考研閱讀精選：江河直下的商科教育

『商科是美國高校中比較輕松的專業(yè)，因此，越來越多的人選擇進入商學院學習。但由于學校對該專業(yè)缺乏科學規(guī)范的管理，致使學生們無所事事，教學質(zhì)量低下，甚至危及該專業(yè)的就業(yè)前景。』

　　The race to the bottom

　　江河直下的商科教育

　　Apr 19th 2011 | from The Economist

　　IN MY day people who wanted an easy1 time at university studied geography or land management. Now, in the United States at least, the soft-option2 of choice is business studies. Business students of various sorts are the most numerous group on American campuses, accounting for 20%, or more than 325,000, of all bachelor degrees. They are also, according to a long article in The Chronicle of Higher Education3, by far4 the idlest5 and most ignorant6.

　　Business majors spend less time preparing for class than do students in any other broad field: less than 11 hours a week in the case of 7 more than half of them. Not coincidentally8, they also register9 the smallest gains in test scores in their first two years in college. One student, with a respectable 10 3.3 grade-point average, describes his typical day: "I just play sports, maybe go to the gym. Eat. Probably drink a little bit. Just kind of goof around11 all day."

　　What accounts for1 this educational wasteland2? To some extent it is a matter of self-selection. Many people choose business studies precisely3because they don't have a lot going on upstairs4. And they prefer to spend their time networking5 and looking for jobs rather than, say, grappling with6 Schumpeter's7 ideas about business cycles. But universities also bear some of the blame8. Many universities have treated business studies as a cash cow9: there is lots of demand, business students do not require expensive laboratories, and business academics can supplement their incomes with outside consultancy10. Business studies is also a mish-mash11of subjects, many of them soft and ill-defined12, like leadership and business ethics. It is notable that students who focus on “hard” subjects, such as finance, put in much more work than those who study “leadership” and the like.

　　Students also complain about the quality of teaching. Why pay attention in class when all the instructor is doing is regurgitating13 chunks of14 a textbook? And why bother stretching yourself intellectually when the university does not seem to know what you are supposed to be studying (is business studies a branch of economics or psychology, international relations or history?)15

　　Whatever the explanation, the dismal16 state of business education is beginning to register17 in popular culture, and presumably reduce the job prospects of the people who study it. In “Futurama” 18, Gunther decides to give up studying science, which is too demanding19, and reconcile himself to20 a future as a moderately successful monkey who wears a suit to work. He enrolls in business school. (417 words)
 

1 easy /5i:zI/ adj.舒適的；安心的；安逸的
2 soft-option n. 容易的選擇
3 The Chronicle of Higher Education: 《美國高等教育紀事周報》
4 by far:顯然；到達極為明顯的程度。如：She is the best by far/She is by far the best. （她顯然是比較好的。）
5 idle /5aIdl/ adj.（指人）無所事事的；懶散的；懶惰的
6 ignorant /5IgnErEnt/ adj. 沒有學識的；無知的
7 in the case of sth:至于；就„„而言。如：The amount of fruit in fruit juices must be 6% in the case of berries and 10% in the case of other fruits. （果汁中水果的數(shù)量必須是漿果6%，其他水果10%。）
8 coincidentally/kEU9InsI5dentlI/ adv. 同時發(fā)生地；恰巧地
9 register /5redVIstE(r)/ v.  取得（結(jié)果）；得（分）
10 respectable/rI5spektEbl/ adj. 達到一定標準或規(guī)模的；不丟臉的
11 goof around:四處閑逛；消磨時間，如：I was goofing around and broke my arm.（我在四處閑蕩時摔折了胳膊。）
12 account for: 是„„的原因；導致；引起
13 wasteland: 荒蕪之地；廢墟。文中wasteland是指商科學習沉悶單調(diào)毫無成就的狀況。
14 precisely /prI5saIslI/ adv. 正是；精確地（用作加強語氣）
15 don’t have a lot go on upstairs:此處的upstairs意為“大腦”，該句在文中可解釋為“腦袋空空，不愿費勁思考與學習”。
16 network /5net9w\:k/ v. 與人在網(wǎng)上交流
17 grapple with (sb/sth):努力設(shè)法解決，如：Other towns are still grappling with the problem.（其他城鎮(zhèn)還在努力解決這個問題。）
18 Schumpeter: 熊彼得(1883-1950)，全名為Schumpeter Joseph Alois，捷克斯洛伐克裔美國經(jīng)濟學家，以其資本主義發(fā)展理論著名。
19 bear the blame：承擔責任，bear在此處意為“承擔；承擔”，blame意為“（事故、問題或者壞情況的）責任”。
20 cash cow:現(xiàn)金牛；搖錢樹
21 consultancy /kEn5sQltEnsI/ n. 顧問工作；咨詢工作
22 mish-mash /5mIFmAF/ n. 混雜；大雜燴
23 ill-defined: 不清楚的；含混的；不明確的
24 regurgitate /rI5g\:dVIteIt/ v. (喻)刻板地重復；依樣復述
14 chunks of sth:某物的大部分
15 在學校本身都沒有弄清楚你們正在學習的東西時（商科到底是屬于經(jīng)濟學、心理學，還是屬于國際關(guān)系學或者歷史學），你何苦費勁動那么多腦子？其中“stretch oneself intellectually”意為“努力學習，開拓思維；用知識武裝頭腦”
16 dismal /5dIzmEl/ adj.壓抑的；沉悶的
17 register /5redVIstE(r)/ v. 顯示；表現(xiàn)
18 Futurama: 是一部美國喜劇漫畫及動畫片，中文譯為《飛出個未來》。后文中的Gunther是該片中的一個人物。
19 demanding /dI5mB:ndIN/ adj. （任務(wù)）難度大的，要求高的
20 reconcile sb/oneself to sth:（使某人）接受；使順從于；使甘心于