名人励志英语演讲 第144期:感觉失败及寻找幸福(6)

 　　And I was so proud, because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, which is who I had been trying to emulate¹ since the start of my TV career. So, I was 22 years old, making $22,000 a year. And it's where I met my best friend, Gayle, who was an intern² at the same TV station. And once we became friends, we'd say, "Oh my god, I can't believe it! You're making $22,000 and you're only 22. Imagine when you're 40 and you're maing 40!" When I turned 40, I was so glad that didn't happen.

　　我非常自豪，因为我终于有机会像芭芭拉·沃尔特斯一样了，她是我从事传媒行业以来一直效仿的对象。那时我22岁，每年挣2.2万美元。我遇到了在同一个电视台做实习生的盖尔，我们立刻成了好朋友。我们说：“我的天啊，简直难以置信。你仅22岁，每年就能挣2.2万美元。那你到40岁时，年薪就是40万美元啦。”当我真的40岁时，我很高兴这并没有成真。

　　So, here I am 22, making $22,000 a year and, yet, it didn't feel right. It didn't feel right. The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name. The news director³ said to me at the time, "Nobody's going to remember Oprah. So, we want to change your name. We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like. It's a friendly name: Suzie."

　　这就是我，22岁时每年挣2.2万美元，然而，感觉不太对。第一次迹象就是，正如汉尼斯校长所说，他们试图让我改名字。当时新闻总监对我说：“没人会记住奥普拉这个名字。因此我们想让你改名字。我们已经为你想了一个大家都会记住并且肯定会喜欢的名字：苏西。”

　　Hi, Suzie. Very friendly. You can't be angry with Suzie. Remember Suzie. But my name wasn't Suzie. And, you know, I'd grown up not really loving my name, because when you're looking for your little name on the lunch boxes and the license⁴ plate tags⁵, you're never going to find Oprah.

　　嗨，苏西。一个很友善的名字。你不会厌恶苏西。记住苏西吧。但我的名字不叫苏西。你们知道，自小我就不怎么喜欢我的名字。因为当你在午餐箱和牌照上找你的名字时，你永远也不会找到奥普拉。

　　So, I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I thought, no, it doesn't feel right. I'm not going to change my name. And if people remember it or not, that's OK.

　　所以，我从小就不喜欢这个名字，但是当我被告知要改名字时，我想，好吧，这是我的名字，但是苏西真的适合我吗？我想，不，它并不适合我。我不会改我的名字。人们是否记得住我的名字没什么大不了的。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. be angry with

　　对某人生气；

　　eg. Are you angry with me for some reason?

　　你是因为什么原因在生我的气吗？

　　eg. He was angry with himself for having made such a foolish mistake.

　　他为犯如此愚蠢的错误而对自己气恼不已。

　　2. ask sb. to do sth.

　　要求某人做某事；

　　eg. We had to ask him to leave.

　　我们不得不要求他离开。

　　eg. She said she had been asked to take two suitcases to Africa by a man called Sean.

　　她说有个名叫肖恩的男人要她带两个手提箱去非洲。

　　3. look like

　　看上去像；与…相似；

　　eg. No matter what the results of the homemade gift look like, remember it's the thought that counts.

　　不论自制礼物的结果看起来像什么，心意才是重要。

　　eg. Her new glasses make her look like an owl⁶.

　　她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。

1 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

2 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

3 director   

n.主管，导演；主任；理事；董事；处长

参考例句：

• The director has taken the visitors off to his office.经理把客人带到他办公室去了。
• The new director is easy to get along with.新来的主任很好处。

4 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

5 tags   

n.[计算机]标记( tag的名词复数 )；附加语（为加强语气，如 Yes, I do 一句中的 I do）；名言；污块毛

参考例句：

• He put name tags on all his shirts. 他给自己所有的衬衣都缝上了标有姓名的签条。
• The old scholar's writing is always full of tags. 那位老学者的文章里总是有很多名言警句。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。