剑桥大学校园英语情景对话33：牛津剑桥如影随形（mp3+中英）

J： Mark, which university is better, Oxford or Cambridge?

J:马克，牛津大学和剑桥大学哪个比较好？

M: It's hard to say. Both of them rank the top in the world.

M:这不好说。两所都是世界顶尖的学校。

J： Well, which one is older?

J:那么哪一所的历史更久远呢？

M： Both were founded more than 800 years ago, and continued as England's only universities until the 19th century. Let me see...Oxford was first mentioned in 12th century records, while Cambridge was found in 1209.

M:两所大学都有超过800年的建校历 史，直至19世纪仍然是英国仅有的 两所大学。让我想想……公元12世 纪的记录中有了对牛津的最早记录，而剑桥成立于1209年。

J： Is there any relationship between them since they were the only universities that time?

J：既然他们是那时候仅有的大学，他 们之间有设有什么特殊关系呢？

M: Yes. It was said that Cambridge grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed, early records suggest, in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk.

M:有啊。据早期文献记载，那个时候 一些牛津学者为了躲避反对他们的 市民而来到剑桥，建立了剑桥大学。

J： That’s interesting! No wonder it is said that Oxford is the mother of Cambridge?

J：这太有趣了！难怪人们总是说，牛津是剑桥的母亲。

M: The two “ancient universities” have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge.

M:这两所“古老的大学"有很多的共同点，通常被含称为“牛桥”。

J: Oxbridge? Oh, I see. It is a combination of the name of the two universities—the former part of Oxford and the latter part of Cambridge.

J:牛桥？哦，我明白了。这是用他们的名字组含而成的，也就是牛津的前半部分和 剑桥的后半部分。

M： You are right!

M:你说的对。

J: Who invented this name?

J：是谁发明了这种叫法？

M: William Thackeray. In his novel Pendennis, published in 1849，the main character Pendennis wants to attend the fictional College, Oxbridge, but failed. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the first recorded instance of the word.

M:英国作家威廉萨克雷。他1849年完成的小说《潘登尼斯》中的主人公想到一所 叫‘‘牛桥”的大学求学却没有被录取。根据牛津英语词典，这是关于这个词的最早记载。

J ： I never read his works, but I bet he is full of imagination.

J:我从来设有读过他的书，不过我想他一定是个充满想象力的人。

M： Yes, he is. Actually, Pendennis also introduced the term Camford as another combination of the university names, but this term has never achieved the same degree of usage as Oxbridge.

M:他的确是。实际上蓄登尼斯》中还创造了这两所大学的另外一个合成词“剑津"， 但这个词从来就没有“牛桥”的使用频率高。

J: Since both of them are the top universities in Britain and even in the world, I，m wondering whether they want to slug it out for who is the best.

J:既然两所都是英国乃至世界最顶尖的学府，我在想，他们有没有想过要决一胜负， 看看谁是最好的呢？

M: Many annual competitions are held between Oxford and Cambridge, including the famous annual Boat Race. The first Boat Race was won by Oxford, but Cambridge lead the overall series with 79 wins to Oxford's 75, with one dead heat in 1877.

M:他们会举行许多各种各样的年度比赛，其中就有著名的赛艇。第一届赛艇，牛津 获胜。但是剑桥以获胜79次的总成绩超过了获胜75次的牛津，除了 1877年出 现了一次平局。

J： I know the boat race, and I heard that the boat race for this year will be held on Saturday, 3 April.

J：我知道那个赛艇，听说今年的比赛会在4月3日（星期六）举行。

M： Yes. It is a big event in Britain,

M:对。这在英国可不是件小事啊。

J: Anything else besides this competition?

J:除了这个，还有别的比赛吗？

M： The other major Oxbridge competitons are the Rugby union and Rugby League Varsity Matches.

M:其他的主要赛事有，英国撒揽球联赛和橄榄球联盟大学对抗赛。

J: I don't think they are as popular as the Boat Race since I never heard about that.

J:这两个比赛应该不像赛艇那么有名吧，我从来都设有听说过。

M: The Boat Race and the two Varsity Matches are notable in the UK in that they are the only university sports events that have any public profile outside the universities themselves; all three are screened live on national television and are widely covered in the national media.

M:赛艇和两个对杭赛在英国都很有名，因为他们不仅是大学内部的体育比赛，还受 到公众的广泛关注。这三项比赛都会对全国观众进行直播，也会受到全国媒体的 广泛关注。

J: Despite the impassioned rivalry between the two universities, there is also much cooperation when the need arises.

J:两所大学之间除了这些激烈的比赛以外，在需要的时候，还会进行含作。

M: That's true. Most Oxford colleges have a sister college in Cambridge. Some Oxford and Cambridge colleges with the same name are “sisters”，for example, Jesus College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Oxford. Trinity College, Oxford is the sister college of Churchill College, Cambridge, while Trinity College, Cambridge is the sister college of Christ Church, Oxford.
 

M:这倒是真的。牛津大学的大多数学院都在剑桥大学有兄弟学院。有一些学院的名 字都一样，例如剑桥大学耶稣学院和牛津大学耶稣学院。而剑桥大学三一学院和 牛津大学基督学院就是兄弟学院。