考研英语经济学人双语笔记精读TE-2023-08-01期|不合情理（PDF版+Word版+Mp3）
Education in India: It doesn’t add up
Poor schools put India’s economic dreams at risk
【1】 WHEN NARENDRA MODI, India’s prime minister, visited the White House last week, he did so as the leader of one of the world’s fastest-growing big economies. India is expanding at an annual rate of 6% and its GDP ranks fifth in the global pecking order. Its tech industry is flourishingand green firms are laying solar panels like carpets. Many multinationals are drawn there: this week Goldman Sachs held a board meeting in India.
【2】 As the rich world and China grow older, India’s huge youth bulge—some 500m of its people are under 20—should be an additional propellant. Yet as we report, although India’s brainy elite hoovers up qualifications, education for most Indians is still a bust. Unskilled, jobless youngsters risk bringing India’s economic development to a premature stop.
【3】India has made some strides in improving the provision of services to poor people. Government digital schemes have simplified access to banking and the distribution of welfare payments. Regarding education, there has been a splurge on infrastructure. A decade ago only a third of government schools had handwashing facilities and only about half had electricity; now around 90% have both. Since 2014 India has opened nearly 400universities. Enrolment in higher education has risen by a fifth.
【4】 Yet improving school buildings and expanding places only gets you so far. India is still doing a terrible job of making sure that the youngsterswho throng its classrooms pick up essential skills. Before the pandemic less than half of India’s ten-year-olds could read a simple story, even though most of them had spent years sitting obediently behind school desks (the share in America was 96%). School closures that lasted more than two years have since made this worse.
【5】 There are lots of explanations. Jam-packed curriculums afford too little time for basic lessons in maths and literacy. Children who fail to grasp these never learn much else. Teachers are poorly trained and badly supervised: one big survey of rural schools found a quarter of staff were absent. Officials sometimes hand teachers unrelated duties, from administering elections to policing social-distancing rules during the pandemic.
【6】 Such problems have led many families to send their children to private schools instead. These educate about 50% of all India’s children. They are impressively frugal, but do not often produce better results. Recently, there have been hopes that the country’s technology industry might revolutionise education. Yet relying on it alone is risky. In recent weeks India’s biggest ed-tech firm, Byju’s, which says it educates over 150m people worldwide and was once worth $22bn, has seen its valuation slashed because of financial troubles.
【7】 All this makes fixing government schools even more urgent. India should spend more on education. Last year the outlays were just 2.9% of GDP, low by international standards. But it also needs to reform how the system works by taking inspiration from models elsewhere in developing Asia.
【8】 As we report, in international tests pupils in Vietnam have been trouncing youngsters from much richer countries for a decade. Vietnam’s children spend less time in lessons than Indian ones, even when you count homework and other cramming. They also put up with larger classes. The difference is that Vietnam’s teachers are better prepared, more experienced and more likely to be held accountable if their pupils flunk.
【9】 With the right leadership, India could follow. It should start by collecting better information about how much pupils are actually learning. That would require politicians to stop disputing data that do not show their policies in a good light. And the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party should also stop trying to strip textbooks of ideas such as evolution, or of history that irks Hindu nativists. That is a poisonous distraction from the real problems. India is busy constructing roads, tech campuses, airports and factories. It needs to build up its human capital, too.
①短语：
1.原文：Education in India: It doesn’t add up
词典：add up 1.合乎情理，有道理 2.积少成多
例句：His story just doesn"t add up.
他说的情况根本不合情理。
When you"re feeding a family of six the bills soon add up.
你要养活一家六口，开支很快就大起来了。
2.原文：Poor schools put India’s economic dreams at risk
词典：at risk (from/of sth) 有危险；冒风险
例句：As with all diseases, certain groups will be more at risk than others.
所有的疾病都是如此，一些人比另一些人更容易受到威胁。
If we go to war, innocent lives will be put at risk .
如果我们发动战争，无辜的生命就会受到威胁。
3.原文：Yet as we report, although India’s brainy elite hoovers up qualifications,
词典：hoover sth↔up 1.用真空吸尘器把…清除掉 2.获得大量的某物
例句：The US and Canada usually hoover up most of the gold medals.
美国和加拿大通常夺得大部分的金牌。
4.原文：India has made some strides in improving the provision of services to poor people.
词典：make strides (in) sth 取得进步
例句：We"re making great strides in the search for a cure.
在探索治疗办法方面，我们正不断取得重大进展。
5.原文：Regarding education, there has been a splurge on infrastructure.
词典：splurge可作动词和名词。splurge on sth（动词） a splurge on sth（名词）挥霍，乱花钱
例句：We splurged on Bohemian glass for gifts, and for ourselves.
我们花了很多钱买波希米亚玻璃制品送人和自用。
I"m confident that there"s enough in the bank for a splurge on a great pair of shoes.
我相信，银行里存有足够的钱能让我破费一回买双好鞋。
6.原文：Yet improving school buildings and expanding places only gets you so far
词典：so far 仅到一定程度，只在有限范围内
例句：I trust him only so far.
我只相信他到这个程度。
7.原文：India is still doing a terrible job of making sure that the youngsters who throng its classrooms pick up essential skills.
词典：pick up sth 获得，学会
例句：Consumers in Europe are slow to pick up trends in the use of information technology.
欧洲消费者在辨别信息技术应用的潮流上表现迟缓。
8.原文：Such problems have led many families to send their children to private schools instead
词典：lead sb to do sth 使得某人做某事
例句：This has led scientists to speculate on the existence of other galaxies.
这就使得科学家推测还有其他星系存在。
9.原文：They also put up with larger classes.
词典：put up with sth 容忍，忍受
例句：They had put up with behaviour from their son which they would not have tolerated from anyone else.
他们容忍了儿子的行为，如果换作别人他们可做不到。
10.原文：and more likely to be held accountable if their pupils flunk.
词典：be held accountable (for ...) 对……负责
例句：Public officials can finally be held accountable for their actions...
终于要对政府官员实行问责了。
11.原文：But it also needs to reform how the system works by taking inspiration from models elsewhere in developing Asia.
词典：draw/take inspiration from ... 从……得到灵感
例句：Both poets drew their inspiration from the countryside.
两位诗人都是从乡村得到他们的灵感。
12.原文：That would require politicians to stop disputing data that do not show their policies in a good light.
词典：in a good, bad, favourable, etc. light 从好（或坏、有利等）的角度
例句：You must not view what happened in a negative light.
你千万不要从负面的角度来看待所发生的事。
They want to present their policies in the best possible light.
他们想尽可能从好的方面来介绍他们的政策。
13.原文：And the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party should also stop trying to strip textbooks of ideas such as evolution
词典：strip sth (off) | strip A (off/from B) | strip B (of A) 除去，剥去（一层）；（尤指）剥光
例句：Deer had stripped the tree of its bark.
鹿啃掉了树皮。
Deer had stripped all the bark off the tree.
鹿把树皮全都啃光了。
14.原文： It needs to build up its human capital, too.
词典：build sth↔up 1.创建，开发 2.增高，加强
例句：She"s built up a very successful business.
她创办的生意很红火。
These finds help us build up a picture of life in the Middle Ages.
这些发现有助于建构中世纪的生活画面。
I am anxious not to build up false hopes.
我非常着意不要让大家期望过高。
②长难句
1.原文：India is still doing a terrible job of making sure that the youngsters who throng its classrooms pick up essential skills.
2.分析：主句是主谓宾结构India（主语）is still doing（谓语动词）a terrible job（宾语）。of making sure属于介词短语，修饰a terrible job。that引导宾语从句，这个宾语从句中的主谓宾是the youngsters（主语）pick up（谓语动词）essential skills（宾语）。who 引导定语从句，修饰the youngsters。
3.译文：在确保蜂拥至教室的年轻人能学到重要技能方面，印度做得仍旧糟糕。
1.原文：In recent weeks India’s biggest ed-tech firm, Byju’s, which says it educates over 150m people worldwide and was once worth $22bn, has seen its valuation slashed because of financial troubles.
2.分析：首先找出主句India’s biggest ed-tech firm（主语）has seen（谓语动词）its valuation（宾语）slashed（宾语补足语）。In recent weeks是时间状语，Byju’s是India’s biggest ed-tech firm的同位语。which引导非限制性定语从句，修饰Byju’s。
3.译文：印度最大的教育科技公司Byju’s称全球有超过1.5亿人通过该公司接受教育，其市值曾高达220亿美元。然而这几周来，受资金问题影响，Byju’s的市值大幅缩水。
③写作技巧:
India has made some strides in improving the provision of services to poor people.
在向穷人提供各类服务方面，印度已经有了些许进步。
表达：在表达某事取得进展的时候，可以用make strides in (doing) sth来代替常用的make progress。如果要把进展说得更具体一些，可以加上形容词，如make slow/steady/rapid/considerable strides （缓慢的 / 平稳的 / 迅速的 / 极大的进展）。类似能表示“进步”的表达还有gain ground，get ahead等
例句：Provided you are modest, you"ll surely make strides.
只要虚心，就会进步。
The medical community continues to gain ground in the fight against cancer
医学界在抗癌的斗争中不断取得进步。
④背景知识：
印度经济：高盛预测称，印度经济有望在数十年内超过美国，成为仅次于中国的世界第二大经济体。
高盛的分析师上周发表了一份报告，该报告称，到2075年，预计印度经济总量将超过美国，而美国将下降为第三名。在那时，这个亚洲国家的国内生产总值预计将达到52.5万亿美元，比届时美国的国内生产总值将达到的水平高出一万亿美元。
预计2023年印度国内生产总值将达到3.73万亿美元，排在第四名的德国（国内生产总值为4.3万亿美元）、第三名的日本（国内生产总值为4.4万亿美元）、第二名的中国（国内生产总值为19.37万亿美元)以及第一名的美国(国内生产总值为26.85万亿美元）之后。
⑤段落大意：
【1】印度的经济与科技取得很大成绩
【2】年轻人受教育不足，恐拖累经济发展
【3】印度政府在完善教育体系与设施方面做了不少工作
【4】印度学生仍只有匮乏的教育资源
【5】教育匮乏的一些原因
【6】&【7】改革教育体系困难重重，但亟需变革
【8】同为发展中国家，越南的教育水平较好
【9】印度教育需要有正确的领导
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