TED演讲:本世纪最大的不公(7)

 　　So you see how transformative  你已经看到了

　　little bits of help can be.  微薄的帮助如何带来巨变。

　　But I want to give you a reality check.  但我还要给你们看看事实。

　　Look: U.S. aid, helping¹ people is not easy,  美国援助，助人不易。

　　and there have been books that have criticized U.S. aid.  有些书曾批评过美国援助。

　　There's Bill Easterly's book.  比如Bill Easterly的书。

　　There's a book called "Dead Aid."  书名为“死亡援助”。

　　You know, the criticism is fair;  这些批评很中肯。

　　it isn't easy.  这不容易。

　　You know, people say how  人们质问

　　half of all water well projects, a year later, are failed.  为何一年内，一半以上的水井项目都失败了。

　　When I was in Zimbabwe,  当我在津巴布韦时，

　　we were touring a place with the village chief --  一个村长带我们考察一个地方--

　　he wanted to raise money for a secondary school --  他希望筹钱建造一所高中--

　　and there was some construction a few yards away,  几步远的地方在建造些什么东西，

　　and I said, "What's that?"  我就问，“那是什么？”

　　He sort of mumbled².  他支支吾吾不回答。

　　Turns out that it's a failed irrigation project.  结果那是一个失败的灌溉工程。

　　A few yards away was a failed chicken coop.  再几步远，是一个失败的鸡舍。

　　One year, all the chickens died, and no one wanted to put the chickens in there.  一年时间，所有的鸡都死了，再没有人愿意在那里养鸡。

　　It's true, but we think that you don't through the baby out with the bathwater;  这都是真实的，但我们认为这并非竹篮打水一场空；

　　you actually improve.  你实际上一直在进步。

　　You learn from your mistakes, and you continuously improve.  你从错误中学习，你一直在改进。

　　We also think that individuals  我们也认为个人有能力，

　　can make a difference, and they should,  也应该去做一些改变，

　　because individuals, together,  聚沙成塔，

　　we can all help create a movement.  我们一起就可以制造一场改变。

　　And a movement of men and women  一场男人和女人的改变，

　　is what's needed to bring about social change,  才能带来社会变革，

　　change that will address  去战胜这个

　　this great moral challenge.  艰巨的道德挑战。

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。