編者按:一年一度的大學開學典禮即將來臨,十年寒窗苦讀等待的就是這一刻。來到大學時,一切都是新鮮的,但每一位新生不可避免地都要面臨一個問題——“我將如何度過自己的大學生活?”。也許你早就從家長們、老師們、師兄師姐們還有大肆宣傳的媒體上了解到了很多關(guān)于大學生活的信息,無論是美好的還是無趣的,你的腦海中已經(jīng)構(gòu)架除了一幅大學生活的畫面,但這都僅僅是大學生活的一角。你知道國外的學生是如何看待并度過自己的大學生活的嗎?還有那些只能在電視和報紙上所見到的名校。本期欄目中我們就帶你一起去感受世界頂尖學府的大學生活,聽聽那里的學生如何描述自己的大學夢。

We know many of our readers here at Bilingual Time are students, and you must have your own stories of university life to tell. But how do they compare to studying in other countries? We asked a few students, some still at university, some long graduated, to tell us their stories.

我們都知道《雙語時代》的很多讀者都是學生,你肯定也有屬于自己的大學故事。但如果和國外的學生比較又會如何呢?為此,我們走訪了一些外國學生,聽他們講述自己的故事,其中一些人仍在大學學習,還有一些已經(jīng)畢業(yè)。

Getting In

華麗的序曲——進入大學

在進入大學之前大家都要經(jīng)過漫長的求學歲月,尤其在中國,高考的重要性不言而喻,那么其他國家的學生是怎么進入大學的呢?

I didn?t get into my first choice university, Edinburgh, because I didn't get the grades. I needed BBA, and I got two Bs and a C – I still don?t know what went wrong in my exams, but I remember getting the envelope with the results in and almost breaking down in tears right there in school.But I?d got the marks for my second choice, Birmingham, so I went there instead – but with a kind of feeling of disappointment, of course.

– Andrew, Birmingham University 2000

我并沒有被我的第一志愿愛丁堡大學錄取,因為我的分數(shù)不夠。我必須要得到兩個B和一個A,但我只拿到了兩個B和一個C——到現(xiàn)在我還不清楚到底是考試中哪里出了問題,但我仍然記得在學校收到附有結(jié)果的信件,幾乎當場落淚的情景。然而我的分數(shù)達到了第二志愿伯明翰大學的要求,因此我去了那里——當然,還是有一點失落。

——安德魯,伯明翰大學,2000

I never really had to worry about finances, not because my family was rich – we?re not – but because I had great marks in school, and I already spoke two other languages, and was always going to be on a full scholarship ride. I got offers from Yale, Columbia, and Stanford, and picked Stanford, because they gave me the best deal.

– Nick, Stanford 2002

我從來都無須擔心資金問題,并不是因為我的家庭很富有——實際上我們家境普通——而是因為我在學校的分數(shù)非常高,我還會另外兩門外語,一直都是拿全額獎學金,因此,我拿到了耶魯大學、哥倫比亞大學還有斯坦福大學的錄取通知書,并最終選擇了斯坦福,因為他們給的待遇最好。

——尼克,斯坦福大學,2002

I went to Wisconsin because it was the state university for me, so it was easiest and cheapest. I still had to take out a student loan, though – it was $40?000 or so by the end of the four years.I?m nowhere near being able to pay it off, but they?re fairly generous about deferring payment, thankfully.

– Katie, Wisconsin-Madison 2003.

我選擇威斯康星大學是因為它是公立大學,所以條件比較寬松,學費也最便宜。但我還是要申請學生貸款——四年一共是四萬美元左右?，F(xiàn)在我還沒還多少,非常感謝他們那么寬容允許我延遲還款。

——卡蒂,威斯康星大學麥迪遜分校,2003

Going to university was a late choice for me. I was a miner for twelve years, before the collieries were closed in the 1980s. We got money as part of our redundancy packages; I used mine to fund my living expenses through university as a mature student. I was the first person in my family to ever go to university. It was strange at first, being so much older than everyone else in my class, but I got used to it.

– Tony, Durham 1993

對我而言上大學是一個遲到的選擇。在上世紀八十年代煤礦關(guān)閉之前,我做了12年的礦工。除了繁冗的行李我們也拿到了一些賠償金,作為一個成人大學生,我將采礦賺來的錢用以支付大學的花費。我是我們家第一個上大學的人。我比班里其它學生都年長很多,一開始感覺有點奇怪,但很快就習慣了。

——托尼,杜倫大學,1993

I didn't apply to uni to begin with, because I wanted to travel for a year or two. I had a good HSC score, so I knew I?d be able to get in when I did. So I went to England for six months, and then spent three months travelling around Europe, and then went back home and applied to Sydney without any problems. I had a fantastic time in Europe, especially Italy, and I?m glad I took the year out.

– Suzannah, Sydney 2003

一開始我并沒有申請大學,因為我打算先旅行一兩年。我的HSC(Higher School Certificate,澳洲高考)分數(shù)還不錯,所以我知道我如果申請一定能夠成功。我先去英國待了6個月,接著又花了三個月時間去環(huán)游歐洲,然后回家,并順利成功申請了悉尼大學。我在歐洲度過了非常美好的時光,尤其是在意大利,我很慶幸自己用了一年的時間出去旅游。

——蘇珊娜,悉尼大學,2003

Settling In

偏離的幻想曲——適應大學

理想和現(xiàn)實總是有些格格不入,剛剛進去大學首先要做的事情就是適應新環(huán)境。在這里沒有了以前父母的制約管束和老師的面提耳令,你要如何應對這一切?

I was really lonely at first. I?m not really a joining type of person, and Oxford life is very much organized around societies and clubs and so on. So it took me a while to find friends, and at first I missed home, and I missed my mum?s cooking, and all this. But once I?d found people I liked I was ok.

– Ben, Oxford 1999.

最初我感到很孤獨,我并不是一個很合群的人,牛津的生活和社團、俱樂部等等聯(lián)系很緊密。我花了一段時間才找到朋友,一開始我很想家,想念媽媽的廚藝等等。一旦找到志趣相投的朋友我就沒什么問題了。

——本,牛津大學,1999

I love uni! As soon as I got here there were events and parties – seriously, I haven?t had a spare moment since I arrived. I wish I had more time to myself, if anything! I?m really really good friends with my roommate, and with everyone on my floor – I?m going to miss them soooo much in the holiday.

– Emma, Dartmouth 2012

我愛極了大學!我一到這里到處都是活動和聚會——老實說,到這以后我?guī)缀醵紱]什么空閑時間。如果可以的話我真希望能夠多點時間留給自己。我和室友們還有我們這一層樓的女生

都是非常好的朋友——放假時我會非常非常非常想念她們。

——艾瑪,達特茅斯學院,2012

University was honestly a bit boring for me at first, because I?d enjoyed my year out so much.Everyone seemed really young and life was much more restricted than I was used to. Once I got used to it and made some friends, it was ok, but it wasn't the big revelation it is to some people.

– Suzannah, Sydney 2003

老實說,一開始我覺得大學有點無聊,因為我一直都很享受外面游玩的日子。和我以前的人生相比,大學里的人看起來太年輕,生活也有很多限制。當我適應并結(jié)交了一些朋友后就沒什么問題了,不過沒有某些人那樣特別驚喜的感覺。

——蘇珊娜,悉尼,2003

Well, like I said, it was weird for me because I was in my mid-thirties, and everyone else was 18 or 19. Not everyone – there were other mature students, and we formed really a group by ourselves. Quite a few of them were parents already. But I made friends among the younger students, too, though I never went to the parties. Now I?m a lecturer myself, and they look even younger to me.

– Tony, Durham 1992

呃,像我剛才所說的,我已經(jīng)人到中年,而班里其他人才18或19歲,這對我來說很奇妙。不是所有人都這樣年輕——這里還有別的成人學生,我們自發(fā)地組成了一個小組。有一些人已經(jīng)為人父母了。我還結(jié)交了一些年輕的朋友,不過我從不參加聚會?，F(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)成為一個講師,而他們看起來比我更年輕了。

——托尼,杜倫大學,1993

I lived at home for the first two years, before I moved in with my boyfriend, so I don?t think student life was really the same for me as for the people living in halls and so on. It was really just like going to a bigger, looser school. I never spent a lot of time hanging out with other students; I already had my own worlds elsewhere, so I just went to class and talked a bit with my classmates afterward.

– Susan, Manchester 2006.

在搬去和男友同居前,大學前兩年我都是住在家里的,所以我覺得我的學生生活和那些住在宿舍或者什么其它地方的人不一樣。就像是進去了一個更大、更自由的學校,我很少和其他學生一起出去玩,我已經(jīng)有了自己的圈子,因此我只是去學校上課,和同學間簡單地交流。

——蘇珊,曼徹斯特大學,2006

Partying

清新的小夜曲——休閑時光

大學和高中最大的不同就是張弛有道,課外生活變得異常豐富,而你也可以開始享受更多成人的禮遇,開始多姿多彩的半社會化生活。

There were a lot of drugs going round at my college, yes. The big distinction was that the middle-class kids smoked pot, and the upper-class ones snorted coke. It didn't make a big difference to anybody?s studies, really, it was just par for the course. I did know one boy who failed his first year in Medicine, even though he was quite brilliant, because he drank and snorted so much that he missed too many ?practicals.' He was from a Muslim family, and he?d been very restricted before going to college, so he went a bit crazy. May Week was the worst. That?s a big party week at the end of the school year, in June – I know, it?s a weird name – and everybody takes whatever they can get their hands on. One of my friends bought and sold a thousand tablets of ?E in five days; she made enough money to fund her PhD studies.

– Emma, Cambridge 1998.

沒錯,我們學校毒品泛濫。最大的區(qū)別是低年級的學生抽大麻,而高年級的學生則吸食可卡因。這對他們的學業(yè)沒有任何影響,真的,這是很常見的事。我知道有一個學醫(yī)的男孩第一年掛科了,盡管他非常聰明,但是他酗酒,吸毒過量,導致他錯過很多實踐機會。他來自一個穆斯林家庭,上大學之前家教非常嚴格,因此后來就有一點小瘋狂。五月周達到瘋狂的極限。那是在六月份學年結(jié)束時的一個大型聚會周——我知道這個名字很奇怪——每個人都可以盡其所能地滿載而歸。我有一個朋友五天內(nèi)交易了一千片迷幻劑,賺夠了攻讀博士學位的學費。

——艾瑪,達特茅斯學院,2012

I don?t think my classmates were that promiscuous. I only slept with two guys throughout college, and one of them was my high school boyfriend. There were lots of casual hookups at parties, and there were boys who were really players, though.

– Lizzie, Columbia 2001

我覺得我的同學們都沒有那么濫交。大學期間我只有過兩個男朋友,其中一個是我高中的戀人。在聚會上會有很多隨意的勾搭,一些男孩是真正的游戲高手。

——莉齊,哥倫比亞大學,2001

I wasn?t really into partying as such, but I love music, and we had some great bands in my school.I mean, fantastic bands, though they almost always ended up breaking up after a few months. So I spent a lot of time jamming with people, working on stuff – I?m still in a group with some of the people I went to uni with, even.

– Matt, Cambridge 1999

我并不是很熱衷于參加聚會,但我喜歡音樂,在學校時我們組建了一些不錯的樂隊,我的意思是,很棒的樂隊,盡管大多都毫無例外地在幾個月后就解散了。因此大學里,我大部分時間都在倒騰這些事情了——現(xiàn)在我還是和一些以前的同學在玩樂隊。

——馬特,劍橋大學,1999

I went to a weird fundamentalist ?university,? and we weren't allowed within a foot – I?m not kidding – of the boys. My parents were both Christian fundamentalists, so they sent me there; it wasn't even an accredited college, so the three years there were basically useless to me. I?d grown up in that world, but it was still a shock to me quite how restrictive it was; we weren't allowed any music after 1900. Because of the restrictions on boys, there was a lot of lesbianism, ironically enough. Anyway, I got out of that world after my dad divorced my mom and married one of my college friends, same age as me; that was the final straw. I ended up going back to a real university to study journalism.

– Julie, NYU 2008.

我的大學是一所嚴格信奉基督教的古怪學校,甚至不允許我們靠近男生一英尺以內(nèi)——我沒有開玩笑。我的父母都是基督徒,所以他們把我送去了那,這所學院甚至都不被認可,因此基本上我在那里的三年毫無意義。我在基督教的世界長大,但那里的嚴格限制依舊讓我感到震驚,他們甚至不允許我們聽1900年以后的歌曲。極其諷刺的是,由于對男生的嚴格限制,那里出了很多拉拉。不管怎樣,在我父親和母親離婚并娶了我的大學同學(和我同年)后,我終于擺脫了那個世界,那真是最后的救命稻草。后來我去了真正的大學攻讀新聞。

——朱莉,紐約大學,2008

I don?t remember a lot of drug use, though there was a girl in my college who had a breakdown – LSD, I think – and had to go home for the rest of the term to recover. I do remember a lot of emotional drama. People were always dumping each other, or stealing boyfriends, or having big conversations about what they were doing, or what they were going to do in the future. I spent an exchange year at Padua, in Italy, and it was just the same there, only with more yelling and threats … Italians are like that.

– Lauren, Vancouver 2006.

我對毒品泛濫沒什么印象,但大學里有一個女孩精神嚴重崩潰——我猜是搖頭丸——那個學期剩下的時間她就回家休養(yǎng)了。但我記得有很多情感劇不停上演。人們互相勾搭或者翹走別人的男友,或者激烈地討論他們正在做什么,將來要做什么。我有一年在意大利的帕多瓦做交換生,情況完全一樣,只是多了一些尖叫和恐嚇……意大利人就是那樣。

——勞倫,英屬哥倫比亞大學,2006

Studying

斑駁的變奏曲——學習生活

雖然大學里學習已經(jīng)不是唯一的目的,但如果想要為未來打好基礎(chǔ),專業(yè)而深度的學習研究必不可少,要怎樣合理分配時間才能達到最好的效果呢?

Oxford is very relaxed about lecture attendance, particularly in the humanities. I was reading History, and we really didn't have to go to lectures. I used to go to one or two a week, if that.Most of the time it was easier just to read papers and books. What was important was tutorials; you?d see your supervisors once a week – normally two or three of them a week – for an hour in small groups, to discuss your essays. So we were normally doing two essays a week, which is a lot compared to most English universities. I had a friend, though, who went over to Princeton on exchange for a year, in the law department. The first week he was very jetlagged, so he decided to skip classes and just wander around getting used to things. On the Saturday he got a call from the dean of the law department, asking if was ok. He said yes, and explained. Then there was a sharp intake of breath, and the Dean said ?Mr Jones, classes are compulsory!? and he said ?Good god!If they?d told me that, I would never have come!?

- Ben, Oxford 1999.

牛津大學對出勤率要求十分寬松,尤其是文科。我當時讀的是歷史,因此我?guī)缀鯖]怎么上過課,可能的話,一周去一到兩次。大部分之間我都在很安逸地閱讀論文和書籍,但重要的是導師,你必須一周見他一次——一般來說是一周中見兩到三個——在小組里用一小時討論你的論文。所以我們通常是一周寫兩篇論文,和其他的英國大學相比任務量很大。我有一個法學院的朋友作為交換生去普林斯頓待了一年。第一個星期他覺得還沒有倒好時差,因此決定不去上課,四處逛逛熟悉環(huán)境,周六的時候他接到法學院院長的電話,詢問是否一切安好。他說是的,并解釋了原因。然后就聽見深呼吸,院長說“瓊斯先生,上課是必修的”,我朋友感嘆“上帝啊!如果他們早點告訴我(必須上課),我永遠都不要來(普林斯頓)”。

——本,牛津大學,1999

I had to work very hard at Columbia – especially in the last two years, between social stuff and studying I only slept 5-6 hours a night. It was important to me to get the best marks, to start with, and because Columbia?s a top school the level of competition is really high. I worked my ass off most weekends, in particular, because the due dates for papers tended to be Mondays or Tuesdays.I didn?t have a computer of my own then, so I?d use the computer lab, and at 3 am it would be crowded with people desperately finishing papers. The worst part was my senior thesis; that almost killed me, because I went on a road trip to Arizona when I should have been working on it at one point, and so had two weeks of work I had to catch up with when I got back.

– Lizzie, Columbia 2001.

在哥倫比亞大學我必須非常努力地學習——尤其是在最后兩年,因為我忙于社會工作和學習,每天只能休息5到6個小時。首先,對我來說拿到好成績很重要,因為哥倫比亞是一所頂尖學府,競爭非常激烈。尤其是周末,我?guī)缀趺Φ貌豢砷_交——因為論文的截止日多在周一或周二。我那時自己沒有電腦,所以要去機房,在凌晨三點的時候那里就會擠滿了人在拼命地完成論文。最糟糕的是我的畢業(yè)論文:那幾乎要了我的命,因為我在本應該完成論文的時間去亞利桑那州旅行了,所以回來后我不得不努力工作了兩周才趕上最后期限。

——莉齊,哥倫比亞大學,2001

To be honest, nobody at my school really studied that hard, at least the people majoring in English. I mean, you put in effort on serious things, but I only spent, I guess, about six hours a week studying, if that. The rest of the time I was just hanging out with people or working – I had a job at a coffee shop, which I needed to, well, have money to buy beer.

- Katie, Wisconsin-Madison 2003.

老實說,我們學校里沒人那么努力學習,至少英文系的人不用。我的意思是,你會努力去完成這些學業(yè),而我一周大概花六個小時學習吧。剩下的時間我和朋友們出去玩或者打工——我在一家咖啡館兼職,因為我需要錢來買啤酒。

——卡蒂,威斯康星大學麥迪遜分校,2003

I?m reading Mathematics, and we study pretty hard – harder than the humanities lot, certainly. I spend about thirty hours a week studying, maybe a bit more. But it?s a hard course, harder than most, and I think most people I know do a lot less.

– Bill, Manchester 2010.

我讀的是數(shù)學系,學習非常辛苦——當然要比文科難多了。我每周要花將近30個小時來學習,可能更久,但這個課程本身很難,非常難,我想我所認識的很多人遠沒這么辛苦。

——比爾,曼徹斯特大學,2010

When I was at the crazy fundamentalist college, we studied hard, but it was all – well, it was all useless knowledge. Like I said, they weren't accredited, and they were basically delusional, so we had Bible study classes that didn't mention comparative theology, English classes that didn't do anything after about 1920, if that, and that read everything through a hardcore Christian lens, and of course biology ?classes? about how evolution was false! And the thing is, a lot of us caught onto it, but had to stay there because, well, we?d grown up in that environment and felt guilty about leaving, plus of course lots of family pressure. So we didn't study hard because we knew what we were studying was basically useless. When I went to study journalism, instead, then I really worked hard, because I had so much to make up, and because I really enjoyed the course. It?s very well taught, mostly practical stuff, but even the theory is interesting.

– Julie, NYU 2008.

當我在瘋狂的基督學院時,我們的學習很辛苦,但全都是沒用的知識。像我說過的那樣,它們是不被認可的學校,他們教授的基本上都是謬論,我們有圣經(jīng)課卻從不提及比較神學,英文課只說上世紀二十年代以前的東西,僅僅從基督徒的角度去看待所有的事情,當然生物課關(guān)于進化論的學說全是瞎扯。問題在于,我們中很多人都明白這個事實,但還是必須留在那里,因為我們生長在那樣的環(huán)境,離開會感覺到罪惡,再加上家庭的壓力。因此我們沒有努力學習,因為我們知道我們所學的一切都毫無意義。但當我學習新聞時我就真的非常努力了,我有太多東西要彌補,而且我也很喜歡這個課程。老師們教得非常好,有很多實踐活動,甚至理論的東西也是妙趣橫生。

——朱莉,紐約大學,2008

I?m only a freshman, but I signed up for a lot of courses, which means more work, but I really love it! It?s really stretching my mind, especially the philosophy classes, and I think it?s great that we have so many options, even if it does mean a lot of final papers. My professors are very kind, though, so are the teaching assistants, if it wasn't for that I think I?d feel overwhelmed by the whole thing.

– Emma, Dartmouth 2012.

我還是個大一新生,但我修了很多門課,這就意味著很多功課,我很喜歡這種狀況。它們能夠擴展我的思想,尤其是哲學課,我很高興有這么多選擇,盡管這也意味著很多的畢業(yè)論文。我的教授和助教都非常的友善,如果不是這樣的話,我想我會完全不知所措。

——艾瑪,達特茅斯學院,2012

編者手記:在做完這一期欄目后,我們對大學生活又有了全新的認識,每個國家每個民族都有其獨特性,現(xiàn)代教育體制與這種民族特性以及文化傳統(tǒng)又密不可分。現(xiàn)行教育體制的缺失是不可否認的事實,縱觀世界,沒有一種現(xiàn)行的教育體制可以說是完美無缺。那么對于大學新生而言,四年的大學生活和經(jīng)歷卻是實實在在的寶貴光陰和青春歷程,要怎么樣度過?要如何去感受?現(xiàn)在就可以拉開序幕了!

Links

1. High School Exams in Different Countries

世界各國高考大觀

★美國高考

美國法律規(guī)定,教育是各州事務,聯(lián)邦政府不能過分干預。因此美國不存在全國統(tǒng)一的教育大綱,也不存在全國性的統(tǒng)考。SAT考試是由美國一家私營的教育考試機構(gòu)“教育測試服務中心”設計的。以前稱為“學術(shù)水平測試”,后改名為“學術(shù)能力測試”,簡稱都是SAT。是對將來學習潛能的考查,即學生是否具備繼續(xù)深造的能力,因此它已被各大學接受作為入學考試。SAT每年考7次,考生任選考試時間,不限考試次數(shù)?？荚嚉v時大約4個小時,分為兩部分,一是綜合部分,包括語文和數(shù)學兩部分,稱為SAT1;二是單科考試,如物理、化學、生物、外語等,稱為SAT2。其中SAT1是各大學都要求的,人們說SAT考試主要說的是它。不過,成績好并不能保證你能被所申報的大學錄取。除了成績之外,美國大學招生特別注重學生的全面素質(zhì),并將大學的特點、方向和需求等因素考慮進來。學生申請大學時還須提供自己在高中的成績單、教師或社會組織負責人的推薦信、參加社會活動的情況等。如果想上好學校比如普林斯頓、哈佛、斯坦福等競爭還是非常激烈的。

★英國高考

英國的高考是A-level考試,即Advanced Level的簡稱,是英國基礎(chǔ)教育的最高階段,也是英國學生進入大學最正宗而傳統(tǒng)的途徑。不同的是,A-level總共為兩年時間,而且學生根據(jù)個人興趣和將來大學本科要攻讀的專業(yè),自己選讀課程。較好的中學往往會開設20-30門以上的課程供選,而學生通常只要在第一年選修4門功課、第二年3門功課(是第一年課程的延續(xù))。隨后,學生根據(jù)自己的A-level成績,如AAA、ACB、CBD等填報大學申請。自2008年起,比預期考得好的高考生可在“升級周“內(nèi),申請早前因擔心成績不達標而沒有考慮的大學,其間可以保留已獲錄取的入學資格。英國的教育體系是世界上最古老的教育體系之一,它以先進的高等教育而聞名世界。在英國有100多所大學,要想進入享譽世界的牛津、劍橋等知名大學也不是那么容易的事情。

★法國高考

法國的高考稱“業(yè)士考試”,即著名的baccalaureat,簡稱Bac。它既是對中學結(jié)業(yè)的制約,又是大學第一階段的一部分,能為學生打開大學之門。與中國的考試相比,法國的業(yè)士考試考試種類豐富,具有較強的專業(yè)性;考試形式多樣化,結(jié)合多種因素確定學生的業(yè)士考試成績。對那些經(jīng)過證實因非意愿事件影響而無法參加正?？荚嚻诘膶W生,還安排了九月份的替代考試期(la session de remplacement)。學生上大學有多種選擇,可上綜合大學、大學校和專門學校,或者選擇先工作幾年。法國的學生有較多機會接受大學教育,而且大學教育的繼續(xù)和銜接機制也比較合理,但要接受精英型的大學教育,仍需經(jīng)過相當激烈的競爭。

★澳大利亞高考

澳大利亞是一個聯(lián)邦制國家,各州都有自行的法律和政策。在高考方面,雖然都得以遵循以人為本的教育原則,但各州亦不盡相同。每年10月,澳大利亞各州就各自舉行高考,時間達一個月之久。政府劃定十幾門科目為高考范圍后,就任由學生從中自選4門(多選則是自己的事)。而無論選哪4門,分值都是平等的。比如演講、體育就能與高等數(shù)學、經(jīng)濟學平起平坐。除此之外,在科目程度、高考時間上,學生的選擇也是自由的。首都堪培拉不考試,直接取平時成績的平均值。好的中學,當局會在每個畢業(yè)生的分數(shù)上加幾分,差的則減幾分,這個成績和外地考生的高考成績具有同等效力,憑它可以上全國各地的大學。

★加拿大高考

加拿大沒有高考。當高中生要想進入名牌大學的好專業(yè)學習,還是非常不容易的。加拿大各大學有自己的學生選拔制度。首先要提出申請。盡管會稍有差別,加拿大各大學對入學申請的內(nèi)容要求基本上還是相同的。一般的入學申請需要提供三個方面的文件:申請表格、中學成績單,以及申請費用。在申請表格上,會列出學生的基本情況和想學習的專業(yè)。把這三個材料寄到想要去的大學,加拿大的學生也就可以等著學校的通知了。但進入大學后的壓力也隨之而來。首先是在加拿大上大學費用高,另外,加拿大的大學課業(yè)很重,特別是對科學或工程系的學生,有時甚至通宵達旦地學習才能完成老師布置的作業(yè)。

★日本高考

日本是個學歷至上的社會,個人的社會地位、責任、資源和權(quán)力的分配都是由學歷以及就讀大學的知名度決定的。因此,日本的高考和中國一樣,都是人生命運的轉(zhuǎn)折點,競爭異常激烈。與中國不同的是,日本的高考不是一錘定音,國立、公立和部分私立大學,在每年的元月都有一次全國統(tǒng)一考試,主要是基礎(chǔ)學科,國語、英語、數(shù)學、理科(物理、地理、化學、生物)、社會學科。從2月中旬至3月底,各校再根據(jù)自己的情況,進行第二次專門考試。學校根據(jù)第二次考試成績和體檢結(jié)果就可以決定是否錄取。日本的考生分三類,一類是應屆高中畢業(yè)生。他們的學習任務異常繁重,參加各種類型的補習班。第二類學生是往屆落榜生,在日本被稱為“浪人”,這部分人沒有參加工作,專心致志地參加各種補習班或者自學。第三類參加高考的學生是已經(jīng)升入大學,但想再考一個好的大學,被稱為“假面浪人”。

(具體分析比較見本期《焦點》)

2. Drug Slang

毒品的別稱

如果在國外別人問你Do you smoke pot?你千萬不要愣在那,他可不是問你吸什么壺呀、盆呀,pot在這里指的是大麻(marijuana),也就是大麻的俗稱。俚語中,grass、coke與pot都是“毒品”的別稱。grass與pot指的是“大麻” (marijuana),而coke指的則是“古柯堿”或“可卡因”(cocaine),可卡因還稱為bump、candy、coke、flake以及snow等。

大麻是美國青年中流行的毒品。癮君子們很少稱呼其學名marijuana,而是代之以五花八門的綽號,例如:芽子(bud)、青草(grass)、雜草(weed)、茶葉(tea)、花盆(pot),甚至還有Aunt Mary、Magic Dragon等怪稱呼。此外,用大麻葉卷成的香煙叫joint。例如在一篇《美好舊時光》(Good Old Days)小文章里,一位年近半百的父親對他的兒子說:

'In my day grass was mowed,coke was a cold drink,pot was something your mother cooked in。and rock music was your grandmother's lullaby.Aids were helpers in the Principal's office,a chip meant a piece of wood,hardware was found in a hardware store and software wasn't even a word.'

“在我們那個年代,grass(草)是用來割的,coke(可樂)只是冷飲,而pot(鍋)也只是媽媽用來做飯的廚具而已(grass、coke與pot現(xiàn)在都是毒品的別稱)。此外,rock music (搖滾樂)是你祖母的搖籃曲。Aids(幫手,現(xiàn)在更多指艾滋病)是指在校長辦公室?guī)兔Φ娜?chip(木片條,現(xiàn)在多指芯片)只是一塊木頭,hardware(五金器具,現(xiàn)在多指硬件)可以在五金商店中找到,至于software(現(xiàn)在指軟件),它甚至還不是一個詞匯?！?/p>

Notes

1. jam with

意為“使擠滿”,文中這句話帶有點自嘲的意思,作者覺得雖然樂隊大部分都毫無例外地解散了,而且存在時間都不長,他大學的時光都是花在這些別人看來很無聊的事情上,但他還是很喜歡這種生活。因為他愛音樂。

2. lesbianism

意為“女性同性戀關(guān)系”。

3. work one's ass off

意為“非常努力做某事、忙得不可開交”。