TED演讲:多元化的自己究竟有多大力量(2)

 　　I was born in Korea -- the land of kimchi; raised in Argentina, 我在泡菜之国--韩国出生；在阿根廷长大，

　　where I ate so much steak that I'm probably 80 percent cow by now; 可能因为吃太多牛排，我觉得现在我80%的成分是牛；

　　and I was educated in the US, where I became addicted¹ to peanut butter. 然后我在美国接受教育，在这儿又对花生酱爱得无法自拔。

　　During my childhood, I felt very much Argentinian, but my looks betrayed me at times. 小时候，我觉得自己是个地道的阿根廷人，但我的外表时不时会背叛我。

　　I remember on the first day of middle school, my Spanish literature teacher came into the room. 我还记得上中学的第一天，我的西班牙文学老师走进教室。

　　She scanned all of my classmates, and she said, "You -- you have to get a tutor, otherwise, you won't pass this class." 她扫了一眼全班同学，说到，“你，你要请一个家教，否则，你肯定过不了这门课。”

　　But by then I was fluent in Spanish already, so it felt as though I could be either Korean or Argentinian, but not both. 但当时我的西班牙语已经非常流利了，当时给我的感觉就是，我要么是韩国人，要么是阿根廷人，但不可能两者都是。

　　It felt like a zero-sum game, where I had to give up my old identity to be able to gain or earn a new one. 这种感觉就像是非此即彼的博弈，我必须放弃自己的旧身份，才能获得新身份。

　　So when I was 18, I decided² to go to Korea, hoping that finally I could find a place to call home. 18岁那年，我决定去韩国，希望找到一个能称之为家的地方。

　　But there people asked me, "Why do you speak Korean with a Spanish accent?" 但有人问我，“为什么你说韩语有西班牙口音？”

　　And, "You must be Japanese because of your big eyes and your foreign body language." “你肯定是日本人，因为你眼睛很大，肢体动作也像外国人。”

　　And so it turns out that I was too Korean to be Argentinian, but too Argentinian to be Korean. 原来，作为阿根廷人，我太韩国范儿，作为韩国人，我又太阿根廷范儿。

　　And this was a pivotal realization³ to me. I had failed to find that place in the world to call home. 对我来说这是一个非常关键的认识。我找不到一个可以称作老家的地方。

　　But how many Japanese-looking Koreans who speak with a Spanish accent 但是看起来像日本人的韩国人，讲话又带着西班牙口音，

　　or even more specific, Argentinian accent -- do you think are out there? Perhaps this could be an advantage. 或者更确切地说，带着阿根廷口音，这样的人你们觉得有多少呢？也许这是一个优势。

　　It was easy for me to stand out, which couldn't hurt in a world that was rapidly changing, 我更容易在人群中凸显出来，在这个变化迅速的世界，

　　where skills could become obsolete⁴ overnight. 你的技能也许一夜之间就被淘汰了。

　　So I stopped looking for that 100 percent commonality with the people that I met. 因此我不再在遇到的人身上，寻找100%的共性。

　　Instead, I realized that oftentimes, I was the only overlap⁵ between groups of people that were usually in conflict with each other. 取而代之的是，我常常意识到，自己正好处于交叉地带，位于常常有冲突发生的人群中间。

1 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

2 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。

3 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

4 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

5 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。