(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
The United States Supreme Court said last week it will re-hear arguments on a controversial college admissions policy. The case involves affirmative action, the custom of helping groups that have been treated unfairly in the past.
The Supreme Court plans to hear the case of Abigail Fisher for the second time. Ms. Fisher, a white female, was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. She says the university's affirmative action policy discriminated against her and other white applicants.
Ms. Fisher took legal action against the University of Texas. Her case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. The court sent the case back to a lower court, which supported the university.
In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that schools can consider an applicant's race as part of their admissions decisions. The court's majority said that schools have a "compelling interest" in having a racially-mixed student population.
Michael Yaki is a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He says affirmative action is a good thing. He says race should not prevent someone from getting into a university. But he thinks it should be a consideration when university officials want to create balance in a class.
In his words, "Our nation is stronger when people from diverse cultures and diverse backgrounds can work, live and study together." He adds that affirmative action will "benefit the society and benefit our future." Supporters say affirmative action is needed to increase economic and other opportunities for some minority groups.
Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, a policy group in Washington D.C. He says colleges should make decisions based only on a student's ability or merit. He says race-based admissions programs are a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
"People are harmed by these decisions," he says, "because for every person who gets in because they are a minority, there is someone who may be left out because they are not."
Mr. Fitton says affirmative action hurts Asian-American students. The 2010 Census found that Asian Americans make up about six percent of the U.S. population. But they make up about 40 percent of the undergraduate students at the University of California at Berkeley. At Harvard University, 20 percent of the first-year students are Asian. Some people say the percentage of Asian students at top U.S. universities would be even higher without affirmative action.
"The Asian American community gets harmed by this, because their educational achievements make them excellent candidates, if it was just based on merit," Mr. Fitton says.
A group of Asian organizations complained to the Justice and Education Departments. They said Harvard University discriminates against Asian Americans in its admission process. Commissioner Yaki does not think Harvard "systematically" discriminates against them. He says the university does not set firm target numbers for the number of Asians it will accept.
In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that racial quotas are illegal in employment and college admissions.
Abigail Fisher now works at a finance company after completing studies at Louisiana State University. The Supreme Court will hear her case against the University of Texas in October. The Court's decision could have a major effect on the diversity of U.S. college classrooms in the future.
I'm Anne Ball.
词汇解析
1.affirmative action 肯定行动，平权行动
Affirmative action - and other efforts - have certainly failed to rid America of sharp inequalities.
“反歧视行动”及其他措施并没有使美国消除严重不平等的现象。
2.compelling adj. 引人注目的；强制的；激发兴趣的 v. 强迫；以强力获得（compel的ing形式）
Factual and forensic evidence makes a suicide verdict the most compelling answer to the mystery of his death.
事实和法庭证据使自杀的判定成为对他死亡之谜最令人信服的解答。
3.merit n. 优点，价值；功绩；功过 vt. 值得 vi. 应受报答
Everybody is selected on merit.
每个人都是凭个人才能入选的。
4.systematically adv. 有系统地；有组织地
She began applying systematically to colleges.
她开始有计划地向各个大学提出入学申请。
内容解析
1."People are harmed by these decisions," he says, "because for every person who gets in because they are a minority, there is someone who may be left out because they are not."
left out 忽视，不考虑；被遗忘
The printer has left out two lines from this paragraph.
印刷工人把这一段漏了两行。
She left out an important item in her account.
她的账目漏掉了一个重要的项目。
2.The 2010 Census found that Asian Americans make up about six percent of the U.S. population.
make up 构成；编造；补足 (某数量)
The Chinese make up the largest single ethnic group in the city's public classrooms.
华人在该市公立学校的课堂中构成最大的一个族群。
Less than half of the money that students receive is in the form of grants, and loans have made up the difference.
学生们获得的有不到一半的钱是助学金形式的，贷款补上了不足的部分。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
美国最高法院上周表示将重新审理一项有争议的高校招生政策，此案涉及平权法案，即帮助那些在过去受到不公平待遇群体的习俗。
最高法院计划第二次审理阿比盖尔·费舍尔案件，费舍尔是一名白人，2008年她被德克萨斯大学奥斯丁分校拒绝录取，她说该大学的平权政策歧视了自己和其他白人申请者。
费舍尔将德克萨斯大学告上法庭，她的案子2013年进入美国最高法院，法院将此案发回下级法院，而该下级法院支持这座大学。
2003年，最高法院判定学校可以在录取学生时考虑申请人的种族，法院的多数派称，学校在拥有混合种族学生群体方面有着令人信服的利益。
迈克尔·雅基是美国民权委员会成员，他说平权法案是件好事。他说种族不应该成为阻止学生进入一所大学的障碍，但他认为当学校官方想在课堂上制造族裔平衡时应该考虑这一因素。
用他的话来说就是，“当来自不同文化、不同背景的人可以一起工作、生活和学习时，我们的国家会更加强大。”他说，平权法案将“对社会和我们的未来有益”。支持者称需要用平权法案来对一些少数群体增加经济和其他机会。
汤姆·费藤是总部在华盛顿特区的政策组织司法观察的主席，他说高校应该基于学生的能力和成绩来录取，他说基于种族的录取计划违反了美国宪法。
“人们因为这些决定受到伤害，因为对于每个因为是少数族裔而录取的人来说，那么不是少数族裔的人就会失去机会。”
费藤说平权法案损害了亚裔美国学生的利益，2010年的人口调查发现亚裔美国人占美国人口的约6%。但他们占加州大学伯克利分校本科生的约40%，在哈佛大学，20%的大一学生是亚洲人。一些人说，如果没有平权法案，亚裔学生在美国顶级高校的比例将会更高。
“亚裔美国人社区因此受到伤害，因为如果只考虑成绩，他们的教育成就使得他们成为出色的候选人。”
一家亚裔组织向司法和教育部提出申诉，称哈佛大学在录取过程中歧视亚裔美国人。委员雅基认为哈佛并没有“系统性地”歧视他们，他说这所大学并没有设定要录取多少亚裔学生的硬性指标。
1978年，最高法院判定雇佣和大学录取上的种族配额是非法的。
阿比盖尔·费舍尔在路易斯安那州立大学完成学业后，目前在一家金融公司就职。最高法院将于10月份审理她起诉德克萨斯大学的案件，法院的决定将对未来美国大学校园的种族多样性产生巨大影响。
我是安·鲍尔。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
