Your teacher hands you your syllabus.

老師把課程大綱交給你。

And yup, you're going to spend $150 on a textbook for a class you don't care about.

然後...沒錯！你要為了一堂根本不在乎的課，花 150 美元買教科書！

Turns out, it's not unreasonable for some four-year college students to spend close to $500 a year on textbooks.

結果發現，四年制大學的學生每年購買教科書的費用高達 500 美元，這件事是合理的。

And it doesn't seem like prices are coming down any time soon.

近期內價格似乎也無法壓低。

Textbook costs rose 67% from 2008 to 2018.

從 2008 到 2018 年為止，教科書的價格成長了 67%。

Which is putting a serious strain on students' wallets.

造成了學生荷包嚴重緊縮。

But how did the college textbook publishing industry become so pricey?

到底大學教科書的出版業怎麼會變得如此昂貴？

Almost 80% of the textbook industry is dominated by 5 major publishers.

有五間主要的出版商瓜分了近八成的教科書產業。

And they're doing everything in their power to make sure that students keep buying new textbooks.

它們竭盡所能，為確保學生會持續買新的教科書。

To save money, college students started buying used textbooks for cheaper or rented them from bookstores.

為了省錢，大學生開始買較便宜的二手書，或是從書店租書。

But publishers took notice and started bundling new textbooks with special codes that restricted access.

然而出版商注意到此現象，並開始將教科書綁定特別的代碼，這些代碼會限制內容存取的資格。

Forcing students to buy new textbooks at the full retail price.

迫使學生購買原價的全新教科書。

One study reported that 67% of students skipped buying textbooks altogether

一項研究顯示，67% 的學生不買教科書。

because of rising prices and restrictive codes.

因為上漲的價格與限制的代碼。

And that's not the only thing publishers have done to get students to buy new textbooks.

這並非出版商為使學生購買新教科書的唯一手段。

There used to be a new edition update every five years.

以前是每五年會更新版本。

But now, the production cycle has been shortened to two or three years.

可是現在生產週期被縮短至二、三年

New editions have reordered chapters or changes in page numbers, making it harder to use older editions.

新的版本會重整章節的順序，或是更改頁碼，讓舊的版本越來越難用。

And it can cost up to $150 more.

新的版本可能需要花費 150 以上的美元。

But students have some other options to consider if they want to avoid expensive textbooks.

若是想避免購買昂貴的教科書，學生有其他選擇可以考慮：

Some schools are starting to use open-source educational materials instead of traditional textbooks.

有些學校開始推動開放資源式的教材，以取代傳統的教科書。

That way, students can access open-license texts, digital media,

如此，學生便可取得開放授權的文本、數位媒體，

and other learning materials for a fraction of the cost, but the movement is still in its infancy.

還有其他學習資源，全部只需一點花費，然而推動仍在初期階段。

So far, only 6% of schools are using these open resources.

目前只有 6% 的學校在使用這些開放資源。

It may be a while before we see textbook prices drop.

要等到教科書價格下跌，可能還需一段時間。

So for now, you may have to shell over $150 for a textbook you probably won't even read.

所以現在你可能還是要花 150 美元，買一本可能根本不會看的書！