走进剑桥大学 第9期:唇枪舌剑

 Cambridge Union Society

唇枪舌剑

The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Cambridge Union, is the largest student society at the University of Cambridge and one of the oldest in the world. Additionally, the Cambridge Union served as a model for the subsequent foundation of similar societies at several other prominent universities including the Oxford¹ Union and the Yale Political Union.

剑桥联合会，一般简称为剑桥联会，是剑桥大学最大的学生社团，也是世界上历史最悠久的学生社团之一。此外，剑桥联会成立之后，其他几个著名大学还以它为典范成立了类似的社团，这其中包括牛津联会和耶鲁政治联盟。

The Union has always been famous for its controversial debates. Few other places in the world are able to bring together so many high profile speakers of such diverging² views and make them defend what they passionately³ believe in. Uniquely, the Union opens public figures up to your questions, for which they cannot be prepared. Debates are highly relevant to current issues and often mirror discussion in parliament and the media.

剑桥联合会一直以颇具争议性的辩论而闻名。世界上很少有其他地方能像联合会这样能聚集起这么多观点迥异、知名度高的演讲者，还能让他们为自己坚信的观点辩护。更独特的是，联合会还能让民众随意向公共人物提问题，他们不可能对这些问题提前准备。辩论和时事紧密相关，还经常反映出议会和媒体讨论的话题。

The Cambridge Union was founded on February 13th, 1815 as a union of three debating societies and quickly rose to prominence⁴ in University life. Early officers have included the historian and essayist，Thomas Babington Macaulay and many subsequent Presidents and officers have gone on to become influential⁵ leaders in a wide variety of fields and professions. The Union has always served as a pinnacle⁶ of free speech and open debate and was even temporarily shut down by the University in its early years for being too contentious⁷! After nearly 200 years, the Cambridge Union is still best known for its debates which often receive national or international media attention. It also organizes lectures by visiting speakers, film evenings and other social events for its members. The top members of its debating team compete internationally against other top debating societies, and Cambridge regularly fields one of the most successful teams at the World Universities Debating Championships.

剑桥联合会成立于1815年2月13日，是三个辩论社团的联合，并很快在剑桥大学声名远扬。早期的联合会官员包括历史学家和随笔作家托马斯巴宾顿麦考雷，联合会随后的多任主席和官员都成为很多不同领域和行业的领导者，并颇具影响力。联合会一直以来都崇尚言论自由和公开辩论，还曾因为太容易引起争论，在创立初期被剑桥大学暂时关闭。在近200年之后，剑桥联合会仍然以其辩论闻名于世，并经常受到国内外媒体的关注。联合会还邀请来访的演讲者给会员做讲座，并为会员组织了电影之夜和其他社交活动。联合会辩论会的顶尖成员还参与国际竞争，和其他优秀的辩论社团一争高下。在世界大学生辩论锦标赛中，剑桥大学派出的辩论队通常都是世界上最成功的辩论队之一。

The Cambridge Union is sometimes confused with the Cambridge University Students Union, the representative body for undergraduate students set up much more recently in 1971，

人们经常把剑桥联合会和剑桥学生会搞混。剑桥学生会是剑桥本科生的代表团体，成立于1971年，比剑桥联合会晚得多。

The Cambridge Union is a private society and traditionally membership is only open to members of the University of Cambridge, although more recently membership has been made available to students at other educational institutions in Cambridge. The society is not open to the general public. However, members are often able to bring guests to certain functions and some events are made available to the public for free or through the purchase of a ticket.

剑桥联合会是一个私人社团，虽然近年来剑桥市的其他教育机构的成员也可以申请成为会员，但是传统上只有剑桥大学的学生才能成为会员。联合会是不向公众开放的，但是联合会的会员可以经常邀请客人参加活动。还有一些活动向公众免费开放，或以向公众售票的形式开放。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 diverging   

分开( diverge的现在分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。
• With member-country bond yields now diverging, 'it's a fragmented set of markets. 但随着成员国债券收益率之差扩大，市场已经分割开来。

3 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

4 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

7 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。