加拿大多伦多新飞扬留学
视频截图里的赵雨思。她在视频中给出了进入美国名校的建议。据称她的家人支付了650万美元，帮助她确保获得斯坦福的录取。 YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT
Sitting in a plush chair and wearing a white blouse buttoned up to the neck, the young woman looks into the camera, smiles and offers advice about getting into a top American university.
坐在一张华丽的椅子上，身穿一件扣子扣到领口的白色衬衫，这名年轻女子看向镜头，面带微笑，就如何进入一间美国顶尖大学给出她的建议。
“Some people think, ‘Didn’t you get into Stanford because your family is rich?’” the woman, Yusi Zhao, says in a video posted on social media. It wasn’t like that, she says. The admissions officers “have no idea who you are.”
“有些人想，‘你能上斯坦福难道不是因为家里有钱？’”这位名叫赵雨思的女子在一则发在社交媒体上的视频里说道。不是这样的，她说。招生官员“不知道你是谁”。
She adds, “I tested into Stanford through my own hard work.”
她接着说道，“我是通过自己的努力考进斯坦福的。”
The video was recorded in the summer before Ms. Zhao began her freshman year, in 2017. It now stands in sharp contrast with recent news: that her parents paid $6.5 million to a college consultant at the center of an international college admissions scheme, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation.
这则视频录于2017年夏天，那是赵雨思上大一的前一年。它现在与新近曝出的新闻形成了鲜明对比：据一名对调查有第一手了解的人士透露，她的父母向一名大学顾问支付了650万美元，而这名顾问则是一场国际大学入学舞弊案的中心人物。
Prosecutors say that the consultant, William Singer, tried to get Ms. Zhao recruited to the Stanford sailing team, providing a fake list of sailing accomplishments and making a $500,000 donation to the sailing program after she was admitted.
检察官们表示，这位名为威廉·辛格(William Singer)的顾问试图让赵雨思被招入斯坦福帆船队，提供了一系列虚假的帆船成就，并且在她被录取后向帆船队捐款50万美元。
The payment to Mr. Singer was by far the largest known in the case, and the disclosure immediately added Ms. Zhao and her family, pharmaceutical billionaires from China, to a cast of powerful figures swept up in the scandal, including two Hollywood actresses and prominent names from the American legal and business worlds.
这笔支付给辛格的钱，是该案迄今为止已知的最大数额，相关披露瞬间让赵雨思及其家族——中国的医药业富商——成为牵涉这一丑闻的权势人物之一，其他权势人物还包括两名好莱坞女演员，以及来自美国法律界及商界的著名人士。
The new turns in the investigation, including reports that another family from China paid $1.2 million in connection with their daughter’s application to Yale, have illuminated the global reach of Mr. Singer’s operation and the wealthy Chinese families eager to get their children into prestigious American universities.
调查的最新进展，包括有关另一个为女儿申请入学耶鲁支付120万美元的中国家族的报道，显示出辛格的业务遍及全球，也可以看到富裕的中国家庭让孩子进入美国名校的热切。
Mr. Singer was far from alone in trying to profit from soaring demand in China for the elite American college experience. Many Chinese families turn to middlemen, whose fees can be tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, like some of their counterparts in the college consulting industry in the United States.
在中国，对美国名校经历的需求急剧增加，希望藉此获利的远不止辛格一人。许多中国家庭转向了中间人，这些人的收费可达数万、数十万甚至更高，和美国大学咨询行业的那些类似人物差不多。
In China, a dizzying array of companies offer advisory services that range from the legitimate to the openly dishonest — promising, as Mr. Singer did with some of his clients, guaranteed admission to certain schools in exchange for payments.
在中国，一系列令人眼花缭乱的公司提供从合法到公然欺诈的各种咨询服务——和辛格一样，他们承诺可以保证被某些院校录取，以此收取费用。
A private club down the street from the Zhao family home outside Beijing was lined with advertisements for admissions consulting and SAT test-prep services. One company, called Capstone, offered “100 percent university clients accepted into 40 Top U.S. Universities.” Across the street were several businesses offering university consulting and tutoring; one had posted a list of the colleges and boarding schools where its clients had been admitted: Yale, Brown, Andover, Groton.
在北京郊外赵家宅邸所在的那条街上有一家私人会所，外面贴满了入学咨询和SAT备考服务的广告。一家名为“博思通”的公司承诺“美国Top40大学100%录取”。街对面是几家提供大学咨询和辅导的商业机构；一家贴出了其客户入读的大学和寄宿学校名单：耶鲁大学、布朗大学(Brown)、安多弗学院(Andover)、格罗顿学校(Groton)。
Businesses like these have boomed in China as the number of Chinese international students has steadily grown in the United States. In 2017, there were more than 363,000 Chinese students enrolled in American universities, more than a third of all international students, according to the Institute of International Education.
随着中国留学生的数量在美国稳步增长，像这样的商业机构在中国遍地开花。据国际教育学会(Institute of International Education)的数据，2017年，有超过36.3万中国学生在美国大学注册入学，占全部国际学生的三分之一还多。
Jack Chen, a marketing executive for the Institute of Chinese Language and Culture, which offers college consulting and tutoring, said companies like his help students get reference letters, write essays and prepare for interviews. They also advise children on how to build up their résumés to include charity work and competitions that separate them from their peers, he said.
杰克·陈(Jack Chen)是东方汉院的市场主管，该机构提供大学咨询和辅导服务，他说，像他这样的公司会帮助学生获得推荐信、写文章以及准备面试。他们还会就如何丰富简历向孩子们提出建议，让他们将能让自己显得与众不同的慈善工作和竞赛纳入其中。
Mr. Chen said he knew of consulting companies that could find back doors into top universities in the United States, but he declined to disclose their names. He added that there used to be more of these services, but that American universities had cracked down after several cases of cheating by Chinese students on standardized exams and college applications.
杰克·陈说他知道咨询公司能够找到进入美国顶级大学后门，但他拒绝披露那些公司的名字。他还说这类服务以前还要多，但出现几起中国学生在标准化考试和大学申请中作弊的情况后，美国大学已经进行了严厉打击。
赵涛与特朗普总统及梅拉尼娅·特朗普在2017年的合影。
But it was perhaps the college consultants in the United States who had greater sway with Ms. Zhao’s parents, and the parents of the student in the Yale case, Sherry Guo. Both families pursued Mr. Singer’s services after meeting him through financial services companies in California, where he had formed relationships. Ms. Zhao’s family was introduced to him by an adviser at Morgan Stanley named Michael Wu, who the company said had been terminated.
但在赵雨思和耶鲁案中的雪莉·郭(Sherry Guo)的家长看来，美国的大学咨询顾问的本事要更大一些。两家人是在加利福尼亚州通过金融服务公司结识辛格后选择了他的服务的，他在该州建立了关系网。赵雨思家是由一个名叫迈克尔·吴(Michael Wu)的摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)顾问介绍的，该公司说已经将这名顾问解雇。
Federal prosecutors have so far charged 50 people in the admissions case, in which wealthy families are accused of cheating on college entrance exams and bribing college coaches to designate students as athletic recruits. Mr. Singer has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges, and has cooperated with the government in gathering evidence against his clients and others he is said to have worked with.
联邦检察官迄今为止已经对入学案中的50人提起指控，涉案的富有家庭被控在大学入学考试中作弊，以及贿赂大学体育教练，把学生指定为体育特招生。辛格已经对诈骗及其他罪名认罪，并且与政府合作，收集针对其客户及他声称合作过的人士的证据。
Prosecutors have not brought any charges against Ms. Zhao or her parents, nor against Ms. Guo or her parents. Both Ms. Zhao, who was a sophomore at Stanford, and Ms. Guo, who was a freshman at Yale, were expelled from their schools.
无论赵雨思还是雪莉·郭或她们的父母都尚未受到联邦起诉。在斯坦福大学读大二的赵雨思和在耶鲁读大一的雪莉·郭都已被开除。
A statement sent on behalf of Ms. Zhao’s mother by her lawyer, Vincent Law, said that Mrs. Zhao and her daughter were victims of Mr. Singer’s scheme, and that Mrs. Zhao had believed the $6.5 million was a legitimate donation to Stanford.
代表赵雨思母亲的律师文森特·刘(Vincent Law)发表声明，表示赵雨思及其母亲是辛格骗局的受害者，并且说赵雨思的母亲相信，那650万美元是给斯坦福大学的合法捐款。
“This generous act was not only done for the good of the school and its students, but also done out of the love and support of Yusi by a caring mother,” the statement said.
“这一慷慨之举不只是对学校及其学生的一片心意，也是一位慈母对雨思的爱与支持，”声明写道。
It added that Mr. Singer had not offered guaranteed admission to any school and that her daughter had applied to and was accepted by a number of colleges “through ordinary channels.”
声明还说辛格没有给出能被其女申请的任何学校录取的保证，她“通过正常渠道”获得了几所学校的录取。
A visit to the Zhao family home outside Beijing and a review of online records pointed to the world of luxury and privilege that Ms. Zhao had grown up in. But the family also publicly espoused an ethic of hard work and not falling back on inherited wealth.
透过对北京郊外的赵家宅邸的探访，以及对网上记录的查阅，可以看到赵雨思是在一个何其奢华和优越的世界里长大。但这家人同时也公开表示赞赏勤勉的作风，不依赖继承的财富。
A Ferrari, Tesla, Bentley and Land Rover sat parked outside the house, a California-style mansion surrounded by trees and a large hedge, in a gated development called Yosemite Villas.
在一个叫做优山美地的封闭式楼盘内，一座绿树和巨大的树篱环绕的加州风格大宅外分别停着一辆法拉利、特斯拉、宾利和路虎。
Ms. Zhao’s father, Zhao Tao, said in a 2015 profile of the family in a Chinese magazine that his children did not have their own fancy cars. “If they want to drive, they have to borrow one from me,” he said.
2015年，在一份中国杂志对这个家族的人物特写报道中，赵雨思的父亲赵涛说，他的孩子没有自己的豪车，“他们想开还得向我借，”他说。
“I really look down on those kids who don’t rely on their own abilities,” he added. “If I come across one, I give them a dressing down right away. I just can’t stand that type.”
“我非常看不起这些孩子不靠自己的能力，”他接着说道，“只要一见到就会训，压根很厌恶这种。”
Ms. Zhao’s older sister, Zhao Yuchen, said in the same profile, “From early on we’ve been taught that the family’s money is the family’s and is none of our business. We can get the best education available, but if we want to live better off, we have to earn it ourselves. When we traveled, the adults went first class, for sure, but we kids had to ride economy in the back.”
在同一篇文章中，赵雨思的姐姐赵雨晨说，“我们从小就是这样被教育的：家里的钱就是家里的，不关我们的事，可以给我们最好的教育，但是你如果想要过上更好的生活，那就自己去挣。我们一家人出门，大人们肯定是头等舱，但是我们小孩子们都是坐到后面的经济舱的。”
Mr. Zhao is the president and co-founder of Shandong Buchang Pharmaceuticals, a drug company that specializes in traditional Chinese medicines and health supplements. He started the company with his father in 1993, and it has become a family enterprise, employing Mr. Zhao’s brother, wife and elder daughter. A profile in Forbes lists Mr. Zhao’s net worth as $1.8 billion, describes him as a citizen of Singapore, and says he received an M.B.A. from Fordham University.
赵涛是山东步长制药的董事长、联席创始人，这是一家经营传统中药及保健品的制药公司。他和父亲于1993年创办的这家公司成了家族事业，赵涛的兄弟、妻子及大女儿都供职于此。在《福布斯》杂志(Forbes)的一篇人物专题中，赵涛的净值为18亿美元，并称他是新加坡公民，获得了福德姆大学(Fordham University)的MBA学位。
In a statement released by the company on Friday, Mr. Zhao said: “The arrangements for my daughter’s studies in the United States are a matter for me and my family, and the source of the funds has nothing to do with Buchang Pharmaceuticals, and will not have any impact on the financial situation of Buchang Pharmaceuticals.”
在该公司周五发布的一份声明中，赵涛表示：“本人的女儿在美国留学事宜，属个人及家庭行为，资金来源与步长制药无关，对步长制药财务状况不构成任何影响。”
北京郊外的赵家大宅。 ALEXANDRA STEVENSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Zhao’s father, Zhao Buchang, was himself at one point accused of bribery: He was found by prosecutors to have paid $10,000 in 2002 to a senior official in China’s food and drug administration who was sentenced to death for corruption in 2007.
赵涛的父亲赵步长自己就曾一度被控贿赂：他被检方发现于2002年向中国食品药品监督管理局的一名高级官员支付1万美元，后者于2007年因腐败被判死刑。
Mr. Zhao is also on the board of a group, called Wisdom Valley in English, which says it provides support and advice for Chinese family businesses. Through that group, Mr. Zhao met and posed for a photograph with President Trump and Melania Trump in 2017.
赵涛还是一个名为“慧谷家族”组织的理事，该组织表示会为中国家族企业提供支持及建议。通过该组织，赵涛于2017年与特朗普总统及梅拉尼娅·特朗普见面并合影。
His daughter went to elementary school in Beijing before going to England for the latter part of middle school and for high school, where she attended a prestigious boarding school.
他的女儿在北京上了小学，后来去英国读了初中后半部分及高中，她在英国就读的是一所著名的寄宿学校。
As a freshman at Stanford, Ms. Zhao was part of a selective academic-and-residential program called Structured Liberal Education, a yearlong intensive course in Western literature and culture and the history of ideas, according to Rob Reich, a professor of political science who has given lectures in the program.
作为一名斯坦福大学的大一新生，赵雨思参与了一个需经筛选录取的学习与住宿项目“系统通识教育”(Structured Liberal Education)，据给该项目讲过课的政治学教授罗伯·赖希(Rob Reich)说，这是一个为期一年的密集课程，内容包括西方文学、文化及思想史。
The 90 freshmen in Structured Liberal Education live together and attend lectures by humanities scholars from across the university. According to its website, the program “encourages students to live a life of ideas in an atmosphere that emphasizes critical thinking and interpretation.”
参与“系统通识教育”的90名新生住在一起，上学校各个系所人文学者的课。根据其网站，这个项目“鼓励学生在一个着重审辩性思考及阐释的氛围中过上一种有思想的生活。”
She also belonged to an organization called the Stanford Speakers Bureau, which brings high-profile speakers like Jennifer Lopez and Ban Ki Moon to campus.
她还属于一个名为“斯坦福演讲者社”(Stanford Speakers Bureau)的组织，该组织会将詹妮弗·洛佩茲(Jennifer Lopez)和潘基文(Ban Ki-moon)这样的演讲者带到校园。
“She was very friendly — and very dedicated,” Alexa Ramachandran, 18, a freshman member, said of Ms. Zhao. “She would go around to the dorms, asking if there was anything more she could do for the club.”
“她对人很友好——也非常投入，”18岁的亚历克莎·拉马钱德兰(Alexa Ramachandran)，一名新生成员这么评价赵雨思。“她会到大家的宿舍里，问她还能为社团做点什么。”
In the video Ms. Zhao made about getting into Stanford, which is over 90 minutes long, Ms. Zhao said that she rode horses in her spare time, and that she planned to take sociology classes at Stanford and return to China after graduating.
在赵雨思那则关于被斯坦福大学录取的视频中，她说到了自己会在闲暇时间骑马，并且表示计划在斯坦福大学上社会学课程，并在毕业后回中国。
Ms. Zhao repeatedly exhorted her viewers to work hard and believe in themselves, using her own journey as a lesson. She said that she had been a mediocre student in elementary school and that her first ACT score had been unimpressive.
赵雨思多次劝诫她的观众要勤奋，相信自己，以她的经历为鉴。她说自己在小学成绩平平，第一次ACT的分数很一般。
“A lot of people told me, ‘You still want to get into Stanford, but, look, the entry rate for it is just 4 percent — just forget it,’” she said. After a year of strenuous study, she said, she took the test again and got a score of 33 out of 36.
“当时很多人跟我说，‘你还想申斯坦福，那你看看斯坦福录取率只有4%，你还是算了吧，’”她说。在一年刻苦学习后，她再次参加了考试，36分满分考出了33分。
“Based on my experience of study, I want to tell you that really anyone can do it,” she went on. “I’m not the kind who was born with a very high I.Q. or who can score 33 or 36 in an exam just like that. But I made my way up step by step, through my hard work.”
“从我的学习经历来讲，其实所有人都可以做到的，”她接着说道，“我也不是天生的IQ特别高的那种，我也不是说一下就能就能考33分，或者36分的那种，我是通过自己的努力一点点升上来的。”
She decided to aim for American universities, she said, because they evaluated students not just based on test scores, but also on their extracurricular activities and personal statements.
她说之所以想上美国大学是因为，它们不只是基于分数来评估学生，还会基于课外活动和个人陈述。
“It demands not only that you’re a good student, but also that you have personality,” she said. “You need to have a special skill.”
“它既要求你学习必须特别好，而且要求你必须有personality（个性），”她说。“还必须有特长”。
