本文节选自4月13日《经济学人》专题报道《私立教育》一文的前三节。
Special report: Private education
专题报道：私立教育
A class apart
一校一阶层
Private education is booming in new markets and new forms
私立教育正在新的市场以新的形式兴起
补充：
world-class 世界一流的
HOUSED in a jumble of ancient buildings in the shadow of Westminster
Abbey, Westminster School has been educating boys since it was founded in
1560 by Queen Elizabeth I to provide lessons for 40 poor scholars.
西敏公学坐落于西敏寺旁的一群古建筑中。它由女王伊丽莎白一世于1560年创办，来为40名贫困的学生授课。
短语：
Be housed in 坐落于，安置、安装于
a jumble of 杂乱的一堆
in the shadow of 在…的附近
be founded in + 时间
单词：
scholar 学者，学生
visiting scholar 访问学者
It has evolved since then—its 750 pupils now include some girls, and with fees of £39,252 a year for boarders and £27,174 for day pupils, poor scholars are thin on the ground—but for nearly half a millennium, these historical premises defined its geographical limits.
在很长一段时间里它是一所男校，但也经历了演变。现在它的750名学生中也有一些女孩；鉴于寄宿生的费用为每年39,252英镑，走读生为27,174英镑，贫困生已经寥寥无几。不过，近500年来，它的历史渊源决定了它在地理上的局限性。
短语：
thin on the ground 少之又少，寥寥无几
单词：
boarder 寄宿生
boarding school 寄宿学校
day pupil 走读生
millennium 一千年，千禧年（指的时长为一千年的时间循环）
millennials 千禧一代(1982年到2000年出生的人)
premise 前提
That is about to change. A ground-breaking ceremony on April 9th marked
the start of the construction of Westminster Chengdu, the first stage in a venture with a local partner, Hong Kong Melodious Education Technology
Group.
而这一点即将改变。4月9日举办的一个奠基仪式标志着成都西敏分校动工。这是与地方合作伙伴香港斯为美教育科技集团的合资项目的第一阶段。
短语：
be about to 即将，准备 I am about to take a rest.
ground-breaking ceremony 动土仪式
form a venture with 与…成立合资企业/项目
The school is due to open in September 2020 and will have 2,500
pupils from the ages of 3 to 18.
该校将于明年9月开学，招收2500名3至18岁学生。
单词：
due 到期的
my homework is due tomorrow 我明天就要交作业了
It will be followed by a further five establishments of a similar size in other Chinese cities over the next ten years, by the end of which Westminster will be educating 20 times as many children in China as in the heart of London.
未来十年，中国其他城市将再增开五所类似规模的分校，令西敏在中国的学生数量达到伦敦市中心的20倍。
短语：
be followed by 后面紧跟着，by 后边是将要发生的事
times as many as a year ago 是一年前的多少倍
in the heart of sb/city 在某人心坎/在城市中心
A slice of the Chinese operation’s income will flow back to the mother ship, enabling Westminster to increase the share of pupils on bursaries in Britain from around 5% to 20%.
中国业务的一部分收入将回流本部，使西敏能将领取助学金的英国学生比例从5%左右提高到20%。
短语：
a slice of cake 一块蛋糕
单词：
bursary （通常指大学的）奖学金
“It will give us a revenue stream that will allow us to go back to our roots,” says Rodney Harris, deputy headmaster in London, who is moving to Chengdu in September to take the top job there.
伦敦的副校长罗德尼·哈里斯说：“它将给我们带来收入流，让我们能回归自己的根基。”他将于9月搬到成都，担任当地的一把手。
单词：
family roots 家庭根基
By extending its model to China, the school thus hopes to mitigate the inequality to which it contributes in Britain.
由此可见，通过将自己的模式扩展至中国，西敏希望能减轻它在英国助长的不平等。
单词：
mitigate 减轻，减缓
