最近，据《卫报》报道：牛津大学和剑桥大学所拥有的房产、捐助、投资，以及其他资产加起来高达210亿英镑，折合人民币约1800亿元。牛津大学总资产为91亿英镑，折合人民币约为776亿人民币。其中，校方拥有32亿英镑，牛津大学36个学院共拥有59亿英镑。剑桥大学总资产为118亿英镑，折合人民币约为1006亿人民币。其中，校方拥有49亿英镑，剑桥大学31个学院共拥有69亿英镑。
剑桥大学的三一学院成为最富有的学院：公布的资产总额高达13亿英镑。相比较之下，牛津最富有的圣约翰学院“仅有”6亿英镑的资产。
据一些学院财务主管说，尽管总资产看起来很漂亮，但是学校可以在哪方面用钱却受到了严格的限制。一些基金是为专门目的而拨下的，不少捐赠者也会明确说明资金用途并列出限制条件，而一些较为古老的学院每年还要耗资修缮颇具历史气息的建筑。
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Oxford and Cambridge university colleges hold £21bn in riches
Britain's ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge have access to a staggering pool of wealth totalling almost £21bn, a recent report has revealed.
The report, which examined audited accounts to piece together the estates, endowments, investments and other assets – including artworks and antiques – held by nearly 70 colleges and institutions shows the full extent of Oxbridge's remarkable wealth.
Trinity College, Cambridge, is the wealthiest of the individual colleges with published assets worth £1.3bn in its latest accounts. In Oxford, St John's College tops the table with close to £600m in assets.
But college bursars said that while these numbers may look impressive, in many cases colleges were heavily restricted in how they could use these assets. In some cases, the funds were reserved for specified purposes, such as funding fellowships or student support, with conditions set by donors centuries beforehand.
Many of the more venerable colleges, such as Christ Church, Oxford, or King's College, Cambridge, also faced considerable costs in maintaining their ancient buildings and grounds.
▍生词好句
1. staggering /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/: adj. 惊人的；令人震惊的
· if something is staggering, it's very shocking/surprising. And we usually use "staggering" when we're talking about a large amount of money.
· It costs a staggering amount of money to rent an apartment in Beijing.
· It's a luxury hotel, so the price of a room for one night is absolutely staggering.
2. piece together /piːs/: 拼凑；渐渐弄清 (真相)
· if you piece something together, you create something by joining the different parts; you join the separate parts together to make one thing.
· The ancient dinosaur skeleton has been pieced together from many different pieces found over the years.
· The boss has done a great job in piecing together a wonderful team.
· Detectives are collecting clues in order to piece together the details of the murder.
3. Oxbridge /ˈɒksˌbrɪdʒ, ˈɑːksˌbrɪdʒ/: n. 牛津大学和剑桥大学
· Oxbridge is the word we use when we want to say Oxford and Cambridge university.
· I'm going to take my Oxbridge entrance exam next week.
4. top the table: 位居榜首；名列第一
· to be in first place / (in the position of) number one in a list or table
· Manchester City won the game on Saturday, and once again, they now top the table.
· London tops the table for the number of tourists visiting England.
5. be heavily restricted /rɪˈstrɪktɪd/: 受到严格限制
· if something is heavily restricted, then it has very strict and severe limits.
· Car parking is heavily restricted in the city center.
· The number of tourists allowed to visit this temple each year is heavily restricted.
6. considerable cost(s) /kənˈsɪdərəbəl/: 成本高昂
· if something has considerable costs, it's very expensive.
· Many small businesses are now closing because of the considerable rent costs in the city.
· The company plans to open a new factory in the countryside to avoid the considerable rent costs of the city center.
▍责任编辑
李焕、陈鑫悦、章晓丹