明天,1291万名考生即将面临人生的重要挑战——高考。

The number of candidates registering in 2023 for the gaokao, the national college entrance exam, has reached a new high of 12.91 million people, an increase of 980,000 from 2022, according to the Ministry of Education. 据教育部统计,2023年全国高考报名人数1291万人,比去年增加98万人,再创历史新高。

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图源:视觉中国

每年6月初,高考都成为国内外媒体热议的话题。

虽然大家对于高考并不陌生,但是你是否了解高考相关英文表达呢?双语君从英文报道中整理了一些和大家分享。

“考试”的动词用“sit”?

高考 (gaokao)指中华人民共和国全国普通高等学校招生入学考试,也叫全国大学入学考试 (National College Entrance Examination)。

说到“考试”,我们首先想到的是take an exam,但英文中还有一个很常见,但让你意想不到的词——sit。

来看《中国日报》2022年的报道:

Enduring scorching summer heat, over 50,000 high school seniors in Shanghai on Thursday are sitting the national college entrance exam, known as the gaokao. 周四,上海超过5万名高中生忍着高温酷暑,参加全国高考。

Sit原意“坐”,但这里是它的熟词僻义,表示“to do an exam”(参加考试),后面可以直接加考试,即sit an exam;也可以加一个介词for,即sit for an exam

这种用法常见于英式英语中,美式英语中则更常说“take an exam”。例如:

Pupils are required to sit nine subjects at GCSE. 学生们要参加9门普通中等教育证书考试。

来看看《卫报》的报道:

The day before the first morning paper, his parents had rented a hotel room next to Tsinghua University High School, where he would sit his papers, so that they could arrange his meals and attend to his every other need. 在第一场考试前一天,他的父母在考场清华大学附属中学的附近订了一间房间,这样能方便孩子的食宿,其他所需也能一应照顾到。

文中,“sit his papers”也是“考试”的意思,paper在英式英语中也指试卷、考题。

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86岁考生汪侠 图源:中新网

BBC还举了一个86岁考生的例子:

Among the sea of fresh-faced teens sitting the exam in Nanjing, 86-year-old Wang Xia stood out as the city's - possibly the nation's - oldest test taker. 在南京参加考试的考生中,86岁的汪侠老人在一群稚嫩面孔中显得尤为突出,他是该市,也许是全国,年龄最大的考生。

一个高级表达说“高考很重要

高考的重要性不言而喻,但谈到“重要”,如果你只能想到important, crucial等词,不如再学一个高级表达。

我们来看一下《南华早报》此前报道:

The gaokao – China’s make-or-break college entrance exams – start on Thursday and will take place across the mainland through Saturday. 中国的高考是一场一锤定音的大学入学考试,这场考试从周四到周六,在全国各地举行。

Make表示“成功”,break表示“失败”,make or break,就是要么成要么败,有一种“成败在此一举、孤注一掷”的感觉。例句:

This movie will make or break him as a director. 这部电影将要决定他当导演是行还是不行。

加上连字符,make-or-break就变成形容词,后跟名词,表示某件事的成败攸关。

It's make-or-break time for the company. 这是公司盛衰的关键时刻。

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说到高考的重要性,不少人觉得这是改变一生命运的时刻,用英语表达的话可以说:Set the course for one's future,即决定一个人的人生轨迹。

Thousands of students will cope with the most important exam in their life – an assessment that can set the course for their future – by studying, studying and studying some more. 为了迎战这场决定未来人生轨迹的重要考试,万千学子埋头苦读。

“大浪淘沙”用英文怎么说

《卫报》中有一段关于高考的评价提到:

Given the intense competition for finite higher education resources, the argument goes, there has to be some way to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to give hardworking students from poorer backgrounds a chance to rise to the top. 这一观点认为,考虑到有限的高等教育资源面临激烈的争夺,必须用一种大浪淘沙的方式,让那些出身寒门但学习刻苦的人有机会向上发展。

句中的separate the wheat from the chaff,wheat指“小麦”,chaff指“糠,谷壳”,表示“认真筛选,把好的东西和坏的东西区分开,分出良莠”的意思,也就是“大浪淘沙”。

“考上大学”有哪些说法

be/get admitted to

在《剑桥词典》中,admit作动词,有“准许……加入;接纳”的意思,因此考上大学可以用英文表示为be/get admitted to…

I've been eager to be admitted to PKU since my first year in high school. 从高一开始,我就一直渴望考上北京大学。
He was admitted to the Software Engineering Department of the School of Computer Science and Technology, Guangdong University of Technology. 他考入广东工业大学计算机学院软件工程系。

名词形式则是admission。比如大学招生办公室就是the university admissions office,录取率就是admission rate。

例如《环球时报》在6月1日报道中提及了大学录取率的上升:

Observers have pointed out that despite the constant increase in the number of people taking the college entrance examination in recent years, the admission rate has also been expanding. Public data shows that the admission rate has been steadily rising in recent years. 尽管近年来参加高考的人数不断增加,但录取率也在不断扩大。公开数据显示,近年来录取率一直在稳步上升。

gain entry to

“考入大学”还可以用gain entry to a university来表达。

Students have to achieve high exam scores to gain entry to good colleges. 学生要考出高分才能上好大学。

Gain entry to/into可以用来表示进入各种机构、场所。

比如,“中国入世”用英语就可以说:gain entry to the WTO;某一企业、产品打入某市场,也可以说:gain entry into the market。

enroll

在《朗文当代高级英语辞典》中,enroll作动词,有“招(生),吸收(成员);注册(课程)”的意思。如果想表达“考入”,便可以用enroll at来表示。

At the age of 61, he enrolled at Sichuan Normal University in 1996 and majored in journalism. 1996年,61岁的他考入四川师范大学新闻学专业。
Is it too late to enroll at the college? 现在上大学会太晚吗?
I enrolled for/in/on the modern art course. 我选修了当代艺术课程。

以上就是一些关于高考的表达了,你学会了吗?

高考就像一场马拉松,心态沉稳最重要,能完成这场与自己的比赛就已经胜利了,不管结果如何,只要努力了就不会后悔!

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愿考生们以十分努力、十分信心,去迎接成功的十分可能,不负十年寒窗。祝所有的考生们一朝梦圆,金榜题名!

编辑:左卓

实习生:陆仪

来源:人民日报 环球时报 卫报 BBC 经济学人 南华早报 外研社