实战口语情景对话 第340期:University Life 大学生活

Todd: Miki, you went to UC Berkeley, a very famous university in the U.S. What is your university like? Why is it famous?
托德：美琪，你大学上的是加州大学伯克利分校，这是美国一所非常有名的大学。你的大学怎么样？它为什么这么有名？

Miki: Why is it famous? Well, I suppose historically it's kind of famous, recent history, because it was a center for the freedom of speech movement in the 1960's and the civil rights movement, and it's pretty much where multi-culturalism, feminist studies and those sorts of so called liberal political movements were born and they're still quite strong today on campus and so students kind of get drawn to that, the political aspect of it I suppose, also the, it's a research university and it attracts nobel laureates, very famous professors, at the top of their field, it's also quite a beautiful campus, I love the campus, it's not, it's not, how do you say?
美琪：它为什么有名？我想从历史上来看很有名，近代史上，因为这所大学是上世纪60年代自由言论运动和民权运动的中心，而且这所大学是多元文化、女性主义研究和自由政治运动的诞生地，现在这些元素在校园内的色彩也很浓重，所以学生们会接触到这些与政治相关的方面，这所大学是研究型学校，所以会吸引诺贝尔奖得主、各领域的著名教授，同时这所学校非常漂亮，我爱这所学校，并不是……你怎么看？

Todd: It's not like maybe a college town, or?
托德：不是大学城那种吗，还是……

Miki: Ah, no, it's not really a college town, of course, because it's right smack in the middle of a metropolitan area which is the Bay Area, and just right across the bay from San Francisco. The natural scenery is quite beautiful. There's the ocean to the west. There are mountains to the east and just beautiful gorgeous sunsets going down into the Golden Gate. The natural scenery is just beautiful, and the architecture of the campus is quite beautiful too, and apparently during the war, World War II, a number of tests were done on campus in terms of integrating floral species with each other, and so you have firs next to cedar which is a strange combination. The idea was would they kill each other.
美琪：不是，实际上并不是大学城，因为学校恰好位于市区中心，位于海湾区，就位于旧金山海湾的对面。那里的自然风景很美。西面就是海洋。东部是山区，美妙的日落会落在金门上。那里的自然风景美极了，当然学校的建筑也很美，显然在第二次世界大战期间有很多试验在学校里进行，试验涉及互相整合花卉品种，所以首先就用了雪松，这真是个奇怪的结合。当时的想法是他们会互相杀害。

Todd: Oh, Wow! That's awful!
托德：哦，哇！那太糟糕了！

Miki: Yeah, no, so there's some scientific engineering going on on campus.
美琪：对，学校里会有一些科学工程在进行。

Todd: But the trees survived?
托德：那那些树活了吗？

Miki: Yes, as a matter of fact.
美琪：事实上活了。

Todd: Well, that's good. You can't fool nature.
托德：哦，那不错。你不能愚弄自然。

Miki: No. no, but it is a beautiful campus, and I went there for four years as an undergrad. I lived in the dormitory for the first year and I lived in the co-ops from the second through the fourth year and the co-ops are kind of a housing community that's owned by students, it's run by students and is there for quite cheap so it attracts poor students who work, while they go to school at the same time, and that's who I was. I worked at a restaurant, I worked at a sandwich shop, I worked at a toy store, I worked as a secretary to put myself through school and lived quite cheaply in these co-ops which incidentally also had marvelous parties and almost every weekend there was some party somewhere that one of these co-ops was putting on, and it was really wonderful.
美琪：嗯，不过那是个美丽的校园，我在那里上了四年本科。大一的时候我住在宿舍，大二到大四住在合作公寓，合作公寓就是学生拥有并运营的住宅社区，那里很便宜，所以吸引了许多勤工俭学的学生，而我也是其中之一。我在餐厅、三明治店和玩具店工作过，我还做过秘书，我用打工赚来的钱支付学校的费用，而这些合作公寓的价钱非常低廉，还有盛大的派对，几乎每个周末公寓里都会举办派对，非常精彩。

Todd: Wow! Sounds like a good time.
托德：哇！听起来那是段开心的时光。

Miki: Yeah!
美琪：没错！