Cambridge University is one of the oldest and most famous universities in the world. This article tells about its history and development as well as what it is like today .

     When we say that Cambridge is a university town, we do not mean just that it is a town with a university in it . Manchester and Milan have universities. but we do not call them university towns A university town like Uppsala, Coimbra, Salamanca or Heidelberg —— is one where there is no clear separation between the university buildings and the rest of the city .The university is not just one part of the town; it is all over the town. The heart of Cambridge has its shops, pubs, market-place and so on, but most of it is university —— colleges, faculties, libraries , clubs and other places for university staff and students .Students fill the shops, cafes banks, and churches, making these as well part of the university. 　

     The town was there first .Two Roman roads crossed there ,and there are signs of building before Roman times (earlier than A.D.43).Trouble in Oxford in 1209 caused some students and their teachers to move. Cambridge became a center of learning ,and the authority of the head of the university ,the chancellor, was recognised by the king in 1226.
At that time many of the students were very young(about fifteen), and many of the teachers were not more than twenty-one .At first they found lodgings where they could, but this led to trouble between “town and gown,” and many students were too poor to afford lodgings. Colleges were opened so that students could live cheaply. This was the beginning of the college system which has continued at Cambridge up to the present day.

     The colleges were built with money from kings, queens, religious houses, or other sources. One example is Clare College. It was first founded in 1326 as University Hall. After the Black Death(a disease which killed nearly half the population of England between 1349 and 1350) it was refounded with money from the Countess of Clare .In providing it, the Countess stated that the college was to be for the education of priests and scholars. Today there are nearly thirty Colleges. The newest are University College, founded in 1965, and Clare Hall, founded in 1966, both for graduates. Very few students can now live in college for the whole of their course ;the numbers are too great. Many of them live in lodgings —“digs”— at first and move into college for their final year. But every student is a member of his college from the beginning .While he is in “digs” he must eat a number of meals in the college hall each week . His social and sports life centers on the college, although he will also join various university societies and clubs.To make this clearer, take the imaginary case of John Smith.

     He is an undergraduate at Queen’s College .His rooms are on E staircase, not far from his tutor’s rooms on C staircase .He has dinner in the fine old college hall four times a week. He plays rugger for Queen’s and hopes to be chosen to play for the university this year. His other favourite sport is boxing , and he is a member of the university club. He is “reading” history ,and goes once a week to Emmanuel College to see his supervisor to discuss his work and his lectures. He belongs to several university societies — the Union, the Historical Society, a photographic club, and so on —— and to a number of college societies.

     With about 8520 undergraduates like John Smith and over 2000 postgraduates, the city is a busy place in “full term”. Undergraduates are not allowed to keep cars in Cambridge, so nearly all of them use bicycles. Don’t try to drive through Cambridge during the five minutes between lectures. On Mondays John Smith has a lecture in Downing College ending at 9:55 and another in Trinity at 10.His bicycle must get him there through a boiling sea of other bicycles hurrying in all directions. If you are in Cambridge at five minutes to the hour any morning of full term, you know that you are in a university town .Stop in some safe place and wait.

From Reading for Adults,ed.,R.D.Lewis,Longman,1973
Approximately 690 words.