Oral test 口语考试

Topic One: College Culture

The similarities and dissimilarities between Oxford and Cambridge Similarities between Oxford and Cambridge

The students who attended either Oxford or Cambridge Universities set an intellectual standard that contrasted markedly with the norm of Medieval England. Today both Universities are internationally renowned centres for teaching and research, attracting students and scholars from all over the world.

Oxford and Cambridge both have:

well-regarded publishing houses (Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press)

botanical gardens (University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Cambridge University Botanic Gar

den)

museums (the Ashmolean and the Fitzwilliam)

legal deposit libraries (the Bodleian and the Cambridge University Library)

debating societies (the Oxford Union and the Cambridge Union)

business schools (the Saïd Business School and the Judge Business School)

science parks (Oxford Science Park and Cambridge Science Park)

theatrical societies and groups (the Oxford University Dramatic Society and The Oxford Revue, the Cambridge Footlights and the Marlowe Society)

Oxford and Cambridge also share a common collegiate structure: each university has more tha n 30 semi-autonomous residential colleges (see Colleges of the University of Cambridge, Colleges of the University of Oxford), which provide the environments in which students live, work and sle ep.

Differences between Oxford and Cambridge

-Different cities

Oxford has a uniformity of building material, as a large proportion of the buildings are in the local sandstone. (Gorgeous architecture. I personally love the honey-coloured buildings.)

Cambridge, on the other hand, has little local stone, so the building material has been brought in from many different sources, resulting in a greater variety of character.

The river is a more prominent feature in Cambridge, flowing through the city centre rather than around it as it does at Oxford. (Some think Cambridge is prettier because of this.) Oxford is bigger, busier, and livelier.

Oxford is a city with a university attached, Cambridge is a university with a city attached. The college of Cambridge are far more spread out than the colleges of Oxford.

There is a somewhat common impression that Oxford is stronger in politics and the humanities, while Cambridge is stronger in the sciences and engineering. (Oxford has produced more Prime Ministers and Cambridge more Nobel Laureates.)

They have different courses, eg. Natural Sciences in Cambridge, separate sciences in Oxford, PPE in Oxford but not Cambridge etc.

Different traditions, eg. Oxford requires us to wear sub fusc for exams, which is not the case in Cambridge

-A bit of history:

The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the second-oldest surviving university in the world, with evidence of teaching as far back as 1096.

After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge, where they established what became the University of Cambridge.

Topic Two: Mixed Feelings

The mixed feelings you have towards uni life here in this campus

Curious.There are so many things remaining to be discovered in our campus. First time I went to sys-university and everything was quite new to me. I was curious about the teaching building, lakes and my uni life.

Exciting. It is the first time that I leaved my family. So I am quite exciting to learn to be independent.

However, I was discouraged by the food in our dining hall. I cann't understand that why the green peppers are so mild here. Sometimes I would feel homesick when I have lunch or so.

Challenging. I find that university life is quite different from my high school life. I have to learn about how to balance my study and student association's work. I should be a responsible and independent person. It challenges me a lot.

Topic Three: Crime Watch

The circumstances one would allow a stranger to enter the dorm

Campus is a bustling place. The Open University not only gives residents an opportunity to experience campus life, but also gives some criminals a chance to