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And as the competition for college ramped up, the applications got stronger.
大学入学竞争越来越激烈，学生们的申请资质也越来越强了。
In 1982, the average high school graduate completed Algebra or maybe Algebra 2.
1982年的时候，一般的高中毕业生才学完了代数或者代数2。
By 2004, the average student was closer to Trigonometry.
到2004年，一般的高中毕业生基本都已经学到三角函数了。
Also, more students had extracurriculars on their applications.
此外，申请书里写到课外活动的学生也越来越多了。
In 1992, just 19 percent of high school students were leaders in an extracurricular activity.
1992年，担任某项课外活动负责人的毕业生才19%。
Just 12 years later, in 2004, that number doubled.
到2004年，仅仅过去了12年后，这个数字就已经翻了一番。
As the competition got stiffer, students started applying to way more schools.
随着竞争的加剧，学生们也开始申请多个学校了。
In 1967, about 40 percent of students applied to more than two schools.
1967年，只有40%左右的学生申请了两所以上的大学。
Now, it's more than 80 percent of students.
如今，这一比例已经超过80%。
And a decent chunk of them apply to more than 6 schools.
其中，还有相当一部分申请了6所以上。
All of this overwhelmed admissions offices.
一切的一切，让各大学的招生处应接不暇。
So they started to rely even more on the SATs.
于是，他们开始加大SAT的权重。
In 1993, 46 percent of schools gave "considerable importance" to SAT scores.
1993年，认为SAT分数“相当重要”的学校比例为46%。
By 2005, it was 59 percent.
到2005年，这一比例便上升到了59%。
But looming over the increasing weight of this number was this other thing the SAT seemed to measure--wealth.
问题是，SAT成绩的分量越来越重，其背后隐隐牵涉到了另一个因素——财富，SAT成绩的高低似乎也是这一因素作用的结果。
It's apparent in the data.
从数据上来看，这点是显而易见的。
Here's a chart of the average SAT scores by family income.
下面这张图就说明了家庭收入与SAT平均分数之间的关系。
Students whose families earn less than $20,000 score around 890 -- way below average.
家庭（年）收入低于2万美元的学生的SAT成绩在890分左右，远低于平均水平。
And as we move up the income brackets, students score higher and higher.
随着家庭收入水平的提高，学生的分数也越来越高。
The wealthiest students -- whose parents earn more than $200,000 -- score an average of 1150.
最有钱的学生(父母年收入超过20万美元)的SAT平均成绩为1150分。
Now, defenders of the SAT have often said there's nothing wrong with the test itself.
于是，SAT的捍卫者经常说，这项考试本身并没有问题。
They say this score is just reflecting the inequality in America.
他们说，这个分数只是反映了美国的不平等问题。
And that's not wrong.
这么说并没有错。
We can follow that logic up the chain.
我们可以按照这种逻辑往前推。
We can start with America's highly unequal neighborhoods.
就从美国的社区高度不平等问题开始说起。
Schools in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be under-resourced.
贫困社区的学校面临资源匮乏的可能性更大。
And students from more affluent neighborhoods and schools tend to score higher on the SAT.
而来自较富裕社区和学校的学生往往在SAT考试中得分更高。
In turn, students with better SAT scores go to more selective colleges.
相应地，SAT分数更高的学生最后进了名牌大学。
And this system is a cycle.
而这个机制根本就是一个死循环。
When Stanford researcher Raj Chetty and his colleagues tracked people born in the early-1980s,
斯坦福大学研究员拉吉·切蒂和他的同事对一批80年代初出生的人做了跟踪调查，
he found that these people -- who went to the most selective colleges -- -- had parents who earned, on average, $171,000 a year.
发现这些人——上的都是名牌大学——的父母的平均年收入高达17.1万美元。
The parents of these people, who went to selective public colleges, earned $87,000.
这些上重点公立大学的人的父母的年收入为8.7万美元。
And those who attended community colleges had parents who earned $67,000 a year.
而上社区大学的那些孩子的父母的年收入是6.7万美元。
And through this system, that wealth was passed on.
他们的财富就通过这个机制传递了下来。
Chetty and his colleagues found that students who graduated from these elite colleges
切蒂和他的同事发现，这些名牌大学毕业的学生
earned, on average, $82,500 a year by their early-30s.
30岁刚出头，平均年收入就达到了8.25万美元。
Those who went to a selective public college earned half that -- $41,600.
那些上重点公立大学的学生的收入只有他们的一半——4.16万美元。
And those who went to a community college were at about $30,000.
而上社区大学的那群学生则只有3万美元左右。
But Chetty and his colleagues found that,
但切蒂和他的同事还发现，
if low-income student gets the opportunity to attend a more selective school,
如果低收入家庭的学生有机会进入更好的大学，
they're able to graduate and earn just as much money as their classmates.
他们也能顺利毕业并拿到和其他同学一样多的工资。
In 2016, the College Board redesigned the SAT.
2016年，大学理事会对SAT重新进行了设计。
The old test tried to trip up test-takers -- for example, asking about the meaning of obscure words like "acrimonious."
老版SAT是为了让学生答不对题——比如，问像“尖刻的”这样晦涩的词语的意思。
The new one tries to test what you've learned in school -- to try to make it less of an intelligence test.
新版的SAT测试的则是你在学校里掌握到的知识，从而让这项考试不那么像智力测试。
For example, it'll show you a sentence like: The jungle has an intense clustering of bugs.
例如，新版的SAT会给你这样一句话：丛林里有很高密度的一群虫子。
And then ask: What does intense"" most nearly mean?
然而问你：“高密度”在这句话中最有可能是哪个意思？
Emotional? Concentrated? Brilliant? Determined?
是情感上的呢？集中的呢？聪明的呢？还是坚决的？
Still, your SAT score measures how well you'll do in college, to a degree."
改版后的SAT分数还是能衡量出你在大学会有怎样的表现，一定程度上是能的。
It also measures where you grew up -- and what opportunities you had.
它还衡量了你长大的环境——以及你拥有的机遇。
But it’s also a tool that keeps this inequality machine going.
不仅如此，它也是让不平等机器继续运转的一个工具。
College Board president David Coleman sees this happening.
大学理事会主席大卫·科尔曼把一切都看在了眼里。
He recently wrote: "We need a far humbler view of the SAT.
最近，他写道：“我们对SAT的看法应该更谦卑一点。
They should never be more than one factor in an admissions decision.
学校在录取学生的时候不应该考虑太多因素。
Low scores should never be a veto on a student’s life."
低分数也不应该成为阻碍学生拥有怎样的人生的障碍。”
The SAT was created in the pursuit of precision.
SAT原本是为了追求准确性才被设计出来的。
An effort to measure what we're capable of -- to predict what we can do. What we might do.
为了衡量我们的能力——预测我们能做什么，可能会做什么。
What we've forgotten is that, often,
但我们忘了，通常，
that can't be untangled from where we've been, what we've been through, and what we’ve been given.
我们的能力与我们去过的地方，经历过的事情以及我们所拥有的东西是无法分开来谈的。
