中英双语新闻——152 Gunners and ghosts

 　　A shabby minivan is parked near a tranquil 1 building on a Beijing campus. Wang Lin is sitting in the vehicle wearing headphones with a mike. “D. B. A. D. C,” set after set of five-letter codes slip from his lips… All of a sudden, someone gives two warning knocks on the back door of the van. Wang drops his headphones and drives off quickly.

 
　　在北京某校园里，一辆破旧的小货车停在一栋宁静的建筑旁。王林（音译）头戴耳麦，坐在车中。“D、B、A、D、C”，他口中说着一串串五个字母的代码。突然，有人在后车门上敲了两下以示警报。王林丢下耳麦，飞快地开车走了。
 
　　He’s one of the new breed of “gunners”, cheats who write essays and sit exams for others for cash.
 
　　他就是“枪手”这个新兴行业中的一员，这些枪手通过代写论文或替考来赚钱。
 
　　Academic cheating has become a lucrative 2 business with well-organized gangs. Meanwhile there are insufficient 3 deterrents 4 to tackle the problem.
 
　　学术造假已经成为一门相当赚钱的生意，内部组织十分严密。而与此同时，目前尚无足够有效的手段来遏制这一现象。
 
　　Every year more than 10 million faculties 5, researchers, students and specialists require to publish academic papers, according to a survey conducted by Shen Yang, a professor at Wuhan University, in 2009. Shen’s team concluded that the market in research papers was worth more than 1 billion yuan.
 
　　武汉大学教授沈洋2009年所做的一项调查显示，每年有超过一千万的大学教师、研究员、学生以及专业人士需要发表学术论文。据沈洋的团队统计，科研论文市场价值高达10亿元人民币。
 
　　“With virtually no investment and huge profits, the academic black market is becoming more lucrative,” said Zhang Qiang, a junior in a Beijing-based university.
 
　　“由于零投资高回报的现实，学术黑市越来越有利可图。”来自北京的大三学生张强（音译）说。
 
　　He calls himself a “campus agent” and works on commission connecting student clients with professional essay writers.
 
　　他自称为“校园代理”，通过联系学生客户与专业论文写手来赚取佣金。
 
　　Zhang’s domain 6 is China University of Geosciences and Beijing University of Technology. He said proudly that more than 200 students from undergraduates to PhD students contacted him during the last six months.
 
　　中国地质大学和北京科技大学是张强的主要市场。他骄傲地表示，在过去半年中，从本科生到博士生，他接待的客户有200多人。
 
　　The majority of them are old customers. With 15 to 20 percent commission, Zhang’s monthly “salary” easily exceeds 3,000 yuan during the graduation season.
 
　　这其中大多数都是老顾客。每位客户收取15%到20%的中介费，每到毕业季，张强的月收入超过3000元。
 
　　“I guarantee you that on every campus in major cities, agents like me are in good company,” said Zhang.
 
　　张强说：“我保证在大城市的每个校园中，像我这样的代理生意都好着呢。”
 
　　Zhang connects students to writers like Li Jian, a graduate student in economics. The client needs to provide the title of the essay and the recommended reading list.
 
　　张强让学生们与经济学专业毕业生李建（音译）这样的写手取得联系，客户需要提供论文的题目与推荐书单。
 
　　Li set up his own service on a major online shopping website where he charges between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan for papers on economics and finance. He is very busy these days.
 
　　李建在一家大型购物网站上开了家网店兜售服务，经济、金融方面的论文每篇收取3000至5000元。最近这些天，他的生意非常火。
 
　　“I have more than 10 assignments every day,” sad Li. “I have to outsource some essays to my friends.”
 
　　“每天都有十几个活儿。”李建说，“我不得不把一些论文外包给朋友们。”
 
　　As an after sales service, many essay writers even offer a paper inspection 7 service to secure quality and make sure their product passes the school’s anti-plagiarism system. The additional charge is from 200 to 500 yuan.
 
　　有些论文写手甚至将通过论文审查作为售后服务，以保证论文的质量，确保他们的产品可以通过学校的防抄袭系统。这项附加服务的价格在200至500元不等。
 
　　The text service does not end here. For the right price, one can get one’s paper published in academic periodicals.
 
　　论文服务并不是只有这些而已。人们可以以合适的价格在学术期刊上发表自己的论文。
 
　　When the 21st Century reporter called a cell phone number found on a flyer at China University of Political Science and Law, the man on the other end of the line refused to give his name, but he said: “We have the resources to have any paper published in some minor 8 periodicals. I cannot tell you how, but we can.”
 
　　当《21世纪英文报》的记者拨通了在中国政法大学校内传单上找到的电话时，电话那头的男子拒绝透露姓名，但他说：“我们有渠道可以让任何一篇论文在小型期刊上发表。我不能告诉你过程，但我们可以做到。”
 
　　Zhang Xiaohong, a professor at Communication University of China, said: “Gunners and ghostwriters are poisoning the country’s research quality and China’s academic credibility.”
 
　　来自中国传媒大学的张晓红教授说：“枪手和写手正在荼害着中国的科研质量和中国学术的公信力。”
 
　　According to experts, the booming academic black market has been fuelled by several factors.
 
　　有关专家表示，学术黑市兴起的背后，有着几个驱动因素。
 
　　Yi Xiaojun, a researcher at Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, points out that too much importance is attached to graduate treatises 9, especially for some master programs.
 
　　陕西社科院研究员易晓军（音译）指出，学校过于重视毕业论文，尤其对于某些研究生项目而言。
 
　　The result is that cheats can get their degrees based on one piece of written work.
 
　　结果导致作弊者仅凭一份书面作业就可以拿到学位。
 
　　“The school should split its evaluation 10 into many parts so that students have to devote themselves to study on a daily basis to get a certificate,” said Yi.
 
　　“学校的评估机制应该是多方面的，这样学生为了获得毕业证书，就必须要全身心投入到日常学习中去。”易晓军说。
 
　　Chen Qianyi, of a legal consulting company in Shanghai, said that the lack of clear-cut regulations on paper trading is leaving academic fraud in a gray area while school regulations are too weak.
 
　　就职于上海一家法律咨询公司的陈谦毅（音译）表示，由于国家对于买卖论文没有明文规定，这使得学术造假处于一个灰色地带。而校规也显得力不从心。
 
　　“No administration manages the situation,” said Chen. “We see many essay writing companies online with huge business, but we have no specific powers to regulate them.”
 
　　“没有行政机关对此进行管理。” 陈谦毅说，“我们看到网上有很多论文写作公司，生意非常好。但我们没有具体的权力去约束它们。”
 
　　(Names of students interviewees are not real, as they want to remain anonymous 11.)
 
　　（尊重受访学生的意愿，人名皆为化名）