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)對任何一個年輕人來說都是人生大事。光是上大學(xué)這個短語，就讓人想起新獲得的獨立、接觸到的新視角和新知識，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，很少有人用university來泛指“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)后教育時普遍使用的術(shù)語？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來指代大多數(shù)高校。這兩個詞沒有嚴(yán)格的定義，但卻有各自的屬性。
在北美地區(qū)，一般來說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則一般都會提供本科和研究生課程，有更大的學(xué)生群體能獲得高級學(xué)位。
有的情況下，university會包含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，有時候一些college可能比university還大，也會提供碩士學(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可能還會提供碩士學(xué)位。
還有些高校開始是college，后來發(fā)展成為university，不過仍沿用原名。

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)的高校也許會選擇自稱為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。有些高校一開始是college，后來發(fā)展成university，但仍保留原來的名字。
有些人認(rèn)為university比college好，其實不然，有些college比university更難申請。
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.
人們往往會認(rèn)為university更有聲望更難進(jìn)，但其實不能根據(jù)名稱來倉促判斷，因為變量太多。一些college對申請者的要求比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，學(xué)生上大學(xué)用的是university，college一般指兩年制的學(xué)校，學(xué)生專攻某項技能。
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，學(xué)生上大學(xué)用的詞是university而非college。英國的college通常是兩年制，學(xué)生專攻一項技能（和職業(yè)學(xué)校很相似）或為升入大學(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. 盡管這兩個詞從嚴(yán)格意義上來講不能互換，兩者的差別足以將二者區(qū)分開來。
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，美國的一些州，比如新澤西州，對于高校取名有規(guī)定。在該州，一所高校至少必須有三個學(xué)科提供研究生學(xué)位才能自稱為university。

在英語學(xué)習(xí)過程中，需要擺脫中文的思維，一個單詞可能對應(yīng)多種中文翻譯，反過來一個中文也可能對應(yīng)不同意思的英語單詞，所以學(xué)英語一定要系統(tǒng)全面的學(xué)習(xí)。關(guān)注美聯(lián)英語后續(xù)還會繼續(xù)分享更多豐富的英語知識。