想要入讀全球頂尖學府,你不光要有漂亮的成績單,還要有廣博的知識面和離奇的腦洞。
比如,你得想好自己是願意當吸血鬼還是殭屍……
今年,牛津大學因為一道面試題讓各大媒體都「驚恐」了一下:
「你更願意當殭屍還是吸血鬼?」
《泰晤士報》:世界上最讓人驚恐的考試題:吸血鬼還是殭屍。
Oxford University, one of the world's oldest and most sophisticated institutions of higher learning, has asked this question this year: Would you like to be a vampire or a zombie? The question was a surprise to many Britons, and the Times called it the most frightening test in the world, and the Guardian called it the most difficult.
世界最古老最頂尖的高等學府之一英國牛津大學今年出了一道這樣的考題:「你願意當吸血鬼還是殭屍?」此題讓很多英國人大跌眼鏡,《泰晤士報》稱之為「世上最讓人驚恐的考試」,《衛報》說這是「最難」的考題。
Vampires and zombies are two strange creatures from Western folklore that have become the protagonists of fiction, movies and video games in recent years, and are increasingly known in popular culture around the world. The problem at All Souls College of the University of Oxford is also an old one. The performance of old traditional universities in keeping pace with the times.
吸血鬼和殭屍是西方民間傳說中的兩種異怪生物,近年來經常成為小說、電影、電子遊戲中的主角,在流行文化中日漸為全世界各地的人們所知,本次牛津大學萬靈學院的難題也來自這個古老傳說,不失為歷史悠久的傳統大學與時俱進的表現。
吸血鬼題材電影《暮光之城》
那麼究竟是當吸血鬼好,還是做殭屍更強呢?兩者之間究竟該怎麼選?我們來看看英國各界的評論。
《衛報》文化事務高級記者馬丁·貝拉姆(Martin Bellam)就試著回答了這個問題,把每一方的優缺點都列了出來,像模像樣。
你想當個殭屍還是吸血鬼?試答牛津大學最難考題。
對於「吸血鬼」這個選項,貝拉姆調侃稱,吸血鬼最大的優點大概就是顏值在線:
Have you ever seen an ugly vampire? It's not clear whether fashionistas are the only ones who become vampires or whether being a vampire makes you fashionable, but vampires look cool anyway.
你見過樣貌醜陋的吸血鬼嗎?不清楚到底是只有時尚人士才變成吸血鬼呢,還是當了吸血鬼就讓你很時尚,但總而言之,吸血鬼顏值都很高。
另外,吸血鬼的一堆超能力也實在讓人羨慕,比如幫著心愛的姑娘擋擋汽車什麼的……
在《暮光之城》裡,男主數次用超能力保護女主
Being a vampire also comes equipped with a range of useful special powers: who wouldn’t want to be able to transform into a bat, or hypnotise passers-by into becoming your minions and doing your bidding?
當個吸血鬼還會讓你擁有很多有用的超能力:誰不想能變成一隻蝙蝠,或者是催眠路人,讓那人臣服於你,然後發號施令呢?
但貝拉姆認為,吸血鬼的長生不老也是他們的一大缺點:
One of the drawbacks of being a vampire, he says, is that being immortal sounds fun, but it's not fun until you watch all your loved ones grow old and die in front of you.
他還表示,吸血鬼當然也有不好之處,其中之一便是長生不老。聽著很好玩,但你要看著所有心愛的人都在你面前變老死去,你會發現這一點都不好玩。
雖然你也可以把心愛的人變成吸血鬼,但是這樣壓力也很大……
Of course, unless you make them all vampires, they can be with you forever and ever, and that puts a lot of pressure on you to choose who you want to establish such a permanent relationship with.
當然啦,除非你讓他們都變成吸血鬼,可以永永遠遠地陪著你。不過,這就意味著你要決定誰可以永久陪伴你,這個壓力有點大。
《吸血鬼日記》劇照
那對於殭屍呢?好處是,殭屍總能成群結隊,不孤單。食物攝入也很科學……
As for zombies, Bellam wrote: Vampires are solitary, but zombies are packed, so it's a better choice, and Zombies feed on their brains, which are completely delicious and healthy, an important Omega 3 fatty acid full of DHA.
至於殭屍,貝拉姆是這樣寫的:吸血鬼都是獨來獨往,但殭屍卻是成群結隊,因此這是一個更好的選擇,另外,殭屍以腦髓為食,這是「完全美味,而且很健康,是富含DHA的Omega3脂肪酸。」
但即便如此,他們的外貌實在是……無法言說:
Of course, when zombies have the disadvantage of never being sexy and always emit a rotten, rotten meat smell, it's usually considered disgusting.
當然,當殭屍的壞處除了永遠無法有性感的樣子,還有身上總是散發出一種腐朽的爛肉味,讓人噁心。
其實,今年牛津大學萬靈學院的考題不止這一個,其他題要答得好也不容易。你們感受一下:
➤ Does Google know us better than ourselves?
「谷歌比我們更了解自己嗎?」
➤ No one can play Shakespeare?
「莎士比亞無人企及,便沒人能演嗎?」
➤ Should sugar be taxed?
「糖是不是該徵稅?」
➤ Does music stop suddenly at Brahms?
勃拉姆斯之後再無音樂嗎?
➤ Is all life valuable?
所有的生命都有價值嗎?
這波考試為何如此腦洞清奇?那你大概需要了解下牛津的萬靈學院:
The College of All Souls itself is remarkable. Unlike other colleges, the College of All Souls does not admit undergraduates. People who pass the exam automatically become academicians of the College, and the exam is unusually well-known. It's called the most difficult test.
萬靈學院本身就非常不同凡響,與其他學院不同,這所學院並不招收本科生,通過考試的人自動成為學院的院士,而這一考試之不同尋常素來有名,被稱為最難的考試。
但實際上,想成功考入牛津和劍橋大學,光有好成績也是不夠的。
這兩所大學都有面試一關,經常問一些沒有正確答案的「稀奇古怪」的問題考驗學生的知識面和思想靈敏度,很多成績異常優秀的學生往往過不了這一關。
再來看看牛津大學和劍橋大學以往的7道面試題,看看如果是你,能不能通過面試:
❶ Does the incubator think? Are snail conscious? (Oxford Experimental Psychology)
保溫箱會思考嗎?蝸牛有意識嗎?(牛津-實驗心理學)
❷ This is a bark. Please say something about it. (Oxford - Bioscience)
這是一塊樹皮,請就它說點什麼。(牛津-生物科學)
❸ If God is omnipotent, can he create a stone that he can not lift? (Oxford - Ancient Greek and ancient Rome)
如果神無所不能,他是否能夠創造出一塊他舉不動的石頭?(牛津-古希臘古羅馬學)
❹ Do you want to be a novel or a poem? (Oxford - English)
你更想成為一部小說還是一首詩?(牛津-英文)
❺ How do you measure the weight of your head? (Cambridge - Medical)
你如何測量自己頭部的重量?(劍橋-醫學)
❻ Is the husband's habit of smearing lemonade on his eggs at breakfast enough to justify divorce if his wife has repeatedly expressed her disgust? (Cambridge - Law)
丈夫吃早餐時有在雞蛋上塗檸檬醬的習慣,如果妻子已經多次對此表示厭惡,這個習慣是否足以成為離婚的理由?(劍橋-法學)
❼ Is the chair in front of you really there? (Cambridge - Philosophy)
眼前的椅子真的在那裡嗎?(劍橋-哲學)
如果是你,會怎麼答這些題?
留言區見哦。
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