Large-scale cheating has been uncovered over the last year at some of the nation’s most competitive schools, like Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, the Air Force Academy and, most recently, Harvard.

去年，美國一些最具有競爭力的學校陸續(xù)發(fā)現(xiàn)大規(guī)模抄襲現(xiàn)象。這些學校包括曼哈頓的史岱文森高中(Stuyvesant High School)、美國空軍學院(Air Force Academy)，最近的例子則是哈佛大學(Harvard)。

Studies of student behavior and attitudes show that a majority of students violate standards of academic integrity to some degree, and that high achievers are just as likely to do it as others. Moreover, there is evidence that the problem has worsened over the last few decades.

對學生行為和態(tài)度的研究表明，有大量學生在一定程度上違反了學術道德標準，優(yōu)等生違規(guī)逾矩的可能性和其他學生并沒有差別。此外，有證據(jù)表明作弊問題在過去幾十年來愈演愈烈。

Experts say the reasons are relatively simple: Cheating has become easier and more widely tolerated, and both schools and parents have failed to give students strong, repetitive messages about what is allowed and what is prohibited.

專家說原因很簡單：作弊越來越容易，人們對作弊越來越包容，而且學校和父母都沒有反復向學生著重強調，什么行為可以允許，什么行為應該禁止。

“I don’t think there’s any question that students have become more competitive, under more pressure, and, as a result, tend to excuse more from themselves and other students, and that’s abetted by the adults around them,” said Donald L. McCabe, a professor at the Rutgers University Business School, and a leading researcher on cheating.

“我覺得學生面臨的競爭、承受的壓力越來越大，這一點是毫無疑問的，因此他們往往會給自己和其他同學找來更多借口，而且他們周圍的成年人也支持這種做法，”羅格斯大學商學院(Rutgers University Business School)教授、學生作弊問題研究的先行者唐納德·L·麥卡貝(Donald L. McCabe)如是說。

“There have always been struggling students who cheat to survive,” he said. “But more and more, there are students at the top who cheat to thrive.”

“總有一些成績不好的學生通過作弊來蒙混過關，”他說：“但是，有越來越多的尖子生在通過作弊來取得優(yōu)異成績?！?/div>

Internet access has made cheating easier, enabling students to connect instantly with answers, friends to consult and works to plagiarize. And generations of research has shown that a major factor in unethical behavior is simply how easy or hard it is.

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的應用使作弊益發(fā)簡便，網(wǎng)絡能夠馬上讓學生找得答案，聯(lián)系朋友商量，或者找到別人的成果剽竊。幾代人的研究表明，不道德行為的一個關鍵因素是實現(xiàn)它的難易程度。

A recent study by Jeffrey A. Roberts and David M. Wasieleski at Duquesne University found that the more online tools college students were allowed to use to complete an assignment, the more likely they were to copy the work of others.

迪猶肯大學(Duquesne University)的杰弗里·A·羅伯茨(Jeffrey A. Roberts)和大衛(wèi)·M·瓦西萊斯基(David M. Wasieleski)最近進行的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，大學生在完成作業(yè)時允許使用的在線工具越多，抄襲別人成果的可能性就越大。

The Internet has changed attitudes, as a world of instant downloading, searching, cutting and pasting has loosened some ideas of ownership and authorship. An increased emphasis on having students work in teams may also have played a role.

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)改變了人們的心態(tài)，在一個即時下載、搜索、復制和粘貼的世界里，人們放寬了對所有權和著作權的理解。學生的小組作業(yè)被擺在了一個越來越高的位置上，這可能也起到了一定作用。

“Students are surprisingly unclear about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating,” said Mr. Wasieleski, an associate professor of management.

“學生不明白什么構成了剽竊和抄襲，這真是讓人震驚，”管理學副教授瓦西萊斯基先生說。

Howard Gardner, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said that over the 20 years he has studied professional and academic integrity, “the ethical muscles have atrophied,” in part because of a culture that exalts success, however it is attained.

哈佛大學教育研究院(Harvard Graduate School of Education)教授霍華德·加德納(Howard Gardner)說，在過去20多年里，他一直研究職業(yè)和學術道德，“道德的影響力在滑坡，”部分原因在于現(xiàn)在人們崇尚成功不論手段的文化。

He said the attitude he has found among students at elite colleges is: “We want to be famous and successful, we think our colleagues are cutting corners, we’ll be damned if we’ll lose out to them, and some day, when we’ve made it, we’ll be role models. But until then, give us a pass.”

他說自己發(fā)現(xiàn)名校學生存在著這樣的心態(tài)：“我們想要功成名就，周圍的人都在投機取巧，如果輸給他們我們就玩完了。等到成功的那一天，我們就是楷模。但是在那之前，先得把考試這關過了?！?/div>

Numerous projects and research studies have shown that frequently reinforcing standards, to both students and teachers, can lessen cheating. But experts say most schools fail to do so.

許多項目和研究表明，經(jīng)常向學生和老師強化學術道德標準，會減少作弊現(xiàn)象。但是，專家稱大多數(shù)的學校都沒有做到。

翻譯：馬志彥

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