Unit 1
Outside View
Activity 2
Activity 3
Script
Eugene: The tradition that er, was most important to me was probably Summer Eights.
I was a rower. And Summer Eights is a rowing competition, held in May in the summer term. And in this competition, each college is trying to improve its place which it won the previous year and gradually work its way up the river.
Julie: When the students take exams, they must go to a special building and it’s called Examination Schools. And also they must wear a special uniform, so they wear a gown like mine, a black gown, and they wear a white shirt, and the men wear a white tie and black trousers. Um, the women wear a white shirt and a black skirt or black trousers. And they must wear this uniform, which has a Latin name –subfusc–and they must wear this uniform in order to take their examinations.
Eugene: I think the Oxford traditions lend character to the place, and it’s such an old institution, it should have traditions, but they can be very inconvenient, for example, subfusc. This is the er, uniform that we are required according to the university rules to wear.
Julie: They also wear flowers in their buttonholes, and those flowers are carnations. And they wear different colours, the students wear different coloured flowers for different examinations. So when you take your first exam you wear a white flower, and when you take your second exam you wear a pink flower, and when you take your final examination you wear a red carnation.
Eugene: So we have to dress up in a full black suit, starched collar, white bow tie and carry a mortarboard. And to write an exam in the summer heat whilst wearing all that which you’re not allowed to take off, is um, uncomfortable.
Julie: I really like the Oxford traditions, I think it’s part of our history, and part of um, being a student or a teacher here at Oxford University.
News Report
Activity 1
Script
Oxford University has seen a rise in the number of applications from state school students thanks to Harry Potter. The university says that teenagers who have followed Harry’s adventures at Hogwarts are no longer discouraged by Oxford’s traditions because they remind them of scenes in
J. K. Rowling’s best-selling books. Teenagers see similarities between the traditional university and Hogwarts.
The “Hogwarts Generation”is embracing the idea of a more formal educational setting. In fact, Oxford’s head of admissions says that the latest generation of students is excited about the idea of attending a school that requires students to wear long flowing robes and has a grand dining hall.
Though more state school students want to attend Oxford, spots are very limited. With over 17,000 applications for only 3,200 spots, Oxford candidates still must work hard to win their place at the historic university.
1. What is the news report mainly about?
2. Why are students excited about attending Oxford University?
Activity 2
Script
Ivy League universities have stopped using the title of “master”for leaders of residential colleges as many people consider it a controversial term that is linked to slavery.
The “masters”are picked from the senior university faculty. They manage social and academic programmes and serve as advisers to students. Harvard University and Princeton University have stopped using the title for their professors, and Yale University is still deciding whether to change it. For a long time, there have been reservations about using the “master”title. Some professors holding the positions prefer to be called by their first names.
The decision to stop using the title follows increasing protests that the term is offensive, particularly for African-American students. Many have argued that the title is an embarrassing reminder of the dark chapter of slavery in America, and students should not be asked to call anyone “master”.
1. What change are the Ivy League universities making?
2. Why are they making this change?
Passage 1
Activity 2
Passage 2
Activity 1
Script
Andy: Did you see the film on television last night?
Jane: No, I was out. What was it?
Andy: A Beautiful Mind. It’s about John Forbes Nash, the mathematician who won the Nobel Prize.
