英国留学情景会话50主题 50 UK Campus Conversation Topics

1.Freshers’ Week 新生周

In the Departmental Reception for New Students

Dean: Erm, good evening everyone. May I extend a very warm welcome to the new students in the Department of Economics. ［to the assistant dean］ How many new students have been admitted to the department this year?

Assistant Dean: A hundred and twenty this year.

Dean: Well, that?s a very good rise in numbers; and I see we have a large intake from China and Korea this year… so a special welcome to you too. Could I just ask you to get yourselves a drink and mingle as much as possible. Make most of the free food, this is probably the only occasion where you can get something from the Department for free, so enjoy….

Zhao: Hello there, you aren’t Chinese, are you?

Jung: No, I’m Korean actually… are you Chinese?

Zhao: Yes… whereabouts are you from?

Jung: Korea. I said.

Zhao: I know that… I mean where in Korea are you from?

Jung: Oh… sorry… Busan… it’s in the far Southeast. What about you?

Zhao: Erm… I’m from Haikou, in Hainan….

Jung: Oh… where’s that?

Zhao: It is a big island in the South China Sea, between Taiwan and Vietnam. Remember a few years ago

—that American reconnaissance plane that clashed with a Chinese fighter and was forced to land in China? Hainan was where it landed.

Jung: Oh… I do remember, Hainan….

Dr. Haynes: Hello… are you two Chinese?

Jung: No. He’s Chinese. I’m Korean.

Dr. Haynes: Oh… What do you think of Newcastle so far? Are you settling in all right?

Zhao: Well, it’s very nice… I’ve already found a flatshare… and I’m quite comfortable, thanks.

Dr. Haynes: That’s good. Why did you decide to come to this part of the country to study?

Jung: Well… everyone goes to London… don’t you think? It’s full of foreign students! We’ll never get to know the real England there, and we’ll end up speaking our own languages as well.

Dr. Haynes: Well you could be right there. What do you think of the local accent here? Has it been causing you any problems?

Zhao: Well, I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it, isn’t it? I am quite surprised how different the accents are in a small country like England, but I have learnt to like them. Just like in Chinese, the northern accents are humorous, and the southern accents are, well, gentle.

Jung: Do you have problems with our accents?

Dr. Haynes: Not really… well sometimes, actually, yes… haha. Look… let me introduce you to some local students here… this is Tony Barry… he’s from Sunderland, which is about twelve miles from here… and Melanie Johnson… she’s from Washington, which is about ten miles away.

Zhao: Washington?!

Melanie: Yes… haha… that always confuses foreigners. It’s the original Washington… George Washington’s ancestors came from there.

Jung: Oh!

Tony: So, are you both Japanese, then?

Zhao: No. I’m Chinese and he’s Korean.

Tony: Oh… sorry… I haven’t met many people from your part of the world before. Do you lads like football?

Jung: I do! I love Chelsea!

Zhao: Yes… and I like Manchester United.

Melanie: Why is it that foreigners always like those teams?

Zhao: They are famous and they always win.

Tony: Yes, but don’t you think that anyone can support a winner? I mean, here in England we think you should support your home team… that’s why when people say they support Manchester United we know they are not actually from Manchester! The real Mancunians support Manchester City!

Jung: Well, we are foreigners. We don’t have a home team in the premier league. But I think you are right. From now on, we should support Newcastle. Which team do you support, then?

Tony: Sunderland!

Zhao: I’ve never heard of them.

Tony: Well, everyone in Britain has! They have a long and proud history, even though they weren’t in the Premiership last season. That’s the point, if you are from Sunderland, you love Sunderland whether they are up or down… and not Newcastle… ［looking at Dr. Haynes］… they’re our local rivals.

Dr. Haynes: What was that you were saying, Tony?

在院系新生欢迎仪式上

系主任：嗯，大家晚上好。请允许我向经济系的新生们致以热烈的欢迎。［对助理系主任说］今年录取了多少新生？

助理系主任：今年有120个。

系主任：嗯，增长了不少；而且我看见我们今年从中国和韩国录取的学生很多，对你们表示特别的欢迎。你们都拿杯喝的吧，尽情地聊。多吃点儿，都是免费的。这可能是你们唯一一次可以从系里拿到免费东西的机会，尽情享用吧。

赵：你好，你不是中国人吧？

俊：不是，我是韩国人。你是中国人吗？

赵：对。那你具体从哪儿来？

俊：韩国，我说过了。

赵：我知道，我是说你从韩国的什么地方来？

俊：噢，不好意思。釜山，在最东南面。你呢？

赵：嗯，我是从海口来的，在海南。

俊：噢，那是哪儿？

赵：那是中国南海上的一个大岛，在台湾地区和越南之间。还记得几年前一架美国侦察机与中国战斗机相撞并在中国迫降吗？海南就是它降落的地方。

俊：噢，我确实记得，海南。

海因斯博士：你们好。你们俩都是中国人吗？

俊：不。他是中国人，我是韩国人。

海因斯博士：噢，你们现在觉得纽卡斯尔怎么样？都安顿好了吗？

赵：很好。我已经找到了一个合租公寓，非常舒适，谢谢。

海因斯博士：那很好。你们为什么来英国的这个地方学习呢？

俊：人人都想去伦敦，你不觉得吗？那儿全是外国学生！我们在那儿根本了解不到真正的英国，而且大家到头来都说自己国家的语言。

海因斯博士：你这么说也是有道理的。你们怎么看这里的口音？对你们有影响吗？

赵：我想只要我们习惯了就好了，不是吗？像英格兰这么小的地方竟有这么多不同的口音，我很惊讶，不过我已经逐渐喜欢上它们了。就像在汉语里，北方口音幽默，南方口音，怎么说呢，温柔。

俊：你听我们的口音有问题吗？

海因斯博士：其实没有。可能有时候，实际上，有，哈哈。这样吧，我给你们介绍几个当地学生。这是托尼·巴里，他是从桑德兰来的，离这儿大概有12英里。还有梅拉妮·约翰逊，她是从华盛顿来的，离这儿10英里左右。

赵：华盛顿？！

梅拉妮：是的，哈哈。许多外国人都搞不明白，那是最早的华盛顿，乔治· 华盛顿的祖先就是从那儿来的。

俊：噢。

托尼：那么，你们俩都是日本人？

赵：不。我是中国人，他是韩国人。

托尼：哦，抱歉，我没见过多少从你们那个地方来的人。你们两个喜欢足球吗？

俊：我喜欢！我特别喜欢切尔西！

赵：是啊，我喜欢曼联。

梅拉妮：为什么外国人总是喜欢这些队呢？

赵：他们有名而且他们总赢。

托尼：也对，但你难道不觉得一个赢家谁都可以去追捧吗？

在英国我们认为应当支持自己的家乡队。所以，当人们说他们支持曼联，我们就知道他们不是真来自曼彻斯特！真正的曼彻斯特人支持曼城队！

俊：我们是外国人。英超联赛里没有我们的家乡队。但是我认为你是对的。从现在开始，我们应该支持纽卡斯尔队。那你支持哪个球队呢？

托尼：桑德兰！

赵：我从来没听说过这个队。

托尼：英国人都知道！他们有悠久而令人骄傲的历史，虽然他们目前不在英超联赛里。关键是，只要你是桑德兰人，你就会爱桑德兰队，无论他们表现好与坏，而不是纽卡斯尔队。［向海因斯博士的方向看去］他们跟我们是同室操戈的敌人。

海因斯博士：托尼，你说什么呢？

2．闲聊体育Talking Sport

In the Uni Bar

Jane: Hi guys… you look tired… what have you been doing?

Tamer: We’ve been playing five-a-side with the lecturers down in the gym. Mr. Foster got a team together from the staff, and I got some students together. The teachers beat us 8: 2.

Jane: But they are all old… they must be in their 30s and 40s!

Larry: They are, but they are fit! That Mr. Foster cycles to work every day… and Mr. Walker goes running every lunchtime… and that Dr. Baker plays squash, and they both must be in their mid-forties!

Jane: Yes, but there’s another thing…. you guys smoke, and the lecturers don’t. And I think maybe you’re a bit scared to tackle them hard as well because they are your lecturers… am I right?

Tamer: Maybe, but I bet on a proper football field we’d run rings round them! Do you girls play any sports, Alison?

Alison: Well, I’m in the uni hockey team actually.

Sarah: Yeah… and I play volleyball. We play tennis on Saturday mornings as well.

Larry: So, do you play against the teachers as well?

Alison: No. It doesn’t seem to be what older women want to do. I think your teachers are just trying desperately to stave off old age!

Sarah: That, or pretend they are still young!

Tamer: Anyway, I think it would be a good idea to organise a mini-league. You know, different national groups.

Larry: I think different departments would be better. It would be really good for bonding.

Loud Drunken Singing from Another Table

Larry: Oh no… it’s the rugby club having another piss-up!

Sarah: Yeah… they’re always getting drunk and singing rude songs and stuff.

Tamer: Well… it’s all part of the tradition, isn’t it… they behave like hooligans in the bar, but they’re supposed to be gentlemen outside… I mean, it’s mostly middle-class students who play rugby, isn’t it?

Sarah: Yeah… what is it they say? “Soccer is a game for gentlemen, played by hooligans, and rugby is a game for hooligans played by gentlemen.” My flatmate told me that football is a traditionally working-class game.

Tamer: Yes. Rugby is a really rough game. It looks it anyway.

Alison: What is rugby, anyway? Is it like what they play in America?

Larry: No, no… it’s only the ball that’s the same shape… basically, they have no protection like they do in American football… no helmets and padding and stuff… it looks really scary.

Tamer: Yeah… rugby players get to act out their violent fantasies on the rugby field, get drunk and behave like hooligans in the bar and then go to work as doctors and lawyers on Monday morning.

Larry: Yes… whereas when football players do that they call them hooligans!

Alison: But I guess it’s good… I mean, at least it controls their aggression.

Sarah: It’s great… all the opportunities we have to play sports here. I mean, they even have women’s rugby, football and cricket teams… did you know that?

Tamer: What are the rules of cricket, by the way?

Larry: I don’t think we should even go there! You have to be English, born-and-bred to understand them.

Sarah: Or from the Commonwealth countries. Also, I’ve heard that in India and Pakistan they are even madder about cricket than the English!

Alison: Yeah… and in Australia and South Africa too.

在学生会酒吧

简：嗨，伙计们。你们看起来无精打采的，你们干什么了？

塔墨尔：我们跟一帮老师在体育馆里踢5人足球。福斯特老师从教职工中撮合了一支球队，我从学生中挑了几个人。老师把我们打了个8比2 。

简：但是他们都岁数大了，最起码都三四十了！

拉里：他们是上岁数了，但是他们身体强壮！福斯特老师每天骑自行车上班， 沃克老师每天午饭时间去跑步， 贝克博士打壁球！而他们个个都得有四十五六了。

简：是啊，不过还有一个原因。你们这帮人抽烟，老师们不抽。而且，我估计你们也有点儿不好意思跟他们冲撞，因为他们是你们的老师，对吗？

塔墨尔：也许吧。但是我打赌如果在正规的足球场上，我们能让他们忙得团团转！你们女生搞什么体育活动吗，艾莉森？

艾莉森：我是曲棍球校队的。

萨拉：我打排球。我们星期六早上还打网球。

拉里：你们也跟老师对阵吗？

艾莉森：没有，岁数大的女人似乎不喜欢运动。我估 计你们老师也无非是在毫无希望地延缓衰老。

萨拉：是这样，或者就是硬装年轻！

塔墨尔：无论如何，我认为组织一个小联赛还是一个好主意。比如，按国籍划分队伍。

拉里：我觉得不同院系之间比赛要好一些，这样有利于交流。

从另一张桌子传来大声的醉醺醺的歌声

拉里：哦，不，橄榄球俱乐部又来狂饮了！

萨拉：是啊，他们总是酩酊大醉而且唱些粗俗的歌曲什么的。

塔墨尔：有什么办法呢？这是传统，不是吗？他们在酒吧里像流氓，但出去后却像绅士。实际上打橄榄球的都是些中产阶级子弟，不是吗？

萨拉：对，他们怎么说来着？“足球是流氓们玩的绅士运动；橄榄球是绅士们玩的流氓运动。”我的寓友告诉我，足球在历史上一直是无产阶级的游戏。

塔墨尔：对。橄榄球是一种非常野蛮的比赛。最起码看起来是这样。

艾莉森：橄榄球到底是怎么回事？跟美国人玩的那种一样吗？

拉里：不，不一样，只不过球的形状相似罢了。大致说来，英式橄榄球没有美式橄榄球那么多保护装备，没有头盔和护肩等等，看起来挺瘮人的。

塔墨尔：对，英式橄榄球队员在球场上可以发泄自己的暴力幻想，在酒吧里像流氓一样喝个大醉，然后星期一早上照常上班去当他们的医生律师。

拉里：是啊，可足球运动员有那些行为的时候却被骂作流氓！

艾莉森：但是我想这也有好处，起码橄榄球让他们的侵略性得以控制。

萨拉：我们有机会从事各项体育运动真是太好了。学校竟然还有女子橄榄球队、足球队和板球队。你们知道吗？

塔墨尔：板球都有什么规则啊？

拉里：我觉得我们根本不应该踏进那块地方！你必须是土生土长的英国人才能理解板球。

萨拉：或者是英联邦国家的人。而且，我听说印度人和巴基斯坦人对板球比英国人还要着迷呢！

艾莉森：是啊，澳大利亚和南非也如此。

3. 谈中国 Talking about China

Ning, Paul, Drew （Chinese）, Rachel （English） and Carlos （Spanish） Having Coffee

Carlos: Hey… look at this in the paper… it says that China has failed to meet its own targets for reducing energy consumption…. They’re saying that the Chinese government hopes to reduce China’s energy consumption by 20% by 2010… yet the country’s power consumption grew 14.9 percent in the first quarter of this year. That’s disgraceful！

Ning: That’s just so one-sided, that is! You foreigners only like to report bad things about China! The US is the biggest green house emitter in the world. You tree-huggers① are missing the point when you jump on the Anti-China bandwagon along with all the other Chinaphobes. Anyway, Australia has the second highest per-capita carbon emission worldwide and your government still hasn’t ratified the Kyoto Protocol, for god’s sake. So, just give us all a break, would you?

Carlos: Oh. Sorry for breathing②! I’m just telling you what was in the paper… it is the Guardian③ that I am reading… it just reports the facts… it doesn’t have an agenda to do China down. You Chinese are so thin-skinned!

Drew: I think it’s just that we don’t like to air our dirty washing in public… you’ll find that we Chinese are always discussing stuff like this among ourselves… Ning, don’t tell me you didn’t hate the grey sky in Beijing. We just don’t like it when foreigners talk about it, that’s all.

Rachel: Yeah… but you have to admit that these are things that people are curious and interested about when it comes to China… they don’t want to slag Chinese people off… it’s just that these issues are “newsworthy”… you should know that… you’re doing Media Studies. You shouldn’t get the hump about it or get all huffy.

Drew: That’s right! Even if the Guardian doesn’t have an agenda, it still has to dig for stories that will sell. During the 7/7 Terrorist Attack in London, I was watching BBC and CNN at the same time on my computer. They interviewed the same guy who just came out of a bombed station. The BBC used the footage where this man had already calmed down and was talking about how brave the passengers were… while CNN chose to air earlier footage where he was still trembling and crying. The BBC didn’t want to show the early footage because that would damage morale. CNN wasn’t interested in the later footage because they did want to make the 9/11 survivors look too cowardly in comparison. How would you like it if you saw the Chinese media saying bad stuff about your country?

Rachel: What? About Britain? We get it all the time! The War in Iraq, The Royal Family, the class system, colonialism, racism, Northern Ireland! We just take it in our stride. You know what, it sometimes worries me that the British now seems to feel so little for their country. Everything patriotic is turned into a laughing stock.

Paul: I think you’re right actually… but China is exactly the opposite, I think China has a chip on its shoulder too often… it may be to do with history, being colonised and all.

Rachel: Yeah… I’ve noticed that… I mean, sometimes you get embarrassed and angry when people mention, like, the Cultural Revolution, or people show images of China connected to that like those propaganda posters, and Mao’s little red book. But, in fact, many Westerners think these images of China are interesting and fascinating, not negative. The portrait of Mao was one of Andy Warhol’s④ masterpieces. The original copies of Mao’s Red Book are sold to Western collectors at sky-high prices on Ebay.

Drew: Maybe we just misunderstand what people are referring to… but sometimes maybe you Westerners are also seriously misinformed about China… I mean, look at the things you say about human rights, the one-child-policy, the Three-Gorges Dam, Tibet, Taiwan… there are two sides to every story….

Paul: Yes… and take what they say about the one-child-policy and human rights… you know that Japanese student, Mariko? She gave this presentation condemning China for the one-child policy… said it was against human rights, but what she didn’t say was that in terms of development it was necessary for China to do this… you have to have your economic needs met first. Then you can worry about individual rights.

Ning: I know, but I would really like to have a little sister of my own. We have to admit that the government made a mistake in encouraging the last two generations to overreproduce…. Western people think China going to be the world’s next superpower. I think we overseas students ought to be super-citizens first—who love and hate their country for what it is.

Carlos: Wow… this is amazing, Ning! You’re actually talking about this stuff in a dispassionate way. That’s great… actually you make me think about my own country, Spain. We like to think we are open and critical, but there seems to have been a collective amnesia about our own civil war and the dictatorship… and it’s only now that we’re beginning to talk about it.

Ning: Mmm… I guess that for some things you just have to wait until the people involved are dead and gone… then it’s easier to discuss things. I mean, my lecturer was saying yesterday that there are aspects of British history that are still not being discussed openly and honestly, like the pointlessness of the First World War, for example.

Rachel: Yes, but we are now free to beat ourselves up over colonialism and stuff….

宁、保罗、德露（中国人）、雷切尔（英国人）和卡洛斯（西班牙人）在喝咖啡

卡洛斯：嘿，看看这个，报纸上说中国没能成功达成自己的能源消耗削减目标。他们说，中国政府希望在2010年将能源消耗减少20％，但今年第一季度，中国的能量消耗反而增长了14.9％。令人汗颜呐！

宁：这也太片面了！你们外国人就喜欢报道关于中国的坏事。美国是世界上最大的温室气体排放国。你们这些环境主义者由于加入了其他有中国恐惧症的人的反华潮流，已经开始跑题了。另外，澳大利亚的人均碳排放量居世界第二，而且你们还没批准《京都议定书》呢，看在上帝的份上。所以，你还是别烦我了。

卡洛斯：噢，用不着这么大惊小怪嘛！我只是告诉你报纸上写了什么。我读的可是《卫报》，它只报道事实，可没有什么贬低中国的使命。你们中国人也太敏感了吧？

德露：我想我们只是不喜欢家丑外扬。你会发现我们中国人之间还是会讨论这些事情的。宁，别告诉我你不讨厌北京灰色的天空。但是我们不喜欢外国人说我们。

雷切尔：是啊，但是你得承认往往是这方面的事情让人好奇。他们不是有意要贬损中国人，只是这种事“有新闻价值”罢了。你应该明白，你是学传媒的，不应该对这些事耿耿于怀或小题大做啊。

德露：说得对！即使《卫报》没有什么使命，它也还是要挖掘卖座的新闻。在7月7号伦敦恐怖袭击的时候，我在电脑上同时收看英国的BBC和美国的CNN。他们采访了同一个从被炸毁的地铁站里出来的男人。在BBC采用的片断里，这人已经冷静下来并谈及乘客们如何勇敢。而CNN则采用了较早的一个片断，那时他还在一边颤抖一边哭呢。BBC不愿意播这个早的片断，因为他们不想打击英国国民的士气。CNN对后来的这个片断不感兴趣，因为他们不想让9·11的幸存者在相比之下显得太懦弱。你想想，如果中国媒体说你们国家的坏话，你会感觉怎么样？

雷切尔：什么？英国？我们天天都挨批评！伊拉克战争、王室丑闻、社会等级、殖民主义、种族主义、北爱尔兰！我们对这些都无所谓了。你知道吗，有时候我很担心，英国人似乎已经没有国家荣誉感了。一切爱国主义的东西都成了笑料。

保罗：你说得对。而中国恰恰相反。我觉得中国总是太注意维护自己的形象，大概是由于历史原因吧，被殖民侵略等等。

雷切尔：对，我也注意到了。有时候，当人们提到文化大革命或者跟大字报和毛泽东红宝书有关的东西时，你们总是很尴尬和气愤。但实际上，很多西方人觉得中国的这些形象非常有趣，引人入胜，并不消极。毛的画像是安迪·沃霍尔的代表作之一。易趣网上的西方收藏家们以天价收购红宝书。

德露：也许我们只是误解了人们的意思，但有些时候你们西方人也经常在中国问题上被严重误导了。比如说，看看你们在人权、计划生育、三峡大坝、西藏、台湾问题上说的一些东西。凡事都要一分为二地看待。

保罗：对啊，就拿计划生育和人权来说吧。你们知道那个日本学生麻里子吗？她做了一个谴责中国计划生育政策的演讲，说它有违人权，但是她却没说中国这样做是在寻求发展的情况下迫不得已。你得首先满足经济需求再考虑个人需要吧。

宁：但是，我倒真希望自己能有个妹妹。我们必须承认，政府当初鼓励中国前两代人多生是个错误。西方人认为中国将成为世界下一个超级大国。我觉得我们留学生首先应该成为超级公民——对自己的国家爱恨分明。

卡洛斯：哇，这太奇妙了，宁！你竟然真的能冷静地讨论这个问题，这实在是太好了。其实你使我想起我自己的国家，西班牙。我们总觉得我们非常开放并且具有批判性，但对内战和独裁统治我们却都有点儿集体失忆，直到最近我们才开始讨论这些事情。

宁：嗯，我估计对有些事情来说，只能等到相关的人都过世以后，才更容易讨论。我的老师昨天还说，英国历史的许多方面是至今还不能开诚布公地讨论的。比如第一次世界大战的无目的性。

雷切尔：对啊，但是我们现在已经能够对殖民历史一类的事情坦诚反省了。