第一篇:obama在击毙登哥后的演讲(中英文)
Transcript of President Obama’s Speech
________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 1, 2011 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON OSAMA BIN LADEN East Room 11:35 P.M.EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good evening.Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.总统:晚上好。今晚,我要向米国民众以及全世界宣布,米国已经成功击毙了基地组织领导人奥萨马·本拉登,这一个谋杀了数以千计的无辜男女和孩子的恐怖分子。
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history.The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky;the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground;black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon;the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.就在10年前,那个阳光明媚的9月的一天遭受了米国历史上最严重的恐怖袭击而变得黑暗无比。9/11袭击的惨象深深地烙进了我们国家的记忆里:被劫持的飞机划破了万里无云的9月晴空,世贸大楼双子塔轰然倒地,浓浓黑烟从五角大楼升起,坠落在宾夕法尼亚州的93号航班残骸,因为机上英雄公民的行为而避免了更多的心碎和破坏。And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world.The empty seat at the dinner table.Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father.Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace.Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.然而我们知道真正最令人心痛的画面是那些所没有被世界看到的场景。晚餐桌旁空空如也的座位,被迫永远失去了他们的父母而独自长大的小孩,以及那些再也得不到自己的孩子拥抱的父母。接近3000名米国公民从我们身边被带走,在我们的心里留下了千疮百孔的创伤。
On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together.We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood.We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country.On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.2001年9月11号那天,一个我们共同悲痛的日子,所有米国民众团结到了一起。我们给自己的邻居慷慨提供援手,我们为伤者无偿献出血液。我们再次紧密相连,重新唤起对社会和祖国的爱。在那一天,无论我们从哪里来,信春哥或是曾哥,打星际属于神马组,我们都团结一致,成为一个统一的米国家庭。
We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice.We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe.And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.我们同样立刻团结齐心,坚决保护我们的国家并且要把那些犯下这罪恶袭击的凶手绳之以法。我们很快得知袭击是由基地组织谋划,而这个组织带头大哥就是由登叔领导。他竟然还牛B哄哄和米国开PVP,并且犯下了杀害无辜米国民众以及全球人类的罪行。所以,为了保护我们的公民、朋友和盟友,我们参加了针对基地组织的战争。
Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort.We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense.In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support.And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.在过去的10年当中,多谢于我们的军队和反恐专家的不知疲倦而英雄般的工作,我们在反恐战争上取得了巨大的成果。我们阻止了恐怖袭击并且加强了国土防卫,我们灭了那个阿富汗亲登哥的塔利班政府,我们和我们的盟友在全球范围内抓获及击毙了大量的基地组织恐怖分子,其中一些就曾经参与了9/11袭击。
Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan.Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.然而奥萨马·本拉登逃过了追捕并且隐遁到了阿富汗和巴基斯坦边境。与此同时,基地组织继续在阿巴边境活动并且通过它在全世界的分支继续进行破坏。
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.正是因此哥一上马,很快就任授命中央情报局局长Leon Panetta把击杀及抓捕本拉登放在对付基地组织的战争中第一位,同时我们也继续加大努力破坏、解除并摧毁他的机构。
Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden.It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground.I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan.And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.在去年八月,巴基斯坦与我们的情报机构共同协作了一年之后,哥被告知发现了本拉登的可疑行踪。当时情况还没有去等,我们花了数月时间摸清线索。我多次和我的国家安全局成员会面并且取得了更多的相关信息,最后确认了本拉登藏匿在巴基斯坦深处的一处宅邸。最后再上个星期,我认为我们已经取得了足够情报采取行动,并授权采取行动抓捕本拉登将其绳之以法。
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.No Americans were harmed.They took care to avoid civilian casualties.After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.今天,在我的授权之下,米国部队对巴基斯坦境内阿伯达巴德的那处宅邸发起了一次目标明确的攻击。一个米国小分队以非凡的勇气和战斗力执行了这次任务。没有米国人在这次行动中受伤,他们也尽力避免了平民的伤亡。交火当中他们击毙了奥萨马·本拉登并且取得了他的尸体。
For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies.The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.20年以来,本拉登作为基地组织的领导和象征,一直谋划袭击我们的国家和盟友。本拉登的死标志了我们的国家在打击基地组织行动上至今为止最重要的成就。
Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort.There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.We must –-and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.然而他的死并不意味我们行动的结束。毫无疑问基地组织将会继续谋求对我们的袭击,我们必须,也将会,在国土防卫和海外安全上维持高度警惕。
As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –-and never will be-– at war with Islam.I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam.Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader;he was a mass murderer of Muslims.Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own.So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.正如我们所做的,我们必须重申米国不是,而且也永远不会,与伊斯兰世界进行战争。我已经表明,正如布什总统在9/11袭击后所说的一样,我们的战争不是针对伊斯兰世界。本拉登也不是一个穆斯林领袖,正相反,他是杀死了许多穆斯林的凶手。基地组织在许多国家屠杀了许多穆斯林民众,包括在米国。所以他挂了是所有追求和平和人权的人所欢迎的。
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was.That is what we’ve done.But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding.Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.过去数年中,我多次地清晰表明我们会在发现本拉登位置的时候在巴基斯坦境内采取行动。这也是我们这次正好所做的。但是必须要强调是我们和巴基斯坦的反恐协作帮助了我们发现本拉登。事实上,本拉登也对巴基斯坦宣战并且下令攻击了巴基斯坦的民众。
Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts.They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations.And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.今晚,我给扎尔达里总统打了电话,我的幕僚也与巴基斯坦方面进行了沟通。他们都同意这是一个对我们两个国家来说伟大而历史性的一天。而在未来巴基斯坦会继续和我们一起对付基地组织以其分支。
The American people did not choose this fight.It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war.These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.这场战争不是米国民众发起的。它突然袭击了我们的国家支柱,对我们毫无防备的公民进行了可耻的屠杀。经过了近10年的努力、奋战和牺牲,我们已经相当清楚了战争的代价。这些过往的努力每次都提醒我,作为军队总司令,必须要签署一份信给所有那些失去了所爱的家庭,以及那些在战争中付出重伤的士兵。
So Americans understand the costs of war.Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed.We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.We will be true to the values that make us who we are.And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.米国民众明白战争的代价。然而作为一个国家,我们绝对不会容忍我们的安全受到威胁,也不会在我们的民众已经被杀的时候袖手旁观。我们将会不间断地防卫我们的公民和朋友以及联邦。我们会忠于那些使我们安身立命的价值,而且在每一个像今晚一样的夜晚,我们能够对那些在基地组织恐怖袭击中丧失了挚爱的家庭说:公义已经得到了彰显。
Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome.The American people do not see their work, nor know their names.But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.今晚,我们要感谢那些无数的情报人员以及反恐英雄,他们不知疲倦的工作换来了今天的成果。米国民众没有看到他们的工作,甚至不知道他们的名字。但是今晚,他们必定能够为他们的工作感到欣慰为他们对正义的追求感到自豪。
We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.我们要感谢那些执行这次任务的士兵,他们用行动标称了什么叫做忠于职守、热爱国家以及无比的勇气。他们也是在那个9月之后承担了最重大的一块责任的一代人之一。Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.最后,请让我对那些在9/11当中失去了挚爱的家庭说,我们永远不会忘记你们的损失,更加不会动摇我们将会采取一切行动阻止针对我们国家的另一次袭击的决心。
And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11.I know that it has, at times, frayed.Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.今晚,让我们回想起在9/11那天被唤起的团结一心。我知道它已经随着时间渐渐流逝了。然而今天的成就是我们伟大国家以及民众决心的明确证明!
The cause of securing our country is not complete.But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to.That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens;our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.保卫我们国家的原因没有终结。但是今晚,我们再一次提醒了世界:米国能够做到任何下定决心必行之事!因为这就是我们的历史,无论是对财富的追求还是为公平的抗争。我们拥护自己价值的承诺以及我们为此做出的牺牲,让这个世界变得更加安全。
Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.请让我们记住我们做这些并不仅仅是为了财富和权力,更是因为我们的信仰核心:一个伟大的国家,在上帝的保护下,不可分割,为所有人都拥有自由和公义!
Thank you.May God bless you.And may God bless the United States of America.谢谢你们。愿上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
第二篇:obama开学演讲中英文演讲稿
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美国总统奥巴马2010年开学励志演讲
2010年10月01日所属:口语助手来源:星火英语作者:奥巴马
美国总统奥巴马开学演讲英语演讲稿。这是奥巴马第二次发表开学演讲。奥巴马2009年的演讲招来了许多批评和抵制。一些反对者指责称,奥巴马试图通过演讲向学生灌输政治理念。部分媒体还批评奥巴马试图建立个人崇拜。在美国各地,也有许多家长向当地教育官员表示抗议,一些家长甚至威胁在奥巴马演讲时把孩子离教室。有了去年的“教训”,今年的总统开学演讲,白宫意强调这是一次“非政治活动”,而奥巴马本人也在演讲中回避政治话题。
Thank you!Hello!(Applause.)Thank you.Thank you.Well, hello, Philadelphia!(Applause.)And hello, Masterman.It is wonderful to see all of you.What a terrific introduction by Kelly.Give Kelly a big round of applause.(Applause.)I was saying backstage that when I was in high school, I could not have done that.(Laughter.)I would have muffed it up somehow.So we are so proud of you and everything that you’ve done.And to all the students here, I’m thrilled to be here.谢谢!你们好!(掌声。)谢谢。谢谢。你好,费城!(掌声。)你好,马斯特曼。见到你们真是太好了。Kelly的介绍真是太棒了。让我们对Kelly报以热烈的掌声。在后台的时候我说,我上高中的时候我就做不这么好,我可能会弄的一团糟。所以让我们为你和你做的一切自豪吧。站在这里我很激动。
kelly 在奥巴马总统演讲前,一名叫Kelly的学生做了演讲。
backstage n.后台
muff v.笨拙地处理,将事情弄糟
thrilled a.激动的We’ve got a couple introductions I want to make.First of all, you’ve got the outstanding governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, in the house.(Applause.)The mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, is here.(Applause.)Congressman Chaka Fattah is here.(Applause.)Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz is here.(Applause.)Your own principal, Marge Neff, is here.(Applause.)The school superintendent, Arlene Ackerman, is here and doing a great job.(Applause.)And the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is here.(Applause.)我想介绍几个人。首先,来到这儿的有,杰出的宾夕法尼亚州州长,Ed Rendell。(掌声。)费城市长,Michael Nutter。国会议员Fattah和Allyson Schwartz(掌声)。你们的校长Marge Neff(掌声)。学校管理人Arlene Ackerman是这个学校的,并且为学校做了很大的贡献。(掌声)。还有教育部秘书长Arne Duncan。(掌声)
outstanding a.杰出的Congressman n.国会议员
principal n.校长
superintendent n.院长
And I am here.(Applause.)And I am thrilled to be here.I am just so excited.I’ve heard such great things about what all of you are doing, both the students and the teachers and the staff here.还有我。(掌声),我感到非常的激动。我耳闻了你们做的那些伟大的事,这里面有在校的学生,老师和工作人员。
Today is about welcoming all of you, and all of America’s students, back to school, even though I know you’ve been in school for a little bit now.And I can’t think of a better place to do it than at Masterman.(Applause.)Because you are one of the best schools in Philadelphia.You are a leader in helping students succeed in the classroom.Just last week, you were recognized by a National Blue Ribbon--as a National Blue Ribbon School because of your record of achievement.And that is a testament to everybody here –-to the students, to the parents, to the teachers, to the school leaders.It’s an example of excellence that I hope communities across America can embrace.今天欢迎你们,欢迎每一个美国学生回校上课,当然你们在学校已经呆了一段时间了。我想不出除了在Masterman外,还有哪个地方更适合做这件事。(掌声)因为你们是费城最好的学校之一。你们在教育方面是领头军。就在上周,由于你们的卓越贡献,被授为国家蓝丝带勋章。这是对每个人的见证,对学生,家长,老师还有学校领导人。我希望全美的社会团体都能欣然接受这个杰出代表的例子。
embrace vt.拥抱;接受
Over the past few weeks, Michelle and I have been getting Sasha and Malia ready for school.And they’re excited about it.I’ll bet they had the same feelings that you do--you’re a little sad to see the summer go, but you’re also excited about the possibilities of a new year.The possibilities of building new friendships and strengthening old ones, of joining a school club, or trying out for a team.The possibilities of growing into a better student and a better person and making not just your family proud but making yourself proud.几周前,我和Michelle为Sasha和Malia上学的事做准备。她们两个对这非常的期待。我敢打赌她们和你们一样,有着相同的感觉。你们为夏天的逝去而神伤,但是你们更应该期待新的一年。如你们可以结交新的朋友,加深同老朋友的感情,加入学校俱乐部,参加各种团队的选拔赛。成长为一个更优秀的学生和个人,不仅仅让你的家人自豪,同样让你们自己也很有成就感。
build friendships 结交新朋友
But I know some of you may also be a little nervous about starting a new school year.Maybe you’re making the jump from elementary to middle school, or from middle school to high school, and you’re worried about what that’s going to be like.Maybe you’re starting a new school.You’re not sure how you’ll like it, trying to figure out how you’re going to fit in.Or maybe you’re a senior, and you’re anxious about the whole college process;about where to apply
and whether you can afford to go to college.我知道,你们中有些人在新学年会有些紧张。或许你刚从小学升到初中,从初中升到高中,会担心,新的学年将会是什么样的呢。也许你进入一所新的学校,不知道是否会喜欢这个学校,想着怎么来融入这个学校。或许你到了高三年级,对整个的大学入学程序感到不安,比如申请那里的学校,能不能支付上大学的费用等等。
elementary school n.小学
figure out 想明白,弄清楚
fit in 融入,适应
afford to do 承担得起
And beyond all those concerns, I know a lot of you are also feeling the strain of some difficult times.You know what’s going on in the news and you also know what’s going on in some of your own families.You’ve read about the war in Afghanistan.You hear about the recession that we’ve been through.And sometimes maybe you’re seeing the worries in your parents’ faces or sense it in their voice.除此之外,我知道你们还有来自困难时期的压力。你们知道新闻内容,知道你们一些家庭中发发生的事情。你们读过有关阿富汗战争的信息,听说过我们经历过的经济不景气。有时你们还看到了双亲脸上挂着的忧虑,或从他们的声音中感受到了这些。
strain n.压力
So a lot of you as a consequence, because we’re going through a tough time a country, are having to act a lot older than you are.You got to be strong for your family while your brother or sister is serving overseas, or you’ve got to look after younger siblings while your mom is working that second shift.Or maybe some of you who are little bit older, you’re taking on a part-time job while your dad’s out of work.所以,因为我们国家面临困难时期,你们许多人的行为看上去比实际年龄要大。姐姐哥哥在海外工作,你们会表现得坚强,或许妈妈去值第二班,你们就要照顾年幼的弟弟妹妹。或许你们有些人年长一点的,父亲失了业,你们还要做兼职。
as a consequence 结果,所以
tough time 困难时期【tough a.艰难的】
sibling n.兄弟姐妹,同胞
shift n.轮班
And that’s a lot to handle.It’s more than you should have to handle.And it may make you wonder at times what your own future will look like, whether you’re going to be able to succeed
in school, whether you should maybe set your sights a little lower, scale back your dreams.有太多事情要做了,很多是你们不应该做的。这让你们迷茫,不知道自己的未来会是什么样,在学校能不能取得好成绩,是不是应该把目光降低些,把理想放低些。
handle v.处理,应对
scale back 缩减
But I came to Masterman to tell all of you what I think you’re hearing from your principal and your superintendent, and from your parents and your teachers:Nobody gets to write your destiny but you.Your future is in your hands.Your life is what you make of it.And nothing--absolutely nothing--is beyond your reach, so long as you’re willing to dream big, so long as you’re willing to work hard.So long as you’re willing to stay focused on your education, there is not a single thing that any of you cannot accomplish, not a single thing.I believe that.但是,我来到马斯特曼,告诉你们一句话。我想这句话你们的校长、院长、父母以及老师都曾告诉过你们,那就是,没有人,只有你才能书写你自己的命运。未来在你自己手中,生活由自己缔造。只要志向远大,并努力为之奋斗,没有什么是不能得到的。只要你专注于学业,没有什么事不能实现的。我确信。
destiny n.命运
accomplish v.完成And that last part is absolutely essential, that part about really working hard in school, because an education has never been more important than it is today.I’m sure there are going to be times in the months ahead when you’re staying up late doing your homework or cramming for a test, or you’re dragging yourself out of bed on a rainy morning and you’re thinking, oh, boy, I wish maybe it was a snow day.(Laughter.)最后这一点,在学校努力奋斗是必要的。因为教育从未像现在这样重要。我确信,几个月后会有一段时间,你们会完善熬夜写作业,为考试临时抱佛脚,或者在一个雨天的早晨把自己从被窝里拖出来,想,哦天,怎么不是下雪天?!(笑)
absolutely ad.绝对地
cram v.临时抱佛脚;吃得过饱
But let me tell you, what you’re doing is worth it.There is nothing more important than what you’re doing right now.Nothing is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education, how you’re doing in school.但是让我告诉你,你所做的一切都是值得的。你们现在要做的事情无比重要。没有什么比你的受教育程度以及你在学校的所做之事更能决定你的成功。
More and more, the kinds of opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in school.The farther you go in school, the farther you’re going to go in life.And at a time when other countries are competing with us like never before, when students around the world in Beijing, China, or Bangalore, India, are working harder than ever, and doing better than ever, your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it’s going to determine America’s success in the 21st century.能否能抓住机遇,越来越取决于你们在学校的努力。你们在学校的表现越好,生活中就能走得越远。当今,其他国家正与我们竞争,而且比以往任何时候都激烈。在中国北京或者印度邦加罗尔的学生比以前更加努力,而且比以前表现更好。你们在学校的成功并不只决定了自己一人的成功,还决定了美国在21世界是否能够成功。
So you’ve got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you, to make sure you’re getting the best education possible.And making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in hand.所以,你们要承担起这样的责任和义务。同时国家也向你们承担责任和义务,那就是为你们提供最好的教育,为此我们要努力,共同奋斗。
obligation n.责任,义务
It takes all of us in government--from the governor to the mayor to the superintendent to the President--all of us doing our part to prepare our students, all of them, for success in the classroom and in college and in a career.It’s going to take an outstanding principal, like Principal Neff, and outstanding teachers like the ones you have here at Masterman--teachers who are going above and beyond the call of duty for their students.And it’s going to take parents who are committed to your education.所有政府工作人员,从州长到市长,到院长,到总统,所有人都要履行职责为我们的学生做好准备,帮助他们在教室、在大学、在事业上取得成功。这就需要我们有一个杰出的校长,像校长Neff,和优秀的老师,正如你们的马斯特曼的老师们。老师们要履行好对学生所应担负起的责任。我也希望家长负起责任。
佳句欣赏
Nobody gets to write your destiny but you.Your future is in your hands.Your life is what you make of it.没有人,只有你才能书写你自己的命运。未来在你自己手中,生活由自己缔造。背景知识
这是奥巴马第二次发表开学演讲。奥巴马2009年的演讲招来了许多批评和抵制。一些反对者指责称,奥巴马试图通过演讲向学生灌输政治理念。部分媒体还批评奥巴马试图建立个人崇拜。在美国各地,也有许多家长向当地教育官员表示抗议,一些家长甚至威胁在奥巴马演讲时把孩子离教室。有了去年的“教训”,今年的总统开学演讲,白宫意强调这是一次“非政治活动”,而奥巴马本人也在演讲中回避政治话题。
第三篇:奥巴马Obama麻省大学毕业典礼的演讲(中英文)
奥巴马麻省大学毕业典礼的演讲
给大学毕业生的三个建议
2006-6-2
背景介绍
麻省大学是美国新英格兰地区最多元化的公立大学。2006 年6 月2 日,美国麻省大学波士顿分校授予美国参议员巴拉克•侯赛因•奥巴马该校法学荣誉博士学位,以表彰其为保护弱势群体利益,维护超越党派和种族利益而做出的努 力。当天,还是美国参议员的奥巴马出席了麻省大学第38届学位授予典礼仪式,并发表演讲。他对毕业生们提出自己诚恳的建议:第一,要敢于冒险,坚持理想。第二,要有全球思想,打破壁垒,不要狭隘。第三,培养人文情怀。最后,对美国这个“一切皆有可能”的地方充满好奇,实际上是对美国发自内心的肯定。
University of Massachusetts at Boston Commencement Address
Boston,MA |June 2,2006
Good morning President Wilson,Chancellor Collins,the Board of Trustees,faculty,parents,family,friends,and the Class of 2006.Congratulations on your graduation,and thank you for allowing me the honor to be a part of it.It’s always great to be back in Boston.As some of you may have heard,I was here a few years ago to give the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention.It was an amazing experience for me.A humbling honor.A tremendous opportunity.And if you had come up to me a few years earlier and told me I’d be there,I would’ve politely told you that you were out of your mind.Let me tell you what happened at the last convention I had been to.It was the year 2000,and I had just gotten my rear-end handed to me in my very first race for Congress.Didn’t even make it past the primary.I was a little depressed,and more than a little broke,but some friends suggested that I get my mind off it by going to Los Angeles,where that year’s Democratic Convention was being held.So I decided to go.And when my plane landed in LA,I got my luggage,walked on over to the Hertz counter,filled out all the forms to rent a car,gave my credit card to the nice woman behind the counter who,moments later,handed it back to me and said,“Mr.Obama,it seems we have a problem.”
That’s right,my credit card was denied.After thirty more minutes of haggling,I finally made it to the convention,only to learn that I was thought of so highly by the Democratic Party that my credentials barely granted me access to the men’s room-let alone backstage where all the action was.And so,being the VIP that I was,I spent the rest of the week as the guy in the room who nobody knew,but everyone knew didn’t belong.Needless to say,when they asked me to be the convention’s keynote speaker just four years later,I made sure I was getting a car.All joking aside,receiving that honor was a welcome change-and,as MasterCard could attest,more than a little unlikely.But of course,America is an unlikely place-a country built on defiance of the odds;on a belief in the impossible.And I remind you of this because as you set out to live your own stories of success and achievement,it’s now your turn to help keep it this way.It’s your turn to keep this daringly radical but unfailingly simple notion of America alivethose who doubt that things are better today than they were yesterday.To them I say take a look at this class of 2006.More than half of you represent the very first member of your family to ever attend college.In the most diverse university in all of New England,I look out at a sea of faces that are African-AmericanandHispanic-American and Asian-American and Arab-American.I see students that have come here from over 100 different countries,believing like those first settlers that they too could find a home in this City on a Hilland the world took notice.But today,just a few years into the twenty-first century,we already find ourselves in a different and precarious position.As revolutions in communications and technology have broken down barriers across the world,it has given more power to both our competitors and our enemies.No longer can we assume that a high-school education in Boston is enough to compete for a job that could easily go to a college-educated student in Bangalore or Beijing.No more can we count on employers to provide health care and pensions and job training when their bottom-lines know no borders.Never again can we expect the oceans that surround America to keep us safe from attacks on our own soil.So what does this mean for you?What role will you play in meeting these challenges ?
I do not pretend to have the answers.Each of you will have to discover your own.But perhaps I can offer a few suggestions that may be useful along the way.First,take risks.When I was on the brink of graduating from college,I had this crazy idea that I wanted to be a community organizer and work in low-income neighborhoods.My mother and grandparents thought I should go to law school,and my friends were all busy applying for jobs on Wall Street.But I went ahead and wrote letters to every organization in the country that I thought was working to empower low-income people.And finally,this small group of churches on the south side of Chicago wrote back and offered me a job helping them deal with the consequences of steel plants that had closed and put thousands out of work.The churches didn’t have much money-so they offered me a grand sum of $12,000 a year plus $2,000 to buy a car.So I bought a beat up old car,packed up my belongings,got out a map,and started driving west to Chicagoforget this community organizing business.You can’t change the world,and people won’t appreciate you trying.What you should do is go into television broadcasting.I’m telling you,you’ve got a future.”
I could’ve taken my mother’s advice and I could’ve taken my grandparents advice.I could’ve taken the path my friends traveled.And I could’ve taken the words of wisdom from that old man in Pennsylvania.And,objectively speaking,I’m sure he was right.But I knew there was something in me that wanted to try for something bigger.So don’t let people talk you into doing the safe thing.Listen to what’s in you and decide what it is that you care so much about that you’re willing to take a chance.My second piece of advice is to stay global.As the world continues to change and we become more connected to each other,globalization will bring both benefits and disruptions to our lives.But either way,it’s here,and it’s not going away.We can try to build walls around us,and we can look inward,and we can respond by being frightened and angry about those disruptions.But that’s not what we’re about.We are a confident country,not a fearful one.We can meet these challenges.And that means every single one of us needs to learn more so we can compete more.It means we need an energy policy that will create new jobs in this country and end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.And it means we need to update our social contract to make sure that people have health care and pensions and training no matter where they work or how many times they switch jobs.But it doesn’t mean we should ever withdrawal.We are better than that.My third piece of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy-to put yourself in other people’s shoesthe easiest thing in the world is to do nothing at all.To turn off the TV,put down the paper,and walk away from the stories about Iraq or Darfur or poverty or iolence or joblessness or hopelessness.To go about your busy lives,wishing these problems away but expecting someone else to do it.To remain detached;to remain indifferent;to remain safe.But I hope you don’t do what’s easy.I hope you do what’s hard.I often imagine the young Americans-teenagers and college kids not much older than you-from all over the country,watching the Civil Rights
Movement unfold before them on their television sets.I imagine that they would’ve seen the marchers and heard the speeches,but they also probably saw the dogs and the fire hoses,or the footage of innocent people being beaten within an inch of their lives,or maybe they would’ve heard the news the day those four little girls died when someone threw a bomb into their church.Instinctively,they knew that it was safer and smarter to stay at home; to watch the movement from afar.But somewhere in their hearts,they also understood that these people in Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi were their brothers and sisters;that what was happening was wrong;and that they had an obligation to make it right.And so when the buses pulled up for a Freedom Ride down South,they got on.And they rode.Thousands of them.And they changed the world.We need you to do the same.As Robert F.Kennedy once told a crowd of South Africans no older than you,“The world demands the qualities of youth;not a time of life but a state of mind,a temper of the will,a quality of the imagination,a predominance of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.”
Finally,my last piece of advice is to stay amazedto think that there’s something wrong with usstill hoping for something better-have longed to travel great distances and take great risks for a chance to arrive on our shores.My father was one of them.Born and raised in Kenya before that nation was freed from the shackles of colonialism,he grew up herding his father’s goats and,from time to time,attending local schools.But he wanted more.He dreamed of coming to America so he could further his education,improve his skills,and then return to help lead the next generation of newly independent Kenyans.I didn’t know my father very well.My parents separated when I was very young.But before I went to law school,I traveled back to Kenya to learn his story and to meet my relatives there.And I went to a tiny village called Alego where my grandmother lives.And I visited my father’s grave and my grandfather’s grave.And I asked my grandmother if there was anything left from my father.She opened a trunk and took out a stack of letters,which she handed to me.There were more than thirty of them,all handwritten by my father,all addressed to colleges and universities all across America.They wereletters not so different than those I would write twenty-five years later,trying to find a job that would give meaning to my life.And I read these letters,which were in the simple,sometimes awkward,voice of somebody desperate for a chance to come and live his unlikely dream.It is because someone answered that dream that I stand before you today,hopeful for our collective future,excited for your individual prospects,and eager for you to keep the legacy of this country alive in the years to come.You will be tested.You won’t always succeed.But I know that you have it within your power to try.That generations who have come before you faced these same fears and uncertainties in their own time.And that through our collective labor,and through God’s providence,and our willingness to shoulder each other’s burdens,America will continue on its journey towards that distant horizon,and a better day.Thank you so much to the class of 2006,and congratulations on your graduation.单词注解
The Board of Trustees,理事会(大学)董事会 congratulation on 对……祝贺 be out of one’s mind 精神不正常 all joking aside 玩笑归玩笑
tyranny n.暴政;专制政治;暴虐,专横
senior n.年长者,资深者;a.年长的,高级的,资深的 precarious adj.不确定的,不安全的;根据不充足的 write back 回信,回复
empathy n.移情作用,共鸣
精华句型& 翻译
hopeful for our collective future,excited for your individual prospects,and eager for you to keep the legacy of this country alive in the years to come.Listen to what’s in you and decide what it is that you care so much about that you’re willing to take a chance.The world demands the qualities of youth;not a time of life but a state of mind,a temper of the will,a quality of the imagination,a predominance of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.演讲技巧揭密
hopeful for our collective future,excited for your individual prospects,and eager for you to keep the legacy of this country alive in the years to come.排比句增强气势,斟酌用词
政治演说一般都具有鼓动性、甚至煽动性的特点,因此演讲者多会运用有气势的排比句,同时注意用词考究。这一例句中的三个动词词组值得我们学习:hopeful for,excited for,eager for,对仗非常工整,意思层层深入。
校长威尔逊,副校长柯林斯,校董事会,教职员工们,亲戚朋友们,2006 年毕业班的同学们,早上好。
祝贺你们毕业,谢谢你们邀请我来参加毕业典礼。
回到波士顿,感觉很好,你们可能听说了,几年前我在这里召开的民主党代表大会上做了重要发言。
对我来说,这次发言是一次美妙的经历,一个使我感到谦逊的殊荣,一次难能可贵的机会。如果你们早几年告诉我去那里演讲,我会礼貌地告诉你,你在异想天开。
我想讲讲上次我去参加民主党代表大会的经历。
那是2000 年。我在国会众议员席位的初选中垫底。也就是说,我没有通过初选。我有些沮丧,觉得很失望。有些朋友建议我去洛杉矶,借此放下包袱。那年的民主党代表大会在洛杉矶召开。
我决定前往那里,飞机降落在洛杉矶后,我取了行李,走到赫兹(Hertz)的租车服务台,填完了所有的租车表格;将我的信用卡递给了服务台后一位面相和善的女士。一会儿,她把信用卡递回给我,说,“奥巴马先生,好像出了点问题。”
你们猜得没错,我的信用卡被拒了。
经过了30 分钟的争论,我最终到达了会场。这时我才知道,我被民主党看得很“高”:我的资历刚刚够格进入洗手间。因此,选举现场的后台情况我一概不知道。像我这样的“重要”人物,没人会注意我会在房间里待上几天。但是,每个人都知道他们不必追随我。
不用多说,四年以后,他们要我在民主党代表大会上发言时,我一定要保证弄到一辆车。
玩笑归玩笑,接受如此的殊荣真是一个让人高兴的变化。万事达信用卡可以证明,想在民主党代表大会上发言有点不太可能。
然而,美国就是一个不太可能的地方。一个建立在挑战命运之上,在不可能中创造可能的国家。我提醒你们这些话,因为在你们即将开始书写你们自己成功和成就的故事时,就该轮到你们去继承这样的精神了。
现在,该你们发扬勇往直前,立于不败之地的美国的座右铭了:不管你在哪里出生,不管你的父母有多少钱;不管你长得什么样,不管你信仰什么,你都能成为你想成为的人;你都能去做伟大的事情,和追求你憧憬的幸福。
今 天,这个梦想听起来很一般,甚至有些陈词滥调。然而,在大多数的人类历史上,这个梦想绝不是可以轻易实现的。不管是古罗马的奴隶,封建中国的佃户,还是乔 治国的臣民,这些人很少有什么未来可供期盼。不管你怎样辛勤劳作和挣扎,你知道你的一辈子都只是建造别人的帝国,或是为别人的事业牺牲。
几个世纪过去了,全世界的人们不再愿意接受命运的安排。他们厌倦了暴君和生活强加于他们的命运。当他们看到商人们涉海远航,探险者们出发去寻找新大陆时,也加入了这一行列。
就在这里,就在环绕我们的海域上,美国人的实践开始了。最早来到波士顿,塞勒姆和普利芧斯的人,梦想着在山丘上建一个城市。世界在关注,在等待,看看这个被称为“美国”的不可能的想法能否成功。
在过去200 多年里,它成功了。不是因为我们的梦想取得了完美的进步,实际上它还没有。它在对待土著民族时留下伤痕,在实行奴隶制时背信弃义,在征服女性时蒙羞,在种族歧视时受伤,在战争与经济萧条中震荡。
然而,真正检验我们国家的不是它是否完善,而是我们是否去完善它,是否承认我们的失败,发现我们的不足,然后奋力去迎接时代的挑战。
民权的胜利,妇女以及非裔民众投票权的胜利,以及欢迎新移民来到我们的国家的政策,扩大了美利坚这一大家庭。
为我们的孩子提供免费教育,为我们的老人和穷人实行免费医疗,我们一步步拓展着机会。我们还赢得了讨价还价的权利,为工人增加了工资和退休保障金。
所有这些都不是自然而然发生的。很多在当时看来是不可能实现的事情,后来都成为了现实,因为美国普通老百姓坚信,我们可以将不完善的梦想变得完善起来。
今天,可能有一些人怀疑我们是否改变了很多,他们怀疑今天是否真的比昨天更好。我想,他们应该看看2006 年的毕业生。
你 们当中超过一半的人是家里的第一个大学生。在整个新英格兰地区最具多元化的大学里,我看到各个族裔学生面孔的海洋:非裔学生,西语裔学生,亚裔学生。这里 的学生来自一百多个国家,相信他们能像第一批定居者一样,在这座山丘上的城市中找到自己的家;他们也能够在这个曾经对他们来说最不可能成功的地方,拥有一 份属于自己的成功。
而许多年前,就是在这里:商店里曾经挂着“爱尔兰人不得申请”的牌子;30年前,载着黑人学生的校车在波士顿南部的学校遭到石块的袭击;波士顿的棒球队还拒绝招收杰基•罗宾逊①。
问题不在于我们已经取得了成绩,而是成绩还不够好。我们仍然有更多的工作要做,更多的正义要伸张,更多的障碍要扫除。现在,轮到你们这代人来进行新的变革。
过去一个世纪无疑是美国的世纪。我们战胜了法西斯主义,使数以万计的人获得自由。在国内,我们分享了繁荣,造就了历史上最庞大的中产阶级。我们是解放者的国家,自由的国家,繁荣的国家——这一点举世瞩目。
今天,刚刚进入21 世纪的头几年,我们发现自己已经处在一个不同于以前的不稳定的位置。因为通讯技术革命扫除了全球的障碍,给我们的竞争者和敌人更大的力量。
① 杰基•罗宾逊(1919—1972),他是美国职棒大联盟现代史上第一位非裔美国人球员。在1947 年4 月15 日, 罗宾逊穿着42 号球衣以先发一垒手的身份代表布鲁克林道奇队上场比赛之前,黑人球员只被允许在黑人联盟打球。虽然美国种族隔离制度废除已久,但无所不在的种族偏见仍强烈 地左右着社会各个阶层,因此杰基踏上职棒大联盟的这段时日,被公认为美国民权运动最重要的事件之一。—— 编者注
我们不再认为波士顿的一个持有高中学历的人,可以在印度班加罗尔市或者中国北京找到一份当地大学毕业生胜任的工作。我们不再指望雇主在不知道底线的情况下提供健康保险、退休金和职业培训。我们也不能期望美国的海域能保证我们的安全,使我们在本土不受到攻击。
这对你们意味着什么呢?你们在迎接这样的挑战中扮演什么角色呢?
我不想假装知道答案。你们每一个人需要找到你们自己的答案。也许,我可以提几条建议供你们参考。
第一,要敢于冒险。我在快要大学毕业时,萌发了这个不可思议的想法——我想做一个社区的组织者,在低收入街区工作。
我的母亲和外祖父母希望我进法学院,我的同学都在忙于申请华尔街的工作,而我却径直给所有的社区组织写信,想去给低收入街区的人们增加力量。终于,芝加哥南面的一个小小的教会组织给我回信,让我帮助他们去管理一个钢厂倒闭,几千人失业的社区。
这个教会没有太多的钱。这份工作的年薪是12000 美元,我又花了2000 美元买了一部很旧很旧的车。我收拾好行李,拿了一张地图,开着车到西面的芝加哥去,那是一个我从来没有去过的地方,我在那里一个人都不认识。
当我行驶到纽约和芝加哥中间时,我停下来,在宾夕法尼亚州的一个小镇过夜。那个小镇的名字我已不记得了。我找到了一家看起来既便宜又干净的汽车旅馆。我停好车,走到柜台前,有个老人在玩拼字游戏。
我 要他帮我开一个房间。他一边填写我的基本信息,一边问我要去哪儿。我说我去芝加哥,要到那里工作,做一个社区组织者。他打量着我,说:“小伙子,你看起来 非常干净利落,还有一副好嗓子。我给你提个建议,别去做什么社区组织的事儿。你改变不了世界。没有人会感激你的付出和努力的。你该去电视台做播音员。听我 一句话吧,你会前途无量的。”
我可以接受妈妈的劝告,也可以接受外祖父母的建议。我可以走朋友走的路,可以接受宾夕法尼亚州那个 老人的指点——其实,我觉得他说的完全正确。但我的身上有一种想要做更伟大的事情的东西。所以,不要听信人们告诉你去做稳妥的事情。倾听你自己的心,判断 出你最想而且愿意做的事情是什么。
我的第二条建议是培养全球化思维。世界不断变化,人们的联系变得更加紧密。全球化带给我们的有利有弊。不管是利还是弊,全球化已经来临,而且不会消失。
我们可以在周围筑起墙壁,眼睛只向内看,对全球化带来的干扰感到恐惧和愤怒。
但 那不是我们该有的态度,我们是一个自信而不是懦弱的国家。我们能够迎接这些挑战。这意味着我们每一个人需要学得更多,才能有更强的竞争力;意味着我们要用 能源政策创造新的工作机会,结束对中东石油的依赖;意味着我们要改进社会福利,确保人们有健康保险,退休金和培训,而不管他们在哪里工作或者换
了几份工作。
这不意味着我们应该撤退。我们应该做得更好。
我的第三个建议是培养同理心:即把自己放在他人的位置,学会从他人的角度看待整个世界。
同理心是种可以改变世界的品质,它会让你明白你对那些与你外貌或行事有差异的远方的人们,所负有的责任。
我知道,在这个校园里,很多人在流浪者的收容所、波士顿的高中、青年中心和职业介绍所服务过。我希望这种服务精神在你们离开这里后也能保持下去。
但 是,随着生活的延续,这样做并不容易,今后的几年里,你们在人文关怀的道路上会遇到各种各样的困难。你们会遇到胆小或贪权的人试图分裂我们,否认我们的相 同点。你们会听到这样的说法:在大街上乞讨的美国人,流落街头是因为懒惰,或者缺乏斗志;那些冒着生命危险穿越沙漠的移民没有什么可以贡献给国家,也不会 和我们有同样的理想;市中心的孩子进了全国最差的学校不能学也不乐意学,所以应该彻底放弃他们;在世界的另一端无辜的人们被杀害和逐出家园是别人的问题,不关我们的事。
你们会听到这一切。你们要做出选择。你们要决定你们的责任在哪里。
让我告诉你们,世界上最简单的事情就是什么也不做。关掉电视,放下报纸,忘掉正在伊拉克和达尔富尔上演的一切,忘掉贫穷、暴力、失业和绝望,继续忙自己的事,并希望这些问题自行消失。要不,就让别人去管好了。自己和这些事没有关系,对它们漠不关心,这样最安全。
但是我希望你们不要挑简单的事情做。我希望你们能迎难而上。
我常常想像多年前的美国年轻人——全国的中学生和不比你们大多少的大学生从电视上看到民权运动的实况,我想,他们看到了游行的人,也听到了演说,看到了猎狗和消防软管,那些无辜的人被打得奄奄一息。他们也可能听到那一天的新闻,有人将炸弹扔进教堂炸死了四个小女孩。
从 本能来说,他们知道躲在家里,从远处观望这个运动是更安全、更聪明的做法。但是,在他们内心深处,他们也知道在佐治亚州,阿拉巴马州和密西西比州的这些人 是他们的兄弟姐妹,镇压他们是错误的。他们有责任矫正它。所以,当自由之车停下人的时候,人们上去了。他们乘车南下,汇集了几千人。他们改变了世界。
我们需要你们做同样的事情。正如罗伯特•肯尼迪告诉南非一群并不比你们大多少的年轻人那样,“世界需要青春的品质,不是指实际年龄而是我们的心态。意志的禀性、想像的本质、突出的勇气要战胜怯懦成为主宰,冒险的态度要战胜贪图安逸。”
我最后的建议是,要有惊奇的发现,要对我们被称为“美国”这样一个不可能的地方充满期待。我想,有的人把我们所面临的挑战看得很简单。他们看到贫穷、战争、种族歧视、不平等、憎恨和无助,就对这个国家产生厌恶感,认为是我们自身出了毛病,并且看不到好转的希望。
如 果你们也有这样的想法,我想让你们记住在这个国家所发生的奇妙的、不可思议的一切。在这个国家,一个伊利诺伊州的年轻人在多次的商业和政治历险失败后,仍 然成为了总统,让一个民族获得了自由,挽救了一个国家。从佐治亚州来的一位黑人牧师一无所有,但是他怀着一个梦想,带领他的人民走向民权与 选举权的希望之地。在这个国家,许多生活在世界各地的父母自己没有机会深造,却能看见他们的孩子成为家里的第一个大学生,在波士顿充满希望的六月获得学位。
这就是美国,一个世界上许多人想来探险的地方。那些人为了改变命运,为了寻求美好生活,为了寻找机会,长途跋涉,历尽艰辛,最终踏上我们这块土地。
我的父亲就是其中的一个。他生长在殖民时期的肯尼亚,他帮他的父亲放羊,所以学习一直是断断续续。
但是,他想要更多。他想到美国来继续深造,提高技能,然后回到肯尼亚,帮助下一代新独立的肯尼亚人。
我过去不十分了解我的父亲。我很小的时候,我的父母就分开了。在我上法学院之前,我回到肯尼亚去追寻他的故事,就是在那里,我见到了那些亲戚。我到了一个叫阿莱格的小村庄,我的祖母住在那里。我去探望了父亲和祖父的坟。我问祖母父亲有没有留下什么东西。
她打开一个箱子,拿出一沓信,交给我。一共三十多封,都是我父亲亲笔写给美国各地的学院和大学的。这些信和我25 年后写的没有什么不同,只不过我写的信是为了找一份有意义的工作。
我读着这些信,听到一个单纯的,有时是糟糕的声音,绝望地等待一个机会,实现他不可能的梦想。而正是有人回应了那个梦想,今天我才会站在你们面前,对我们集体的未来充满希望,对你们的个人追求兴奋不已。真切地希望,你们能在今后把这个国家的传统保持下去。
你们会接受考验。你们不会总是成功。但是我知道,你们有动力去尝试。我们的前辈在他们的时代遇到过和我们一样的困难。通过我们的齐心协力,上帝的远见和我们愿意承担彼此的重担的意志,美国将会继续走向远处的地平线,走向更美好的一天。
非常感谢你们,2006届的同学们。祝贺你们毕业。
第四篇:The victory speech of Barack Obama 奥巴马获胜演讲全文(中英文对照)
奥巴马获胜演讲全文(中英文对照)The victory speech of Barack Obama
Obama: 奥巴马:
Hello, Chicago.您好,芝加哥。If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.如果还有人对美国是否凡事都有可能存疑,还有人怀疑美国奠基者的梦想在我们所处的时代是否依然鲜活,还有人质疑我们的民主制度的力量,那么今晚,这些问题都有了答案。
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.这是设在学校和教堂的投票站前排起的前所未见的长队给出的答案;是等了三四个小时的选民所给出的答案,其中许多人都是有生以来第一次投票,因为他们认定这一次肯定会不一样,认为自己的声音会是这次大选有别于以往之所在。
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled.Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.这是所有美国人民共同给出的答案--无论老少贫富,无论是民主党还是共和党,无论是黑人、白人、拉美裔、亚裔、原住民,是同性恋者还是异性恋者、残疾人还是健全人--我们从来不是“红州”和“蓝州”的对立阵营。
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.我们是美利坚合众国这个整体,永远都是。
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.长久以来,很多人一再受到告诫,要对我们所能取得的成绩极尽讽刺、担忧和怀疑之能事,但这个答案让这些人伸出手来把握历史,再次让它朝向美好明天的希望延伸。
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.已经过去了这么长时间,但今晚,由于我们在今天、在这场大选中、在这个具有决定性的时刻所做的,美国已经迎来了变革。
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen.McCain.我刚刚接到了麦凯恩参议员极具风度的致电。
Sen.McCain fought long and hard in this campaign.And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves.He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine.We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.他在这场大选中经过了长时间的努力奋斗,而他为自己所深爱的这个国家奋斗的时间更长、过程更艰辛。他为美国做出了我们大多数人难以想像的牺牲,我们的生活也因这位勇敢无私的领袖所做出的贡献而变得更美好。
I congratulate him;I congratulate Gov.Palin for all that they've achieved.And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.我向他和佩林州长所取得的成绩表示祝贺,我也期待着与他们一起在未来的岁月中为复兴这个国家的希望而共同努力。
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.我要感谢我在这次旅程中的伙伴--已当选美国副总统的拜登。他全心参与竞选活动,为普通民众代言,他们是他在斯克兰顿从小到大的伙伴,也是在他回特拉华的火车上遇到的男男女女。
如果没有一个人的坚决支持,我今晚就不会站在这里,她是我过去16年来最好的朋友、是我们一家人的中坚和我一生的挚爱,更是我们国家的下一位第一夫人:米歇尔?奥巴马(Michelle Obama)。
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine.And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.萨莎(Sasha)和玛丽亚(Malia),我太爱你们两个了,你们已经得到了一条新的小狗,它将与我们一起入驻白宫。
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am.I miss them tonight.I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.虽然我的外祖母已经不在了,但我知道她与我的亲人肯定都在看着我,因为他们,我才能拥有今天的成就。今晚,我想念他们,我知道自己欠他们的无可计量。
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me.I am grateful to them.我的妹妹玛雅,我的妹妹阿尔玛,我的所有其他的兄弟姐妹们,感谢你们给了我这么多的一切支持,我感谢他们。
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best--the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.和我的竞选顾问大卫-Plouffe,此次竞选的无名英雄,我认为,是他打造了美利坚合众国历史上最好的——最好的政治竞选。
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.我的首席策略师大卫-阿克塞尔罗德,这条道路上每一步都与我同行的伙伴。
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.政治史上最好的竞选团队--是你们成就了今天,我永远感激你们为实现今天的成就所做出的牺牲。
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to.It belongs to you.It belongs to you.但最重要的是,我永远不会忘记这场胜利真正的归属--它属于你们。
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.We didn't start with much money or many endorsements.Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington.It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.我从来不是最有希望的候选人。一开始,我们没有太多资金,也没有得到太多人的支持。我们的竞选活动并非诞生于华盛顿的高门华第之内,而是始于得梅因、康科德、查尔斯顿这些地方的普通民众家中。我们的竞选活动能有今天的规模,是因为辛勤工作的人们从自己的微薄积蓄中拿出钱来,捐出一笔又一笔5美元、10美元、20美元。
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.而竞选活动的声势越来越大则是源自那些年轻人,他们拒绝接受认为他们这代人冷漠的荒诞说法;他们离开家、离开亲人,从事报酬微薄、极其辛苦的工作
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.同时也源自那些已经不算年轻的人们,他们冒着严寒酷暑,敲开陌生人的家门进行竞选宣传;更源自数百万的美国民众,他们自动自发地组织起来,证明了在两百多年以后,民有、民治、民享的政府并未从地球上消失。This is your victory.这是你们的胜利。
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election.And I know you didn't do it for me.我知道你们的所做所为并不只是为了赢得大选,我也知道你们做这一切并不是为了我。
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime--two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.你们这样做是因为你们明白摆在面前的任务有多艰巨。因为即便我们今晚欢呼庆祝,我们也知道明天将面临我们一生之中最为艰巨的挑战--两场战争、一个面临危险的星球,还有百年来最严重的金融危机。
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.今晚站在此地,我们知道伊拉克的沙漠里和阿富汗的群山中还有勇敢的美国士兵醒来,甘冒生命危险保护着我们。
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.会有在孩子熟睡后仍难以入眠的父母,担心如何偿还按揭月供、付医药费或是存够钱送孩子上大学。
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.我们亟待开发新能源、创造新的工作机会;我们需要修建新学校,还要应对众多威胁、修复与许多国家的关系。
The road ahead will be long.Our climb will be steep.We may not get there in one year or even in one term.But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.前方的道路会十分漫长艰辛。我们可能无法在一年甚至一届任期之内实现上述目标,但我从未像今晚这样满怀希望,相信我们会实现。
I promise you, we as a people will get there.我向你们承诺,我们肯定可以。
There will be setbacks and false starts.There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president.And we know the government can't solve every problem.当然,这一过程肯定还会出现挫折,甚至是不成功的开始。我作为总统所做出的决策,肯定也会有许多人并不赞同。我们知道政府并不能解决所有问题。
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years--block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.但我也会向你们诚恳地交待我们所面临的挑战。我会认真听从你们的建议,尤其是意见不一致的时候。总之,我邀请你们加入到国家再建的工作之中。221年来,我们的国家就是这样一砖一瓦,一点一滴地建造起来的。
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.我们开始于21个月前深冬,不会结束在今年的这个秋天的夜晚结束。
This victory alone is not the change we seek.It is only the chance for us to make that change.And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.今天的选举胜利并不是我们所寻求的改变--这只是我们进行改变的机会。而且如果我们仍然按照旧有方式行事,我们所寻求的改变不可能出现。
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.没有你们,没有一种新的服务精神,新的牺牲精神,它也不可能发生。
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.因此,让我们发扬新的爱国精神,树立新的服务意识和责任感,让我们每个人下定决心全情投入、更加努力地工作,并彼此关爱。
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers——In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people.让我们铭记这场金融危机带来的教训:我们不可能在金融以外的领域备受煎熬的同时拥有繁荣兴旺的华尔街--在这个国家,我们患难与共。
Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.让我们抵制重走老路的诱惑,避免重新回到令美国政治长期深受毒害的党派纷争和由此引发的遗憾和不成熟表现。
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.Those are values that we all share.让我们铭记,是这个州的一名男子第一次将共和党的旗帜扛进了白宫,(共和党是建立在自强自立、个人自由以及全民团结的价值观上,这也是我们所有人都珍视的价值。
And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.虽然民主党今天晚上赢得了巨大的胜利,但我们是以谦卑的态度和弥合阻碍我们进步的分歧的决心赢得这场胜利的。
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends.Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.林肯在向远比我们眼下分歧更大的国家发表讲话时说,我们不是敌人,而是朋友。虽然激情可能褪去,但是这不会割断我们感情上的联系
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices.I need your help.And I will be your president, too.对于那些现在并不支持我的美国人,我想说,或许我没有赢得你们的选票,但是我听到了你们的声音,我需要你们的帮助,而且我也将是你们的总统。
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.那些彻夜关注美国大选的海外人士,从国会到皇宫,以及在这个世界被遗忘的角落里挤在收音机旁的人们,我们的经历虽然各有不同,但是我们的命运是相通的,新的美国领袖诞生了。
To those--to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you.To those who seek peace and security: We support you.And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.那些想要颠覆这个世界的人们,我们必将击败你们。那些追求和平和安全的人们,我们支持你们。那些所有怀疑美国能否继续照亮世界发展前景的人们,今天晚上我们再次证明,我们国家真正的力量并非来自我们武器的威力或财富的规模,而是来自我们理想的持久力量:民主、自由、机会和不屈的希望。
That's the true genius of America: that America can change.Our union can be perfected.What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.这才是美国真正的精华--美国能够改变。我们的联邦会日臻完善。我们取得的成就为我们将来能够取得的以及必须取得的成就增添了希望。
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta.She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.这次大选创造了多项“第一”,也诞生了很多将世代流传的故事。但是今天晚上令我难忘的却是在亚特兰大投票的一名妇女:安?尼克松?库波尔(Ann Nixon Cooper)。她和其他数百万排队等待投票的选民没有什么差别,除了一点:她已是106岁的高龄。
She was born just a generation past slavery;a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky;when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons--because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.她出生的那个时代奴隶制度刚刚结束;那时路上没有汽车,天上也没有飞机;当时像她这样的人由于两个原因不能投票--一是她是女性,另一个原因是她的肤色。
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America--the heartache and the hope;the struggle and the progress;the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.今天晚上,我想到了她在美国过去一百年间所经历的种种:心痛和希望;挣扎和进步;那些我们被告知我们办不到的世代,以及那些坚信美国信条──是的,我们能做到──的人们。
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.Yes we can.曾几何时,妇女没有发言权,她们的希望化作泡影,但是安?尼克松?库波尔活了下来,看到妇女们站了起来,看到她们大声发表自己的见解,看到她们去参加大选投票。是的,我们能做到。
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose.Yes we can.当30年代的沙尘暴和大萧条引发人们的绝望之情时,她看到一个国家用罗斯福新政、新就业机会以及对新目标的共同追求战胜恐慌。是的,我们能做到。
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved.Yes we can.当炸弹袭击了我们的海港、独裁专制威胁到全世界,她见证了美国一代人的伟大崛起,见证了一个民主国家被拯救。是的,我们能做到。
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.她看到蒙哥马利通了公共汽车、伯明翰接上了水管、塞尔马建了桥,一位来自亚特兰大的传教士告诉人们:我们能成功。是的,我们能做到。
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.人类登上月球、柏林墙倒下,世界因我们的科学和想像被连接在一起。
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.Yes we can.今年,就在这次选举中,她用手指触碰屏幕投下自己的选票,因为在美国生活了106年之后,经历了最好的时光和最黑暗的时刻之后,她知道美国如何能够发生变革。是的,我们能做到。
America, we have come so far.We have seen so much.But there is so much more to do.So tonight, let us ask ourselves--if our children should live to see the next century;if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
美国,我们已经走过漫漫长路。我们已经历了很多。但是我们仍有很多事情要做。因此今夜,让我们自问--如果我们的孩子能够活到下个世纪;如果我们的女儿有幸活得和安一样长,他们将会看到怎样的改变?我们将会取得怎样的进步?
This is our chance to answer that call.This is our moment.现在是我们回答这个问题的机会。这是我们的时刻。
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids;to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace;to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one;that while we breathe, we hope.And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.这是我们的时代--让我们的人民重新就业,为我们的后代敞开机会的大门;恢复繁荣发展,推进和平事业;让“美国梦”重新焕发光芒,再次证明这样一个基本的真理:我们是一家人;一息尚存,我们就有希望;当我们遇到嘲讽和怀疑,当有人说我们办不到的时候,我们要以这个永恒的信条来回应他们:是的,我们能做到。
Thank you.God bless you.And may God bless the United States of America.谢谢你们。上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
第五篇:美国副总统拜登四川大学演讲视频中英文
Remarks by the Vice President at Sichuan University Chengdu, China THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all, very much.(Applause.)Mr.President, thank you for your gracious introduction.We have an expression in the United States Senate where I served for many years when we want to say something personal, we say, permit me a point of personal privilege.I would like to introduce you to two of my family members who I’ve brought along with me, my daughter-in-law Kathleen Biden and my granddaughter Naomi Biden.Would you guys stand?(Applause.)It would be more appropriate to say Naomi brought me along with her since she’s a budding Chinese speaker, been taking Chinese for five years, so I’ve been listening to her on the whole trip.I want to again thank you very much.I had a wonderful few days in Beijing and a series of very positive and productive conversations with Chinese leaders.And I’m pleased to make my first visit to western China, which has played such an incredible, such an incredible role in this nation’s proud, proud history, and which today is the vanguard of Chinese--China’s high-tech future.Two years ago, Sichuan province suffered one of the greatest natural disasters in China’s recent history.And the American people were inspired--were inspired by the way you all came together to help one another during that crisis.And I’m absolutely amazed as I drive around the city, and I’ll be moving out into the province later, after this speech--I’m amazed at how quickly you have rebuilt and you have recovered.The people of Chengdu, let me say simply that your hospitality has more than lived up to your reputation as the “land of abundance,” so again, thank you so very much for that hospitality.It’s also great to be here on a university campus.I also want to thank our host, the university which counts amongst its alumni some of the most illustrious figures in recent Chinese history, including Zhu De and Ba Jin, both of whom are--one a literary icon;the other, one of the most illustrious figures, and a founding father of the republic.I’m also pleased to be joined today by--he’s already been introduced--but by our ambassador, our new ambassador Gary Locke whose grandfather came to the United States from Canton in the 1890s and toiled as a house servant in the United States in exchange for being able to get English language lessons.In less than two generations--two generations later, Gary Locke, his grandson, has served as the governor of his home state of Washington, the U.S.Secretary of Commerce and the chief of mission in one our most important diplomatic posts in the world.I share this story with you not because it’s unique, but because it is uniquely American.While not every child or grandchild of an immigrant will reach the pinnacle of society as Ambassador Locke has, America continues to put such possibilities within reach of all those who seek our shores.On my first visit to China, which was more than 30 years ago when I was a young United States senator in 1979, I was with the first delegation of congressional leaders to visit China after normalization.We had several days of business with then Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping.It was a very different country then, but what was absolutely clear to me was that China was on the cusp of a remarkable transformation.Changes were just getting underway.My first introduction here in Sichuan that would begin transforming a largely agrarian society into an engine of economic global and help lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty was--seemed to me clear at the time.That first visit came amid a debate in the United States of America similar to the one that exists today about how to view China’s emergence.Let me be clear--let me be clear: I believed in 1979 and said so and I believe now that a rising China is a positive development, not only for the people of China but for the United States and the world as a whole.A rising China will fuel economic growth and prosperity and it will bring to the fore a new partner with whom we can meet global challenges together.When President Obama and I took office in January of 2009, we made our relationship with China a top priority.We were determined to set it on a stable and sustainable course that would benefit the citizens of both our countries.Our Presidents have met nine times since then, including very successful state visits in Beijing and Washington, and have spoken numerous times by telephone.Direct discussions between senior policymakers and the personal ties that result from such discussions in my view over the last 35 years of conducting foreign policy are the keys to building cooperation.They're built on understanding.They allow us to better understand each other and allow us to define our interests in ways that are clear so that each one of us know what the other country’s interests are, and to see the world through the eyes of the other with the intention of preventing miscommunications and misconceptions that tend to fuel mistrust.With that goal in mind, we have worked very hard to develop our cooperative partnership through more than 60 separate dialogues on issues of matter to both China and to the United States;and I would suggest to the world as a whole.The premier forum is what we refer to as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue which brings together policymakers from across both governments to discuss a range of issues from trade barriers to climate change.But we also recognize--we also recognized immediately on starting that the importance more directly addressing security issues, as well.That's why in May we jointly launched the first Strategic Security Dialogue, a new channel for civilian and military leaders to discuss sensitive topics, including cyber and maritime security.That's why it’s also important that our military leaders work together, get to know one another--not just our political leaders, but our military leaders--as Admiral Mullen and General Chen have begun to do in their recent exchange of meetings.The fact is China and the United States face many of the same threats and share many of the same objectives and responsibilities.But because we sometimes view threats from different perspectives--that is China and the United States view them from different perspectives, our--or favor a different way in dealing with what we perceive to be joint threats, our generals should be talking to each other alongside with our diplomats, as frequently as our diplomats do.Like China, the United States has a huge stake in the prosperity and stability of Asia and the Pacific.I look forward to visiting two other Asian nations on this trip.When I leave China, I’ll go to Mongolia and then to Japan.The United States--and I realize this occasionally causes some discomfiture--but the United States is a Pacific power, and we will remain a specific power--a Pacific power.Over the last 60 years, no country has done more than we have to ensure the stability and security of the Asian-Pacific region.And I’d respectfully suggest that has been good for China, allowing China to focus on domestic development and to benefit from a growing market.America’s focus on this critical region will only grow in the years to come as Asia plays an even greater role in the global economy and international affairs.副总统:谢谢大家,非常感谢。(掌声)校长先生,谢谢你的亲切介绍。我曾多年担任美国参议员,在美国参议院,我们如果想提出个人看法,会采取一种表述方式,我们会说,请允许我提出一个个人特权问题(a point of personal privilege)。我想向你们介绍我带来的两位家人,我的儿媳凯瑟琳?拜登(Kathleen Biden)和我的孙女内奥米?拜登(Naomi Biden)。你们两个人请起立。(掌声)
如果说内奥米把我带到这里来,也许更恰当,因为她说中文已达到初级水平,她学了五年中文,我一路上都听她的。
我想再次向你们表示十分感谢。我在北京度过了非常愉快的几天,与中国领导人进行了一系列非常积极和建设性的交谈。我非常高兴首次前来中国西部访问。这个地区在贵国可引以为骄傲的历史上发挥了很了不起的作用,今天已成为中国高科技未来的先锋。
两年前,四川省遭受了中国近代史上最严重的自然灾害之一。你们在危机时刻同心同德、相互帮助的精神鼓舞了美国人民。我坐车经过成都各地时,感到万分惊讶,晚些时候,在我演讲完后,我还要去省里的其他地方参观——你们的重建和恢复如此迅速,实在令我惊叹。简而言之,成都人民,你们有“天府之国”的美誉,但你们的殷勤好客更令人感动。我再次对你们的热情好客表示深切的感谢。
来到大学校园,我感到很激动。我还要感谢接待我们的校方,在贵校的校友中有一些中国近代史上最杰出的人物,包括朱德和巴金,一位是文学巨匠;另一位是最杰出的人物之一,共和国的一位开国元老。
今天,我也非常高兴有——他已被介绍过了——我们的大使,我们的新任大使骆家辉(Gary Locke)在场。他的祖父在19世纪90年代从广东来到美国,通过帮佣换取上英文课的机会。在不到两代人的时间里——经过两代人,他的孙子骆家辉曾担任他所在的华盛顿州的州长、美国商务部长,现在又来到我国在全世界最重要的外交岗位之一担任使团负责人。
我与你们分享他的经历,并不是有什么其他原因,而是因为这是美国的独特之处。虽然并非外来移民的每一个子女或后代都能像骆家辉那样到达社会的顶层,但美国始终促使所有寻求移民美国的人都有可能做到这一点。
在30多年前的1979年,我还是一个年轻的美国参议员,当时曾随美中关系正常化后的第一个国会领导人访华代表团首次前来中国访问。我们同当时的副总理邓小平开展了几天的公务活动。当时的中国与今天大不相同,但对我来说已经绝对明确的是,中国正处于天翻地覆的大变革的最前沿。
当时,变革刚刚开始。根据我最初了解到的四川的情况,当时将开始一个把基本上以农业为主的社会改造成世界经济的一个引擎,并使亿万人民摆脱贫困的进程——当时,我已清楚地看到这一点。我第一次访华时,美国正在开展一场类似今天正在进行的有关如何看待中国崛起的辩论。让我明确表示——让我明确说明这一点:我在1979年相信并这么说过,我现在仍然相信,中国的崛起是一种积极的发展,不仅对中国人民是如此,对美国和整个世界也是如此。
中国的崛起将促进经济增长和繁荣,带来一个可共同应对全球挑战的新伙伴。2009年1月, 奥巴马总统和我就职时,我们将与中国的关系当作一项优先要务。我们决心使美中关系沿着稳定、可持续的轨道前进,造福于我们两国人民。自那时以来,我们两国的元首已举行过九次会晤,包括分别对北京和华盛顿非常成功的国事访问和多次通话。
凭我过去35年搞外交政策的经验,我认为高层决策者之间的讨论以及由此发展的个人关系是建立合作的关键。它们是建立在理解基础上。它们让我们更好地了解对方,让我们能够明确我们的利益,使我们每个人都知道对方国家的利益是什么,并且能够站在对方的角度看世界,避免往往会导致不信任的沟通失误和误解。
抱着这个目标,我们一直非常努力地发展我们的合作伙伴关系,展开了60多项专题对话,讨论事关中国和美国的问题,我可以说也事关整个世界。
我们所说的战略与经济对话(Strategic and Economic Dialogue)是一个主要论坛,它汇集了来自两国政府各部门的决策者,讨论从贸易壁垒到气候变化的一系列问题。但我们也认识到——我们一开始也立即认识到更直接解决安全问题的重要性。这就是为什么在5月我们共同启动了第一个战略安全对话(Strategic Security Dialogue),一个为文职和军方领导人讨论敏感议题的新渠道,包括网络和海上安全。这就是为什么我们的军方领导人也必须一道努力,互相了解——不仅是我们的政治领导人,还有我们的军方领导人——马伦(Mullen)海军上将和陈炳德将军在最近的交流会上已开始这样做。
事实是,中国和美国面临许多同样的威胁,并具有许多相同的目标和责任。但是,因为我们有时从不同角度看待威胁——即中国和美国从不同的角度看这些威胁——或者我们喜欢用一种不同的方法处理我们所认为的共同威胁,我们的将军应该互相通话,和我们的外交官一道,并且像我们的外交官那样经常进行。和中国一样,美国在亚洲和太平洋地区的繁荣和稳定上都有重大利益。
我期待着在此行中访问另外两个亚洲国家。我离开中国后将去蒙古,然后到日本。美国——我知道这偶尔会导致一些困惑——但美国是一个太平洋大国,我们将继续是一个特定的大国——太平洋大国。
在过去60年里,在保证亚太地区的稳定和安全上,没有任何国家比我们做得更多。我谨要指出,这给中国带来了好处,使中国能够把重点放在国内发展,受益于不断扩大的市场。
美国对这一关键地区的重视在未来的岁月里只会增长,因为亚洲在全球经济和国际事务中发挥越来越大的作用。
正如奥巴马总统作为总统第一次访问亚洲时在东京所说,我援引他的话:“美利坚合众国虽然发源于大西洋沿岸的一系列港口和城市,但我们世世代代始终是一个太平洋国家。亚洲和美国并没有被太平洋阻断,而是被太平洋联系在一起。”
这就是为什么我们开始了这场对话,即关于诸多问题的亚太对话(Asia-Pacific Dialogue)——扩大在我们双方生活和运作的这个地区的合作。
让我再举一个我们安全合作的例子。美国和中国也进行国际的——与国际合作伙伴一道,对抗核武器、核材料和技术扩散所造成的威胁,即所谓的防扩散。与46个其他世界领导人一道,我们荣幸地请到胡锦涛主席与奥巴马总统和我一起出席了去年4月举行的核安全峰会(Nuclear Security Summit),我们两国正在就一个示范中心进行合作,为中国提供核安全。
在本周与习近平副主席的讨论中,我表示,我们必须加深对世界上两个主要的核扩散挑战的对话:北韩和伊朗。我知道,中国和我们一样担心,但你们有些人可能会问为什么我们的重视——美国的重视是如此强烈。原因很清楚:如果有了配备核武器的远程导弹,北韩和伊朗将对美国和我们盟友的安全构成直接和严重的威胁。这将是对存在的威胁。这就是为什么——这就是为什么我们一直与中国和我们的国际伙伴合作,维持朝鲜半岛的和平与稳定,实现北韩的完全无核化。这也是为什么随着伊朗政府继续其非法的核计划,我们与诸多合作伙伴和国际机构合作,对伊朗实施它所面临的最严厉的制裁。
如果不以高度的警觉采取这些制裁,伊朗将会逃避其行动的后果,外交也无法有效地阻止其实施核计划。因此,我们将继续期待中国通过言词和行动向伊朗领导人发出明确的信号,敦促伊朗必须履行其国际义务。
美中两国还面临着许多其他共同的安全挑战。从阿富汗、巴基斯坦到苏丹--我们已经并将继续讨论我们的共同利益和共同关心的问题。继续推进我们的安全对话与合作是迎接这些挑战的最可靠的途径。
经济问题无疑是我们两国日益加强合作特别强调的重点。我们正携手努力促进强劲、可持续且平衡的经济增长并推行自由和公平的贸易。
我们两国的贸易和投资正在两国间双向迅速发展,为两国创造就业机会和经济机会。我们常听说中国向美国出口产品,但去年美国国内公司向中国出口了价值1,100亿美元的商品和服务,维持了美国成千上万的工作岗位。希望美国人民和中国人民日益认识到,促进这一交流符合我们两国的共同利益。
一个更繁荣的中国将意味着对美国制造的商品和服务的需求增加,意味着美国国内就业机会增多。因此,我们希望你们繁荣,这不是因为出于某种崇高的目的;中国继续繁荣,符合我们自身的利益。
每一天都显而易见的是,作为世界两个最大经济体,随着投资和商务日益密切,你们所做的关系到我们,关系到美国人民。我们所做的关系到你们,关系到中国人民。简言之,我们任何一方的成功,对彼此利益攸关。
美国的财政政策保持在长期可持续的轨道上,不仅对美国,而且对中国、中国经济具有重要意义;同样,中国经济按第12个五年计划的要求,向更多地依赖国内消费需求转型,不仅对中国,而且对美国具有重要意义。
中国领导人曾对我所说,这个五年计划将要求他们采取一些措施,其中包括继续努力实现更灵活的汇率。这符合中国的利益,同时也完全符合美国的利益。
在目前全球经济动荡的时期,我们更应该共同采取艰难但必要的措施,并与我们的20国集团伙伴一道,继续维持全球复苏,创造就业机会和繁荣。我们作为全世界两个最大的发动机,能够做到这一点。今年5月,我在华盛顿每年一度的战略与经济对话(S&ED)开幕式上表示,“就全世界大部分的紧迫挑战而言,如果没有美中两国参与,解决问题的可能性就比较低,这已是不言而喻的事实。”
然而,即便是在我们合作之际,美中两国仍还将相互竞争,竞争是有益的。我们将在全球政治和全球经济领域进行竞争。这也是全球政治与经济的一大特点。这也是人类的本性,通过互相观察了解如何适应形势,争取最好的成绩,这对我们双方都很有益。真正的竞争促使公司,我们的公司和我们的人民更趋完善。我们应该放弃零和游戏的错误理念,不能认为一国取得的一切成就意味着另一国的损失。事实并非如此。
因此,毫无疑问,美国不但欢迎这种良性竞争,而且竞争是我们的社会和我们的经济体制根本结构的组成部分。尽管我可能有点偏向,但我对美国人民在一个公平竞争环境中与世界上任何国家和任何民族竞争的能力抱有绝对的信心。
但要使这种竞争给我们双方都带来利益,竞争就必须是在一个公平竞争的环境中进行,要有明确的、对所有国家都公平与一视同仁的规则。虽然美国和中国正在努力争取达到这点,但我们仍然面临着在对方国家里从事商务的障碍。正因为如此,我在这次行程中承认美国应采取措施,使中国商务人员能够更方便地获得赴美国旅行签证。签证花费时间太长。这不符合我们的利益。
虽然我们还在进行——这也是为什么奥巴马总统刚一就职便下令,几十年来第一次下令——我们正在进行我国出口管制制度的总体改革。我们已经向中国开放了旨在完全用于民用目的的数千种过去不允许出口的新产品,其中有些需获得许可证,有些则不需要。还有成千上万种更多的产品很快将获得出口许可。
这是我们出口政策的一项重大变化,是对美国某些人的意见的否定。他们认为,我们不应该出口那一类技术——供中国民用。我们不同意这种看法,我们正在改革。
但也正因为如此,一些情况令我们不安:美国的投资者在中国的许多行业中被禁止拥有自己的独资公司和独资分公司;在另一些行业,在其他行业完全被排斥在竞争之外;还有一些世界其他主要经济体不曾强加于我们或其他任何人的、范围如此之广的种种限制。正因为如此,我们积极要求中国官员保护知识产权。我们欢迎中国国务院最近的保护知识产权运动,这是胡锦涛主席访问美国时作出的一项承诺,他在履行这一承诺。但这项努力必须得到加强和延伸。
根据国际贸易委员会(International Trade Commissiom)的统计,美国企业因盗版商品和服务每年损失480亿美元和数万个工作岗位。这些保护——知识产权的保护不仅有利于美国和美国工人、美国公司,而且我认为也有利于中国的公司企业,因为他们会越来越力争保护自己的创新成果。
你们在这所优异的大学求学。保护知识产权十分符合你们的利益,因为你们中的一些人将成为未来的艺术家、未来的娱乐界人员、未来的发明家,将希望自己的劳动成果有市场。但如果那一切可以廉价地获取和剽窃,凭什么还会有人向你们购买同样的服务呢?
美国对全球安全,自由贸易和经济上公平的关注是长期的。自第二次世界大战结束以来,我们帮助建立了一个国际体系,它促进和平与稳定,使所有国家有机会分享全球繁荣,并制定保护所有公民基本人权的规则。
在我看来,中国的巨大进步可归功于中国人民的勤劳与智慧及其领导人的能力。但我谨要指出,一个促进稳定与繁荣、使所有国家能够发展提高的国际架构使这个成就成为可能。我知道,许多中国人、你们学生中可能有许多人相信,你们的国家将继续走向更加繁荣。我同样认为是这样。这是我的看法、我的预测。但我同时知道,你们当中有些人对美国未来的前景持怀疑态度。
因此,我希望指出,我尊重但不同意这种见解,让我解释一下为什么你们不必忧虑。我将提供一些背景信息,以便你们了解为什么美国人民也对自己的未来抱有信心。今天,美国是世界上最大的经济体,远远超过任何其他国家,国内生产总值(GDP)近15万亿美元,大约相当于排在第二位的中国的两倍半;人均国内生产总值4.7万多美元,是中国的11倍。我了解到有些中国人担心投资美国资产的安全。请理解,没有谁比我们更关心这种状况,因为美国人持有我们全部金融资产的87%以及我们全部国债的69%,而中国持有我们的金融资产和国债比例分别为1%和8%。
所以我们的利益不仅在于保护中国的投资,保护投资还关系到我们的总体利益。另外,美国从来没有违约——将来也永远不会违约。
我对我国经济的基本面也有信心。在这一点上,我认为习副主席讲得非常好。前天我们会见中美商界领袖时,他说:“美国经济极富韧性,且有很强的自我修复能力。”他说得对。我相信,在未来的经济竞争中,我们的准备甚至胜过以往。在20世纪,衡量国家财富的主要尺度是自然资源的丰裕程度、国土幅员、人口规模和军事力量。但我认为在21世纪,一个国家的真正财富在于国民的创造性思维和创新能力——开发的技术不仅催生新产品,而且能够创造和唤起全新的产业。美国的创新能力与生俱来。从一开始,它就是我们遗传基因的一部分。它使一代又一代美国人构想出改变世界的创意——从轧棉机到飞机,从微芯片到互联网,再如通用电气(General Electric)、福特(Ford)、微软(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)等世界领先的公司。这样的例子不胜枚举。
我们之所以能够取得这些成就,不是因为美国人具有种独一无二的特质。很难界定美国人是什么样的人。简言之,50%的美国人口——不足50%的人口是欧洲人后裔。所以我们的国民具有难以置信的多样性。这是我们实力的一部分,也是美国人民无穷创造力的一部分。不过也有其他原因——我们的政治经济体制和我们教育孩子的方式具有经久不衰的力量。这种体制欢迎来自全球各地的移民,让我们的国家更加丰富多彩,为我们多元的跨种族社会增添活力。我还想指出,我们现在仍是世界第一的移民目的地。人们通常不会寻求迁移到衰落中的国家。
这种体制训练学生不仅学习和接受传统知识,而且挑战传统知识,挑战他们的教授,挑战他们听到的观点,鼓励个人思考和创新;这种体制不仅容许自由表达和积极辩论,包括公民和政府之间的辩论,而且赞赏和促进这种交流;这种体制的法律保护私有财产,提供可预期的投资环境,确保穷人和富人都承担责任;这种体制的大学依然是世界各地学者的最终目的地——当然,你们的学校也是一所了不起的大学。去年有13万多名中国学生就读我们的大学。我们希望这个数字进一步增加。
中国选择了非常不同的经济和政治道路迈向繁荣,增强了自由市场体系的某些方面,同时抵制政治上的开放,保持国家对经济事务的深度干预。这是你们做出的决定。
我们双方选择的路径的最大差异大概是我们对于什么是人权的认识。我认识到,在今天在坐的许多人看来,我们倡导人权的行动往好处说是多管闲事,往坏处说是侵犯你们的主权。我想直率地对大家说,这不是我们的意图。是的,对于美国人来说,我们的民主有明显的道义成分。我们也关注我们自己没有做好的地方。这种关注反映了美国人民的本质。然而,奥巴马总统和我也从更广阔的视角来看待保护人权和自由。保护中国在国际承诺和自己的宪法中阐明的那些自由——我们将之视为中国成功崛起的一个关键方面,也是中国持续增长和繁荣的一个关键方面。我知道,在中国有人认为扩大自由会破坏社会稳定,从而威胁经济发展。我不想假装知道答案,但我相信历史证明情况是相反的——从长远来看,更加开放是稳定的来源和实力的象征,最有利繁荣的情况是政府既鼓励自由创业又鼓励自由交流观点,自由使人民能够充分发挥潜能。缺乏自由则会产生社会动荡。
开放、思想的自由交流、自由企业以及各方面的自由等等,在我看来都是美国现在成为世界历史上最富有国家的原因。正因为如此,我国工人位于生产率最高的行列;正因为如此,我国发明家和创业者拥有的专利比世界上任何其他国家都多;正因为如此,我们正在对我们国力的根本源泉--教育、基础设施和创新进行再投资;正因为如此,奥巴马总统和我如此坚定地相信,美国将与以往经济危机时期一样,一如既往经受当前经济风暴的考验而变得更为强大;正因为如此,没有任何理由中国不能挖掘同样的力量源泉。
在共同向前进的道路上定会经历很多成长的烦恼。我在一开始就说过,仅在我首次访华以来的30多年时间里,你们就已取得了令人难以置信的进步。我在成都就可以看到这一点,这个城市为成为创新经济的主要角色走在最前列。人们可以感觉到这一点。从你们一些学生的眼神中可以看到这一点。
看一看在场的听众,你们中有一些人将成为中国经济发展过程中新的开拓者,在历史上留下你们的印记。就像美国苹果公司(Apple)创始人史蒂夫?乔布斯(Steve Jobs)等人那样,你们也有这样的能力和潜力,我相信你们中间的一些人会有这样的成就。
我还感到骄傲的是,有160多家《财富》世界500强公司(Fortune 500)在成都的高新技术产业开发区开展经营活动,包括因特尔(Intel)、戴尔(Dell)和甲骨文(Oracle)等开拓性的美国企业。美中关系在过去30年中取得了极大的改善。为了巩固这一坚实的伙伴关系,我们必须超越我们每天都在为之努力的华盛顿和北京之间的紧密关系,将各级政府以及教室和实验室、体育场和会议室都包括进来。
正是因为如此,我们发起了“十万人留学中国计划”(100,000 Strong Initiative),增加每年留学中国的美国学生人数,并保持了相当多的和平队(Peace Corps)人数。今天在这里有多少和平队志愿者?请你们举手。我们爱你们。欢迎。欢迎。(掌声)