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Cambridge Union Society
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The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Cambridge Union, is the largest student society at the University of Cambridge and one of the oldest in the world. Additionally, the Cambridge Union served as a model for the subsequent foundation of similar societies at several other prominent universities including the Oxford Union and the Yale Political Union.
劍橋聯(lián)合會，一般簡稱為劍橋聯(lián)會，是劍橋大學(xué)最大的學(xué)生社團，也是世界上歷史最悠久的學(xué)生社團之一。此外，劍橋聯(lián)會成立之后，其他幾個著名大學(xué)還以它為典范成立了類似的社團，這其中包括牛津聯(lián)會和耶魯政治聯(lián)盟。
The Union has always been famous for its controversial debates. Few other places in the world are able to bring together so many high profile speakers of such diverging views and make them defend what they passionately believe in. Uniquely, the Union opens public figures up to your questions, for which they cannot be prepared. Debates are highly relevant to current issues and often mirror discussion in parliament and the media.
劍橋聯(lián)合會一直以頗具爭議性的辯論而聞名。世界上很少有其他地方能像聯(lián)合會這樣能聚集起這么多觀點迥異、知名度高的演講者，還能讓他們?yōu)樽约簣孕诺挠^點辯護。更獨特的是，聯(lián)合會還能讓民眾隨意向公共人物提問題，他們不可能對這些問題提前準(zhǔn)備。辯論和時事緊密相關(guān)，還經(jīng)常反映出議會和媒體討論的話題。
The Cambridge Union was founded on February 13th, 1815 as a union of three debating societies and quickly rose to prominence in University life. Early officers have included the historian and essayist，Thomas Babington Macaulay and many subsequent Presidents and officers have gone on to become influential leaders in a wide variety of fields and professions. The Union has always served as a pinnacle of free speech and open debate and was even temporarily shut down by the University in its early years for being too contentious! After nearly 200 years, the Cambridge Union is still best known for its debates which often receive national or international media attention. It also organizes lectures by visiting speakers, film evenings and other social events for its members. The top members of its debating team compete internationally against other top debating societies, and Cambridge regularly fields one of the most successful teams at the World Universities Debating Championships.
劍橋聯(lián)合會成立于1815年2月13日，是三個辯論社團的聯(lián)合，并很快在劍橋大學(xué)聲名遠揚。早期的聯(lián)合會官員包括歷史學(xué)家和隨筆作家托馬斯巴賓頓麥考雷，聯(lián)合會隨后的多任主席和官員都成為很多不同領(lǐng)域和行業(yè)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，并頗具影響力。聯(lián)合會一直以來都崇尚言論自由和公開辯論，還曾因為太容易引起爭論，在創(chuàng)立初期被劍橋大學(xué)暫時關(guān)閉。在近200年之后，劍橋聯(lián)合會仍然以其辯論聞名于世，并經(jīng)常受到國內(nèi)外媒體的關(guān)注。聯(lián)合會還邀請來訪的演講者給會員做講座，并為會員組織了電影之夜和其他社交活動。聯(lián)合會辯論會的頂尖成員還參與國際競爭，和其他優(yōu)秀的辯論社團一爭高下。在世界大學(xué)生辯論錦標(biāo)賽中，劍橋大學(xué)派出的辯論隊通常都是世界上最成功的辯論隊之一。
The Cambridge Union is sometimes confused with the Cambridge University Students Union, the representative body for undergraduate students set up much more recently in 1971，
人們經(jīng)常把劍橋聯(lián)合會和劍橋?qū)W生會搞混。劍橋?qū)W生會是劍橋本科生的代表團體，成立于1971年，比劍橋聯(lián)合會晚得多。
The Cambridge Union is a private society and traditionally membership is only open to members of the University of Cambridge, although more recently membership has been made available to students at other educational institutions in Cambridge. The society is not open to the general public. However, members are often able to bring guests to certain functions and some events are made available to the public for free or through the purchase of a ticket.
劍橋聯(lián)合會是一個私人社團，雖然近年來劍橋市的其他教育機構(gòu)的成員也可以申請成為會員，但是傳統(tǒng)上只有劍橋大學(xué)的學(xué)生才能成為會員。聯(lián)合會是不向公眾開放的，但是聯(lián)合會的會員可以經(jīng)常邀請客人參加活動。還有一些活動向公眾免費開放，或以向公眾售票的形式開放。
