08　Change with the World and Remake America B与时俱进，重塑美国B

Barack Obama

巴拉克·侯赛因·奥巴马，美国第44任总统

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit；to choose our better history；to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation：the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

我们仍是一个年轻的国家，但如圣经所言，抛弃幼稚的时刻已经到来。重拾坚韧精神的时刻已经到来，我们要做出更好的历史选择，我们要秉承历史赋予的宝贵权利，秉承代代相传的高贵理想：上帝赋予所有人平等、自由和充分追求幸福的机会。

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.It has not been the path for the fainthearted-for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things-some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor-who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

在重申我们国家伟大之处的同时，我们深知，伟大并非从天而降，而需努力赢得。我们一路走来，从未谋求捷径或退而求其次。这旅途不属于弱者——它不属于好逸恶劳或只图名利享受之徒；这条路属于冒险者、实干家和创造者——这些人有些名留青史，但大多数是默默无闻耕耘劳作的男女志士，是他们带我们走向通往繁荣和自由的漫长崎岖之路。

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

为了我们，他们打点起贫寒的行装上路，远赴重洋，追求新生活。

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West；endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

为了我们，他们用血汗浇铸工厂，在西部原野拓荒，忍着鞭笞之痛在坚硬的土地上耕耘。

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg；Normandy and Khe Sahn.

为了我们，他们奔赴疆场，英勇捐躯，长眠于康科德、葛底斯堡、诺曼底和溪山。

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions；greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

为了我们能够过上更好的生活，他们前赴后继，历尽艰辛，全力奉献，不辞劳苦，直至双手结起层层老茧。在他们看来，美国的强盛与伟大超越了个人的雄心壮志，也超越了所有种族、财富或派系的差异。

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.Our capacity remains undiminished.But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-that time has surely passed.Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

今天，我们踏上了先人们这一未竟的旅程。我们依然是地球上最富裕、最强大的国家。与危机初露端倪之时相比，我们的劳动者生产力依然旺盛；我们的头脑依然富于创造力。我们的产品与服务仍旧受欢迎如往昔。我们的实力丝毫未损。但是，维持现状、保护狭隘的时代、对艰难决定犹豫不决的时代无疑已成为过去。从今天起，我们必须振作起来，拍拍我们身上的尘土，重新开始，重塑美国的事业。

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act-not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost.We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.All this we can do.And all this we will do.

我们目之所及，都有工作等待着我们。经济形势要求我们果敢而迅速地行动，我们的确要行动——不仅要创造新的就业机会，而且要打下新的增长基础。我们将造桥铺路，架设电网，为企业铺设电网和数字线路。我们将回归科学，利用高新技术的超常潜力提高医疗保健质量并降低成本。我们将利用太阳能、风力和地热驱动车辆，为工厂提供能源。我们将改革我们的中小学及大专院校，以应对新时代的挑战。这一切我们都能做到，这一切我们必将做到。

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions-who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short.For they have forgotten what this country has already done；what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

现在，有人开始质疑我们的雄心壮志——他们说我们的体制不能承受太多的宏伟规划。他们是健忘的，因为他们忘记了这个国家已经取得的成就，忘记了一旦共同的目标插上理想的翅膀、现实的要求鼓起勇气的风帆，自由的人民就会爆发出无穷的创造力。

单词解析Word Analysis

reaffirm[ˌriːəˈfɜːm]v.重申，再确认

例　It is particularly important to reaffirm this point today.

今天重申这一点，有特别重要的意义。

deserve[dɪˈzɜːv]v.应受，值得

例　He has done nothing to deserve death.

他没做过该受死刑的事。

fainthearted[ˈfeɪnthˈɑːtɪd]adj.懦弱的；无精神的；胆小的

例　A fearful person is a fainthearted person.

怕这怕那的人是软弱的人。

rugged[ˈrʌgɪd]adj.高低不平的；崎岖的；粗犷的；粗鲁的；（人）坚毅的；（气候）严酷的；（声音）刺耳的；坚固耐用的

例　They walk on the rugged country road.

他们在崎岖不平的乡村小路上走着。

toil[tɔɪl]n.辛苦；苦工；罗网；圈套v.费力地做；苦干；跋涉

例　We were quite exhausted with the toil.

我们因那件辛苦的工作而感到十分疲惫。

sweatshop[ˈswetʃɒp]n.血汗工厂（工作条件恶劣而工资低的工厂）

例　He spent three years in a sweatshop before he found a decent job.

他在一家血汗工厂做了三年才找到一份像样的工作。

lash[læʃ]n.鞭子；鞭打；睫毛；讽刺v.鞭打；摆动；抨击

例　He began to lash Luke unmercifully across buttocks and thighs.

他开始无情地鞭打卢克的屁股和大腿。

plow[plau]n.犁；耕地v.耕犁；费力通过；破浪前行

例　He teamed one horse and one cow to a plow.

他把一匹马和一头牛套在犁上。

undiminished[ˌʌndɪˈmɪnɪʃt]adj.不减的；未衰落的；没有降低的

例　They continued with undiminished enthusiasm.

他们热情依旧地继续着。

restore[rɪˈstɔː（r）]v.恢复；归还；复原

例　The military government promised to restore democracy within one year.

军人政府答应在一年内重新建立民主体制。

语法知识点Grammar Points

①……the time has come to set aside childish things.

这个句子中有一个结构“set aside”，表示“把……放到一边，留出”。

例　They work hard, marry, have lots of children and set aside an evening each week for quality time with the family.

他们努力工作，结婚，生许多小孩，每周都会留出一个晚上来和家人讨论与家庭、孩子有关的话题。

②……these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life.

这个句子中有一个结构“live a……life”，表示“过……的生活”。

例　Would you want to live a life on the experience machine?

你想在体验机里生活吗？

③But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions……

这个句子中有一个结构“put off”，表示“推迟，扔掉，阻止”，等同于postpone和delay。Delay多指因外界原因推迟或耽误，也可指有意推迟。Postpone是正式用词，语气较强，多指有安排的延期，常指明延期到一定的时间。

例　We’ve invited friends to supper and it’s too late to put them off now.

我已邀请朋友来吃晚饭，现在取消已来不及了。

④……not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.

这个句子中有一个结构“lay a foundation for……”，表示“奠定基础”。

例　Lay the foundation for future growth.

为未来发展打下基础。

经典名句Famous Classics

1.The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.

领导者的工作不是把卓越注入人类，而是把它引发出来，因为卓越原本就在。

2.Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act.

以你想要的方式行动，很快你就会成为那个样子。

3.The goal is not always meant to be reached, but to serve as a mark for our aim.

目标不一定永远都会达到，但可以当我们瞄准的方向。

4.From error to error one discovers the entire truth.

经由一次次的犯错，我们得以发现整个真相。

5.Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal；while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.

有些人在几乎要达成目标时会放弃他们的设想；而另一些人则相反，在最后一刻比以往更积极努力地去获取胜利。

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