or some Chinese high school students, passing thegaokao is the final goal of their academic life. Theybelieve that once they enter college, life will be easy. However, getting a college degree now requires moreeffort than it did before.
对于一些中国高中生而言，高考便是他们学业的终极目标。他们认为，一旦考上大学，生活就会变得轻松了。然而，如今获得本科文凭需要比过去更努力才行。
In
September,
the
Ministry
of
Education
released
an
announcement,
requiring
universities
to
increase
the
difficulty
of
undergraduate
courses
and
work
harder
to
end
academic
misconduct
in
bachelor’
s
theses.
今年9月，教育部印发通知，要求各高校合理提升学业挑战度、增加课程难度、拓展课程深度，严肃处理抄袭、伪造、篡改、代写、买卖毕业论文等违纪问题。
This
came
after
a
change
put
forward
by
Minister
of
Education
Chen
Baosheng
during
a
meeting
held
in
Chengdu
in
June.
Chen
said
that
universities
should “
reasonably
increase
students’
academic
burden”
to
encourage
them
to
work
harder
and
improve
their
knowledge
and
skill
levels.
此前，教育部部长陈宝生6月在成都的一次会议上提出要做出改变。陈宝生表示，对大学生要合理“增负”，激发学生的学习动力和专业志趣。
In
China,
students
often
study
hard
during
high
school
to
achieve
high
gaokao
scores
and
get
admitted
to
a
good
university.
However,
once
entering
university,
many
students
lose
interest
in
their
studies,
let
alone
acquiring
outstanding
academic
abilities,
according
to
Chu
Zhaohui,
a
researcher
at
the
National
Institute
of
Education
Sciences.
在中国，学生们往往在高中阶段刻苦学习，从而在高考中取得好成绩，考上一个好大学。然而，中国教育科学研究院研究员储朝晖却认为，不少学生考上大学后就对学习失去了兴趣，更不要说习得出色的学术能力了。
This
phenomenon
could
be
because
the
pressure
to
study
at
university
is
lower
than
that
of
high
school.
这种现象源于大学的学习压力比高中要小得多。
“
You
get
a
degree
whether
you
study
or
not,
so
why
bother
studying?”
Wang
Qi, 26,
a
graduate
student
in
Beijing,
told
The
New
York
Times.
“反正学不学都会拿到文凭，那为啥还要认真学习呢？”北京的一名毕业生王琦（音译）在接受《纽约时报》采访时表示。
Indeed,
Chinese
universities
have
a
relatively
high
graduation
rate
compared
to
Western
ones.
的确，国内高校的毕业率相对要高于西方高校。
According
to
a
study
released
by
Xiamen
University
in 2016,
among 820
universities
in
China,
both
the
average
graduation
rate
and
the
average
degree
awarding
rate
reached
about 97
percent.
However,
the
average
graduation
rate
of
Top 50
US
universities
only
reached
about 89
percent.
根据厦门大学2016年发布的一项研究显示，全国820所高校的平均毕业率和学位授予率均达到了97%左右。而美国排在前50名的高校毕业率仅为89%左右。
“
The
evaluation
standards
in
universities
aren’
t
very
high,”
Sang
Guoyuan,
a
professor
of
education
at
Beijing
Normal
University,
told
The
Economic
Observer. “
Many
poorly
performing
students
are
given ‘
passes’
by
teachers
as
long
as
they
attend
classes.”
“高校的评估标准并不高，”北京师范大学教育学教授桑国元在接受《经济观察报》采访时表示。“不少学业表现不佳的学生只要去上了课，老师们就会给‘过’。”
However, in the US, to make sure education quality is kept high, universities always “keep thestudents under competitive pressure by assigning them challenging tasks,” Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, wrote on the China Dailywebsite.
然而在美国，高校为了确保教育质量，往往会“给学生们布置有挑战性的任务，让他们处于竞争压力之下，”21世纪教育研究院副院长熊丙奇在中国日报网站上撰文写道。
For
example,
US
universities
have “
weed-
out
courses”,
which
are
designed
to
kick
out
students
who
don’
t
meet
certain
academic
criteria.
比如，美国大学设有“淘汰课程”，会将课上没有达到学术标准的学生淘汰掉。
However,
while
the
Ministry
of
Education’
s
plans
aim
to
increase “
university
students’
academic
burden”,
they’
re
not
intended
to
put
extra
pressure
on
them.
Instead,
the
new
requirements
are
meant
to
fulfill
the
basic
requirements
of
university
education,
according
to
Xiong.
As
Guangming
Daily
put
it, “
University
is
an
important
time
in
shaping
young
people’
s
personalities
and
values.”
然而，尽管教育部计划要“对大学生合理增负”，但并不打算给学生们增加额外的压力。熊丙奇认为，新要求旨在达到高校教育的基本要求。正如《光明日报》所说，“大学是年轻人心理塑造和价值观养成的重要时期。”
