牛桥：本是同根生

福建龙岩市上杭县才溪中学 卓义胜

Oxbridge is acompositeof the two mostrenowneduniversities in Britain,the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge,which was founded by scholars fleeing Oxford in 1209.There are a great many similarities between them,so they arejointlyreferred to as Oxbridge.

The history of the two universities can be traced back to the 11th and 13th centuries respectively,whereas the term “Oxbridge” originated from the British writer William Thackeray's novelPendennis,published in 1849.It was not until the middle of the 20th century that“Oxbridge”was accepted gradually.The most common feature between Oxford and Cambridge is their collegiate structure,both of them are composed of more than 30 autonomous colleges,which provide the environments in which students live and sleep.Applicants must choose aspecificcollege when applying to Oxford or Cambridge,or allow the university to select one for them,because all undergraduate and graduate students must be a member of one of the university colleges.

However,students studying the same subject are given lectures together,irrespective of which college they attend.Colleges regularlycompetewith each other in avarietyof fields,including sports,speech anddebate,and so on.

Word bank

1.compositen.混合物；综合体

2.renownedadj.闻名的；受尊敬的

3.jointlyadv.共同地；联合地

4.specificadj.特定的；明确的；具体的

5.competev.竞争；对抗；参加比赛

6.varietyn.不同种类；多种式样

7.debaten.辩论；讨论

参考译文

牛桥，是英国最著名的两所大学——牛津大学和剑桥大学的合称。剑桥大学是由1209年从牛津大学逃离的学者们建立的。两所大学之间有着很多的共同点，因此常常被合称为牛桥。

两校的历史分别可以追溯到11世纪和13世纪，但是，“牛桥”一词的说法则起源于英国作家威廉·萨克雷于1849年完成的小说《潘登尼斯》。直到20世纪中叶,“牛桥”一词才逐渐被人们所接受。牛津大学和剑桥大学最大的共同点在于它们的学院结构，它们都是由30多所自治的学院组成的，这里是学生们日常生活和居住的地方。学生们入学时必须选择一个特定的学院，或是自己选，或是由学校来选，因为本科生和研究生都必须从属于学校的某一个学院。

但是，上课则是按照学系分班，共同授课，不论他们属于哪个学院。学院之间经常有各种比赛，包括体育比赛和演讲辩论赛等。