2006年NPR美国国家公共电台六月-Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day

I believe in the ingredients of love.
I believe in freedom of speech.
I believe that a little outrage¹ can take you a long way.
I believe in truth.
I believe in being black and angry.
I believe in empathy.
I believe in honor, faith and service -- to one's country and to mankind.

This I Believe.

On Mondays, our series 'This I Believe' brings you statements of personal belief, many of them submitted by people like you. Today, our essay comes from Josh Rittenberg, a junior at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York City. Here is our series curator,independent producer Jay Allison.

For our series, we are receiving thousands of essays from young people, some are searching for belief, some have found it, and some, like Josh Rittenberg are trying out the beliefs of others, notably², their parents, to see how they fit. Here is Josh Rittenberg with his essay for “This I Believe”.


I'm 16. The other night while I was busy thinking about important social issues, like what to do over the weekend and who to do it with, I overheard my parents talking about my future. My dad was upset -- not the usual stuff that he and Mom and, I guess, a lot of parents worry about, like which college I'm going to, how far away it is from home and how much it's going to cost. Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine -- a world he fears has a dark and difficult future, if it has a future at all.

He sounded like this: "There will be a pandemic that kills millions, a devastating³ energy crisis, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger."

As I lay on the living room couch, eavesdropping on their conversation, starting to worry about the future my father was describing, I found myself looking at some old family photos. There was a picture of my grandfather in his Citadel⁵ uniform. He was a member of the class of 1942, the war class. Next to his picture were photos of my great-grandparents, Ellis Island immigrants. Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better. I believe tomorrow will be better than today -- that the world my generation grows into is going to get better, not worse. Those pictures helped me understand why.

I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes: two world wars, killer⁶ flu, segregation⁷, a nuclear bomb. But they saw other things, too, better things: the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine⁸, passage of the civil rights laws. They even saw the Red Sox win the World Series -- twice.

I believe that my generation will see better things, too -- that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated; when the Middle East will find peace and Africa grain, and the Cubs⁹ win the World Series -- probably only once. I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather when he was 16, or the Internet to my father when he was 16.

Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I've had a lousy day, my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that "tomorrow will be a better day." I challenged my father once, "How do you know that?" He said, "I just do." I believed him. My great-grandparents believed that, and my grandparents, and so do I.

As I listened to my Dad talking that night, so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation, I wanted to put my arm around him, and tell him what he always told me: "Don't worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day." This, I believe.


Josh Rittenberg with his essay for This I Believe, by the way, he turns 17 tomorrow. We are inviting¹⁰ everyone to submit essays to our series, regardless of age. Check npr.org for more information and to see all the essays in the series along with photographs of the essayists.For "This I Believe", I'm Jay Allison.

Next Monday on All Things Considered a "This I Believe" essay comes from our listener in Logan,Utah.

This I believe is made possible by a grant from Farmers Insurance.

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ingredient:one of the foods that you use to make a particular food or dish; 成分, 因素
empathy:the ability to understand other people's feelings and problems; 移情作用
the other night:前两天的夜里, 不久前的某个夜里
eavesdrop:to deliberately listen secretly to other people's conversations; 偷听
inconceivable:too strange or unusual to be thought real or possible;不能想像的, 难以相信的

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

5 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。