School Houses 英国的校队
Feifei: 大家好，欢迎收听《英国问答》。我是冯菲菲
Natalie: Hello and I'm Natalie and this week's question comes from Phoenix
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Hello my name is Phoenix, I am a Harry Potter fan. As we all know, there are four colleges in Harry's school Hogwarts. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. My question is: do universities in Britain also have colleges like in Hogwarts? Thank you.
Feifei: Phoenix 想知道在英国的大学里，是不是都有像《哈里.波特》里面魔法学校一样的院校设置。
Natalie: Well these colleges, like in Harry Potter, are actually called houses and they are usually found in schools rather than universities.
Feifei: 这些学院，或者说学校都会被称为校队，而且通常指的是中学，高中里面的校队，而不是大学的。So tell us about these houses Natalie.
Natalie: Well houses first started in boarding schools, as pupils quite often live in houses on the school grounds.
Feifei: Houses 这一概念来自于寄宿学校，因为所有的学生都会集中地住在学校的宿舍里。
Natalie: Well, to find out more about houses I interviewed Nick Lambsdon, a former pupil of one of the most famous boarding schools in Britain, Eton.
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At my school it literally was a very large house. At some schools it's just, you're divided into houses, but they're not actual houses, it's just you play and work for this team.
Natalie: So Nick said at his school a house was literally a large house where you lived.
Feifei: Nick 曾经就寄读于英国最著名的伊顿公学Eton College. 他说a house 就是一个大宿舍。这里literally 的意思是字面意思的，确确实实的。
Natalie: He also said in some schools you are divided into houses, which are not actual houses but they are more like school teams.
Feifei: 在很多其它非寄宿学校里，houses 通常指的就是学校的校队，而不是宿舍。
Natalie: Yes I didn't go to a boarding school but we still had houses. They were school teams which you were placed in for the whole time you were at school.
Feifei: So what was the point of these school houses at your school Natalie?
Natalie: Well competing in sports can be a big part of a British school's ethos, as it encourages pupils to push themselves and show dedication to something, which in turn can be put into practice in their school work.
Feifei: 每年各种各样的体育比赛是英国学校里必不可少的传统。通过体育比赛可以鼓励学生们push themselves 鞭策自己；同时还能让他们show dedication展现出一种无私的奉献精神。那么在学习中这种劲头也就化为了能更上一层楼的动力。
Natalie: So one of the big purposes of school houses in my school was to compete against each other in sports. This was also the case for houses at Nick's school.
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Once you were outside the house it only really mattered for the games and you would play football against other houses. So we played in inter-house competitions.
Natalie: So Nick said they played inter-house competitions.
Feifei: Inter-house competitions 就是按照住的宿舍划分的校队之间的比赛。
Natalie: In my school we played sport against different houses but we also had a drama competition and a music competition that each house would compete against each other in.
Feifei: That sounds like fun Natalie!
Natalie: Yes being in a school house was a lot of fun and you became very loyal to your house. Here's Nick again.
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You feel very loyal to your house. Every house had its own colours it had its own flag. It gives you something to be loyal to, you rally behind your flag and you try harder.
Natalie: So many houses in school have their own colours and sometimes a flag. Nick said you rally behind your flag and you can become very loyal to your house.
Feifei: Rally behind your flag 就是团结一致；become very loyal 对自己的队伍越来越忠心耿耿，希望自己的队伍在比赛中能获得更好的成绩。So did the houses at your school have names like the ones in Harry Potter?
Natalie: Yes, in my school we had four houses called Walker, Spencer, Curran and my house Clarke.
Feifei: Where do those names come from?
Natalie: Well in my school they were named after former headmistresses. Quite often in schools they can be named after scientists, famous poets or even former students. If you had had houses in school in China, Feifei, what would they have been called?
Feifei: Well, you see, I love animals, so I think if we had had houses I would have liked them to be called dragon, panda, tiger and monkey!
Natalie: Those are interesting names for houses! Usually you don't get to choose which house you are in, but if you had to choose one, what would you have been in?
Feifei: I think I would have liked to be in dragon house!
Natalie: Well I think my house, Clarke, is better than your house, dragon.
Feifei: No it's not!
Natalie: See, Feifei, your house loyalty has already started!
Feifei: I know! Where did that come from?! 好了，节目到这儿希望我们回答了今天的问题。如果你对英国文化有任何问题，请发邮件到chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.
Natalie: You know, I really think Clarke is better…
Feifei: No it's not!
词汇学习：
1. boarding schools 寄宿学校
2. literally 确确实实的
3. ethos （个人或团体的）气质，精神特质
4. push themselves 鞭策他们
5. show dedication 展示无私的奉献精神
6. rally behind something 团结一致
7. loyal 忠诚的