John: Hello and welcome to On the Town from BBC Learning English. I'm John.

Feifei: 大家好，欢迎收听今天的都市掠影节目，我是冯菲菲。

John: University of Oxford, or Oxford University, located in the city of Oxford, is one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world. It is also regarded as one the world's leading academic institutions.

Feifei: 位于英国牛津市的牛津大学想必对于大家来说一点儿也不陌生，它不仅仅是世界最古老的高等院校之一，它也被视为全世界学术的领头羊。

John: We spoke to Heather Bell, the Director of International Strategy at the University of Oxford. She told us when the university was created.

Feifei: 我们采访了牛津大学国际战略办公室主任 Heather Bell, 她首先告诉了我们大学学院成立的时间。

The university was created in the 13th century, so the first colleges were created around 1260. Groups of scholars started gathering in Oxford to study and coalescing into colleges which remain a hallmark of Oxford's distinctiveness globally. We have had scholars here for many many hundreds of years.

Heather Bell, University of Oxford

John: The university was created in the 13th century. Oxford University has 39 independent and self-governing colleges and seven Permanent Private Halls; the first colleges were created around 1260.

Feifei: 牛津大学成立于13世纪，大学有39个学院以及7个永久私人公寓 Permanent Private Halls. 这些学院并不只是宿舍，而是实质上负责本科生和研究生的教学。

John: Groups of scholars started gathering in Oxford to study and eventually the colleges were formed.

Feifei: 1167年，当时英国国王亨利二世下令禁止英国的神学学生到巴黎大学研究神学或宗教，因而一帮宗教学者及学生慢慢聚集于牛津，逐渐演变成最初学院的雏形。

John: Let's listen to Heather again.

We have, all-told, 20,000 students in the university, 18,000 of those are full-time students. We have 6,800 international students, so that's around 34% of the student body. On latest numbers, 640 of our students are Chinese – that number has grown enormously over the past 10 years – it's huge. China is now the third largest source of students for Oxford, after Britain obviously and the United States.

Heather Bell, University of Oxford

Feifei: 640 Chinese students. That's a lot, isn't it?

John: It is. Like Heather said, the number of Chinese students has grown enormously over the past 10 years. She used the word huge.

Feifei: Huge 巨大的，极大的。 Heather 说中国学生的数量在过去的十年里有很大的增长，中国已经是继英国和美国之后第三大国际学生来源地。 Source 来源地，发源地。But I thought it's almost impossible to study at Oxford, so I asked Heather.

Clearly there are 640 Chinese students who would say it's enormously possible to study here. The standards are very high, we take the very best students who are getting the best exam results and show the best academic potential.

Heather Bell, University of Oxford

John: So Heather thinks it's enormously possible to study at Oxford.

Feifei: Enormously 巨大的。 Enormously possible 极有可能的。

John: The standards are very high.

Feifei: 牛津大学的要求标准非常高。

John: They take the best students who get the best exam results and show the best academic potential.

Feifei: 能得到最好的成绩并能显示出最具有学术潜力的学生才会被牛津接收。 Academic potential 学术潜力。

John: And you also need to think about the cost of studying at Oxford.

And the cost of an education here is not cheap. We have a number of scholarships for international students in particular and we're looking to increase the amount of funding that we can provide to the best students from around the world.

Heather Bell, University of Oxford

John: Well Heather says the cost of an education is not cheap, but they have a number of scholarships for international students in particular.

Feifei: Scholarships 奖学金； in particular 尤其，特别。牛津大学设有专门给国际学生的奖学金已帮助莘莘学子们能来到这个世界顶尖的学府深造。

John: Heather says the university is looking to increase the amount of funding they can provide to the best students from around the world.

Feifei: Funding 资金，专款。 Let's say you are one of the best students and you can afford the cost of studying and living. What else do you have to think through before applying?

John: Heather has the answer to that question. But first, let's look at some of the words she uses. Appropriate.

Feifei: 适合的 appropriate.

John: Rigorous.

Feifei: 严格的，严厉的。

John: Demanding.

Feifei: 要求高的。

John: Proficiency.

Feifei: 水平，水准 proficiency.

John: Social environment.

Feifei: 社交环境 social environment. Let's listen.

Chinese students, like students anywhere, should be thinking about whether or not that is the appropriate experience for them. We think it's a fantastic one, very rigorous but it's also very demanding. It's important to reach the appropriate level of English language proficiency. We have certain standards that you need to meet before getting in and you will have a better time if you have the ability to take in all of your coursework as well as enjoy the social environment.

Heather bell, University of Oxford

John: Studying at Oxford is very rigorous, and it is also very demanding.

Feifei: Heather 说对于中国和国际学生来说，非常重要的一点就是英语水平，在来学习之前大家一定要达到学校对语言的要求，以确保能顺利完成学业并且能更好的享受课余社交生活。 Well John, we've missed our chances to study there.

John: I know, never mind. But if you are thinking about studying abroad, Oxford might be the one for you. Join us again for another On the Town soon on BBC Learning English. In the meantime, don't forget to visit our website.

Feifei: It's www.bbcukchina.com 我们的网站每天都会更新。感谢收听，我们下次节目再见。

John: Bye bye!