时代周刊:助学贷款可以不用还啦?

Is student-loan forgiveness unforgivable in Congress?

国会是否同意减免学生贷款？

Even before taking office, president-elect Joe Biden is already facing a political storm among his ideologically¹ diverse base of supporters over the volatile² issue of student-debt forgiveness.

学生贷款减免问题备具争议，当选总统拜登就职之前就已在其形态各异的支持者中挑起一场政治风暴。

Roughly 45 million Americans currently hold $1.6 trillion in student debt, with the average student-loan recipient³ owing between $20,000 and $25,000, according to the Federal Reserve. Among those actively⁴ making payments on their debt, the average monthly installment⁵ is between $200 and $300. And with 5.3 million more people unemployed⁶ than in February, right before the U.S. fell into a pandemic-induced recession, progressives say that student-debt forgiveness could be a boon⁷ for the economy.

美国联邦储备委员会的数据显示，目前约有4,500万美国人持有1.6万亿美元的学生债务，学生贷款接受者的平均债务在2万美元至2.5万美元之间。那些积极还债的人平均每月的分期付款金额在200美元至300美元之间。美国失业人数与2月份相比增加了530万人，而2月份正好在美国陷入因新冠导致的衰退之前。进步人士表示，对经济来说，减免学生债务或许是件好事。

"Student-debt cancellation⁸ feels like one of the most accessible Executive actions to stimulate⁹ the economy at the moment," says Suzanne Kahn, director of the Education, Jobs and Worker Power program and the Great Democracy Initiative at the liberal Roosevelt Institute.

苏珊娜·卡恩是自由主义罗斯福协会教育、就业和工人动力项目和大民主倡议项目的主任，她说：“感觉取消学生债务是目前刺激经济最可行的行政措施之一。”

Kahn and others say the move would also help close the wealth gap between white Americans and people of color. Some 90% of Black students and 72% of Latino students take out loans for college vs. just 66% of white students, according to a 2016 analysis from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

卡恩等人说，这一举措还将有助于缩小美国白人和有色人种之间的财富差距。美国消费者金融保护局2016年的一项分析显示：约有90%的黑人学生和72%的拉丁裔学生申请了大学贷款，而申请大学贷款的白人学生只有66%。

But the more moderate faction¹⁰ of Biden's base argues that sweeping¹¹ student-loan forgiveness doesn't help the people who need aid most. Americans with college degrees, as a whole, have been less devastated¹² by the economic effects of COVID-19 than their noncollege-educated counterparts. A September report from Pew Research Center found that only 12% of people with college degrees were having trouble paying bills as a result of the pandemic, compared with 34% of Americans with a high school diploma or less.

但拜登阵营里较为温和的一派认为，全面减免学生贷款并不能帮到最需要帮助的人。总体上来说，拥有大学学位的美国人受到新冠带来的经济影响的冲击要小于未受过大学教育的美国人。皮尤研究中心9月份的一份报告发现，在新冠的影响下，只有12%的拥有大学学位的人难以支付账单，而这一比例在拥有高中或更低学历的美国人之间为34%。

Others raise concerns about precedent¹³: if the government wipes out current student loans, future college students may have an incentive¹⁴ to take on debts, they argue, hoping they will also be forgiven. Colleges may in turn be inclined to raise their prices further.

其他人则担忧先例被开创的问题：他们认为，如果政府减免了当前学生的贷款，那么之后的大学生有可能会去特意贷款，然后也希望自己的债务能够被免除。反过来，大学可能会倾向于进一步提高学费。

In recent weeks, Biden has walked a fine line on the issue, offering support for a bill from House Democrats¹⁵ calling for $10,000 worth of student-loan forgiveness but stopping short of endorsing¹⁶ anything close to a plan championed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer to issue $50,000 per borrower through Executive action.

最近几周，拜登在这个问题上走了一条很好的路线，他支持众议院民主党议员提出的减免1万美元学生贷款的议案，但并未支持参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦和查克·舒默倡导的通过行政行为为每个借款人发放5万美元贷款等类似计划。

What's clear, according to experts on both sides of the aisle¹⁷, is that economic crises exacerbate¹⁸ the problem of student debt. The last time the U.S. dipped into a recession, state governments cut their investments in colleges and universities—which, in turn, raised their tuition prices and forced students to take on ever larger loans.

在两党专家看来有一点是明确的：经济危机使得学生债务问题更加严峻。上一次美国陷入经济衰退时，州政府削减了对高校的投资，这反过来提高了高校的学费，迫使学生们背负了越来越多的贷款。

That's not sustainable in the long run. It remains¹⁹ to be seen if Biden can arrive at a political solution that is.

这不是长久之计，拜登能否给出一条政治解决方案还有待观察。

1 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

4 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

5 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

8 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

9 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

10 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

11 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

12 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

13 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

17 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

18 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

19 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。