名校励志英语演讲 01:给大学毕业生的几个忠告

 　　Madam President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation¹ and the Board of Overseers, faculty², family, friends, and, most importantly, today’s graduates,[qh]

　　尊敬的福斯特校长、哈佛集团的各位成员、监管理事会的各位理事、全体教职工、各位家长、各位朋友，以及最重要的各位毕业生们：[qh]

　　Thank you for letting me share this wonderful day with you.[qh]

　　感谢你们，让我有机会同你们一起分享这个美妙的日子。[qh]

　　I am not sure I can live up to the high standards of Harvard Commencement speakers. Last year, J.K. Rowling, the billionaire novelist, who started as a classics³ student, graced⁴ this podium. The year before, Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here. Today, sadly, you have me. I am not a billionaire, but at least I am a nerd.[qh]

　　我不太肯定自己是否够得上的哈佛大学毕业典礼演讲人这样的殊荣。去年在这个讲台上演讲的是英国亿万身家的小说家J.K.罗琳女士，她起初是一个学古典文学的学生。前年站在这里的是比尔·盖茨先生，他是超级富翁、慈善家和电脑痴。今年很遗憾，是我给你们发表毕业演讲，虽然我不是亿万富翁，但至少我是一个书呆子。[qh]

　　I am grateful to receive an honorary degree from Harvard, an honor⁵ that means more to me than you might care to imagine. As you may have heard this morning, I was the academic failure of my family. Both My brother have degrees from Harvard. My older brother, Gilbert,after getting a Ph.D. in physics from that other school down the river, got an M.D. Ph.D.from Harvard. My younger brother, Morgan Chu, who you just heard his name today at the board overseers, has a law degree. When I was awarded a Nobel Prize, I thought my mother would be pleased. Not so. I called her on the morning of the announcement, she replied, “That’s nice, but when are you going to visit me next.” Now, as the last brother with a degree from Harvard, maybe, at last, she will be pleased.[qh]

　　我很感激哈弗大学授予我荣誉学位，这对我很重要，也许比你们想象的更重要。你们今天早上可能听说了，从学术上来说，我在我家很差劲。我的兄弟们都获得了哈弗学位。我哥哥吉尔伯特在河下游的那所大学获得了物理学博士学位之后，又在哈弗大学获得医学博士学位；我弟弟摩根，你们在校监管理事会已经听到了了他的名字，拿到了哈弗大学法律学位。我本人得到诺贝尔奖的时候，我想母亲会很高兴。但是，我错了。消息公布的那天早上，我打电话给她，她只说：“这是个好消息，不过我想知道，你下次什么时候来看我？”如今在我们兄弟当中，我最终也拿到了哈弗大学的学位，我想这一次，她会感到满意。

　　commencement

　　n. 毕业典礼

　　eg. Before leaving I attended the 47th commencement of Cornell on June 16, 1914.

　　离校之前，我还在1914年6月16日参加了康乃尔的第47届毕业典礼。

　　podium

　　n. 讲台

　　eg. We're all anxious to hear Mrs. Zhuang Wei's remarks, so let us all welcome her to the podium.

　　我们都盼望听到庄薇女士说几句话，所以让我们欢迎她上台。

　　mega-billionaire

　　n. 超级富翁

　　eg. With the best will in the world you'll never become a billionaire．

　　就算使出浑身解数，你也成不了亿万富翁。

　　philanthropist

　　n. 慈善家

　　eg. The university was founded by a millionaire philanthropist.

　　这所大学的创建人是位腰缠万贯的慈善家。

　　nerd

　　n. 狂热爱好者；呆子

　　eg. A typical nerd is someone who wears glasses and carries a lot of books.

　　那就是典型的书呆子形象，戴着眼镜，拿着许多书。

1 corporation   

n.公司，企业&n.社团，团体

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。

2 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

3 classics   

n.文豪( classic的名词复数 )；文学名著；优秀的典范；古希腊与古罗马的文化研究（尤指对其语言与文学的研究）

参考例句：

• There are three great constituents of modern education --the classics, modern history and literature, and science. 现代教育有三大内容 -古典文学、现代历史和文学、以及自然科学。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• "The Classics on Tea", written by Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty (618 A.D.-907 A.D.) was the world's earliest treatise on tea leave production. 中国唐代陆羽写的《茶经》是世界上最早的茶叶制作专著。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 graced   

v.使优美（grace的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Fine paintings graced the walls of the room. 这些精美的绘画使四壁生辉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His Eminence graced the banquet by his presence. 主教阁下的出席给宴会增添了光辉。 来自辞典例句

5 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。