新视野大学英语读写教程(第三版)第二册第二单元原文及翻译.docx

The humanities: Out of date?
人文学科:过时了吗?
When the going gets tough, the tough take accounting. When the job market worsens, many students calculate they can't major in English or history. They have to study something that boosts their prospects of landing a job.
当形势变得困难时,强者会去选学会计。当就业市场恶化时,许多学生估算着他们不能再主修英语或历史。他们得学一些能改善他们就业前景的东西。
The data show that as students have increasingly shouldered the ever-rising cost of tuition, they have defected from the study of the humanities and toward applied science and "hard" skills that they bet will lead to employment. In other words, a college education is more and more seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment. This is a trend that is likely to persist and even accelerate.
数据显示,随着学生肩负的学费不断增加,他们已从学****人文学科转向他们相信有益于将来就业的应用科学和“硬”技能。换言之,大学教育越来越被看成是改善经济而不是提升人类自身的手段。这种趋势可能会持续,甚至有加快之势。
Over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will probably continue their long slide in ession. There already has been a nearly 50 percent decline in the portion of liberal arts majors over the past generation, and it is logical to think that the trend is bound to continue or even accelerate. Once the dominant pillars of university life, the humanities now play little roles when students take their college tours. These days, labs are more vivid pelling than libraries.
在未来几年内,由于劳动力市场的不景气,人文学科可能会继续其长期低迷的态势。