对于许多年轻人来说，离开家开始大学生活是个激动人心的时刻，但同时多少也具有很多挑战。一项调查显示，伦敦帝国理工学院的大批学生都经历过高度精神紧张或心理健康状况。本期《随身英语》谈论的话题就是这一转变过程中所要面对的心理压力。

课文内容

词汇: University 大学

University - the best days of my life! I made lots of friends in my student dorm, went to great parties, joined the debating society… and, well, I did some work too - but I must confess my lecturers were very patient with my tardiness.

大学——我一生中最美好的时光!我在学生宿舍交了很多朋友，参加了很棒的聚会，加入了辩论社……而且，我也做了一些功课——但我必须承认我的讲师对我的迟到很有耐心。

It's easy to look back at our university days through rose-tinted spectacles but the truth is that when we first arrived on campus, most of us were out of our comfort zone.

我们很容易带着玫瑰色的眼镜回顾我们的大学时光，但事实是，当我们第一次来到校园时，我们大多数人都走出了自己的舒适区。

In fact, a survey of students at Imperial College London has revealed that 3 out of 4 students experience high levels of stress, or a mental health condition, during their time at college. The survey, completed by over a thousand students, also found that 70% of those that experience stress do so at least once a week, and 9% of students feel stressed constantly.

事实上，一项针对伦敦帝国理工学院学生的调查显示，四分之三的学生在大学期间经历过高水平的压力或心理健康问题。这项由一千多名学生完成的调查还发现，70%有压力的学生每周至少会有一次压力，9%的学生经常感到压力。

Kirsty, a student at Exeter University, didn't enjoy her first days in college. She says: "When I first got to university I don't think I'd realized that I'd forgotten how to make friends. I'd been with the same school friends for seven years, and so I was trying to balance social success with academic success whilst learning how to look after myself at quite a young age." 

科斯蒂是埃克塞特大学的一名学生，她并不喜欢大学的头几天。她说:“当我刚上大学的时候，我想我没有意识到我已经忘记了如何交朋友。我和同一个学校的朋友在一起七年了，所以我试图在社交成功和学业成功之间取得平衡，同时在很小的时候就学会如何照顾自己。”

Dr Ruth Caleb of the counselling service at Brunel University in London has some tips that should make life easier for students before they set off for university. She says: "Certain things that I think it would be very helpful for students to have put in place are an ability to do the practical things of life – to do the washing, to do the cleaning and so on – being able to cook. Budgeting is extremely important in university life." And Caleb adds: "You should learn how to spend time on your own comfortably."

伦敦布鲁内尔大学咨询服务中心的露丝·凯莱布博士有一些建议，可以让学生们在上大学前的生活更轻松。她说:“我认为对学生来说，掌握一些很有帮助的事情，比如做生活中实际事情的能力，比如洗衣服、打扫卫生等等，比如会做饭。预算在大学生活中非常重要。”凯莱布补充说:“你应该学会如何舒适地度过自己的时间。”

I graduated and learnt how to take care of myself the hard way. I hope that new students these days remember to acquire some life skills before they make the big jump.

我毕业了，辛苦地学会了如何照顾自己。我希望现在的新生们在跨入大学之前，记得要掌握一些生活技能。

词汇表

student dorm    学生宿舍
debating society    辩论社团
lecturer    讲师
tardiness    拖拉，延迟
through rose-tinted spectacles    透过玫瑰色的眼镜看某物（只看到事物美好的一面）
campus    （大专院校的）校园
out of one's comfort zone    走出舒适区
college    大学
to balance    使保持凭衡
academic success     学术成就
to look after oneself     照顾自己
counselling service   咨询、辅导服务
budgeting    预算
to graduate    毕业
life skills   生活技能

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What did the author do that made her professors angry?
2. True or false? Three out of four students look back at university days through rose-tinted spectacles.
3. What did Kirsty have the most difficulty with?
4. What skill does Dr Ruth Caleb consider to be very, very important for university students to have?
5. What does the author mean by the expression 'the hard way'?

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。从每个表格中选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. The party was great but now I need to sleep for a few hours before class. I'm going to __________.

the student dorm         college          the debating society        the comfort zone

2. At university it's not all about study, you know. You need to __________ studying and partying.

look after        balance        graduate        acquire                  

3. When at university it would be good for you to learn how to __________ comfortably.

be lonely             be alone           suffer from loneliness             be single

4. I'm not good at sports. If you want to play tennis with me you have to __________ when I make mistakes.

leave your comfort zone    wear rose-tinted spectacles    be patient       feel stressed

5. My daughter graduated with honours. She's achieved __________ and I'm proud of her.

academic success         social success        the counselling service           life skills

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。 

1. What did the author do that made her professors angry?
She used to arrive late for their lectures.

2. True or false? Three out of four students look back at university days through rose-tinted spectacles.
False. According to the Imperial College London survey, three out of four students experienced high levels of stress or a mental health condition.

3. What did Kirsty have the most difficulty with?
She didn't know how to make friends and was trying to balance social success with academic success while learning how to look after herself.

4. What skill does Dr Ruth Caleb consider to be very, very important for university students to have?
Dr Ruth Caleb says budgeting is extremely important in university life.

5. What does the author mean by the expression 'the hard way'?
She means 'with difficulty'. She probably didn't know how to take care of herself and do her own washing and cleaning.

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。从每个表格中选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. The party was great but now I need to sleep for a few hours before class. I'm going to the student dorm.

2. At university it's not all about study, you know. You need to balance studying and partying.

3. When at university it would be good for you to learn how to be alone comfortably.

4. I'm not good at sports. If you want to play tennis with me you have to be patient when I make mistakes.

5. My daughter graduated with honours. She's achieved academic success and I'm proud of her.

文章来源BBC，侵权删，本文仅用于英语学习。