美国国家公共电台 NPR A Dystopian High School Musical Foresaw The College Admissions Scandal

（单词翻译）

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We had a pretty strange case of life imitating art here in California recently. A high school teacher named Kyle Holmes wrote a musical with a colleague - a show that explored life in high school, one often driven by grades, tests and this immense pressure to get into top colleges. Well, now it feels a bit too real. NPR's Elissa Nadworny has the story.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE¹: The show is called "Ranked." It's a dystopian fiction where your grades and test scores, they determine everything in your life - from where you sit to what your future is. One of the main characters is a student who has a low rank - she's failing - and she's under immense pressure.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) When does this feeling go away, this tightness in my chest? When will I...

NADWORNY: Here's the cast from Granite² Bay High School, just outside Sacramento, performing one of the early songs, "Drowning."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) And, God, what will my parents say if I fail another test...

NADWORNY: At the end of Act 1, a major plot twist - turns out a parent was paying to inflate³ their kid's grades, and the kid had no idea. Sound familiar?

KYLE HOLMES: We're literally⁴ watching our story play out in the national news.

NADWORNY: That's theater teacher Kyle Holmes talking about the recent college admission scandal⁵ where parents paid to get their kids into top colleges. Just this week, more than a dozen parents agreed to plea⁶ agreements and others were indicted⁷ on charges of mail fraud⁸. And the guy behind that scheme, Rick Singer, years ago, he actually worked with students at Granite Bay High School.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANVITA GATTANI: (Singing) You think you're going to get ahead, you're just...

NADWORNY: The pressure to do well inspired the lyrics⁹ of the song "Someone Always Bleeds," sung by student Anvita Gattani.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Singing) But, hey, rich kids like you never have to pay their dues. Who needs to read textbooks when you've got daddy's checkbooks? Someone always bleeds.

NADWORNY: David Taylor Gomes wrote the music and lyrics.

DAVID TAYLOR GOMES: Did I tell the future? I don't know, but... (laughing).

NADWORNY: So how did this spot-on story come to be? Gomes and Holmes listened to their students.

EMMA HARLOW: I'm Emma, and I play Sydney Summers.

NADWORNY: Emma Harlow is a senior, and there's one line her character says that gives her all the feels.

EMMA: So she says this line, how do we know the difference between who we actually are and what people want for us? It hits deep, you know? (Laughing).

NADWORNY: It hits deep because she, Emma, actually said those words to her drama teacher months ago.

EMMA: I felt that my whole entire life, I'm just doing things to make sure that my family looks good. And parts of me got lost along the way.

NADWORNY: Those feelings are captured in the song "Come Up For Air."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (As Sydney Summers, singing) I'm not about to throw it all away because life isn't fair. I'm going to come up for air.

NADWORNY: Emma says the musical is a window for adults to see just how stressful high school life is.

EMMA: The biggest use of this show is an entry point to the conversation about, what is our worth? And, like, what's the difference between learning and getting a grade?

NADWORNY: Emma and the rest of the ensemble¹⁰ at Granite Bay High School take the stage for the final time this weekend. Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.