经济学人精读笔记21：停课不停学，网课怎么上效率更高？

经济学人精读笔记21：停课不停学，网课怎么上效率更高？

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Part 1

①The first of these is the cost of learning, not just in money but also in time. ②Formal education rests on the idea of qualifications that take a set period to complete. ③In America the entrenched notion of “seat time”, the amount of time that students spend with school teachers or university professors, dates back to Andrew Carnegie. ④It was originally intended as an eligibility requirement for teachers to draw a pension from the industrialist’s nascent pension scheme for college faculty. ⑤Students in their early 20s can more easily afford a lengthy time commitment because they are less likely to have other responsibilities. ⑥Although millions of people do manage part-time or distance learning in later life—one-third of all working students currently enrolled in America are 30-54 years old, according to the Georgetown University Centre on Education and the Workforce—balancing learning, working and family life can cause enormous pressures.

第一个问题是学习成本，不止金钱，还有时间。正规教育是基于这样的理念：需要一段固定的时间才能达成某种资质。在美国，“学堂时间”（即学生和学校老师或大学教师在一起的时间）这一深入人心的概念可以追溯到安德鲁·卡内基（Andrew Carnegie）。在一开始它其实是一个针对教师的要求：教师如果要从卡内基为大学教职人员所创设的退休金计划中领到退休金，需要达到一定的“学堂时间”。二十岁出头的学生更容易付出一段较长的时间，因为他们没什么其他的负担。虽然千百万人都在日后想方设法边工作边读书或远程学习（乔治城大学教育和劳动力中心的统计显示，美国目前在职学生中有三分之一年龄在30岁到54岁之间），但要平衡学习、工作和家庭生活可能会带来巨大的压力。

• formal adj. 正式的；拘谨的；有条理的

• rest on sth 表示“基于，以…为基础”，相当于我们熟悉的be based on sth，比如
  ◇The whole argument rests on a false assumption. 整个论点都是基于一个错误的假设。

  • rest on sth 表示“依赖，依靠”(to depend or rely on sb / sth)，是外刊的高频表达。

• qualifications 资格, 条件

• set 作形容词表示“安排好的，固定的”(planned or fixed)，比如◇Each person was given set jobs to do.分配给每个人的工作都是预先确定好的。[熟词僻义]

• entrench 义为“使…更加巩固，使…根深蒂固”(to establish sth very firmly so that it is very difficult to change)，一般跟某种观念、习俗、权力，含有贬义。比如
  ◇Sexism is deeply entrenched in our society. 性别歧视在我们这个社会根深蒂固。再比如
  ◇Mobile phones had become entrenched in young people’s lives, and many did not have their use restricted.

• date back to sth / date from sth表示“追溯到，始于”(to have existed since a particular time in the past or for the length of time mentioned)。

• be intended as sth 指“准备，预留”作某种用途或给某人用，比如我们在精读社学过一篇关于大兴机场的文章，里面有这样一句话：The airport is also intended as a gift for the relatively underdeveloped region south of the capital where it is located (67km from Capital airport in the north-east). 该机场还将作为礼物送给首都北京南部相对欠发达地区（它距离东北部的首都国际机场67公里）。

• eligibility[,elidʒə'biləti] 指“适合性，适任性”(If you're qualified for something or allowed to take part in it, you have eligibility)。

  • 形容词eligible [ˈelɪdʒəbl] 义为“合格的;具备条件的”(having the necessary qualities or satisfying the necessary conditions)。be eligible for sth / be eligible to do sth 指“合格的，有资格的”，比如◇You could be eligible for a university scholarship.你也许有资格获得大学奖学金

  • eligible 还有“合适的，中意的”的意思(An eligible man or woman is not yet married and is thought by many people to be a suitable partner) ，比如《经济学人》一篇关于婚姻市场的文章有这样一句话:Jane Austen 's characters took it for granted that men with money made more eligible mates. 简·奥斯丁笔下的人物想当然地认为越是有钱的男人越适合做伴侣。

• requirement n. 要求, 必要条件

• pension n. 津贴；退休金，抚恤金；膳宿费

• draw指“提取，领取”(to take money or payments from a bank account or post office)，比如◇She went to the post office to draw her pension. 她到邮局去领取她的养老金。[熟词僻义]

• nascent [ˈnæsənt] 指“新生的，萌芽，未成熟的”(beginning to exist; not yet fully developed)。近义表达还有budding, embryonic, incipient, fledgling。

• scheme 作名词指“计划，方案，体系”(a plan or system for doing or organizing sth)

  • scheme 作动词表示“密谋，图谋”(to make secret plans to do sth that will help yourself and possibly harm others)，比如◇His colleagues, meanwhile, were busily scheming to get rid of him. 与此同时，他的同事在加紧谋划除掉他。

• faculty 全体教职员, 全体从业人员

• afford vt. 给予，提供；买得起

• lengthy义为“冗长的，详尽的”(a speech, piece of writing etc that is lengthy is long and often contains too many details)，比如一篇冗长的报告：a lengthy report

  • at length 义为“长时间；详尽地”(for a long time and in detail)。比如考研英语一2010 Text 1中的一句话：In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. 在那个遥远的年代，各大报刊的评论家们都会详尽细致地􏰁述他们所报道的事件，这在当时是理所当然的。

• commitment表示“花费，使用” 资金、时间、人力(agreeing to use money, time or people in order to achieve sth)，比如◇Achieving success at this level requires a commitment of time and energy. 取得这种水平的成就需要花费时间和精力。

  • 动词短语commit sth into sth指“投入”，比如◇A lot of money has been committed to this project.这个项目已经投入了很多钱。

• millions of people 指“数百万人”，类似的表达还有tens of millions of sb 指“上千万人.” 我们可以用这类相对具体的数字代替many people, a great/large number of people, numerous/countless people，形容有许多人。比如《经济学人》一篇关于新冠肺炎的文章提到：Moreover, tens of millions of migrant workers, back in their hometowns for the holiday, may wait for the epidemic to recede before crowding onto trains and buses to return to their jobs.[写作推荐]

• distance learning/education表示“远程教育，在线教育”。我们还可以用online education/learning, internet-based learning/education 表示“在线教育”。传统的实体中教育可称为classroom-based education 以及实体教室称作 bricks-and- mortar classrooms。大家可以把这些表达积累下来，以后在以在线教育为主题的文章里进行同义替换，避免重复使用。[写作推荐]

• enrolled 登记

Part 2

①Moreover, the world of work increasingly demands a quick response from the education system to provide people with the desired qualifications. ②To take one example from Burning Glass, in 2014 just under 50,000 American job-vacancy ads asked for a CISSP cyber-security certificate. ③Since only 65,000 people in America hold such a certificate and it takes five years of experience to earn one, that requirement will be hard to meet. ④Less demanding professions also put up huge barriers to entry. ⑤If you want to become a licensed cosmetologist in New Hampshire, you will need to have racked up 1,500 hours of training.

此外，职场日益要求教育系统能迅速反应，为人们提供雇主所需的资质。举一个就业市场分析公司Burning Glass提供的例子：2014年，美国将近五万个招聘广告都要求应聘者持有CISSP网络安全证书，而该国只有6.5万人持有这种证书，并且要拿得该证书需要五年的相关经历，因此这种招聘要求将难以被满足。即便要求不那么高的专业职位也设置了巨大的准入门槛。如果你想在新罕布什尔州成为一名持证美容师，需要完成累计1500小时的培训。

• desired指“想要的”(Anything desired is sought after)，比如
  ◇His remarks had the desired effect.他的话达到了想要的效果。近义表达还有wished-for, sought-after, coveted，大家可以一起打包记忆。

• vacancy 这里是名词，义为“空缺”(a job or position which has not been filled) ，比如我们在精读社学过一篇关于中国毕业即失业现象的文章，文中有这样一句话：A report in May by the China Institute for Employment Research, a think-tank, found that there were 1.4 entry-level vacancies (excluding unskilled work) for each graduating student. 今年 5 月，智库中国就业研究所发布了的一份报告，报告显示每名毕业班学生对应1.4个入门级职位空缺（不包括非技术工作）。形容词形式为vacant。

• certificate[ɪgˌzæmɪˈneɪʃən] 指“文凭，合格证书”(an official paper stating that you have completed a course of study or passed an examination)。

• demanding形容物表示“要求高的，需要高技能的”(needing a lot of skill, patience, effort, etc)，我们可以用demanding来替换difficult，形容任务的难度，比如《经济学人》一篇关于大学学位的文章有这样一句话：Employers demand degrees for jobs that never required them in the past and have not become more demanding since. 对于那些过去并没有学位要求的工作职位，雇主现在提出了要求，而这些工作并没有变得更难。类似的表达还有challenging，也可用于替换difficult。[写作推荐]

• barriers to entry指“准入门槛”，是外刊的高频词，比如我们在2018年的精读社学过一篇关于电子商务巨头的文章，里面有这样一句话：Through one lens, this is a boon for competition. The e-commerce sites of Amazon and Alibaba lower barriers to entry by providing a simpler, cheaper way for small manufacturers to distribute goods and find potential buyers. 从某个角度看，这对竞争是一大福音。亚马逊和阿里巴巴的电子商务网站降低了准入门槛，为小型制造商提供了一种更简单、更廉价的方式来分销商品、寻找潜在买家。

• licensed指“得到正式许可的”(having official permission to do sth)，比如◇a licensed private investigator有执照的私人侦探

• cosmetologist n. 美容品业者,美容师

• rack up sth表示“累积，聚集”(to collect sth, such as profits or losses in a business, or points in a competition)，比如◇The company racked up $200 million in losses in two years. 公司两年内损失累计达2 亿元。◇In ten years of boxing he racked up a record 176 wins. 在十年的拳击生涯中，他累计获胜 176 次，创下纪录。类似的表达还有notch up sth, chalk up sth, secure sth。

Part 3

①In response, the MOOCs have tried to make their content as digestible and flexible as possible. ②Degrees are broken into modules; modules into courses; courses into short segments. ③The MOOCs test for optimal length to ensure people complete the course; six minutes is thought to be the sweet spot for online video and four weeks for a course.

MOOC的对策是把自己的内容变得尽可能易于吸收和更为灵活。学位被拆解成模块，模块被拆解成课程，课程又被拆解成短小的章节。MOOC测试出了确保人们念完课程的最合理时长：网络视频的最佳长度是六分钟，一门课的最佳长度是四周。

• content作不可数名词可表示“内容”。content还可作形容词，be content with sth指“对..感到满足”(used to emphasize that someone wants or does more than something)，比如《经济学人》一篇关于新加坡教育的文章有这样一句话：Not content with its achievements, Singapore is now introducing reforms to improve creativity and reduce stress. 新加坡并不满足于它的成就。现在，它正在通过改革提升创造力、减轻压力。

我们可以用be content with sth替换我们熟悉的be satisfied with sth。[写作推荐]

• digestible指“易消化的，易理解的”(easy to digest ; pleasant to eat or easy to understand)。我们可以把digestible和flexible积累下来，用于论述在线教育的优点。

• segment[ˈsegmənt] 指“部分，片，段”(a part of sth that is separate from the other parts or can be considered separately)，比如《经济学人》一篇关于全球贸易模式的文章有这样一句话：As production has spread around the world, countries have specialised in different segments of the supply chain. 随着生产扩展到全世界，各个国家专精负责供应链的不同环节。再比如考研英语一的翻译题是这么写的：Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.

• modules 模块

• optimal 义为“最佳的；最适宜的”(the best possible; producing the best possible results) ，比如《经济学人》一篇关于AI医疗的文章提到：It will be able to harness masses of data to work out optimal treatments (for both conditions and individuals),and improve workflows in hospitals. AI 将能够利用大量数据来制定出治疗某种疾病以及特定个体的最佳方案， 并改善医院的工作流程。

• be the sweet spot for sth sweet spot本义是球拍或者球棒的“最佳击球点”(the area on a bat which hits the ball in the most effective way)，引申为“最有效点，…的完美结合”(a location or combination of characteristics that produces the best results)。比如◇This series aims to hit a sweet spot between romantic comedy and thriller. 这连续剧旨在达到浪漫喜剧和惊悚片的完美结合。

  • 类似的表达还有have a soft spot for sth/sb，soft spot本来是弱点的意思，你的弱点往往是你容易被打动的地方，因此短语have a soft spot for sth/sb引申为“特别喜欢…”，比如
    ◇He has a soft spot for girls.他对女孩子有特别的好感。