這道牛津大學奇葩面試題,你能答得出來嗎?

Being enrolled in a top university is probably every student’s dream. But no matter how much you study for the application, you may come across a question that you never expected.

被頂尖名校錄取或許是每個學生的夢想。但不論你爲入學申請準備了多少功課，你或許都會遇上意想不到的問題。

Earlier this month, Oxford University released an admission interview question from All Souls College: “Would you like to be a vampire or a zombie?” It immediately sparked a heated discussion among the public online, as many people tried to answer the question.

本月初，牛津大學公佈了萬靈學院的一道入學面試題：“你想當吸血鬼還是殭屍？”這道題目很快引發網友熱議，不少人都試圖回答這一問題。

Vampires and zombies are two popular creatures in Western folklore. In 2009, Lucinda Rumsey, of Mansfield College at Oxford University, also asked English literature applicants about the Twilight books, a series on vampires written by US author Stephenie Meyer. “A good English student engages in literary analysis of every book they read,” Rumsey told The Telegraph.

吸血鬼和殭屍是西方民間傳說中的家喻戶曉的兩種生物。2009年，牛津大學曼斯菲爾德學院的露辛達·拉姆齊曾問過英語文學專業申請者一道關於小說《暮光之城》的問題，該系列小說由美國作家斯蒂芬妮·梅爾所著，講述的是吸血鬼的故事。“一名優秀的英語專業學生會認真對讀過的每本書進行文學分析，”拉姆齊在接受《每日電訊報》採訪時表示。

And it seems there’s no magic answer, other than the one that’s inside your head. “No matter what kind of educational background or opportunities you have had, the interview should be an opportunity to present your interest and ability in your chosen subject, since they are not just about reciting what you already know,” Samina Khan, director of admissions at Oxford University, wrote on the university’s official website.

除了你自己頭腦中的想法之外，這道題似乎並沒有神奇的答案。“不論你擁有何種教育背景或機會，面試都應成爲一次展現你對所選學科的興趣和才能的機會，因爲這並非只是背誦所學知識而已，”牛津大學招生主任薩米納·汗在該校官網上寫道。

Indeed, what Oxford University really wants is to encourage its applicants to think outside the box and explore the unknown fields they previously failed to venture into, The Independent noted.

的確，牛津大學這麼做的真正目的在於鼓勵申請者們能跳出條條框框去思考，並且探索他們以往未曾涉獵的未知領域，《獨立報》指出。