牛津和剑桥大学是很多英语学子向往的学校，牛津剑桥的学生，他们的父母通常都很富有。在大多数大学，学习经济学和医学等能带来高薪工作的课程的学生，往往都来自富裕家庭，部分原因是因为这些申请者更有可能拥有被录取所需的考试分数。然而，在牛津剑桥，这种相关性并不存在。

　　The cost of studying the arts at Oxbridge

　　在牛津剑桥学习艺术的费用

　　High-scoring students leave£500,000 on the table by eschewing economics

　　高分学生宁愿把50万英镑留在桌子上，也不学经济

　　SCEPTICS OF HIGHER education often complain that universities offer too many frivolous degrees with little value in the workplace.Since elite universities tend to produce higher-earning graduates than less selective institutions do,you might expect them to teach more practical courses.Yet data from Britain’s department for education show the opposite.Undergraduate students at prestigious universities are more likely to study purely academic fields such as philosophy and classics,whereas those at less choosy ones tend to pick vocational topics such as business or nursing.

　　对高等教育持怀疑态度的人经常抱怨说，大学提供了太多毫无价值的无聊学位。由于精英大学往往比非名牌大学培养出收入更高的毕业生，你可能会期望他们教授更多的实用课程。然而，牛津剑桥的学生，他们的父母通常都很富有。在大多数大学，学习经济学和医学等能带来高薪工作的课程的学生，往往都来自富裕家庭，部分原因是因为这些申请者更有可能拥有被录取所需的考试分数。然而，在牛津剑桥，这种相关性并不存在

　　What could explain this seeming contradiction?One reason is that employers treat a degree from a top university as a proxy for intelligence.This means that students at elite institutions can study bookish subjects and still squeak by financially.The median Cambridge graduate in a creative-arts subject—the university’s least lucrative group of courses,including fields such as music—earns around£25,000($32,400)at age 26.Economics students from less exalted universities,such as Hull,make a similar amount.

　　如何解释这种看似矛盾的现象？原因之一是，雇主将顶尖大学的学位视为智力的代表。这意味着，精英院校的学生可以学习书卷气很强的科目，但在经济上仍然还能过得去。剑桥的创造类艺术专业是大学里最没“钱途”的专业之一，包括音乐艺术等领域，其在26岁毕业生中收入的中位数大约是一年25000英镑(32400美元)，跟来自赫尔等不太知名大学的经济学专业学生的收入也差不多。

　　Yet even though Oxbridge students can pretend to read“Ulysses”for years and still expect a decent salary,they end up paying a large opportunity cost by pursuing the arts.That is because employers reserve the highest starting wages for students who both attended a leading university and also studied a marketable subject.Cambridge creative-arts graduates earn£11,000 more at age 26 than do those from Wrexham Glyndwr University,whose arts alumni are the lowest-earning in Britain.In contrast,Cambridge economics graduates make£44,000 more than do those from the University of Salford,where the economics course is the country’s least remunerative.

　　然而，尽管牛津剑桥的学生还可以假装读4年的《尤利西斯》，然后仍然期望得到一份不错的薪水，但他们最终还是因为追求艺术而付出了巨大的机会成本。这是因为雇主为那些既上过一流大学，又学过热门专业的学生保留了最高的起薪。剑桥艺术类专业26岁毕业生比那些来自维斯格林多大学（英国艺术毕业生最低收入的地方）的毕业生每年多挣11000英镑。但相比之下，剑桥经济类专业的毕业生比索尔福德大学（英国最不合算的经济学专业学校）的毕业生每年多赚44000英镑。

　　Many gifted arts students would struggle to crunch numbers.But for those who can excel at both,the cost of sticking with the arts,in terms of forgone wages,is steep.Cambridge creative-arts students have A-level scores close to those of economics students at Warwick,but earn about half as much.That is tantamount to giving up an annuity worth£500,000.

　　许多有天赋的艺术系学生在计算数字时会遇到困难。但对于那些在这两方面都能出类拔萃的人来说，坚持艺术的成本——就放弃的工资而言——是高昂的。剑桥大学创意艺术系学生的A-level成绩接近于华威大学的经济学学生，但收入只有华威大学经济系学生的一半左右，这无异于放弃了价值£500000的年收入。

　　Who can afford such indulgence?The answer is Oxbridge students,who often have rich parents.At most universities,students in courses that lead to high-paying jobs,such as economics and medicine,tend to come from wealthier families,partly because such applicants are more likely to have the examination scores necessary to be accepted.At Oxbridge,however,no such correlation exists.History and philosophy students there come from richer parts of Britain,on average,than their peers studying medicine do.

　　谁能负担得起这样的放纵呢？答案只能是牛津剑桥的学生，他们的父母通常都很富有。在大多数大学，学习经济学和医学等能带来高薪工作的课程的学生，往往都来自富裕家庭，部分原因是因为这些申请者更有可能拥有被录取所需的考试分数。然而，在牛津剑桥，这种相关性并不存在。历史和哲学专业的学生平均都来自英国富裕地区，比医学专业的学生还要富裕。

　　牛津剑桥的学生，他们的父母通常都很富有。在大多数大学，学习经济学和医学等能带来高薪工作的课程的学生，往往都来自富裕家庭，部分原因是因为这些申请者更有可能拥有被录取所需的考试分数。然而，在牛津剑桥，这种相关性并不存在。更多英语阅读文章，请持续关注奇速英语阅读专栏，精选优质英语阅读题材：www.qisuabc.com