今日导读
今年三月份,美国爆出高校招生舞弊丑闻,许多名流、富商被指控用非法手段送子女进入“常春藤”大学 ,此事闹得沸沸扬扬。随着调查的展开,越来越多的人物被牵扯进这个案件,美国媒体戏称这“引发了精英阶层的恐慌”。而上周,《洛杉矶时报》率先披露了一个新的涉案家庭的信息后,其它媒体对此也争相报道,《纽约时报》则说“这是舞弊案件的一个大谜团”。不仅如此,这则新闻也在中国广泛传播,引起了社会的热议。这就是“650 万美元送女进斯坦福”事件。让我们跟着雪梨老师,一起来看看《纽约时报》是如何报道这件事吧。
新闻原文
Chinese family reportedly paid $6.5 million for spot at Stanford
The New York Times
From the day in March that prosecutors announced charges against 50 people in a sweeping college admissions fraud investigation, they have held out a tantalizing mystery: an unnamed family that they said had paid the college consultant at the center of the scheme $6.5 million — far more than any of the parents named in the case — to get their child into college.
The student is Yusi Zhao, who was admitted to Stanford in 2017, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation.
At a court hearing in March, the lead prosecutor in the admissions case, Eric S. Rosen, said that college consultant William Singer had tried to get Zhao — whom Rosen did not identify by name — recruited to the Stanford sailing team and created a false profile of her supposed sailing achievements.
She was ultimately not recruited, but Rosen said that she was admitted to Stanford partly on the basis of those false credentials and that, after her admission, Singer made a $500, 000 donation to the Stanford sailing program.
Zhao appears to have participated in a recent conference hosted by the Princeton U.S.-China Coalition. Her biography on the group’s website said she was planning to major in Psychology and East Asian Studies and was interested in education policy in China.
带着问题听讲解
如何理解形容词 sweeping ?
"学历"用英语怎么表达?
案件主谋威廉·辛格进行了怎样的违规操作?
新闻正文
Chinese family reportedly paid $6.5 million for spot at Stanford
据称,一中国家庭为斯坦福入学名额斥资 650 万美元
From the day in March that prosecutors announced charges against 50 people in a sweepingcollege admissions fraudinvestigation, they have held out a tantalizing mystery: an unnamed family that they said had paid the college consultant at the center of the scheme $6.5 million — far more than any of the parents named in the case — to get their child into college.
在三月份的一起大规模高校入学舞弊案调查中,检察官宣布对 50 人提出指控。自指控提出的那天起,他们就留下了一个吸引人的谜团:据说有一个未被指名的家庭向主谋的大学申请顾问支付了 650 万美元,用以把他们的孩子送进大学。这一金额远超任何在案件中被指名的家长的花费。
The student is Yusi Zhao, who was admitted to Stanford in 2017, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation.
据对这起调查有第一手消息的人士称,这名学生叫赵雨思,她于 2017 年被斯坦福大学录取。
At a court hearing in March, the lead prosecutor in the admissions case, Eric S. Rosen, said that college consultant William Singer had tried to get Zhao — whom Rosen did not identify by name — recruited to the Stanford sailing team and created a false profile of her supposed sailing achievements.
在三月的一场庭审中,这起入学丑闻案件的首席检察官埃里克·S·罗森说,大学申请顾问威廉·辛格曾经试图让斯坦福大学的帆船队招收赵雨思(罗森没有指出她的名字),并伪造了她所谓的帆船成就的资历。
She was ultimately not recruited, but Rosen said that she was admitted to Stanford partly on the basis of those false credentialsand that, after her admission, Singer made a $500,000 donation to the Stanford sailing program.
尽管赵雨思最终并没有被招入帆船队,但罗森说,这些伪造的资历是她被斯坦福录取的部分原因,而在她入学之后,辛格则向斯坦福的帆船项目捐款了 50 万美元。
Zhao appears to have participated in a recent conference hosted by the Princeton U.S.-China Coalition. Her biography on the group’s website said she was planning to major in Psychology and East Asian Studies and was interested in education policy in China.
赵雨思似乎参加了近期由普林斯顿中美联盟主办的一个论坛。她在主办方网站上的个人简介显示,她正计划主修心理学和东亚研究,并对中国的教育政策感兴趣。
重点词汇
reportedly
/rɪˈpɔːrtɪdli/
adv. 据称,据说
相关词汇:report (v.)
例句:50 people have reportedly been injured in the explosion.
spot
/spɑːt/
n. 名额;地点,位置
prosecutor
/ˈprɑːsɪkjuːtər/
n. 检察官;公诉人
词性拓展:prosecute(v. 起诉,检举)
prosecute 例句:The thief will be prosecuted.
sweeping
/ˈswiːpɪŋ/
adj. 影响广泛的,规模宏大的
词性拓展:sweep(v. 打扫;迅速蔓延)
sweep 例句:The flu was sweeping the city.
fraud
/frɔːd/
n. 诈骗
搭配短语:credit card fraud
tantalizing
/ˈtæntəlaɪzɪŋ/
adj. 吸引人的,撩人的
词性拓展:tantalize(v. 撩拨,逗弄)
scheme
/skiːm/
n. 阴谋,诡计; 计划,方案
搭配短语:a pension scheme
direct knowledge
直接的认识,第一手资料
hearing
/ˈhɪrɪŋ/
n. 听觉;听证会
recruit
/rɪˈkruːt/
v. 招收,招募
搭配短语:recruit sb. to an organization
credentials
/krəˈdenʃlz/
n. 资历,资格证明
搭配短语:academic credentials
coalition
/ˌkoʊəˈlɪʃn/
n. 联盟
biography
/baɪˈɑːɡrəfi/
n. 传记;个人简介
近义词:profile
补充词汇知识
pay…for…
为…付出…
charge
n. 指控
搭配短语:charge against sb.
named
adj. 被点名的,已知姓名的
反义词:unnamed
lead
n. 主角
try to do sth.
试图做某事
profile
n. 概述,简介
study
n. 学习,研究
搭配短语:media studies
donation
n. 捐款,捐赠
搭配短语:make a donation
词性拓展:donate (v.)
say
v. 说明,显示
supposed
adj. 所谓的,让人信以为真的
长难句解析
From the day in March that prosecutors announced charges against 50 people in a sweeping college admissions fraud investigation, they have held out a tantalizing mystery: an unnamed family that they said had paid the college consultant at the center of the scheme $6.5 million — far more than any of the parents named in the case — to get their child into college.
在三月份的一起大规模高校入学舞弊案调查中,检察官宣布对 50 人提出指控。自指控提出的那天起,他们就留下了一个吸引人的谜团:据说有一个未被指名的家庭向主谋的大学申请顾问支付了 650 万美元,用以把他们的孩子送进大学。这一金额远超任何在案件中被指名的家长的花费。
From the day in March that prosecutors announced charges against 50 people in a sweeping college admissions fraud investigation 为状语成分,March 后面连接了修饰 the day in March 的定语从句,that 在定语从句充当时间状语,相当于 when,这是一种较为少见的用法。句子的主干是 they have held out a tantalizing mystery,they 指代了 prosecutors。冒号后面的内容补充说明了 mystery,相当于一个同位语从句。that they said 是 an unnamed family 的定语从句,they 依然是指 prosecutors。插入语 far more than any of the parents named in the case 省略了主语和谓语动词,分别是上文提到的 family 和 paid。
At a court hearing in March, the lead prosecutor in the admissions case, Eric S. Rosen, said that college consultant William Singer had tried to get Zhao — whom Rosen did not identify by name — recruited to the Stanford sailing team and created a false profile of her supposed sailing achievements.
在三月的一场庭审中,这起入学丑闻案件的首席检察官埃里克·S·罗森说,大学申请顾问威廉·辛格曾经试图让斯坦福大学的帆船队招收赵雨思(罗森没有指出她的名字),并伪造了她所谓的帆船成就的资历。
句子主干是 the lead prosecutor said sth.,said 后面连接的是 that 引导的宾语从句。从句中用的动词 tried 和 created 为并列关系。破折号中的 whom Rosen did not identify by name 为Zhao 的定语从句。
一句话总结新闻
本期《纽约时报》的文章报道了一起名校入学舞弊丑闻:某华人家庭为送女儿进入斯坦福大学,向其大学申请顾问支付了高达 650 万美金的费用,后者则帮助该女生伪造了运动员的身份。
拓展阅读
豪掷 650 万美元送女儿入学的家庭
涉案女生赵雨思的父亲为 A 股上市公司步长制药的董事长、实际控股人赵涛。据外媒报道,赵涛夫妻通过摩根士丹利的一名财务顾问认识了涉案中介辛格。在赵雨思的新闻被广泛报道后,赵涛在公司网站对此事作出声明,称其女在美国留学的资金来源和公司无关。赵涛妻子也发表声明说,650 万美元是捐款,自己受到了辛格的误导,女儿则是舞弊案件的受害者。
公开资料显示,赵涛除了是步长制药的董事长,还拥有众多商会会长的头衔。赵涛家族则是胡润百富榜的常客,在 2018 年排名 82,总身价 320 亿元。外媒多将赵涛称作“中国富豪(Chinese billionaire)”,但赵涛其实已经加入了新加坡国籍。