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1 Despite all the current fuss and bother'about the extraordinary number of ordinary illiterates who overpopulate our schools, small attention has been given to another kind of illiterate, an illiterate whose plight is, in many ways, more important, because he is more influential. This illiterate may, as often as not, be a university president, but he is typically a Ph.D., a successful professor and textbook author. The person to whom I refer is the straight-A illiterate, and the following is written in an attempt to give him equal time with his widely publicized counterpart².
1 尽管当前社会对充斥校园的“普通文盲”数量之巨议论纷纷，但另一种文盲却鲜有人关注。从诸多方面来看，这类文盲的处境更为重要，因为他们更具影响力。他们或许是一位大学校长，但通常是一位拥有博士学位、事业有成的教授，抑或是教材的编纂者。我所指的这类人，是“全优文盲”。下文将尝试给予他们与其广为人知的“同伴”同等的关注。
2 The scene is my office, and I am at work, doing what must be done if one is to assist in the cure of a disease that, over the years, I have come to call straight-A illiteracy. I am nterrogating, I am cross-examining, I am prying and probing for the meaning of a student's paper.³ The student is a college senior with a straight-A average, an extremely bright, highly articulate student who has just been awarded a coveted fellowship to one of the nation's outstanding graduate schools. He and I have been at this, have been going over his paper sentence by sentence, word by word, for an hour. "The choice of exogenous variables in relation to multi-colinearity," I hear myself reading from his paper, "is contingent upon the derivations of certain multiple correlation coefficients." I pause to catch my breath. "Now that statement," I address the student—whom I shall call, allegorically, Mr. Bright—"that statement, Mr. Bright, what on earth does it mean?”Mr. Bright, his brow furrowed⁴, tries mightily. Finally, with both of us combining our linguistic and imaginative resources, finally, after what seems another hour, we decode it. We decide exactly what it is that Mr. Bright is trying to say, what he really wants to say, which is:“Supply determines demand.”
2 场景切换到我的办公室，我正在工作。为了帮助治疗一种多年来我称之为“高分低能”的病症，我必须完成手头的工作。我正在讯问、盘问，探究并深挖一位学生论文中的含义。³这位学生是一位大学四年级学生，成绩全优，极其聪颖，口齿伶俐，刚刚获得一所全国顶尖研究生院令人艳羡的奖学金。我和他一起逐句逐字地推敲他的论文，已经有一个小时了。“多重共线性相关的外生变量选择，”我听到自己从他的论文中读到，“取决于某些多元相关系数的推导。”我停下来喘口气。“那么这句话，”我转向这位学生——为了叙述方便，我姑且称他为布莱特先生——“这句话，布莱特先生，到底是什么意思？”布莱特先生眉头紧锁⁴，苦思冥想。终于，在我们两人绞尽脑汁，耗尽语言和想象力之后，在又一个小时的漫长煎熬后，我们终于解开了这句话的含义。我们准确地判断出布莱特先生试图表达的意思，他真正想表达的意思，即：“供给决定需求。”
3 Over the past decade or so, I have known many students like him, many college seniors suffering from Bright's disease⁵. It attacks the best minds, and graduallydestroys the critical faculties⁶, making it impossible for the sufferer to detect gibberish in his own writing or in that of others. During the years of higher education it grows worse, reaching its terminal stage, typically, when its victim receives his Ph.D. Obviously, the victim of Bright's disease is no ordinary illiterate. He would never turn in a paper with misspellings or errors in punctuation; he would never use a double negative or the word"irregardless'." Nevertheless, he is illiterate, in the worst way: he is incapable of saying, in writing, simply and clearly, what he means. The ordinary illiterate —perhaps providentially protected from college and graduate school⁸—mightsay: "Them people down at the shop better stock up on what our customers need, or we ain't gonna be in business long." Not our man. Taking his cue irom years of higher education¹°, years of reading the textbooks and professional journals that are the major sources of his affliction, he writes: "The focus of concentration must rest upon objectives centered around the knowledge of customer areas so that a sophisticated awareness of those areas can serve as an entrepreneurial filter to screen what is relevant from what is irrelevant to future commitments." "For writing such gibberish he is awarded straight As on his papers (both samples quoted above were taken from papers that received As), and the opportunity to move, inexorably, toward his fellowship and eventual Ph.D.
3 在过去的十年左右的时间里，我见过许多像他这样的学生，许多大学四年级学生都患有“布莱特氏病”⁵。这种疾病侵袭着最优秀的大脑，逐渐摧毁其批判能力⁶，使患者无法察觉自己或他人写作中的胡言乱语。在高等教育的几年里，这种疾病愈演愈烈，通常在患者获得博士学位时达到晚期。显然，“布莱特氏病”的受害者并非普通的文盲。他绝不会提交一份有拼写或标点错误的论文；他绝不会使用双重否定或“irregardless”这样的词。⁷然而，他却是文盲，而且是最糟糕的那种：他无法在写作中简单明了地表达自己的意思。普通的文盲——或许是幸运地免于大学和研究生院的“荼毒”⁸——可能会说：“店里的那些人最好备足顾客需要的货，否则我们的生意就做不长了。”但我们的“高材生”却不同。他从多年的高等教育¹°中汲取灵感，从那些作为其病症主要来源的教科书和专业期刊中学习，他写道：“集中关注的焦点必须放在围绕客户区域知识的目标上，以便对这些区域的深刻认识可以作为企业家筛选的过滤器，以甄别哪些内容与未来承诺相关，哪些内容无关。”“因为写了这样的胡言乱语，他在论文中获得了全优的成绩（上面引用的两个例子都取自获得全优的论文），并获得了通往奖学金和最终获得博士学位的机会。
4 As I have suggested, the major cause of such illiteracy is the stuft²—the textbooks and professional journals—the straight-A illiterate is forced to read during his years of higher education. He learns to write gibberish by reading it, and by being taught to admire it as profundity. If he is majoring in sociology, he must grapple with¹³ such journals as the American Sociological Review, journals bulging with barbarous jargon¹⁴, such as "ego-integrative action orientation"⁵ and "orientation toward improvement of the gratificational- deprivation balance of the actor"⁶ (the latter of which monstrous phrases'⁷ represents, to quote Malcolm Cowley¹⁸, the sociologist's way of saying "the pleasure principle"). In such journals, Mr. Cowley reminds us, two things are never described as being "alike." They are "homologous'⁹"or "isomorphic²⁰." Nor are things simply "different." They are "allotropic² ." In such journals writers never"divide anything." They"dichotomize²²" or "bifurcate²³" things.
4 正如我所指出的，造成这种“文盲”现象的主要原因是那些“高材生”在接受高等教育期间被迫阅读的垃圾内容——教科书和专业期刊。他通过阅读这些胡言乱语来学习写作，并被教导要将其视为深刻的思想而顶礼膜拜。如果他主修社会学，他就必须与¹³诸如《美国社会学评论》之类的期刊作斗争，这些期刊充斥着野蛮的行话¹⁴，例如“自我整合行动导向”¹⁵和“旨在改善行动者的满足-剥夺平衡的导向”¹⁶（用马尔科姆·考利¹⁸的话来说，后一个可怕的短语¹⁷代表了社会学家对“快乐原则”的表述）。在这些期刊中，考利先生提醒我们，两件事物永远不会被描述为“相似”。它们是“同源的”¹⁹或“同构的”²⁰。事物也不会简单地“不同”。它们是“同素异形的”²¹。在这些期刊中，作者从不“分割任何东西”。他们对事物进行“二分”²²或“分叉”²³。
Summary
English Summary
The article addresses the issue of a specific type of illiteracy prevalent among high-achieving students, termed "straight-A illiteracy." Unlike conventional illiteracy, this form manifests as an inability to communicate clearly and simply, despite academic excellence. The author illustrates this through an anecdote involving a bright student whose complex academic jargon obscures simple meanings. The root cause is attributed to the convoluted language found in academic textbooks and journals, which students are compelled to study and emulate. This exposure leads them to produce similarly obscure writing, perpetuating a cycle of academic jargon that hinders effective communication. The article critiques the academic environment that fosters this form of illiteracy, emphasizing the importance of clarity and simplicity in expression.
中文概括
本文探讨了一种在成绩优异的学生中普遍存在的特殊类型的“文盲”现象，称之为“全A 文盲”。与传统的文盲不同，这种文盲表现为尽管学业成绩优异，但却无法清晰简洁地进行沟通。作者通过一个聪明学生的轶事来说明这一点，该学生复杂的学术术语掩盖了简单的含义。其根本原因归咎于学术教科书和期刊中使用的复杂语言，学生们被迫学习和模仿这些语言。这种接触导致他们产生类似的晦涩写作，从而延续了阻碍有效沟通的学术术语的循环。文章批判了滋生这种文盲的学术环境，强调了表达中清晰和简洁的重要性。
Analysis
Despite all the current fuss and bother about the extraordinary number of ordinary illiterates who overpopulate our schools, small attention has been given to another kind of illiterate, an illiterate whose plight is, in many ways, more important, because he is more influential.
解析： 这句话是一个典型的复杂句，包含了多个从句和修饰成分。“Despite all the current fuss and bother”是一个介词短语，引出了一个让步状语，其中“fuss and bother”是一个习惯用语，表示“无谓的忙乱、大惊小怪”。“the extraordinary number of ordinary illiterates who overpopulate our schools”是“fuss and bother”的同位语，其中“ordinary illiterates”指的是传统意义上的文盲，即不识字的人，“who overpopulate our schools”是一个定语从句，修饰“ordinary illiterates”。“small attention has been given to another kind of illiterate”是主句，使用了被动语态，强调了另一种文盲受到的关注很少。“an illiterate whose plight is, in many ways, more important, because he is more influential”是“another kind of illiterate”的同位语，其中“whose plight is, in many ways, more important”是一个定语从句，修饰“an illiterate”，“because he is more influential”是一个原因状语从句，解释了为什么这种文盲更重要。
这句话的意思是：尽管当前人们对充斥我们学校的大量普通文盲感到大惊小怪，但另一种文盲却很少受到关注，这种文盲的困境在很多方面更重要，因为他更有影响力。
The person to whom I refer is the straight-A illiterate, and the following is written in an attempt to give him equal time with his widely publicized counterpart.
解析： 这句话同样是一个复杂句。“The person to whom I refer”是主语，其中“to whom I refer”是一个定语从句，修饰“The person”，使用了介词前置的正式用法。“is the straight-A illiterate”是系表结构，指出了作者所指的人是“全A 文盲”。“and the following is written in an attempt to give him equal time with his widely publicized counterpart”是一个并列句，其中“the following”指代下文，“is written in an attempt to”表示目的，“give him equal time”是一个习语，表示“给他同等的机会”，“with his widely publicized counterpart”表示与谁比较，“counterpart”指的是“ordinary illiterates”，即前文提到的普通文盲。
这句话的意思是：我所指的人是全A 文盲，下文是为了给他与广为人知的对应者（普通文盲）同等的机会而写的。
We decide exactly what it is that Mr. Bright is trying to say, what he really wants to say, which is:“Supply determines demand.”
解析： 这句话的难点在于“what it is that”的强调句型以及多个并列的宾语从句。“We decide exactly”是主句，“what it is that Mr. Bright is trying to say”是一个宾语从句，其中“it is that”是一个强调句型，强调“what Mr. Bright is trying to say”。“what he really wants to say”是另一个宾语从句，与前一个并列。“which is:“Supply determines demand.””是一个非限制性定语从句，修饰前面两个宾语从句的内容。
这句话的意思是：我们准确地判断出布莱特先生试图表达的意思，他真正想说的意思，即：“供给决定需求。”
Taking his cue from years of higher education, years of reading the textbooks and professional journals that are the major sources of his affliction, he writes:“The focus of concentration must rest upon objectives centered around the knowledge of customer areas so that a sophisticated awareness of those areas can serve as an entrepreneurial filter to screen what is relevant from what is irrelevant to future commitments.”
解析： 这句话是一个超长复杂句，包含了一个现在分词短语、一个同位语、一个定语从句、一个结果状语从句以及一个嵌套的定语从句。“Taking his cue from years of higher education”是一个现在分词短语作状语，其中“Taking his cue from”表示“从……中获得启发”。“years of reading the textbooks and professional journals”是“years of higher education”的同位语，进一步解释了“higher education”的具体内容。“that are the major sources of his affliction”是一个定语从句，修饰“textbooks and professional journals”。“he writes”是主句。“The focus of concentration must rest upon objectives centered around the knowledge of customer areas so that a sophisticated awareness of those areas can serve as an entrepreneurial filter to screen what is relevant from what is irrelevant to future commitments.”是“writes”的宾语，是一个极其复杂的名词性从句，其中“so that”引导了一个结果状语从句，“to screen what is relevant from what is irrelevant to future commitments”是一个不定式短语作定语，修饰“filter”，“what is relevant”和“what is irrelevant”是两个并列的宾语从句，作“screen”的宾语。
这句话的意思是：从多年的高等教育中获得启发，从多年阅读那些作为他疾病主要来源的教科书和专业期刊中获得启发，他写道：“注意力的焦点必须放在围绕客户区域知识的目标上，以便对这些区域的深刻认识可以作为企业家的过滤器，从对未来承诺无关的内容中筛选出相关的内容。”
As I have suggested, the major cause of such illiteracy is the stuff—the textbooks and professional journals—the straight-A illiterate is forced to read during his years of higher education.
解析： 这句话的难点在于插入语和省略。“As I have suggested”是一个插入语，表示“正如我所暗示的”。“the major cause of such illiteracy”是主语，“is the stuff”是系表结构。“—the textbooks and professional journals—”是一个插入语，进一步解释“stuff”的具体内容。“the straight-A illiterate is forced to read during his years of higher education”是一个定语从句，修饰“textbooks and professional journals”，其中省略了关系代词“that”。
这句话的意思是：正如我所暗示的，这种文盲的主要原因是那些东西——那些全A 文盲在接受高等教育期间被迫阅读的教科书和专业期刊。
In such journals, Mr. Cowley reminds us, two things are never described as being “alike.” They are “homologous” or “isomorphic.”
解析： “In such journals, Mr. Cowley reminds us,” 是一个插入语结构，其中 “Mr. Cowley reminds us” 提供了额外的信息，即接下来要引用的观点来自 Mr. Cowley。“two things are never described as being ‘alike.’” 是主句，说明在这些期刊中，两件事物从不被描述为“相似的”。“They are ‘homologous’ or ‘isomorphic.’” 是一个并列句，使用 “homologous” 或 “isomorphic” 这两个更学术化的词汇来替代 “alike”。
这句话的意思是：在这些期刊中，正如考利先生提醒我们的那样，两件事物从不被描述为“相似的”。它们被描述为“同源的”或“同构的”。