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When I got home from school one day in April， I discovered a thick envelope that had come in the mail for me. My name was on the envelope， written in cursive[草书体的] letters， and there was a prestigious[声望很高的]-looking seal over the envelope’s fold. Naturally， this classy[上等的]-looking letter had gotten my attention， so I ripped it open excitedly.
“Congratulations，” the letter said， “You have been selected for admission[准许进入] into the National Society for High School Scholars[领有奖学金的学生]， a scholarship[奖学金] selection foundation.” Wow！ Was it really true？ Was I being recognized for how amazing I am？ Finally！ How had I never heard of this organization？ After reading through some impressive sounding credentials[凭证]， I came to the end of the letter. Uh-oh.
4月的一天，从学校回家后，我发现了一个邮寄给我的厚信封。信封用草体字写着我的名字，折叠处还有一个看起来十分尊贵的封印。这封颇为高级的信自然引起了我的注意，于是我兴奋地打开了它。
“恭喜你，”信中写道，“你已被录取进入高中奖学金人士国家协会（NSHSS），一个奖学金选拔基金。”哇！这是真的吗？有人赏识我的才能？终于等到这天了！为什么我从来没听说过这个机构？看完了一系列天花乱坠的凭证后，我读到信的末尾。呃——
“In order to solidify[巩固] your admittance[入场权] into our prestigious organization， please send a check or money order of $60 to our national headquarters.” Under the text was a list of various NSHSS items[商品] I could buy， like a T-shirt or a bumper sticker[车尾贴] or a mug. This organization was starting to look a little fishy[可疑的]. Paying in order to be recognized for “academic achievement，” and to get scholarships？ That seemed pretty off[不正常的].
“为了保证你能加入我们这个有名望的组织，请通过支票或现金给我们的全国总部汇款60美元。”正文下面是一张清单，列有各种供人购买的NSHSS商品，如T恤、车尾贴或马克杯。这个组织开始显得有点可疑了。交钱认证“学术成就”，然后去拿奖学金？似乎很不靠谱。
I decided to give it a quick Google search to see what people were saying about the organization. About ten links popped up， all of them with some variation[变化] of “Is the National Society for High School Scholars a Scam？”
I looked at the organization’s website， where they listed criteria[标准] for membership. Wait a second. After the list of criteria， there was an asterisk[星号]： “Note： receiving an invitation may not verify[核实] actually meeting these criteria.” So if they are sending out invitations to people who don’t meet the criteria， how could this be a real honor society？ The website said you needed a PSAT注 score of 200 to become a member. My score was 189. The majority opinion on the Internet？ Yes， this was， in fact， a kind of scam.
Was I really that gullible to be fooled by a letter clearly trying to play to the fragile egos[自我] of teenagers？ Yes—but I wasn’t the only one. When I talked to my friends， it turned out some of them had received the same letter and were thinking about sending in the $60. The fact that this organization had gotten hold of my personal contact information really bothered me， especially because they may have gotten my information from when I took the PSAT the previous[早先的] fall. When I took the PSAT， I checked off the little box that allowed the College Board to give my information to colleges. Throughout the year， I’d been getting glossy[虚饰的] looking letters in the mail from less-than-stellar[第一流的] colleges， but I hadn’t gotten anything so deceitful（asking for money） in the mail.
I wondered how many kids who get this letter actually send their money in because the letter makes admission sound so prestigious and selective. I myself was almost convinced by how flattering[谄媚的] the letter was， and how great the scholarship opportunities the organization appeared to offer were.
The only thing I could really do was be on the lookout for these kinds of scams in the future. There are a lot of other scholarship scams out there geared toward kids eager to get help with the everincreasing cost of tuition[学费].
这个机构掌握了我的个人联系信息这件事确实让我很烦恼，特别是他们也许是在我去年秋季参加PSAT考试时拿到我信息这一点。参加PSAT考试的时候，我在“允许美国大学理事会将我的个人信息透露给各大学”这个选项的旁边打了个勾。一年来，我收到了很多外表精美的信，它们都来自不太有名的院校，但我还没收过如此具有欺诈性（直接向人要钱）的信。
我在想，有多少收到这封信的学生真的向那边汇款了，因为这封信把录取机会说得多么特别，过程多么精挑细选。我自己也差点被这封讨好人的信蒙骗了，它把该机构提供的奖学金机会说得有多么难得。
我唯一能做的就是以后警惕这类骗局。在学费不断上涨的今天，外面还有很多奖学金骗局等着那些希望得到帮助的学生上当呢。
语法小提示
对于这次受骗经历，作者用了几个和被骗有关的单词，一起看看它们的用法。
1. Scam [？？？？]为名词，就是“花招、骗局”，为美国俚语，如an insurance scam（保险骗局）。Scam有时也可以作为动词使用，如：When I told them they were being scammed， they couldn’t believe it.（当我告诉他们被人骗了时，他们简直无法相信。）
2. 形容词gullible[？？？？？？？]形容一个人容易上当受骗或轻信别人，如：He’s so gullible you can sell him anything.（他是那么容易上当，卖给他什么东西他都要。）与gullible相关的动词是gull[？？？]，意为“欺骗或蒙骗”，如gull sb. out of sth.（骗取某人的某物）或gull a person into buying rubbish（骗人买无用的东西），但这种用法已经过时，不常用。Gull作为名词时就是海鸥（又作seagull），也用来形容容易受骗的人、笨蛋。
3. fool [？？？？]既可以是名词（蠢人、傻瓜），也可以是动词（欺骗）或形容词（愚蠢的，非正式的美式英语），学习例句，看看用法的差别：What fool has put that wet paintbrush on my chair？（哪个笨蛋把未干的画笔放在我的椅子上？）She fooled the old man out of all his money.（她骗走了那位老人所有的钱。）That fool son of mine has smashed up his new car.（我那傻儿子把他的新车撞坏了。）以上三个例句，你分清了它们的词性了吗？
4. dupe [？？？？？]作名词时意为“受骗/上当的人”；作为动词使用则表示“欺骗、愚弄”，经常以被动形式出现，后接into，如：The salesman duped the old lady into buying a faulty dishwasher.（推销员哄骗那个老太太买了一台有毛病的洗碟机。）
5. 名词deceit [？？？？？？？]是“欺诈行为”或“欺骗手段”的意思，如：He got the money by deceit.（他靠欺骗弄到了钱。）deceitful则是其形容词形式，表示“有意欺骗的、不诚实的”，如deceitful words（故意歪曲事实的话）。它们的动词形式是deceive，有“欺诈、蒙蔽”的意思，如：He deceived me—he lied about the money.（他欺骗了我——关于钱的事他撒了谎。）They deceived her into signing the papers.（他们骗她在文件上签了名。）
6. Rip off有“敲诈、占便宜”的意思，如：They ripped us off at that hotel.（那家旅馆敲了我们竹杠。）The bigger， more reputable online casinos are not going to rip you off.（规模更大、声誉更好的网上赌场不会宰你。）
做个精明学生
现在的骗子越来越高明，骗人伎俩五花八门，我们要时刻警惕，别让骗子得逞哦。当你遇到以下情况，就要注意了。
提供奖学金“独家信息”：如果某个奖学金机构说它能够提供某些信息，而这些信息在其他地方却查不到，这或许就是一个骗局。大部分高等院校的奖学金和津贴来自政府和学校本身，其信息不是秘密。即使是私人组织提供的奖学金也是公开的——他们希望在最大范围内公开信息，以吸引最优秀的候选人。
不费任何工夫就可以拿到奖学金：如果一个机构说一切包在他们身上，这可能就是骗你上当。大多数奖学金赞助者希望看到候选人的论文或自荐信。
保证拿到奖学金：没有机构可以保证你一定拿到奖学金，但不法分子往往以此为卖点。真实的大学奖学金都有一定标准，服务机构不可能做出保证。
“你被选中了”：上文就属于这类骗局。如果你没有向这些服务机构提出过任何申请，而他们又给你寄来一些你没听过的奖学金信息，你应该仔细核查。
申请需要收费：申请奖学金无须交费。
助学贷款发放前就要收费：一些低息助学贷款在审批或发放前要求你预先支付一定费用，遇到这类贷款时务必小心。
“免费研讨会”或申请人面试：又是一种要你交钱的骗术。
“Congratulations，” the letter said， “You have been selected for admission[准许进入] into the National Society for High School Scholars[领有奖学金的学生]， a scholarship[奖学金] selection foundation.” Wow！ Was it really true？ Was I being recognized for how amazing I am？ Finally！ How had I never heard of this organization？ After reading through some impressive sounding credentials[凭证]， I came to the end of the letter. Uh-oh.
4月的一天，从学校回家后，我发现了一个邮寄给我的厚信封。信封用草体字写着我的名字，折叠处还有一个看起来十分尊贵的封印。这封颇为高级的信自然引起了我的注意，于是我兴奋地打开了它。
“恭喜你，”信中写道，“你已被录取进入高中奖学金人士国家协会（NSHSS），一个奖学金选拔基金。”哇！这是真的吗？有人赏识我的才能？终于等到这天了！为什么我从来没听说过这个机构？看完了一系列天花乱坠的凭证后，我读到信的末尾。呃——
“In order to solidify[巩固] your admittance[入场权] into our prestigious organization， please send a check or money order of $60 to our national headquarters.” Under the text was a list of various NSHSS items[商品] I could buy， like a T-shirt or a bumper sticker[车尾贴] or a mug. This organization was starting to look a little fishy[可疑的]. Paying in order to be recognized for “academic achievement，” and to get scholarships？ That seemed pretty off[不正常的].
“为了保证你能加入我们这个有名望的组织，请通过支票或现金给我们的全国总部汇款60美元。”正文下面是一张清单，列有各种供人购买的NSHSS商品，如T恤、车尾贴或马克杯。这个组织开始显得有点可疑了。交钱认证“学术成就”，然后去拿奖学金？似乎很不靠谱。
I decided to give it a quick Google search to see what people were saying about the organization. About ten links popped up， all of them with some variation[变化] of “Is the National Society for High School Scholars a Scam？”
I looked at the organization’s website， where they listed criteria[标准] for membership. Wait a second. After the list of criteria， there was an asterisk[星号]： “Note： receiving an invitation may not verify[核实] actually meeting these criteria.” So if they are sending out invitations to people who don’t meet the criteria， how could this be a real honor society？ The website said you needed a PSAT注 score of 200 to become a member. My score was 189. The majority opinion on the Internet？ Yes， this was， in fact， a kind of scam.
Was I really that gullible to be fooled by a letter clearly trying to play to the fragile egos[自我] of teenagers？ Yes—but I wasn’t the only one. When I talked to my friends， it turned out some of them had received the same letter and were thinking about sending in the $60. The fact that this organization had gotten hold of my personal contact information really bothered me， especially because they may have gotten my information from when I took the PSAT the previous[早先的] fall. When I took the PSAT， I checked off the little box that allowed the College Board to give my information to colleges. Throughout the year， I’d been getting glossy[虚饰的] looking letters in the mail from less-than-stellar[第一流的] colleges， but I hadn’t gotten anything so deceitful（asking for money） in the mail.
I wondered how many kids who get this letter actually send their money in because the letter makes admission sound so prestigious and selective. I myself was almost convinced by how flattering[谄媚的] the letter was， and how great the scholarship opportunities the organization appeared to offer were.
The only thing I could really do was be on the lookout for these kinds of scams in the future. There are a lot of other scholarship scams out there geared toward kids eager to get help with the everincreasing cost of tuition[学费].
这个机构掌握了我的个人联系信息这件事确实让我很烦恼，特别是他们也许是在我去年秋季参加PSAT考试时拿到我信息这一点。参加PSAT考试的时候，我在“允许美国大学理事会将我的个人信息透露给各大学”这个选项的旁边打了个勾。一年来，我收到了很多外表精美的信，它们都来自不太有名的院校，但我还没收过如此具有欺诈性（直接向人要钱）的信。
我在想，有多少收到这封信的学生真的向那边汇款了，因为这封信把录取机会说得多么特别，过程多么精挑细选。我自己也差点被这封讨好人的信蒙骗了，它把该机构提供的奖学金机会说得有多么难得。
我唯一能做的就是以后警惕这类骗局。在学费不断上涨的今天，外面还有很多奖学金骗局等着那些希望得到帮助的学生上当呢。
语法小提示
对于这次受骗经历，作者用了几个和被骗有关的单词，一起看看它们的用法。
1. Scam [？？？？]为名词，就是“花招、骗局”，为美国俚语，如an insurance scam（保险骗局）。Scam有时也可以作为动词使用，如：When I told them they were being scammed， they couldn’t believe it.（当我告诉他们被人骗了时，他们简直无法相信。）
2. 形容词gullible[？？？？？？？]形容一个人容易上当受骗或轻信别人，如：He’s so gullible you can sell him anything.（他是那么容易上当，卖给他什么东西他都要。）与gullible相关的动词是gull[？？？]，意为“欺骗或蒙骗”，如gull sb. out of sth.（骗取某人的某物）或gull a person into buying rubbish（骗人买无用的东西），但这种用法已经过时，不常用。Gull作为名词时就是海鸥（又作seagull），也用来形容容易受骗的人、笨蛋。
3. fool [？？？？]既可以是名词（蠢人、傻瓜），也可以是动词（欺骗）或形容词（愚蠢的，非正式的美式英语），学习例句，看看用法的差别：What fool has put that wet paintbrush on my chair？（哪个笨蛋把未干的画笔放在我的椅子上？）She fooled the old man out of all his money.（她骗走了那位老人所有的钱。）That fool son of mine has smashed up his new car.（我那傻儿子把他的新车撞坏了。）以上三个例句，你分清了它们的词性了吗？
4. dupe [？？？？？]作名词时意为“受骗/上当的人”；作为动词使用则表示“欺骗、愚弄”，经常以被动形式出现，后接into，如：The salesman duped the old lady into buying a faulty dishwasher.（推销员哄骗那个老太太买了一台有毛病的洗碟机。）
5. 名词deceit [？？？？？？？]是“欺诈行为”或“欺骗手段”的意思，如：He got the money by deceit.（他靠欺骗弄到了钱。）deceitful则是其形容词形式，表示“有意欺骗的、不诚实的”，如deceitful words（故意歪曲事实的话）。它们的动词形式是deceive，有“欺诈、蒙蔽”的意思，如：He deceived me—he lied about the money.（他欺骗了我——关于钱的事他撒了谎。）They deceived her into signing the papers.（他们骗她在文件上签了名。）
6. Rip off有“敲诈、占便宜”的意思，如：They ripped us off at that hotel.（那家旅馆敲了我们竹杠。）The bigger， more reputable online casinos are not going to rip you off.（规模更大、声誉更好的网上赌场不会宰你。）
做个精明学生
现在的骗子越来越高明，骗人伎俩五花八门，我们要时刻警惕，别让骗子得逞哦。当你遇到以下情况，就要注意了。
提供奖学金“独家信息”：如果某个奖学金机构说它能够提供某些信息，而这些信息在其他地方却查不到，这或许就是一个骗局。大部分高等院校的奖学金和津贴来自政府和学校本身，其信息不是秘密。即使是私人组织提供的奖学金也是公开的——他们希望在最大范围内公开信息，以吸引最优秀的候选人。
不费任何工夫就可以拿到奖学金：如果一个机构说一切包在他们身上，这可能就是骗你上当。大多数奖学金赞助者希望看到候选人的论文或自荐信。
保证拿到奖学金：没有机构可以保证你一定拿到奖学金，但不法分子往往以此为卖点。真实的大学奖学金都有一定标准，服务机构不可能做出保证。
“你被选中了”：上文就属于这类骗局。如果你没有向这些服务机构提出过任何申请，而他们又给你寄来一些你没听过的奖学金信息，你应该仔细核查。
申请需要收费：申请奖学金无须交费。
助学贷款发放前就要收费：一些低息助学贷款在审批或发放前要求你预先支付一定费用，遇到这类贷款时务必小心。
“免费研讨会”或申请人面试：又是一种要你交钱的骗术。