美国国家公共电台 NPR A Dystopian High School Musical Foresaw The College Admissions Scandal

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We had a pretty strange case of life imitating art here in California recently. A high school teacher named Kyle Holmes wrote a musical with a colleague - a show that explored life in high school, one often driven by grades, tests and this immense pressure to get into top colleges. Well, now it feels a bit too real. NPR's Elissa Nadworny has the story.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE¹: The show is called "Ranked." It's a dystopian fiction where your grades and test scores, they determine everything in your life - from where you sit to what your future is. One of the main characters is a student who has a low rank - she's failing - and she's under immense pressure.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) When does this feeling go away, this tightness in my chest? When will I...

NADWORNY: Here's the cast from Granite² Bay High School, just outside Sacramento, performing one of the early songs, "Drowning."

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) And, God, what will my parents say if I fail another test...

NADWORNY: At the end of Act 1, a major plot twist - turns out a parent was paying to inflate³ their kid's grades, and the kid had no idea. Sound familiar?

KYLE HOLMES: We're literally⁴ watching our story play out in the national news.

NADWORNY: That's theater teacher Kyle Holmes talking about the recent college admission scandal⁵ where parents paid to get their kids into top colleges. Just this week, more than a dozen parents agreed to plea⁶ agreements and others were indicted⁷ on charges of mail fraud⁸. And the guy behind that scheme, Rick Singer, years ago, he actually worked with students at Granite Bay High School.

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ANVITA GATTANI: (Singing) You think you're going to get ahead, you're just...

NADWORNY: The pressure to do well inspired the lyrics⁹ of the song "Someone Always Bleeds," sung by student Anvita Gattani.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) But, hey, rich kids like you never have to pay their dues. Who needs to read textbooks when you've got daddy's checkbooks? Someone always bleeds.

NADWORNY: David Taylor Gomes wrote the music and lyrics.

DAVID TAYLOR GOMES: Did I tell the future? I don't know, but... (laughing).

NADWORNY: So how did this spot-on story come to be? Gomes and Holmes listened to their students.

EMMA HARLOW: I'm Emma, and I play Sydney Summers.

NADWORNY: Emma Harlow is a senior, and there's one line her character says that gives her all the feels.

EMMA: So she says this line, how do we know the difference between who we actually are and what people want for us? It hits deep, you know? (Laughing).

NADWORNY: It hits deep because she, Emma, actually said those words to her drama teacher months ago.

EMMA: I felt that my whole entire life, I'm just doing things to make sure that my family looks good. And parts of me got lost along the way.

NADWORNY: Those feelings are captured in the song "Come Up For Air."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (As Sydney Summers, singing) I'm not about to throw it all away because life isn't fair. I'm going to come up for air.

NADWORNY: Emma says the musical is a window for adults to see just how stressful high school life is.

EMMA: The biggest use of this show is an entry point to the conversation about, what is our worth? And, like, what's the difference between learning and getting a grade?

NADWORNY: Emma and the rest of the ensemble¹⁰ at Granite Bay High School take the stage for the final time this weekend. Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

3 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 scandal   

n.丑事，丑闻，流言蜚语，反感，愤慨

参考例句：

• Scandal and gossip are meat and drink to him.各种丑闻和流言蜚语是他最感兴趣的事。
• His theft from the shop caused scandal in the village.他因偷商店的东西引起全村的公愤。

6 plea   

n.恳求，申诉，请愿，抗辩，借口

参考例句：

• The naughty boy left the classroom on the plea of a headache.那淘气的男孩借口头疼，离开了教室。
• In making that plea he will breathe in vain.他做那种恳求是白费口舌的。

7 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

8 fraud   

n.骗子，欺骗，欺诈，诡计

参考例句：

• We will introduce legal safeguards against fraud.我们将推行防止欺诈的法律条款。
• The prosecutor accused the defendant of fraud.原告控告被告犯有欺诈罪。

9 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

10 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。