⊙ By Michelle Obama

翻譯：旭文

用良好的教育武裝自己

1)Empower Yourselves with a Good Education

⊙ By Michelle Obama

翻譯：旭文

剛剛卸任的美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬是大家公認(rèn)的演講好手，從他參加總統(tǒng)競選伊始到在位的八九年間，他的講話一直受到大家的追捧。其實(shí)，他的夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬也同樣是演講高手，只不過露面的機(jī)會遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不如她丈夫多罷了。現(xiàn)在我們來欣賞一下米歇爾作為第一夫人的最后一次正式講話吧。

口語指南針

與許多男性政治家或勵志演講家相比，米歇爾的演講與激越高亢、抑揚(yáng)頓挫沾不上邊。在這段對美國年輕人的講話中，她更像是一位諄諄善誘的長輩，態(tài)度親切、誠懇。她聯(lián)系自己與丈夫出身貧寒，經(jīng)過奮斗獲得成功的經(jīng)歷來勉勵年輕人，在對話般的講話中道出自己對年輕人的殷殷期望。建議同學(xué)們反復(fù)聽，仔細(xì)體會這種更貼近生活的演講風(fēng)格。

And as I end my time in the White House, I can think of no better message to send to our young people in my last official remarks as First Lady. So, for all the young people in this room and those who are watching, know that this country belongs to you—to all of you, from every background and walk of life. If you or your parents are immigrants, knowthat you are part of a proud American tradition—the2)infusion of new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after generation. That has made us the greatest country on Earth.

If your family doesn’t have much money, I want you to remember that in this country, plenty of folks, including me and my husband, we started out with very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good education, anything is possible—even becoming President. That’s what the American Dream is all about.

Right now, you need to be preparing yourself to add your voice to our national conversation. You need to prepare yourself to be informed and3)engaged as a citizen, to serve and to lead, to stand up for our proud American values and to honor them in your daily lives. And that means getting the best education possible, so you can think4)critically, so you can express yourself clearly, so you can get a good job and support yourself and your family, so you can be a positive force in your communities.

And when you encounter5)obstacles—because I guarantee you, you will, and many of you already have—when you are struggling and you start thinking about giving up, I want you to remember something that my husband and I have talked about since we first started this journey nearly a decade ago, something that has carried us through every moment in this White House and every moment of our lives, and that is the power of hope, the belief that something better is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and fight for it.

It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country; our hope that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the6)limitations that others may place on us; the hope that when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just maybe, they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best possible selves.

That’s the kind of hope that every single one of us—politicians, parents,7)preachers—all of us need to be providing for our young people. Because that is what moves this country forward every single day—our hope for the future and the hard work that hope inspires.

1) empower [Im5paJE(r)] v. 授權(quán)，賦權(quán)

2) infusion [In5fju:V(E)n] n. 輸入，灌輸

3) engaged [In5^eIdVd] adj. 活躍的

4) critically [5krItIkElI] adv. 批評地，用鉆研眼光地

5) obstacle [5?bstEk(E)l] n. 障礙，困難

6) limitation [7lImI5teIF(E)n] n. 限制

7) preacher [5pri:tFE(r)] n. 講道者，說教者

推薦背誦

So, that’s my final message to young people as First Lady. It is simple. I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong. So don’t be afraid—you hear me, young people? Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourselves with a good education. Then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear. And know that I will be with you,8)rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.

背誦理由

本段語句簡潔有力。通過七個只有兩三個詞的祈使短句，從否定到肯定，像一連串有力的鼓點(diǎn)直擊人心，讓聽者把注意力集中在關(guān)鍵詞上，突出中心，干凈利落，有明顯的警醒作用。

8) root for 鼓勁，支持

習(xí)語學(xué)習(xí)：walk of life

我們非常熟悉的walk在作名詞用時，除了“散步，步行”等與走路相關(guān)的意思外，還有“行業(yè)，職業(yè)，社會地位”的意思，因此就有了walk of life這個習(xí)語。這個習(xí)語最常見的用法是all walks of life，指社會各界、各階層人士，視上下文而定，可強(qiáng)調(diào)差異性或包容性；另一個用法是every walk of life，作用及用法與前者相同，只不過在形式上略有差異罷了。相比之下，前者比后者更常見，如：

l My favorite part of the job is that I can meet people from all walks of life.（這份工作我最喜歡的地方就是可以接觸到社會各階層人士。）

l There were people at the meeting from every walk of life.（參加會議的人來自社會各階層。）

在我即將離開白宮之際，在我作為第一夫人的最后一次正式發(fā)言中，沒有比向年輕人說幾句話更合適的了。所有在這個房間里的年輕人和那些正在觀看直播的年輕人，你們要明白這個國家是屬于你們的，屬于你們所有人——包括來自各種背景和各社會階層的年輕人。如果你或你的父母是移民，你要明白，你們正是美國引以為傲的傳統(tǒng)的一部分——新文化的融入、新鮮人才的輸入和新想法的注入，一代接一代，源源不斷。正是這一傳統(tǒng)把我們打造成世界上最偉大的國家。

如果你來自并不富裕的家庭，我希望你記住：在這個國家里，有很多人，包括我和我丈夫，我們開始的時候也沒有幾個錢，但通過大量辛勤的工作和良好的教育，任何事情都是有可能的，甚至是成為總統(tǒng)。這就是美國夢的意義所在。

現(xiàn)在，你要打好基礎(chǔ)，準(zhǔn)備好讓你的想法成為我們?nèi)珖詫υ挼囊徊糠?，你要打好基礎(chǔ)，做到廣聞博識，并且當(dāng)一個積極參與的公民為大眾服務(wù)、當(dāng)一名領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，擁護(hù)我們引以為豪的美國價值觀，并且在日常生活中踐行這些價值觀。這就意味著你要盡可能得到最好的教育，這樣你才可以進(jìn)行批判性的思考，可以清晰地表達(dá)自己，可以得到一份養(yǎng)家糊口的好工作，可以成為社區(qū)里的正能量。

當(dāng)你遇到困難時——我向你們保證，這一定會發(fā)生，你們當(dāng)中許多人已經(jīng)遇到過困難了——當(dāng)你在苦苦掙扎，已經(jīng)開始考慮放棄的時候，我希望你記住一點(diǎn)。我丈夫和我在近十年前剛開始這個旅程的時候就已經(jīng)談過這一點(diǎn)，這一點(diǎn)始終伴隨著我們在白宮度過的每時每刻和我們?nèi)松拿繒r每刻，那就是希望的力量——就是相信如果你愿意付出努力，愿意為之奮斗，事情總會變得更好這樣一個信念。

正是因為我們擁有這個基本信念，在我們的生活和國家的歷史中，在面對懷疑與分歧對立、憤怒與恐懼時，我們才能克服重重困難，重新振作。我們希望，如果我們努力工作，相信自己，那么我們就可以不理會他人給我們設(shè)置的種種限制，實(shí)現(xiàn)任何夢想。我們希望，當(dāng)人們看到真實(shí)的我們時，也許，僅僅是也許，他們也將會受到鼓舞，盡最大努力做到最好。

我們每一個人，包括政治家、父母和布道者，我們所有人都需要向我們的年輕人灌輸這種希望的信念。因為正是我們對未來的希望，以及由希望激勵的辛勤工作，每一天都在推動著這個國家不斷前進(jìn)。

好了，這就是我作為第一夫人對年輕人最后要說的話。話很簡單。我希望我們的年輕人知道他們很重要，他們屬于這個國家。所以不要害怕，年輕人，你們聽到我的話了嗎？不要害怕，要專注，要堅定，要滿懷希望，要自強(qiáng)，用良好的教育武裝自己。然后走上社會，用你們學(xué)到的知識去建設(shè)一個值得你們對其抱有無限希望的國家。要以身作則，懷揣希望，永不害怕。要知道，我會永遠(yuǎn)與你們在一起，為你們鼓勁加油，在我的余生為支持你們而一直努力。