美語情景對話 第340期:University Life 大學生活

Todd: Miki, you went to UC Berkeley, a very famous university in the U.S. What is your university like? Why is it famous?

託德：美琪，你大學上的是加州大學伯克利分校，這是美國一所非常有名的大學。你的大學怎麼樣？它爲什麼這麼有名？

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：它爲什麼有名？我想從歷史上來看很有名，近代史上，因爲這所大學是上世紀60年代自由言論運動和民權運動的中心，而且這所大學是多元文化、女性主義研究和自由政治運動的誕生地，現在這些元素在校園內的色彩也很濃重，所以學生們會接觸到這些與政治相關的方面，這所大學是研究型學校，所以會吸引諾貝爾獎得主、各領域的著名教授，同時這所學校非常漂亮，我愛這所學校，並不是……你怎麼看？

Todd: It's not like maybe a college town, or?

託德：不是大學城那種嗎，還是……

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，實際上並不是大學城，因爲學校恰好位於市區中心，位於海灣區，就位於舊金山海灣的對面。那裏的自然風景很美。西面就是海洋。東部是山區，美妙的日落會落在金門上。那裏的自然風景美極了，當然學校的建築也很美，顯然在第二次世界大戰期間有很多試驗在學校裏進行，試驗涉及互相整合花卉品種，所以首先就用了雪松，這真是個奇怪的結合。當時的想法是他們會互相殺害。

Todd: Oh, Wow! That's awful!

託德：哦，哇！那太糟糕了！

Miki: Yeah, no, so there's some scientific engineering going on on campus.

美琪：對，學校裏會有一些科學工程在進行。

Todd: But the trees survived?

託德：那那些樹活了嗎？

Miki: Yes, as a matter of fact.

美琪：事實上活了。

Todd: Well, that's good. You can't fool nature.

託德：哦，那不錯。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，不過那是個美麗的校園，我在那裏上了四年本科。大一的時候我住在宿舍，大二到大四住在合作公寓，合作公寓就是學生擁有並運營的住宅社區，那裏很便宜，所以吸引了許多勤工儉學的學生，而我也是其中之一。我在餐廳、三明治店和玩具店工作過，我還做過祕書，我用打工賺來的錢支付學校的費用，而這些合作公寓的價錢非常低廉，還有盛大的派對，幾乎每個週末公寓裏都會舉辦派對，非常精彩。

Todd: Wow! Sounds like a good time.

託德：哇！聽起來那是段開心的時光。

Miki: Yeah!

美琪：沒錯！

重點講解：
1. in terms of
在…方面；從…角度看；根據…來說；
eg. It can not be measured in terms of money.
這是不能用金錢衡量的。
eg. Some college courses are graded in terms of either a pass or a fail.
有些大學課程按及格或不及格評分。
2. as a matter of fact
確切地說；事實上；恰恰相反；
eg. He pretends to understand, but as a matter of fact he doesn't.
他裝懂，其實並沒懂。
eg. Well, as a matter of fact, I had some rather bad news today.
嗯，事實是。我今天聽到了一些極壞的消息。
3. put on
上演；舉辦；展出；
eg. The band are hoping to put on a UK show before the end of the year.
那個樂隊希望年底之前在英國舉辦一場演出。
eg. The birds were put on display at the zoological society.
這些鳥類將在動物協會展出。