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英语听说大师:Paving A Brilliant Way

 昵称2530266 2016-03-29


                   

英语口语精选

此生能遇见你,已然

幸福得一塌糊涂




Paving A Brilliant Way


Tonight is a particular honor for me, let's face it; my presence on stage is pretty unlikely.


今晚对我而言颇不寻常,我们得承认,我能站在这里本身就已意义非凡。


My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, and went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to British.


我父亲是一个外国留学生,他原本生于肯尼亚的一个小村庄,并在那里长大成人。他小的时候还放过羊,上的学校简陋不堪,屋顶上仅有块铁皮来遮风挡雨。而他的父亲,也就是我的祖父,不过是个普通的厨子,还做过家佣。


But my grandfather had lager dreams for their son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place: America that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.


但祖父对父亲抱以厚望。凭借不懈的努力和坚忍不拔的毅力,父亲荣获赴美留学的机会,而且还拿到奖学金。美国这片神奇的土地,对于很多踏上这片国土的人而言,意味着自由和机遇。


While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world. Her father was an oil rigs and a farm worker through most of the depression. The day after Pearl Harbor, my grandfather joined Patton's army, marching across Europe.


还在留学期间,父亲与母亲不期而遇。母亲来自完全不同的另一个世界,她生于堪萨斯的一个小镇。大萧条时期,外祖父为谋生计,曾在石油钻井打工,还曾在农场务农。日军偷袭珍珠港后的第二天,他就自愿应征入伍,在巴顿将军麾下,转战南北,横扫欧洲。


Back home, my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and later moved to west, all the way to Hawaii, in search of opportunity.


在后方的家中,外祖母含辛茹苦,抚养子女,并在轰炸机装配线上找了份活计。战后,依据士兵福利法案, 他们通过联邦住宅管理局购置了一套房子,并举家西迁,谋求更大发展。


And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.


他们对自己的女儿也寄予厚望,两家人虽然身在不同的非洲和美洲大陆,却有着共同的梦想。我的父母不仅不可思议地彼此相爱,而且还对这个国家有了不移的信念。


They would give me a African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.


他们赐予我一个非洲名字,巴拉克,意为“上天福佑”, 因为他们相信,在如此包容的国度中,这样的名字不应成为成功的羁绊。


They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to achieve your potential.


尽管他们生活并不宽裕,还是想方设法让我接受当地最好的教育,因为在这样一个富足的国度中,无论贫富贵贱,都同样有机会发展个人的潜力。


They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride.


现在他们都已不在人世,不过,我知道,他们的在天之灵,此时此刻正在骄傲地关注着我。


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