(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
US Drops Case Against Yale for Racial Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Justice withdrew a lawsuit last week against Yale University over how it accepts students. In October 2020, the department accused the school in New Haven, Connecticut of making it too hard for Asian-American and white American students to be accepted.
The lawsuit said Yale uses race as a "determinative factor" in hundreds of admissions decisions each year.
That term means race was considered a main reason for accepting or denying students.
The case resulted from a legal action brought in 2016 by the Asian American Coalition for Education. The organization condemned the Justice Department's sudden move on Wednesday, calling the dismissal "baseless."
Colleges and universities in the U.S. say they make an effort to seek out and admit qualified students from different backgrounds. The decisions are not based on grades and test scores alone.
That means they consider where a student is from, what kind of high school they attended and what kind of experiences they had in life before college. These considerations include the student's race and citizenship.
In the past, many American universities placed limits on the number of racial or religious minorities they would accept. Some had policies barring such groups.
Many schools also have a system that favors applicants whose parents attended the school. These students were known as "legacies." Critics say these policies help only rich, white people.
Since the 1950s, the U.S. government has asked universities to end unfair admissions policies and to consider students based on merit.
However, although policies have changed and many legal cases have been brought, change has been slow. At famous colleges, like the Ivy League schools in the northeastern U.S., there is still a relatively low percentage of Black students. The Ivy League includes Harvard University in Massachusetts, Yale University in Connecticut and Princeton University in New Jersey.
Cases that have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court helped universities update how they make their admissions decisions. The policy that permits universities to give extra weight to the race of an applicant when making their decision is called affirmative action.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled several times that colleges can consider race as a way to accept students with different backgrounds. However, some groups of students have disputed affirmative action policies. They say famous universities are preventing qualified Asian-American and white students from being accepted.
For example, a lawsuit brought against Harvard in 2014 said outstanding Asian American students were being penalized because of their race. Last November, however, a court in Boston ruled that Harvard University was not breaking rules related to admissions.
After the ruling, Students for Fair Admissions, which brought the case, said it would appeal to the Supreme Court. "Our hope is not lost," said Edward Blum, the group's president.
In the Yale case, Asian American students said they were not being treated in a fair way. And, in a statement last August, the Department of Justice said Asian American and white students had "only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission" when compared to similar Black students.
Yale rejected this. The university's president said it would not change its admissions policies. With the recent ruling, it will not have to change. A spokeswoman called the Justice Department's decision "gratifying."
Swan Lee is a co-founder of the Asian American Coalition for Education. She was angry about the decision.
"It's a setback in our fight against racial discrimination against Asian Americans in education," she said.
Some civil rights groups say the Department of Justice's recent decision was a good one. David Hinojosa is director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
He said the decision fits with past court decisions that said admissions decisions that consider race are legal. "Black students and other students of color who come from all walks of life can rest a little easier knowing our government is looking to lift them up, not divide and suppress," he said.
While the case against Yale will not move forward with the support of the U.S. government, the case against Harvard will likely continue.
Blum said his organization believes the best chance for his group's lawsuit to find receptive judges is at the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is expected to decide soon if it will hear an appeal in the Harvard case.
"The challenge to race-based affirmative action in higher education will continue regardless of any change in the Department of Justice," Blum said.
I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Dan Friedell.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. result from 起因于；由……引起；
Many hair problems result from what you eat.
很多头发问题都是由饮食引起的。
2. be based on 根据；基于；
Your grade will be based on four papers and a final exam.
你的成绩将根据四篇论文和期末考试决定。
3. all walks of life 各界；各行各业；
Johnson's appeal is to people in all walks of life.
约翰逊广受各界人士欢迎。
4. expect to 期望；预期；
Don't expect to get preferential treatment.
不要指望受到优待。
参考译文
美国撤销耶鲁种族歧视案
美国司法部上周撤销了对耶鲁大学的一项诉讼，该诉讼涉及耶鲁大学如何录取学生。2020年10月，教育部指责坐落在康涅狄格州纽黑文市的这所学校让亚裔和美国白人学生很难被录取。
该诉讼称，耶鲁大学每年在数百项招生决定中都将种族作为“决定性因素”。
这个词的意思是种族被认为是接受或拒绝学生的主要原因。
这起案件是2016年亚洲育才协会提起法律诉讼的结果，该组织谴责司法部在周三做出的这一突然之举，称撤销为“毫无根据。”
美国的学院和大学表示，他们努力寻找并录取来自不同背景的合格学生。这些决定不仅基于评分和考试成绩。
这意味着他们要考虑学生来自哪里，上过什么样的高中，大学前有过什么样的生活经历。这些因素包括学生的种族和国籍。
在过去，许多美国大学对他们接受的种族或宗教少数群体的学生数量进行过限制。一些国家制定了禁止接受此类人群学生的政策。
许多学校还设有一种制度，如果学生的父母曾在校读书，将有利于该学生申请这所学校。这些学生被称为“遗产”。批评者说，这些政策只帮助富有的白人。
自上世纪50年代以来，美国政府就要求大学终止不公平的招生政策，并根据成绩考虑接收学生。
然而，尽管政策发生了变化，并提起了许多法律诉讼，但这种变化很缓慢。在美国东北部的常春藤盟校等著名的大学，黑人学生的比例仍然相对较低。常春藤联盟包括马萨诸塞州的哈佛大学、康涅狄格州的耶鲁大学和新泽西州的普林斯顿大学。
美国最高法院受理的案件帮助大学更新了录取决定的方式，允许大学在做出决定时对申请人的种族给予额外重视的政策被称为平权行动。
美国最高法院几次裁定，大学可以将种族作为录取不同背景学生的一种方式。然而，一些学生团体对平权行动政策存在争议。他们说，著名的大学正在阻止合格的亚裔美国人和白人学生被录取。
例如，2014年对哈佛提起的一项诉讼称，优秀的亚裔美国学生因其种族而受到处罚。然而，去年11月，波士顿的一家法院裁定，哈佛大学没有违反有关的招生规定。
判决后，提起诉讼的“公平招生组织”表示，将向最高法院上诉。“我们没有丧失希望，”该组织主席爱德华·布鲁姆说。
在耶鲁大学的案例中，亚裔美国学生说他们没有得到公平的对待。司法部在去年8月的一份声明中说，亚裔美国学生和白人学生被录取的可能性只有黑人学生的十分之一到四分之一。
耶鲁拒绝了这种说法。该校校长表示，不会改变招生政策。随着最近的裁决，无须进行改变。一位发言人称司法部的决定“令人满意。”
李斯旺是亚洲育才协会的联合创始人，她对该决定感到很生气。
她说：“这是我们反对亚裔美国人在教育方面受到种族歧视的一个退步的象征。”。
一些民权组织说，司法部最近的决定是一个很好的决定。大卫·希诺霍萨是法治民权律师委员会教育机会项目的主任。
他表示，这一决定符合以往法院的判决，即考虑种族因素的录取决定是合法的。“黑人学生和其他来自各行各业的有色人种学生，知道我们的政府对他们有信心，而不是想对他们进行分离和压制，可以轻松一点了。”。
虽然在美国政府的支持下，针对耶鲁的诉讼不会继续进行，但针对哈佛的诉讼可能会继续进行。
布鲁姆说，他的组织认为，他所在组织提起诉讼的最佳机会是找到美国最高法院的法官，预计法院将很快会裁决是否审理哈佛案的上诉。
布鲁姆说：“不管司法部做出什么变化，高等教育中基于种族的平权行动仍将面临挑战。”
我是吉尔·罗宾斯，我是丹·弗里德尔。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
