国和印度学生上大学的几率最大。这也印证了美国大学入学率的性别和种族分布。

But if some ethnic minorities are less likely to do well on tests,how are they more likely to attend university?

但是，如果一些少数族裔在考试中的表现并不好，他们上大学的几率怎么会更大呢？

One reason is that schools in England’s large cities,where minorities tend to live, have improved greatly over the past decade.That is particularly true in London.And that may give minorities a better chance at going to college.

其中一个原因是，少数族裔往往倾向于住到英国大城市，这些大城市的学校在过去十年中进步了很多，伦敦尤为如此。这给了少数族裔更好的上大学的机会。

Better school policies and programs are likely why schools in London have had success.London Challenge, first established in 2003,and Teach First, first launched in 2002,are two better-known programs.

伦敦的学校成功的原因，很有可能就是更好的教育政策和项目。2003年创立的“伦敦挑战”和2002年启动的“教育第一”就是两个最知名的项目。

However, a team of researchers found that London schools started to improve before London Challenge,Teach First and other programs.

但是，一个研究者团队发现，伦敦的学校在这两个甚至别的项目开始之前就有所进步了。

They say that even if government programs can explain part of the success of schools in London,they can’t explain all of it.

他们说，政府项目仅仅能部分解释伦敦学校的成功，而不是全部。

Some people are pessimistic about the findings of the study.They emphasize that poor white British students are falling behind ethnic minorities.Experts have suggested that white British students are less motivated,or do not have the same expectations about higher education.

有些人对研究结果表示悲观。他们强调，贫穷的英国白人学生落到少数族裔学生后面了。专家称，这会削弱英国白人学生的士气，他们不会像以前一样对高等教育抱有期望。

Others are optimistic about the findings.They believe that the study shows that immigrants want a better education for their children.Professor Alan Smithers, at Buckingham University, said: “Ethnic minorities value education more than the white British do.”

也有的人对研究结果表示乐观。他们认为，研究显示移民希望给予自己的后代更好的教育。英国白金汉大学教授亚伦·史密瑟斯说：“少数族裔比英国白人更加重视教育。”

Many immigrants move to a new country with high hopes for their children.They encourage their children to do well in school.As a result, their children become more likely to go to college.

很多搬到新国家的移民都对自己的孩子有很高的期望。他们鼓励自己的孩子在学校取得好成绩。结果，他们的孩子上大学的几率就大大增加了。

But these stories – whether correct or incorrect – remain difficult to prove.In the UK, many minorities are not immigrants.Studying the motivation of groups of people, regardless of ethnicity, is very difficult.

但是，不管对不对，这种说法都很难具有说服力。在英国，很多少数族裔都不是移民。抛开种族去研究人们学习的动机，是很困难的。

Greaves, when discussing her findings, was careful with her language.

在谈到她的研究结果时，格里夫斯说的话非常审慎。

Something about these ethnic groups is – whether it’s about aspirations or expectations or whatever it is –something is making the disadvantage not be there.

“关于这些少数族裔的——志向也好，期望也罢，这些正在使他们的缺点逐渐消失。”

Even if minorities are more likely to enter college in the UK,there are still concerns about discrimination.Research by Vikki Boliver, from Durham University,suggests that minority students are less likely to receive admissions offers at elite universities.

尽管英国少数族裔上大学的几率更高，依然有对于歧视的担忧。英国杜伦大学韦济·波利沃所做的研究表明，少数族裔学生被精英大学接收的几率要低一些。

What the new research shows is that the number of minorities who make it to college, out of the whole group of minorities, is high.Because such a huge number of minorities apply,the proportion of minorities accepted at university is also higher.

最新研究表明，从种族总体上来看，上大学的少数族裔学生数量是多的。因为递交学校申请的少数族裔学生非常之多，最后被录取的比例自然也高一些。

Most countries in the world have difficulty educating all of their citizens.

世界上很多国家在教育国民方面都存在困难。

The US is not immune from this problem.

美国也不能幸免。

In the US, minorities, particularly black and Hispanic students, do not do as well in school.They are less likely than white or Asian students to do well on tests.Poverty, health issues, difficult home environments,and language problems are among possible reasons.

在美国，少数族裔，尤其是黑人和西班牙裔学生在学校表现得不好。他们在考试中的表现不如白人和亚洲学生好。通常可能因为：贫穷、健康有问题、家庭环境不好、语言不通等。

Overall, in the US and the UK, there is a similar pattern:Some minority groups score lower on tests.Students from low-income families score lower on tests.They are also less likely to go to college.

总体上说，美国和英国面临的状况是相似的：一些少数族裔群体以及来自低收入家庭的学生在考试中得分比较低。他们不太容易上大学。

Whether discrimination, poverty or bad teaching is behind the problem,the policy question remains the same:What is the best way to improve the quality of education for children and correct for disadvantages?

不管这些问题背后是歧视、贫困还是糟糕的教学质量，政策上的困境是相同的：到底什么才是提高孩子教育质量的最好方法？怎样才能改正缺点？

Researchers Greaves and Claire Crawford, Ph.D,used government data to follow public school students in the UK from 2002 until 2008.Each year, there were around 500,000 new students included in their study.

研究者格里夫斯和克莱尔·克劳福德博士利用2002年到2008年的政府数据研究英国公学的学生。每过一年，研究中都会新增近50万名学生。

Words in This Story

attainment – n. a skill or ability gained by practice or training

proportion – n. an amount that is a part of a whole

emphasize – v. to give special attention to something 

motivate – v. to give (someone) a reason for doing something

disadvantage – n.  something that causes difficulty : something that makes someone or something worse or less likely to succeed than others

contradict – v. to say the opposite of (something that someone else has said)