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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)
British higher education has had a long history．There are over forty universities in Britain．The world famous universities, Oxford and Cambridge, are the oldest ones dating from 1167 and 1284．Of cabinet ministers(内阁部长)who went to universities, nearly all went to one or the other of these two, and to Oxford in particular．Oxford gets started in the twelfth century．It has twenty-three ordinary colleges for men, five for women, with about 12,000 students in all．There is no single building which can be called“the University”and no definite area which could be called a“campus”because the colleges and university buildings are scattered(分散的)about the town．The university prescribes syllabi (规定教学大纲)，arranges examinations and awards degrees．Part of the teaching is by means of lectures organized by the university; any students may attend any university lecture．The average don(教师)gives one or two lectures a week on a subject which is his special field of interest．
At the beginning of each term a list is published showing all the lectures being given during the term．Every student can choose the lectures he likes．Attendance at university lectures is not compulsory(要求的，强迫的)and no records of attendance are kept．Apart from lectures teaching is by means of the“tutorial system”(导师制)，which is one of the two Oxford and Cambridge features that are widely admired and are being gradually extended to other universities．Each student gets personal tuition once a week in his or her tutor's own room, sitting in an armchair and reading out an essay which he or she and the tutor then discuss．This, with a weekly programme of private study, is considered so important at Oxford and Cambridge that students are not even compelled(强迫)to attend general lectures, which must therefore be of high quality if they are to attract a large student audience．
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