So certainly it's a contentious issue at colleges,

这在大学是个有争议的话题
and what this meant, oddly enough,

说来也奇怪这就使得
is that when the grading system--

引入评分排名制后
when people actually figured out that

当人们发现
you could have a grading system and base--judge people based on grades,

有种等级制度是以成绩得分为基础
then unbelievably this was seen as a great relief.

难以置信地大家都松了口气
This made people really--Grades made people really, really happy,

这种打分制度让人们很欣慰
because it meant that you could

因为这意味着
be judged based on merit and

评判一个人的标准是成绩
not based on rank or social class.

而不是出身或社会地位
So you can give thanks to the democracy of grades.

所以要感谢这么民主的评分制
Remember that during this semester.

这学期一定要记住