TED演讲:大爱无疆 爱本无条件(6)

 I'm going to quote from another magazine of the'60s. 我要去引述1960年代，另一家杂志刊载的话。

This one is from 1968-The Atlantic Monthly, voice of liberal America-written by an important bioethicist. 这是1968 年出版的大西洋月刊，美国的自由主义之声，作者是知名的生物伦理学专家。

He said, There is no reason to feel guilty about putting a Down syndrome² child away, 他说，对于遗弃唐氏综合症的婴孩，我们不必感到内疚，

whether it is put away in the sense of hidden in a sanitarium or in a more responsible, lethal³ sense. 无论是将其送到疗养院去，或者用更负责也更致命的方式。

It is sad, yes-dreadful. But it carries no guilt¹. 这很可悲，也很可怕，但不需要有罪恶感。

True guilt arises only from an offense⁴ against a person, 真正有内疚只源于侵犯人，

and a Down's is not a person. 而唐氏综合症患者不是人。

There's been a lot of ink given to the enormous progress that we've made in the treatment of gay people. 关于同性恋者处境的大幅度进步，已经有很多文章就此发表观点。

The fact that our attitude has changed is in the headlines every day. 每天都有头条报导，人们对同性恋的态度已有所转变。

But we forget how we used to see people who had other differences, 但我们遗忘了过去是怎么看待，不同于大众的人，

how we used to see people who were disabled, 忘了过去是怎么看待残障人士的，

how inhuman⁵ we held people to be. 忘了我们曾经多么不人道。

And the change that's been accomplished⁶ there, 在那些方面的改变，

which is almost equally radical⁷, 几乎同样激进，

is one that we pay not very much attention to. 我们却未给予更多的重视。

One of the families I interviewed, Tom and Karen Robards, 我采访过罗巴兹家族的汤姆和凯伦夫妇，

were taken aback when, as young and successful New Yorkers, 他们当年是年轻有为的纽约人，

their first child was diagnosed with Down syndrome. 在得知他们第一个孩子患有唐氏综合征时大为惊讶。

They thought the educational opportunities for him were not what they should be, 他们认为儿子并未得到应有的教育，

and so they decided⁸ they would build a little center-two classrooms that they started with a few other parents-to educate kids with D.S. 于是他们决定成立一个小型教育机构，两间教室里，他们开始和其他的父母，一起教育唐氏综合症儿童。

And over the years, that center grew into something called the Cooke Center, 多年后，该机构发展为库克中心，

where there are now thousands upon thousands of children with intellectual disabilities who are being taught. 现在有成千上万的智障儿童在这里接受教育。

1 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

2 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

5 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

6 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。