译林版牛津高中英语(必修1):Unit1 School life-Reading(1)

School life in the UK

英国的校园生活

Going to a British high school for one year was a very enjoyable and exciting experience for me.

在英国一年的中学生活是一段令我非常开心、非常兴奋的经历。

I was very happy with the school hours in Britain because school starts around 9 a.m. and ends about 3.30 p.m.

我对英国学校的作息时间感到非常开心，因为学校上午9点左右上课，下午3点30左右放学。

This means¹ I could get up an hour later than usual, as schools in China begin before 8 a.m.

这就是说我可以比平时晚起床一个小时，因为国内的学校是早上8点前上课。

On the first day, all of the new students attended an assembly² in the school hall.

开学第一天，所有的新生都去学校礼堂参加晨会。

I sat next to a girl whose name was Diane.

我坐在一个名叫黛安的女孩旁边。

We soon became best friends.

我们很快就成为了好朋友。

During the assembly, the headmaster told us about the rules of the school.

晨会上，校长给我们讲述了学校的规章制度。

He also told us that the best way to earn respect was to devote³ ourselves to study and achieve high grades.

他也告诉我们，要想得到尊重，最好的办法是努力学习并得到高分。

This sounded like my school in China.

这听上去倒像是我在国内就读的中学。

I had many teachers in the past year.

在过去的一年中，我有很多位老师。

Mr. Heywood, my class teacher, was very helpful.

海伍德先生，我们的班主任，很爱帮助别人。

My favourite teacher was Miss Burke—I loved the lessons that she gave in English Literature..

我最喜欢的老师是伯克小姐——我喜欢她教授的英国文学课程。

In our class there were 28 students.

我们班上有28名学生。

This is about the average size for British schools.

这大概是英国学校的平均规模。

We had to move to different classrooms for different classes.

我们上不同的课得去不同的教室。

We also had different students in some classes, so it was a struggle for me to remember all the faces and names.

上某些课时，班上的同学也不一样，所以对我来说记住所有的面孔和名字可是一件难事。

I found the homework was not as heavy as what I used to get in my old school.

我发现这里的家庭作业不像我以前在原来的学校时那么繁重。

However, it was a bit challenging⁴ for me at first because all the homework was in English.

但是起初，这对我来说有些挑战性，因为所有的家庭作业都是用英文书写的。

I felt lucky as all my teachers gave me much encouragement and I enjoyed all my subjects:

我觉得很幸运，因为我的老师们都给我鼓励，我喜欢所有的科目：

English, History, English Literature, Computer Science, Maths, Science, PE, Art, Cooking and French.

英语、历史、英国文学、计算机科学、数学、自然科学、体育、艺术、烹饪和法语。

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 assembly   

n.集会(不可数)；会议(可数)，装配(不可数)

参考例句：

• He took his seat in an unobserved corner of the assembly room.他在会议室一个不为人注意的犄角坐下来。
• It was very quiet in the assembly hall.会场里静悄悄的。

3 devote   

vt.将…奉献(给)，把...专用于，致力于

参考例句：

• I devote myself to helping the poor.我致力于帮助穷人。
• He is determined to devote his life to sicence.他决心把毕生精力贡献给科学事业。

4 challenging   

adj.大胆的(复杂的，有前途的，挑战的)；n.复杂(有前途，大胆，挑战)

参考例句：

• She performed the most challenging task without a mistake.她毫无差错地完成了这一最富有挑战性的任务。
• We have changed the course to make it more challenging.我们改了课程以使其更具挑战性。