经济学人:人力资本:公立大学的学费问题(2)

 　　Yet, concerned by mounting inequality in America, he thought that more should be done to invest in early childhood education and improve the state of schools. 然而，出于对美国不断上升的不平等的担忧，他认为，应当加大在儿童早教方面的投资并提高学校状况。

　　Becker applied¹ his own prodigious² reserves of human capital well beyond education. 贝克尔对他自己庞大的人力资本储备的应用远远超出了教育。

　　He used his “economic approach” to look at everything from the motives³ of criminals and drug addicts⁴ to the evolution of family structures and discrimination against minorities. 他把他的“经济方法”运用到了考察了从罪犯的动机到吸毒上瘾再到家庭结构的进化以及对少数民族的歧视等所有一切上面。

　　In 1992 he was awarded the Nobel prize for extending economic analysis to new spheres of human behaviour. 1992年，他因为将经济学分析扩展到人类行为的新领域而荣获诺贝尔奖。

　　He remains⁵ one of the most cited economists⁶ of the past half-century. 他仍然是过去50年中被引用最多的经济学家之一。

　　Mr Becker's way of doing economics, initially⁷ a radical⁸ challenge to convention, came under attack as it went mainstream⁹. 贝克尔研究经济学的方式，最初是对传统的一种激进挑战，随着它进入主流，开始遭到攻击。

　　The rise of behavioural economics, with its emphasis on limits to rationality, undercut his depiction¹⁰ of people as rational agents seeking to maximise welfare. 以强调理性极限为特点的行为经济学的兴起，动摇了他将人作为追求福祉最大化的理性代理人的论述。

　　Improvements in data collection and analysis also gave rise to more detailed¹¹ empirical research, instead of the wide-ranging concepts that he favoured. 数据收集和分析的提高也让更为详尽的实证研究、而不是他中意的各种大范围的概念得以兴起。

　　Yet precisely¹² because Mr Becker's analysis touched on so much, it still has a lot to offer. 然而，正是因为贝克尔的分析触及了这么多东西，它仍然有很多可以提供。

　　Consider the debate on how governments ought to respond to disruptive technological¹³ change. 以政府应当如何应对毁灭性技术变革为例。

　　From the standpoint of human capital, one answer is obvious. 从人力资本的角度来看，一种答案是显而易见的。

　　Technological advances mean that the knowledge that people acquire in school is becoming obsolete¹⁴ more quickly than before. 技术进步意味着人们在学校中获取的知识正在比以往更快地变得过时。

　　At the same time, longer life expectancies¹⁵ mean that the returns on mid-career training are higher than in the past. 与此同时，不断延长的预期寿命意味着职业生涯中期培训的回报比过去高了。

　　It is therefore both necessary and possible to replenish¹⁶ human capital by designing better systems for lifelong learning. 因而，通过设计更好的终身学习体系来充实人力资本既是必需的，也是可能的。

　　This is just one element of the response to technological disruption but it is a vital one. 这仅仅是对技术毁灭之应对中的一个要素，却是非常关键的一个要素。

　　Becker never intended that his theory of human capital explain everything in economics, only that it explain a little about a lot. 贝克尔从未有过让他的人力资本理论解释经济学中的一切的想法，他只是认为这一理论解释了许多中的一部分。

　　On this count his work remains indispensable. 从这方面来说，他的研究仍然是不可或缺的。

1 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

2 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

3 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

4 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

10 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

13 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

14 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

15 expectancies   

期待，期望( expectancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each of us came with his own expectancies. 我们每个人都有自己的希望。
• In fact, modern lifestyles are actually exacerbating the gap between male and female life expectancies. 实际上，现代生活方式确实加大了男女寿命差别的鸿沟。

16 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。