1. Harvard University
Harvard University has topped the list, making it the best university in the world.
It was established in 1636 and was named for its first benefactor1, John Harvard. Harvard was a minister2 who, on his death in 1638, left his library and half his estate3 to the newly established institution4. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
Seven presidents of the United States were graduates of Harvard. Its faculty5 has produced 40 Nobel laureates6.
2. University of California, Berkeley
The university that was born on March 23, 1868－was the product of a merger7 between the College of California (a private institution) and the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical8 Arts College.
Among other things, the university is credited with9 the isolation10 of the human polio virus11 and the discovery of all artificial12 elements heavier than uranium13. Eighteen members of the Berkeley faculty have been awarded Nobel Prizes.
3． Massachusetts14 Institute15 of Technology
As one of the most famous universities in the world, do you know its founder, William Barton Rogers, never received a degree? In 1853, Rogers moved to Boston, where he enlisted16 the support of the scientific community to create an institution for technical and scientific education. It was largely through his efforts that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was born in 1861.
The institute now is organized into five Schools－Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Management, and Science.
4． California Institute of Technology
Caltech was established thanks to philanthropist17 Amos Throop. In September 1891, he established Throop University, the forerunner18 to Caltech19. George Ellery Hale became a member of Throop's board of trustees20 in 1907, and envisioned21 to make it a first-class institution. Under his leadership Throop's transformation began. By 1921, Hale had been joined by chemist Arthur Noyes and physicist Robert Millikan. These three men set the school, which by then had been renamed the California Institute of Technology, firmly on its new course.
5． Oxford University
The University of Oxford is one of the oldest English-speaking universities. Teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167.
Except for St Hilda's—which continues to remain an all-women college－all of Oxford's 39 colleges now admit both men and women.
6． Cambridge University
Cambridge is the largest university in the United Kingdom (over 100 departments, faculties22 and schools). Its contribution to the world has ranged from the discovery of the mechanism23 of blood circulation24 to the structure of DNA, from the great philosophers25 of the early 15th century to the groundbreaking26 work of its many Nobel Prize winners.
7． Stanford University
Stanford University was dedicated27 by Leland Stanford and Jane Eliza to their son, Leland Junior. After six years of planning and building, the Stanford University opened on October 1, 1891.
Stanford followed the German model of providing graduate as well as undergraduate instruction and stressing on research along with teaching. Stanford's current community of scholars includes 17 Nobel laureates and four Pulitzer Prize28 winners.
8． Yale University
Yale University was founded in 1701 as the Collegiate29 School, in Killingworth, Connecticut30. In 1716 the school moved to New Haven and, with the generous gift by Elihu Yale, a British trader, was renamed Yale College in 1718.
The University has graduated numerous Nobel Prize laureates and U.S. Presidents, including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Its $12.7 billion academic endowment31 is the second largest worldwide (behind Harvard University).
1. 哈佛大学
美国哈佛大学排名第一，当选全球最佳大学。
哈佛大学建校于1636年，以第一位捐资人约翰·哈佛而命名。哈佛是一名传教士，1638年去世后，他将图书馆和一半地产捐给了这座新建学府。哈佛大学是美国最古老的高等学府。
美国历史上有7位总统是哈佛大学的毕业生。哈佛教员中产生了40位诺贝尔桂冠得主。
2. 加州大学伯克利分校
1868年3月23日，加州学院（一所私立学校）和农业、采矿以及机械工艺学院合并成立了加州大学。
除了其它成就之外，该大学成功分离出了人体脊髓灰质炎病毒，并发现了比铀重的全部人造元素。伯克利分校有18名教员获得过诺贝尔奖。
3. 麻省理工学院
作为一所世界名校，你是否知道其创始人威廉·巴顿·罗杰斯未曾获得任何学位呢？1853年，罗杰斯移居波士顿，在这里争取到科学界的支持创立一所科技教育机构。很大程度上正是基于他的努力，1861年麻省理工学院诞生了。
学校现设5个学院——建筑及城市规划学院、工程学院、人文及社会科学学院、管理学院和理学院。
4. 加州工学院
加州工学院的创建得益于慈善家阿摩司·斯鲁普。1891年9月，他建立斯鲁普大学 ——加州工学院的前身。1907年，乔治·艾莱利·赫尔成为斯鲁普的董事会成员，他立志要将该校打造为一流大学。在他的领导下斯鲁普开始变革。到1921年，化学家阿瑟·诺伊斯、物理学家罗伯特·米利肯和赫尔一起，三人组建了学校，当时更名为加州工学院，坚实地迈上了新的办学道路。
5. 牛津大学
牛津大学是世界上历史最悠久的英语大学之一。1096年牛津就开始了某种形式的教学，1167年开始迅速发展。
目前除了圣希尔达学院继续保留女校身份外，牛津所有的39所学院男女生兼收。
6. 剑桥大学
剑桥是英国规模最大的大学（设有100多个院系和学科）。从血液循环机制的发现到DNA结构的探明，从15世纪初的伟大哲学家到诺贝尔奖得主划时代的著作——这一切都是剑桥大学对世界的不朽贡献。
7. 斯坦福大学
斯坦福大学是利兰·斯坦福和简·伊莱扎为了纪念儿子——小利兰而创建的。经过6年的规划与建设，斯坦福大学于1891年10月1日开始招生。
斯坦福大学秉承德国的本科生和研究生教育办学模式，强调研究与教学并重。斯坦福大学目前有17位诺贝尔奖得主和4名普利策奖得主。
8. 耶鲁大学
1701年耶鲁大学创办于康涅狄格州的其琳沃斯镇，原名大学学校。1716年学校迁到纽黑文镇。由于受英国商人伊莱林·耶鲁的慷慨捐赠，学校于1718年改名为耶鲁大学。
该校培养了数名诺贝尔奖得主和美国总统，包括比尔·克林顿及乔治·W·布什。其学术捐赠基金已达127亿，排名世界第二（仅次于哈佛大学）。
1. benefactor n. 捐助者
2. minister n. 牧师
3. estate n. 财产，不动产
4. institution n. 社会公共机构
5. faculty n. 全体教员
6. laureate n. （由于艺术与科学上的成就）获奖者
7. merger n. 合并
8. mechanical adj. 机械的
9. credit sb. / sth. with sth. 认为某人/某事具有…
10. isolation n. 隔离；孤立
11. polio virus脊髓灰质炎（即小儿麻痹症）病毒
12. artificial adj. 人造的
13. uranium n. 铀
14. Massachusetts n. 马萨诸塞州
15. institute n. 学院
16. enlist v. 征募
17. philanthropist n. 慈善家
18. forerunner n. 先驱，前任
19. Caltech＝California Institute of Technology
20. board of trustees 理事会；（大学）董事会 trustee n. 理事
21. envision v. 预想，想像
22. faculty n. （大学的）系、科
23. mechanism n. 机制
24. blood circulation 血液循环
25. philosopher n. 哲学家
26. groundbreaking adj. 突破性的
27. dedicate v. 献给；致力于…
28. Pulitzer Prize普利策奖，纽约市哥伦比亚大学授予的多项目年度大奖，主要授予美国新闻界、文学界和音乐界为公众服务成绩突出和成就卓著者。
29. collegiate adj. 由不同学院组成的
30. Connecticut n. （美）康涅狄格州
31. endowment n. 捐赠