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For decades state-funded feeder schools in poorer areas played a vital role in offering good students from the countryside a chance to get into university. But many have closed as a result of migration into cities. Meanwhile, competition has grown for places in good senior secondary schools. Ma Hang attended primary school in his home village. But the best junior high school in the county would not accept village students unless they paid extra fees or had powerful connections. His parents managed to use such a connection to get him into the school. He says that set him on a path that led him to a feeder high school and then to university.
几十年来，政府资助的贫困地区生源学校在为农村优秀学生提供进入大学的机会中发挥了至关重要的作用。但由于许多农村学生移居城市，大量生源学校已经关闭。与此同时，优质高中的录取竞争也日益激烈。马航在农村老家读了小学。但县里最好的初中不招收村里的学生，除非他们支付额外的费用或者有强大的关系。他的父母设法托关系将他送进了学校。他说，这让他走上了一条通往生源学校然后再考入大学的坦途。
Rural children in China face obstacles at every stage of development. Babies are more likely to be undernourished and lack parental attention. By the time they enter primary school, many have ailments such as anaemia, poor vision and worms. Around 60% of students from the poorest counties suffer from at least one of these afflictions, says Mr Rozelle.
中国农村儿童在成长过程中一步一个坎。婴儿时期更容易营养不良，而且缺少父母的照顾。当他们进入小学时，许多孩子都患有贫血、近视和寄生虫等疾病。罗泽尔表示，来自最贫困县的大约60%的学生至少患有其中一种疾病。
Those who, despite the odds, make it to elite universities often feel socially isolated. In 2020 a student from the countryside took to social media to describe being “lost and confused” at university after leaving the “straightforward environment” of school, where passing tests was the focus. More than 100,000 students, many with rural backgrounds, weighed in, sharing their own experiences of feeling like misfits and lamenting their job prospects. They coined a new term in Chinese: xiao zhen zuotijia, meaning “small-town swot”.
那些排除万难，最终考入顶级大学的寒门子弟往往会感到自己孤立无援。2020年，一名农村学生在社交媒体上分享自己在离开了学校这个成绩至上的“单纯环境”后感受到的“迷惘和困惑”。超过10万名学生参与了讨论，其中许多人有农村背景，他们分享了自己感到格格不入的经历，并哀叹自己的工作前景暗淡。他们创造了一个汉语新词：小镇做题家，意思是“一直埋头苦读的小镇学子”。
Wang Jianyue, a country-born physics whizz, can relate to their complaints. He chose to study finance at university, thinking it would be easier to find a job with such a specialism. It was only after he saw several of his classmates get internships at big financial firms using their parents’ connections that he “truly understood the gap” between himself and them. Mr Wang changed his focus to computer science. Unlike some other small-town swots, he has, to his relief, got a job offer.
出生在农村的物理天才王建岳可以理解他们的抱怨。他选择在大学学习金融，因为他认为这个专业会更容易找工作。直到看到几个同学利用父母的关系在大型金融公司实习后，他才“真正理解”自己和其他同学的差距。王建岳后来便转攻计算机科学。与其他小镇做题家不同的是，王建岳找到了一份工作，这让他松了一口气。
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