China has overtaken Japan as Asia’s number one nation for producing top universities.
中國已經(jīng)超過日本，成為亞洲頂尖大學(xué)最多的國家。

While Japan’s University of Tokyo is the highest-placed institution in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2015, the country has lost ground overall, with the balance of power now tilting towards mainland China.
雖然《2015年泰晤士高等教育亞洲大學(xué)排名》中，東京大學(xué)依然高居榜首，但日本在整體上失去了優(yōu)勢，天平正在向中國大陸傾斜。

Japan has 19 universities in the?prestigious?top 100, down from 20 last year and 22 in 2013, and 15 of those have slipped down the list, by an average of 5.8 places.
在前100名中，日本大學(xué)占了19所，比起去年的20所和2013年的22所有所下降。其中，15所大學(xué)排名平均下降了5.8位。

By contrast, mainland China now has 21 representatives, up from 18 last year and 15 in 2013, and many of these are rising up the table, including Peking University (fourth) and Tsinghua University (fifth), which have both moved up a place. Wuhan University has also climbed an impressive 15 places to joint 49th.
與之相反，中國在前100名中從前年的15所以及去年的18所上升到今年的21所，其中許多大學(xué)的排名有所上升，其中排名第四的北大和排名第五的清華均上升一位。武漢大學(xué)排名并列第49，上升了15位，令人印象深刻。

China’s special administrative regions are also performing well, with all six of Hong Kong’s ranked universities in the top 50, while Macau has made its?debut?in the table with the University of Macau entering in joint 40th place.
中國的特別行政區(qū)同樣表現(xiàn)優(yōu)秀。香港的全部六所大學(xué)均進(jìn)入前50，而澳門的高校也首次出現(xiàn)在名單中——澳門大學(xué)并列第40位。

易詞解詞（BY 袁新民）
debut（de- from, but 和beat詞源上相關(guān)，即but打，擊→aim, goal靶子，目標(biāo)；游戲或比賽里的第一擊，第一個(gè)靶子，目標(biāo)→）
n.(表演者或運(yùn)動(dòng)員的）首次登臺，初次露面；（歌手的）首次錄音
?
impressive（im-入，press壓；壓入→留下印記→給…以深刻的印象，使銘記，-ive形容詞后綴）?
a. 給人印象深刻的

The shift in power towards China takes place against a backdrop of investment in research and development while Japan?wrestles?with cuts as a result of its?crippling?level of public debt.
由于高額的公共債務(wù)，日本正疲于應(yīng)付研究和開發(fā)經(jīng)費(fèi)的削減。在此背景下，中國的高校開始崛起。

易詞解詞（BY 袁新民）
wrestle（和wrong同源，因轉(zhuǎn)，彎→扭→不正→錯(cuò)，wrest轉(zhuǎn)，-le表示反復(fù)動(dòng)作；兩人互相轉(zhuǎn)對方→）
vt. 1. 摔跤；2. 使勁搬動(dòng)，用力舉起
vi. 1.摔跤；2.使勁搬動(dòng)，用力舉起；3.努力解決，全力對付

Gerard Postiglione, director of the Wah Ching Centre of Research on Education in China at the University of Hong Kong, said that Japan’s declining performance is due to a combination of “a lot of inbreeding” at its universities (graduates teaching at the same university at which they studied); research funding being concentrated at its top-tier institutions; and fewer promotion opportunities for young academics.
香港大學(xué)華正中國教育研究中心主任白杰瑞指出，日本大學(xué)的表現(xiàn)下降是由于以下因素共同造成的：學(xué)術(shù)近親繁殖（畢業(yè)生在母校任教）；研究經(jīng)費(fèi)被頂尖大學(xué)壟斷；年輕學(xué)者缺乏晉升機(jī)會。

“[China] started from scratch and rose quickly from the 1990s when they didn’t have world-class universities, whereas Japan was already at a pretty high level, so its productivity has levelled off for a few years,” he said.
他說：“1990年以來，中國從零開始并取得飛速發(fā)展。當(dāng)時(shí)，中國沒有世界級大學(xué)，而日本已經(jīng)處于相當(dāng)高的水平。因此，日本的生產(chǎn)力在若干年里止步不前?！?/div>

Simon Marginson, professor of international higher education at the UCL Institute of Education, agreed that higher education in Japan is “now largely standing still”.
倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院教育系的國際高等教育教授西蒙·馬金森贊同日本的高等教育“目前很大程度上停滯不前”。

“Japan is careful to maintain the leading edge of its very top universities such as Tokyo and Kyoto, but has been less committed than has China to pumping more investment into the universities on the next level,” he said.
他表示：“日本小心的維持東大、京大等頂尖大學(xué)的領(lǐng)先位置，但和中國相比，對給予其它等級大學(xué)更多投資方面做得不夠?！?/div>