你是上University還是college

導(dǎo)讀：你是上University還是college。College和university的區(qū)別是否就是國(guó)內(nèi)學(xué)院和大學(xué)的區(qū)別？University是否比college高大上呢？答案是：不一定。

Going off to college is a milestone in any young adult's life. The phrase itselfconjures up images of newfound independence, exposure to new perspectives, knowledge, and possibly even one or more sips of alcohol.上大學(xué)對(duì)任何一個(gè)年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)都是人生大事。光是上大學(xué)這個(gè)短語(yǔ)，就讓人想起新獲得的獨(dú)立、接觸到的新視角和新知識(shí)，也許還能讓人想起初嘗酒的滋味。

conjure up: 想起，使在腦海中顯現(xiàn)

In America, however, few people use the phrase "going off to university," or "headed to university," even if they are indeed about to set off for, say, Harvard University. 然而，在美國(guó)，很少有人用university來(lái)泛指“大學(xué)”，即使他們上的是哈佛大學(xué)。

Why did college become the predominant term for postsecondary education? And is there any difference between the two institutions?為什么college成為指代中學(xué)后教育時(shí)普遍使用的術(shù)語(yǔ)？這兩種機(jī)構(gòu)之間有什么區(qū)別嗎？
While university appears to be the older of the two terms, dating as far back as the 13th century, schools and students in North America have embraced college to describe most places of higher learning. There is no rigid definition of the words, but there are some general attributes for each. 盡管university這個(gè)詞匯在這兩者中歷史更悠久，早在13世紀(jì)就產(chǎn)生了，但北美的學(xué)校和學(xué)生卻主要用college來(lái)指代大多數(shù)高校。這兩個(gè)詞沒(méi)有嚴(yán)格的定義，但卻有各自的屬性。
在北美地區(qū)，一般來(lái)說(shuō)college指提供本科學(xué)位的四年制大學(xué)，而university則指提供本科和研究生課程的學(xué)校。
A college is typically a four-year school that offers undergraduate degrees like an associate or a bachelor's.(Community colleges are often two-year schools.) They don't typically offer master's or doctorates, and the size of their student body is typically the smaller of the two.北美的college一般指提供本科學(xué)位（比如準(zhǔn)學(xué)士學(xué)位或?qū)W士學(xué)位）的四年制大學(xué)。（社區(qū)學(xué)院通常是兩年制高校。）College一般不提供碩士或博士學(xué)位，學(xué)生規(guī)模通常也沒(méi)有university大。
Universities, on the other hand, tend to offer both undergraduate and graduate programs leading to advanced degrees for a larger group of students. University則一般都會(huì)提供本科和研究生課程，有更大的學(xué)生群體能獲得高級(jí)學(xué)位。
有的情況下，university會(huì)包含college，指學(xué)院。
They can also be comprised of several schools—referred to as colleges—under their umbrella. A university could offer both a school of arts and sciences and a school of business. The University of Michigan has a College of Engineering, for example.University還可以包含college， 即學(xué)院。一所university旗下可能有藝術(shù)學(xué)院、科學(xué)學(xué)院和商學(xué)院。比如密歇根大學(xué)（university）旗下就有工程學(xué)院（college）。
不過(guò)，有時(shí)候一些college可能比university還大，也會(huì)提供碩士學(xué)位。
While many of these traits are common, they're not guaranteed. Some colleges can be bigger than universities, some might offer master's degrees, and so on. 盡管兩者間通常是這種關(guān)系，但也有例外。一些college可能比university還大，一些college可能還會(huì)提供碩士學(xué)位。
還有些高校開(kāi)始是college，后來(lái)發(fā)展成為university，不過(guò)仍沿用原名。

To complicate matters further, an institution that fits the criteria of a university might choose to call itself a college. Both Dartmouth College and Boston College qualify as universities but use the college label owing to tradition. Schools may begin as colleges, grow into universities, but retain the original name.更復(fù)雜的是，一些符合university標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的高校也許會(huì)選擇自稱(chēng)為college。達(dá)特茅斯學(xué)院和波斯頓學(xué)院都符合university的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但卻出于傳統(tǒng)原因而使用college的名稱(chēng)。有些高校一開(kāi)始是college，后來(lái)發(fā)展成university，但仍保留原來(lái)的名字。
有些人認(rèn)為university比college好，其實(shí)不然，有些college比university更難申請(qǐng)。
People tend to think of a university as being more prestigious or harder to get into, but there are too many variables to make that determination at a glance. Some colleges might ask more of applicants than universities. Some universities might be smaller than certain colleges. Either one can be public or private.
人們往往會(huì)認(rèn)為university更有聲望更難進(jìn)，但其實(shí)不能根據(jù)名稱(chēng)來(lái)倉(cāng)促判斷，因?yàn)樽兞刻?。一些college對(duì)申請(qǐng)者的要求比university還要高。有些university可能比某些college還小。兩種高校都既可能是公立的，也可能是私立的。

在英國(guó)，學(xué)生上大學(xué)用的是university，college一般指兩年制的學(xué)校，學(xué)生專(zhuān)攻某項(xiàng)技能。
In the UK, students go off to university (or uni) instead of college.The British version of college is typically a two-year program where students either focus on learning one particular skill set (much like a vocational school) or use the time to prepare for exams so that they can advance to university.在英國(guó)，學(xué)生上大學(xué)用的詞是university而非college。英國(guó)的college通常是兩年制，學(xué)生專(zhuān)攻一項(xiàng)技能（和職業(yè)學(xué)校很相似）或?yàn)樯氪髮W(xué)（university）的考試做準(zhǔn)備。

While the terms aren't strictly interchangeable, there is enough of a difference between the two to try and make the distinction. 盡管這兩個(gè)詞從嚴(yán)格意義上來(lái)講不能互換，兩者的差別足以將二者區(qū)分開(kāi)來(lái)。
Keep in mind that some states, like New Jersey, have rules about how institutions label themselves. There, a university has to have at least three fields of graduate study leading to advanced degrees.要知道，美國(guó)的一些州，比如新澤西州，對(duì)于高校取名有規(guī)定。在該州，一所高校至少必須有三個(gè)學(xué)科提供研究生學(xué)位才能自稱(chēng)為university。

在英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程中，需要擺脫中文的思維，一個(gè)單詞可能對(duì)應(yīng)多種中文翻譯，反過(guò)來(lái)一個(gè)中文也可能對(duì)應(yīng)不同意思的英語(yǔ)單詞，所以學(xué)英語(yǔ)一定要系統(tǒng)全面的學(xué)習(xí)。關(guān)注美聯(lián)英語(yǔ)后續(xù)還會(huì)繼續(xù)分享更多豐富的英語(yǔ)知識(shí)。