我的剑桥面试经历
My Cambridge Interview Experience
作者 Angel L 苏媛 译
作者介绍：
香港某国际学校学生，获得伦敦大学法律系、伦敦政经学院法律系、香港大学法律系等预录取，入围香港政府卓越奖学金(Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme)候选名单。
It is important to note that each college conducts their interviews very differently so my experience may be very different to someone else at a different college.
需要注意的是，每所大学都有其独特的面试方式，所以我的面试经历可能和那些面试其他大学或者学院的人不同。
I was called for a Law interview at Christ’s College, Cambridge on 6th December 2016. I remember feeling very nervous on the train up and especially upon arrival at the porter’s lodge at the college. While being mesmerised by the resplendent architecture of my college, I was taken into a room where other interview candidates were situated. I had two interviews, each with two interviewers, with two sorts of questions in the interview. Firstly, there are problem-styled questions where you are given a piece of law beforehand and then in the interview, you are given fact-scenarios in which you apply that piece of law. I think the important thing to note about those sorts of questions is that no prior knowledge about the law is needed, as I certainly had no knowledge about military law in my interview. Secondly, there are essay-style questions where you are given a subject and asked to formulate an opinion on it and justify why - here is where knowledge of current affairs would prove useful.
在2016年12月6日，我参加了剑桥大学Christ学院的法律面试。我还清楚地记得在火上的那种紧张，尤其当我到达学院的波特大堂时。正在欣赏学院金碧辉煌的大堂时，我被带进了一个房间，与其他面试者一起等待。我参加了两场面试，每场都有两位面试官，面试中处理了两种类型的问题。第一种是问题解决型，我提前拿到了一条法律，之后在面试中，面试官给我了一些实际场景，在这些场景中，我得运用这条法律来分析这些场景。我觉得需要大家注意的是这类问题其实并不需要关于法律的先验知识，我先前对于军事法学根本没有任何了解。第二，有一些论文形式的问题，考官会给你一些主题，然后要求你形成关于这些主题的观点并有理有据地论证。在这类问题中，对时事的了解是非常有用的。
To succeed in answering these types of questions: Firstly, do not rush answers and take time cordially to carefully think about the message you are trying to deliver to the interviewers. Secondly, try and justify with reasons everything you say. Thirdly, for many of the questions they ask you, there is no “right” answer, therefore as long as you effectively reason your opinions, you would be on the right track. They are really looking at a student’s comprehension skills and their ability to take in information, analyse it, and think critically. Linking with this point, you need to be willing to stand up for your beliefs but also don't try and defend the indefensible! The fundamental skill they are looking for, is “precision of thinking”. Especially for Law, interviewers want to see if students can pick up on the subtleties and ambiguities of language that shows they recognise matters can be interpretedin different ways. It’s about having a sensitivity to language with almost a mathematical bent. They want to see if you are flexible enough in thought and can be taught to think.
想要成功回答这两类问题，我认为首先，你不要着急回答，要仔细思考你想传达给面试官的核心信息。第二，你所传达的每一个观点，都要有论据和道理的支撑。第三，你要知道，他们问你的很多问题，实际上是没有正确答案的，因此只要你能有效地为你的观点提供论据，你的思考就已经在正确的轨道上了。他们其实在看学生的理解能力、接受信息的能力、分析能力和审辩式思维。与这个观点相关的，你需要为你的信念奋斗，但是同时不要对抗争那些无可争辩的观点。他们看重的核心能力是“思考的精确”。尤其对于法律来说，面试官要看看学生能否洞察语言背后的微妙和模糊之处，因为这展示了学生有否意识到事件是有不同的阐释方式的。学生对语言的敏感，须要像数学那样精密 。他们希望看到你的思考是否灵活的，你是否是个可塑之材。
Looking back at the day, it was in many ways an enjoyable and positive experience. I therefore would wholeheartedly say that the interview process is not as intimidating as it seems and certainly should not put anyone off from applyingto Cambridge.
再次回想起那一天的经历，从很多层面来讲，它对我来说都是有趣和有意义的。我想我愿意承认它不是看起来的那么恐怖，那些想申请剑桥大学的学生绝不应该就此止步。
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