U6 A
To work or not to work - That is the question
打工还是不打工——这是个问题
There are numerous and reliable ways by which one can measure the impact of employment on student achievement, and we used several in our research. We compared the grades of students who work a great deal with those who work in limited amounts or not at all. We also contrasted workers with non-workers, on different indicators of their commitment to education. Additionally, we followed students over time as they increased or decreased their work hours, and we assessed how different patterns of employment altered school performance and engagement.
要衡量工作经历对学生成就的影响有许多可靠的方法。在我们的研究中,我们采用了几种方法。我们比较了打很多工的学生和打工时间有限或者根本不打工的学生的学习成绩。我们也对比了打工学生和不打工学生在学习投入程度方面的不同指征。另外,我们长期跟踪学生,了解他们在打工时间增加或减少时的表现。而且,我们还评估了不同的打工模式如何改变学习成绩和学习参与度。
We have simplified and classified the data and the results are clear: The stakes are high. A heavy commi
tment to a part-time job during the academic year, say, working 20 hours per week or more, undermines and significantly interferes with school achievement and commitment. Overall, our study offers proof that students who worked more than 20 hours weekly were not comparable to their classmates. They earned lower grades, spent less time on homework, cut class more often, and cheated more frequently. And they reported lower levels of commitment to school and more modest educational aspirations.
我们把数据加以简化和归类,得出的结论很明确:学生打工付出的代价很大。在学年中花过多精力兼职打工,比如,一周打工20 个小时或更长时间,会影响和严重干扰学习成绩和学习投入程度。总的来说,我们的研究证明,每周打工超过20 个小时的学生学习成绩不及班上其他同学。他们的分数更低,花在作业上的时间更少,逃课更频繁,作弊更常见。而且据反映,他们的学习投入程度较低,学习志向也不够远大。
On the other hand, we also detected a different pattern. Working for approximately 10 hours per week or less seemingly does not take a consistent toll on school performance. Nevertheless, given that half of all employed seniors, about one-third of all juniors, and about one-fifth of all second-year students work above the 20-hour limit, indications are that a large number of students are at risk of compromising their school careers with their part-time jobs.
但是,我们也发现了另外一种不同的模式。每周打工大约10 个小时或更少的时间对学习成绩似乎没有持续的影响。不过,鉴于一半的大四打工学生、约三分之一的大三打工学生以及约五分之一的大二打工学生的打工时间都超过20 个小时的上限,由此表明,有很多学生面临因打工而危及学业的风险。
Whereas it is true that more disengaged students are more likely to work long hours to begin with, it appears that working makes a marginal situation worse. In other words, over time, the more students work, the less committed to school they become. When students withdraw from the labor force or cut back on their work
hours, however, the results are striking: Their interest in school is generated anew. This then is good news: The negative effects of working on schooling are not permanent.
虽说一开始确实是学习兴趣不大的学生更容易长时间地打工,但是打工看起来会让他们原本勉强的学习状况变得更糟。换言之,随着时间的推移,学生打工时间越长,他们对学习的投入就越少。但是,当学生退出打工队伍或者减少打工时间后,结果也引人注目:他们对学习的兴趣被重新激发起来。所以,这是个好消息,即打工对学习的负面影响并非是永久性的。We uncovered numerous explanations for the undesirable effects of working on students' engagement in school. First, owing to their demanding work schedule, working students have less time to devote to school assignments. One common respo
nse to this time pressure is that they cut corners by taking easier classes, copying assignments from other students, cutting class, or refusing to do work assigned by their teachers. Over time, as these become established practices, students' commitment to school is eroded bit by bit.
我们发现了打工对学生学习参与度产生负面影响的很多种原因。首先,由于紧张的打工日程,打工的学生用来完成学校作业的时间就减少了。面临这样的时间压力,打工学生一个普遍的应付办法就是偷懒,比如选择较容易的课程、抄袭其他学生的作业、逃课或者不做老师布置的作业。时间一长,当这些变成习以为常的做法以后,学生对学习的投入也就一点一点地减少。
Second, in order to work 20 hours or more each week, many students must work evenings. Evening work interferes not only with doing homework, but with both sleep and diet. Studies show that working students get less rest and eat less healthy meals than non-working students. Burning the midnight oil makes working teenagers more tired in school. Teachers frequently complain about working students falling asleep in class. Nearly a third of the students in our study said they were frequently too tired from work to do their homework.
第二,为了每周能打工20 个小时或更长时间,许多学生必须要在晚上工作。晚上工作不仅影响做作业,而且影响睡眠和饮食。研究表明,与不打工的学生相比,打工学生的休息时间更少,饮食也不够健康。
熬夜让打工的青少年在学校时感觉更疲倦。老师们经常抱怨打工学生在课堂上睡觉。在我们的调查中,将近三分之一的学生说,他们经常因打工太累而不做作业。
less is more 翻译Third, it appears that the excitement of earning large amounts of spending money makes school seem less rewarding and interesting.
第三,挣到数量可观的零花钱所带来的兴奋感似乎让上学显得没意义和乏味。
Although mind-wandering during school is characteristic of young adults, working students report significantly more of it than non-workers. Indeed, the rush from earning and spending money may be so strong that students who have a history of intensive employment, those who, for example, have been working long hours since their second year, are actually at greater risk than their classmates of dropping out before graduating.
虽说在学校学习时心不在焉是年轻人的通病,但是据反映,打工的学生比不打工的学生在这方面表现得更为糟糕。事实上,赚钱和花钱带来的快感也许过于强烈,以至于有长时间打工史的学生,比如从大二开始就长时间打工的学生,实际上比其他同学面临更大的辍学风险。Finally, working long hours can be associated with increased alcohol and drug
use. Working students use drugs and alcohol about 33% more often than non-working students. Our long-term study shows that working long hours leads to increased alcohol and drug use for entertainment and recreation among working students. Teenagers with between $200 and $300 of monthly surplus income frequently have more money to spend than their peers, and often they become accustomed to spending their earnings on drugs and alcohol. According to our study, alcohol and drug use, in turn, may be linked to disengagement from school, and therefore, is likely to depress school performance.
最后,长时间打工与饮酒和的增多有关。打工的学生和饮酒的概率比不打工的学生要高出大约33%。我们的长期研究显示,长时间打工导致打工的学生更多地饮酒和,他们借此来娱乐和消遣。每月多收入200 至300 美元的青少年通常比其他同学有更多的零花钱,而且他们也常常习惯于把自己赚来的钱花在和饮酒上。我们的研究表明,饮酒和相应地可能造成学习兴趣减弱,因此很可能导致学习成绩下降。
To summarize, convention has long held that early employment builds character. Our findings indicate that for many students, working 20 hours or more a week can contribute to decreased school performance and increased drug and alcohol use. We know that these findings may seem controversial to many. To our own surprise, our findings make us question how long we have held on t
o the conventional assumptions about the great value of work in our formative years. It's time to abandon this appealing myth! We conclude that students should resolve to work no more than 10 hours per week if they want to be successful in school.
总而言之,长期以来的传统观念一直认为,早期的工作经历能锤炼性格。而我们的研究结果表明,对于许多学生而言,每周打工20 个小时或更多时间会导致学习成绩的下滑以及和饮酒的增多。我们知道这些研究结果可能在许多人看来是有争议的。令我们感到惊讶的是,我们的研究结果促使我们质疑,为何长久以来我们一直坚守着那种打工有利于我们成长的传统想法。现在是摒弃这种诱人的错误观念的时候了!我们的结论是:要想学业成功,学生就应该下决心做到每周打工不超过10 个小时。
U6 B
Earn as you learn?
勤工助学?
As the cost of attending university has soared over the last two decades, a frank and vigorous debate is emerging over who should pay for the cost of higher education. While in some countries students have always been expected to absorb part or even all of their tuition costs through work or borrowing, i
n other countries the tremendous cost of attending university has been provided by the relevant education authority or by parents. I am proud to be in the small minority of students who "earn as they learn" and absorb the cost of their own university education in spite of the many obstacles.
随着近20 年上大学费用的急剧攀升,高等教育费用应该由谁支付的问题引发了坦诚而激烈的争论。在有些国家,人们总是希望学生通过打工或贷款来承担部分或全部的学费,而在另一些国家,上大学的大笔费用一直由有关教育部门或者父母提供。我是少数派学生中的一员,通过“勤工助学”、克服种种困难去承担自己的学费,我为此而感到自豪。
As for the remaining majority, I ask myself, "Is it me, or are students these days just lazy?" Collectively, they claim that they have no capacity to pay for college. I think it's more a matter of them simply not wanting to pay or contribute. During college I consistently endured comments from peers with scholarships and loans, and peers who had new cars and expensive apartments, who would ask me, eyes bulging, "You mean your parents didn't help you at all?" "How did you pay for tuition?" My response was simple: "I worked." They would look at me blankly, as though I had told them I'd gone to the moon.
至于其他大多数人,我问自己:“是我情况特殊,还是现在的学生就是懒惰呢?”大家都说自己没有支付
大学学费的能力。我认为倒不如说是他们不想自己出钱或不愿分担学费。在大学时,我一直忍受着其他同学的评论。他们拿着奖学金和助学贷款,或者开着崭新的汽车、住着昂贵的公寓。他们会瞪大眼睛问我:“你是说你的父母一点资助都不给你吗?”“那你怎么付学费啊?”我的回答很简单:“我打工。”然后他们就会一脸不解地看着我,仿佛我告诉他们我去过月球一样。
As an undergraduate student, I worked for two solid years as a day care provider earning minimum wage. Then I paid for the rest of my education by helping deaf children and working as a tutor in a private school.
读本科时,我做了整整两年的日托保育员,拿的是最低工资。后来,我还照顾过失聪儿童,也当过私人学校的助教,以此支付我其余的学费。
Looking back, I'm not sure how I managed to cover all the costs of my education. But I did. And I bought every single textbook and pencil myself too.
回顾过去,我都不清楚我是怎么设法付清了我所有的学费的。但是,我做到了。而且,每一本课本、每一支铅笔也都是我自己花钱买的。
Sometimes, I did feel a little sorry for myself, especially when I compared myself to wealthy students. I
once asked another student if she worked. "Oh, no!" she said, startled, "I go to school full-time." She was taking only 13 credit hours, and yet was "too busy" to work. She went on to explain that her parents paid for everything and provided her with every necessity, and many luxuries too!
有时候,我也有点儿为自己感到难过,尤其是当我把自己跟家境富裕的同学相比时。有一次,我问另一个同学她是否打工。“哦,我不打工!”她说,很吃惊的样子,“我是全职学生。”她只上13 学分的课,但竟然“没有空”去打工。她接着解释道,她的父母负担她的所有费用,为她提供一切日常所需,还有许多奢侈品!
Truthfully, I was a little envious of her easy life as I took 18 credit hours so that I could graduate within four years. Besides, I was working 25 hours a week so I could pay tuition without future loan debt. And here's something amazing: I pulled straight A's and was at the top of my class!
说真的,我有点儿嫉妒她那轻松的生活。因为为了能在四年内毕业,我得上18 个学分的课。另外,我每周打工25 个小时,这样我才能付清学费,将来不会有贷款债务。而令人难以相信的是:我门门功课都得A,成绩在班里名列前茅!
One day I caught a glimpse of that same girl's report card at the end of the term. She pulled C’s and a few B's, low grades, which didn't surprise me. Having to work hard and multitask forces you to prioritiz
e, a skill she hadn't learned.
期末的某一天,我瞥见了那位女生的成绩单。她得的大多是C,以及几个B,成绩不佳。对此我并不感到惊讶。要做到努力打工,并且要同时做好几件事,这就迫使你按轻重缓急来安排事情,而这种技能她还没有学会。
I am aware that my work and study choices are not popular and that many influential studies claim to illustrate that working while going to school negatively impacts educational performance. They cite increased dropout rates, lower scores and reduced lifetime earnings. Besides, these studies also give evidence that many students exhaust much of their earnings not on school, but on entertainment and partying while attending school. The studies also show increased abuse of alcohol and drugs, which leads me to question these students' resolve and commitment to the serious side of life.
我明白,我这种半工半读的做法并不普遍,而且有很多颇有影响的研究声称半工半读会给学习成绩带来负面影响。他们引用的证据包括上升的退学率、下降的成绩以及减少的终身收入。而且,这些研究还提供证据说,在大学期间许多学生并没有把大部分赚来的钱用在学习上,而是用在娱乐和聚会上。这些研究还表明,酗酒和现象有所增加,这让我质疑这些学生缺乏意志力和责任心,对待生活不够认真。
For me, one of the most authentic benefits of the "earn-as-you-learn" approach is that, upon graduatio
n, I was free from the substantial stress and tension of debt payments that make so many people worried and uneasy. Relieved of this considerable burden, I am convinced that I will be able to make intelligent career choices that will provide me with greater personal satisfaction and ensure better pay over the years to come.
对我来说,“勤工助学”最切实的好处之一就是,毕业时我没有还债的巨大压力和焦虑感,而这种压力和焦虑感让许多人忧心忡忡、忐忑不安。没有了这个大包袱,我确信我能明智地选择能让我获得更大的个人满足感、并保证今后有更称心收入的职业。
The central questions of this debate are: "What is the major purpose of attending university?" and "Who should be responsible for the cost?" For me, the answer has always been that my purpose is to get a formal education with an advanced degree and that the responsibility is my own. I understand that some will disagree with my singular approach to educational funding. But consider this, the path I have
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