viva

Compared meaning: a spoken exam (noun).

比较义项：口试（名词）。

• oral

  A general, everyday word for any spoken test, used in language classes and other settings in both American and British English; not limited to a particular academic level.

  泛指任何形式口头测试的常用词，用于语言课程等各种场合，美式和英式英语都通用；不局限于某个特定的学术阶段。

  Every student in her French class has to sit a short oral at the end of the term.

  她法语班上的每个学生学期末都要参加一次简短的口试。

• viva 本词

  A formal British English term, short for 'viva voce', for the spoken defense of a postgraduate thesis before a panel of examiners.

  英式英语中的正式说法，是 viva voce 的缩写，指研究生在一组考官面前为论文进行的口头答辩。

  In British universities, PhD candidates must pass a viva to earn their doctorate.

  在英国的大学里，博士生必须通过论文答辩才能获得学位。

Oral and viva both mean a spoken test, but oral is a general word for any spoken exam, used in both American and British English. Viva is a more formal British term, short for "viva voce", for the spoken defense of a graduate thesis.

这两个词在“口试”这个意义上很接近，但适用范围和正式程度不同：oral 是通用词，指任何形式的口头测试，美式和英式英语都常用；viva 是英式英语中更正式的说法，专指研究生论文答辩。这里不比较 oral 作形容词表示“口腔的、口头的”的意思（如 oral hygiene 口腔卫生）。