Academics have always moaned(抱怨，发牢骚) about their students. “Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before(前所未有地),” complained Egbert of Liège(① 历史背景：Egbert of Liè...), an 11th-century know-it-all, in an age when not even a tenth of humans could read. Recently there have been lots of new worries about standards in colleges and universities—especially in America, home to many of the world’s best. But this time, as our International section notes, the laxity(松懈，松弛) is not just in lecturers’ heads.
学者们一直抱怨学生。11世纪的自以为是的列日主教埃格伯特曾哀叹'学术努力正以前所未有的速度在各地下滑'，彼时能读书的人还不到十分之一。最近，人们对大学标准有了许多新的担忧——尤其是在拥有众多世界一流大学的美国。但正如国际板块所指出的，这一次，松懈并非仅仅存在于教授们的想象中。
Maths professors report that they are having to pack freshers(大学新生) off to remedial courses before real learning can start. Some are turning up to(到达，出现) university ignorant(无知的，不知道的) of things they should have learned early in secondary school. Lecturers in humanities warn that students are struggling to understand texts that a decade ago their counterparts(对应的人或物) would easily have grasped(理解，掌握). Students increasingly ask for reading lists to be cut short.
数学教授报告说，他们不得不将新生送去补习课程，然后才能开始真正的学习。有些学生上大学时对中学早期就该学的东西一无所知。人文学科的讲师警告说，学生们很难理解十年前同龄人很容易掌握的文本。学生越来越多地要求缩短阅读清单。
Tests run by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, suggest that students in colleges and universities are less literate(有读写能力的) than they were a decade ago. The best are cleverer than ever, but a growing number have basic skills that would embarrass(使尴尬，使难堪) a child half their age. About one in seven(七分之一) students at American colleges and universities scores no better in literacy tests than a typical ten-year-old. For numeracy(数学能力，计算能力), it is nearly one in five.
由主要富裕国家组成的俱乐部OECD进行的测试表明，大学生和大学学生的读写能力比十年前有所下降。最优秀的学生比以往更聪明，但越来越多的学生所掌握的基本技能连年龄只有他们一半的孩子都不如。美国大学中约七分之一的学生在读写测试中的成绩还不如典型的十岁儿童。在数学能力方面，近五分之一的学生如此。
Chalk dust
粉笔灰