S: Do you know that Cambridge received 14,585 applications and Oxford 13,287 for entry this October?
S:你知道吗，今年10月，剑桥大学收到了 14585份入学申请，牛津收到了 13287份。
J： Yes. But how many of them will survive the interview is still in doubt.
J:知道。但是这些申请人中有多少能通过面试还是个未知数。
S： Cambridge alone rejected at interview more than 5,000 students last year who went on to get three A grades in their A levels, underlining the intensity of competition.
S:去年剑桥就拒绝了 5000多名学生的申请。这些学生都是获得了 3个A-level成 绩的学生，这就说明了竞争有多么激烈。
J： True. Interviewers in those two Universities are good at posing eccentric questions.
J:对啊。这两所大学的老师很爱提刁钻古怪的问题。
S： They may all be academic thoroughbreds, but success in the Oxbridge stakes can seem as remote as winning the Grand National,
S:他们可能学习都很优秀，但是能通过面试的机率就跟在英国"全国大赛马”获胜 一样低。
J： It was said that the tutors select people they want to teach ultimately.
J:据说老师们最终只是在挑选他们想教的人。
S: The competition against other students is fierce and candidates need to differentiate themselves, “To be honest, they’re competing against each other，not against the interviewers，"said a don in the university.
S:同学之间的竞争特别激烈，申请者们必须有与众不同之处才能脱颖而出。一位面 试官曾讲过：“老实说，他们是彼此在竞争而不是在和面试官竞争。”
J： Yes. Nearly all applicants have excellent A-level grades, so places are increasingly awarded for original answers in interviews.
J:对。几乎所有的申请人的成绩都是非常优秀的A-level,所以能否被录取就更加 取决于他们在面试中的表现了。
S： So it’s worth actively engaging with the questions, without being rude or confrontational, rather than tiptoeing around to avoid mistakes.
S:所以，面试者不能傲慢粗鲁，也不能畏畏缩缩的逃避犯错，而是积极地参与到问 题中去。
J: Some entrants are so nervous that they even practice the interview on a daily basis with the help of their parents at home.
J:有些学生特别紧张，他们甚至在父母的帮助下，天天在家里进行面试练习。
S: Really? Does it help?
S:真的吗?这样有用吗?
J: It’s hard to say. But a mother of a twin said that she thinks the practices are really helpful, and she even suggested parents of the applicants should help their children to practice their reaction and creative thinking.
J:这不好说。但是有_位双胞胎的家长说，§也认为这种练习+分有用，她还建议别 的学生家长也在家帮助孩子们练习，以增强反应能力和创造性思维的能力。
S： That might be true. However, I also heard that over-rehearsing does no good to the interview because they might lose the ability of responding naturally and spontaneously.
S:也许吧。不过我也听人说，过度的演练未必真的有好处，因为这样，学生们在面试中就不能很自然的反应。
J： Yes. You really have no idea what the tutors are looking for. One of my friends who got 5 As at A-Level, was head boy, involved in Drama, charity work and debating did not get into Cambridge.
j：有道理。很难说这些老师们到底要寻找什么样的人才。我有一位朋友曾经在 A_level得了 5个A、担任班长、参加戏剧演出、慈善工作、也是辩论社的一员， 可是他还是被剑桥录取。
S: Why?
S:为什么呢?
J: Who knows why? Maybe he just didn’t fit what the tutor was looking for.
J:谁知道为什么。也许只是因为他不是老师 们要找的人。
S： Well, I think the teacher must also be highly pressured on this since they might have made the wrong decision.
S:嗯，我觉得老师们恐怕也非常有压力，因 为他们很可能会作锫误的决定。
J: Yes, I heard that next week, in an attempt to standardize its admissions procedure, Oxford will announce that all dons are to be put through training sessions to remind them how to interview fairly and well.
J:是啊。我听说为了使招生程序标准化，牛 津宣布下周对所有参加面试的老师进行培训，
S: They just shouldn’t be so picky.
S:他们实在不应该过分挑剔。
J: They might appear to be cruel, but there are only few places, they must make the decision.
J:看起来，这些老师是有些“残忍"，不过因为名额有限，他们不得不作出决定。
S： Let me tell you an interesting story about the admissions ritual at Peterhouse, Cambridge. When a candidate entered the room, someone would kick a rugby ball towards him. If he caught it, he was in; if he drop-kicked it back, he won a scholarship.
S:我跟你讲一个有趣的故事，是关于剑桥彼得学院招生面试的。面试者一进入面试 的房间，就会有人踢给他一个橄榄球，如果接到了，他就会被录取;如果把球踢 了回去，就能赢得奖学金。
J: That’s interesting but can’t be true!
J:真有意思，不过这肯定不是真的。
S: No one suggests that happens now, but tales still circulate about baffling questions posed by dons.
S:现在这种事情肯定不会发生，不过这也说明了面试官们提出的问题有多么古怪。
J: They said sometimes teenagers can break down in tears.
J:有人说，一些孩子面试的时候都哭了。
S: How does the teacher cope?
S:那老师该怎么办?
J; One of the dons said to them: 4tif you want to cry for another five minutes, you can.” Sometimes they go away, have a cup of coffee and come back.
J:—位面试官跟现场大哭的学生说：“如果你还想再哭5分钟的话，请便。"有时候， 他们只是暂时离开，喝杯咖啡再回来。
S: Are you kidding me?
S:这太夸张了!
