名校励志英语演讲 25:如何解决这个世界上最严重的不平等?

 　　Thank you! President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty¹, parents, and especially the graduates:

　　谢谢大家！尊敬的伯克校长，鲁登斯坦前校长，即将上任的福斯特校长，哈佛集团的各位成员，监管理事会的各位理事，各位老师，各位家长，尤其是毕业生们：

　　I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: "Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree."

　　有一句话我等了三十多年，现在终于可以说了：“老爸，我总是跟你说，我会回来拿到我的学位的！”

　　I want to thank Harvard for this honor. I'll be changing my job next year…and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

　　我要感谢哈佛大学给我这个荣誉。明年，我就要换工作了……我终于可以在简历上填上大学学位，这真是不错。

　　I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson² has called me "Harvard's most successful dropout³." I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

　　我为今天在座的毕业生喝彩，你们拿到学位可比我简单多了。哈佛的校报称我是“哈佛大学历史上最成功的辍学生”。我想这大概使我有资格代表我这一类学生发表毕业演讲……在所有的辍学者中，我做得最好。

　　But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I'm a bad influence. That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation⁵, fewer of you might be here today.

　　但是，我还要提醒大家，我使得史蒂夫·鲍尔默也从哈佛商学院退学了。因此，我是个有着不良影响的人。那就是为什么我被邀请来在你们的毕业典礼上演讲的原因。如果我在你们入学欢迎仪式上演讲，那么能够坚持到今天在这里毕业的人也许会少得多吧。

　　incoming

　　adj. 即将上任的

　　eg. Incoming flights land on this side of the airport.

　　入境的飞机停在机场这一边。

　　faculty

　　n. 全体教员

　　eg. He spoke⁴ on behalf of all the members of the faculty and staff.

　　他代表全体教职员工讲了话。

　　resume

　　n. 履历；个人简历

　　eg. I know nothing about her resume. I have no idea whether she has talent.

　　我对她的履历也一无所知，我不知道她是不是天赋异禀。

　　dropout

　　n. 辍学学生

　　eg. The youth cannot graduate or even dropout of school without going through the pains of a low-income job.

　　年轻人都无需经历低收入工作的痛苦，因为他们不能毕业甚至中途退学。

1 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。

2 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

3 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。