TED演讲:全球经济的隐形推动力—寄钱回家(1)

 I live in Washington, D.C.,  我住在华盛顿特区

but I grew up in Sindhekela, a village in Orissa, in India.  但我是在新河克拉， 印度奥里萨邦的一个小村庄长大。

My father was a government worker.  我父亲是个政府雇员，

My mother could not read or write, but she  我母亲不会读书写字，

would say to me, A king is worshipped only in his own kingdom. A poet is respected everywhere. 但她跟我说：国王只有在自己的王国里才被膜拜，而诗人走到哪儿都受到尊敬。

So I wanted to be a poet when I grew up.  所以我就想长大后成为一名诗人。

But I almost didn't go to college  但是我差点没上成大学，

until an aunt offered financial help.  直到一位姨妈出钱帮我。

I went to study in Sambalpur,  我去了萨姆巴尔普尔，

the largest town in the region,  当地最大的城镇读书。

where, already in college, I saw a television for the first time.  在那儿上大学的时候，我才第一次看到电视。

I had dreams of going to the United States for higher studies. 那时我梦想去美国接受高等教育。

When the opportunity came,  后来机会来了，

I crossed two oceans, with borrowed money for airfare and only a 20 bill in my pocket. 我借钱买了机票，横跨两个大洋，兜里装了二十元美金就来了。

In the U.S., I worked in a research center,  在美国，我一边在一家研究中心兼职，

part-time, while taking graduate classes in economics¹. 一边上经济学的研究生课程。

And with the little I earned, I would finance² myself and then I would send money home to my brother and my father. 虽然挣得不多，我还是一边供自己上学，一边寄钱回家给我父亲和我兄弟。

My story is not unique.  我这样的绝不是唯一的。

There are millions of people who migrate³ each year.  每年有成百上千万的人移民。

With the help of the family, they cross oceans,  通过家人的帮助，他们跨越大洋，

they cross deserts, they cross rivers, they cross mountains.  沙漠，河流，或者山脉。

They risk their lives to realize a dream,  他们冒着生命危险去实现一个梦想。

and that dream is as simple as having a decent⁴ job somewhere so they can send money home and help the family, 他们的梦想很简单，就是能有一份不错的工作， 让他们能寄钱回家，帮助他们的家人，

which has helped them before.  那些曾帮助过他们的人。

There are 232 million international migrants in the world.  世界上有两亿三千二百万国际移民。

These are people who live in a country other than their country of birth.  他们生活在一个不同于他们出生地的国度。

If there was a country made up of only international migrants,  如果有一个国家全部由国际移民组成，

that would be larger, in population,than Brazil.  它的人口将超过巴西，

That would be larger, in its size of the economy, than France. 它的经济实力将超过法国。

Some 180 million of them, from poor countries,  其中一亿八千万的移民来自贫穷的国家，

send money home regularly.  他们按时寄钱回家。

Those sums of money are called remittances⁵.  这些钱叫做移民汇款。

Here is a fact that might surprise you:  这样一个事实可能会让你大吃一惊：

413 billion dollars, 413 billion dollars was the amount of remittances sent last year by migrants to developing countries.  4310亿美元，去年一共有4310亿美元由移民们寄到发展中国家。

Migrants from developing countries,  来自发展中国家的移民，

money sent to developing countries a 413 billion dollars.  寄到发展中国家的钱，4310亿美元。

That's a remarkable⁶ number because that is three times the size of the total of development aid money. 这个数字相当惊人，它等于所有发展资助资金总和的三倍。

And yet, you and I,  但是，你，我，

my colleagues in Washington,  我在华盛顿的同事们，

we endlessly debate and discuss about development aid,  我们不停地争辩，讨论发展资助，

while we ignore remittances as small change.  却把移民汇款当作小钱忽略了。

True, people send 200 dollars per month,  确实，人们平均每月寄两百美元。

on average. But, repeated month after month, 但是，月复一月，

by millions of people,  成百上千万的人在寄，

these sums of money add up to rivers of foreign currency.  这些钱汇聚成一条条外币形成的河流。

So India, last year, received 72 billion dollars, larger than its IT exports. 印度去年收到了720亿美元，超过它的IT出口额。

In Egypt remittances are three times the size of revenues⁷ from the Suez Canal.  埃及收到的移民汇款达到苏伊士运河上贸易额的三倍。

In Tajikistan, remittances are 42 percent of GDP.  塔吉克斯坦， 移民汇款占GDP的42%。

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

3 migrate   

vi.（候鸟等）迁徙，移居（国外），迁移

参考例句：

• Many birds migrate south for the winter.冬天时，许多鸟类迁徙南方。
• The rich people often migrate in winter to Florida.有钱的人常在冬季搬迁到佛罗里达州去。

4 decent   

adj.象样的，不错的，体面的，正派的，恰当的

参考例句：

• We want to raise our children to be decent men and women.我们盼望把孩子们培养成优秀人才。
• There isn't even a decent table in this room.这屋里连张像样的桌子也没有。

5 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 revenues   

收入( revenue的名词复数 )； [复数]总收入； 收入来源； 税务局

参考例句：

• Revenues from oil are the biggest single component part in the country's income. 来自石油的收益是这个国家收入中最高的一项。
• Under the cash basis of accounting most receipts of money are revenues and most expenditures of money are expenses. 按现金收付制规定，企业收到的现金大都作为收入处理，付出的现金大都作为费用处理。