【原文】

For years, many Asian-Americans have been convinced that it's harder for them to gain admission to the nation's top colleges. Studies show that Asian-Americans meet these colleges' admissions standards far out of proportion to their 6 percent representation in the U.S. population, and that they often need test scores hundreds of points higher than applicants from other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission. Critics say these numbers, along with the fact that some top colleges with race-blind admissions have double the Asian percentage of Ivy League schools, prove the existence of discrimination.

The way it works, the critics believe, is that Asian-Americans are evaluated not as individuals, but against the thousands of other ultra-achieving Asians who are stereotyped as boring academic robots.

Of course, not all Asian-Americans fit this stereotype. They are not always obedient hard workers who get top marks.  Their economic status, ancestral countries and customs vary. But compared with American society in general, Asian-Americans have developed a much stronger emphasis on intense academic preparation as a path to a handful of the very best schools.

【参考译文】

多年来,许多美籍亚裔深信在美国要想被顶尖级名校录取,他们需要付出更加艰辛的努力。研究表明,美籍亚裔中达到这些大学的入学要求的人数的比例与他们所占美国总人口的百分之六的比例不相称,并且要想获得均等的入学机会,他们往往要考出比其他国家学生高出几百分的成绩。事实表明一些名牌大学在实行无种族歧视的招生政策之后,使常春藤联盟亚裔学生的招生比例翻了一番。评论家指出这些数据恰巧反映出歧视依然存在。

评论家们认为,这种方式之所以行得通,是因为美籍亚裔学生并非作为个体被评估,而是被参照了许多做法极端的亚洲人而评估的,这些人为达到目的,刻板陈腐,像学术机器。

当然,并非每个亚裔学生都是这种类型的。有些人并非寒窗苦读,名列前茅。他们的家庭条件,血统,风俗习惯都不尽相同。但是总体来说,与一般的美国学生相比,亚裔学生更重视紧张的学业准备,这也是他们挤进那些顶尖名校的必经之路。

【评析】

这篇文章略有难度。整段由三个长句组成。因此翻译时要理清思路,弄清句子前后的逻辑关系。然后再下笔。

主要是第二个句子,数据进行比较。一方是亚裔美籍能达到这些名校入学标准所占比例,另一方是亚裔美籍人 占美国总人口的比例6%,弄清这个关系,这句就不难翻译了。”far out of”指的是“与…(很)不成比例,与…(很)不相称”。

第二个句子后半句,比较的是亚裔美籍人入这些名校的分数要比其他国家的人入这些学校要高出很多分,比较的是“不同民族不同分数”这样一个概念。“higher than”关键词

最后一句话,要注意找准句子主干,即“Critics say these numbers prove the existence of discrimination.”