名校励志英语演讲 48:拯救世界 拯救儿童

 　　The walls of Oxford¹ have not only housed the greatest philosophical² and scientific geniuses—they have also ushered³ forth⁴ some of the most cherished creators of children's literature, from J.R.R. Tolkien to C.S. Lewis. Today I was allowed to hobble into the dining hall in Christ Church to see Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland immortalized in the stained glass windows. And even one of my own fellow Americans, the beloved Dr Seuss graced these halls and then went on to leave his mark on the imaginations of millions of children throughout the world.

　　牛津不仅荟萃了最伟大的哲学家和科学家，还蕴育了一些最出色的儿童文学创作家，从J.R.R.托尔金到C.S.刘易斯。刘易斯·卡罗尔的《爱丽丝漫游仙境》在基督教堂的彩色玻璃窗里被永久保存。同时，我还发现我的一位美国同胞，亲爱的苏斯博士也为此增色，在这项伟大的事业上留下了他的印记，启发了全世界上千万儿童的想象力。

　　I suppose I should start by listing my qualifications to speak before you this evening. Friends, I do not claim to have the academic expertise⁵ of other speakers who have addressed this hall, just as they could lay little claim at being adept⁶ at the moonwalk—and you know, Einstein in particular was really TERRIBLE at that.

　　今晚，我想先讲讲我为何有幸能在这里演讲。朋友们，我不具备那些来此地的演讲者所拥有的学术专业知识，正如他们不善于“太空步”一样——而且，大家都知道，爱因斯坦尤其不擅长。

　　But I do have a claim to having experienced more places and cultures than most people will ever see. Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink—it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart, chiseled⁸ on the human soul, and engraved¹⁰ on the human psyche¹¹. And friends, I have encountered so much in this relatively¹² short life of mine that I still cannot believe I am chiseled only 42.

　　但是我可以说，和大多数人相比，我游历了更多地方，也体验了更多不同的文化。人类文明不仅仅是图书馆纸墨所记载的——还包括那些书写在人们内心的，凿刻在人们灵魂里和精神中的知识。而且，朋友们，在我短暂的生命力，我经历了这么多，以至于现在我都难以相信自己只有42岁。

　　philosophical

　　adj. 哲学的

　　eg. Wilbur says he's not a coward, but that he's philosophically¹³ opposed to war.

　　威尔伯说他不是个懦夫，但他在哲学观念上反对战争。

　　genius

　　n. 天才，天赋

　　eg. He is endowed with genius.

　　他有天才。

　　stained

　　n. 染色的

　　eg. He stained his military record by going AWOL [a.w.o.l.=absent without official leave].

　　他因擅离职守而玷污了军绩。

　　expertise

　　n. 专门知识

　　eg. His field of expertise was steroids.

　　他的专业领域是甾族化合物。

　　adept

　　adj. 熟练的；擅长......的

　　eg. The author is adept in depicting¹⁴ vast scenes.

　　作者很善于描写大的场面。

　　parchment

　　n. 羊皮纸；羊皮纸文稿

　　eg. The writing on the parchment had faded until it was almost illegible¹⁵.

　　羊皮纸上的字迹已褪色，到了差不多让人认不清的地步。

　　comprise

　　vt. 包含；由......组成

　　eg. Their country is comprised of 50 states.

　　他们的国家是由50个州组成的。

　　chisel⁷

　　vt. 欺骗；凿刻

　　eg. He chiseled the figure of a girl out of a block of white marble.

　　他把一块汉白玉雕成一个女孩的石像。

　　engrave⁹

　　vt.雕刻；铭记

　　eg. That image is engraved on my mind.

　　那个形象铭记在我脑海里。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

3 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

6 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

7 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

8 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

9 engrave   

vt.（在...上）雕刻，使铭记，使牢记

参考例句：

• It is difficult to engrave in marble.在大理石上雕刻是困难的。
• The jeweller will engrave the inside of the ring with her name.珠宝匠将在戒指的内表面上刻上她的名字。

10 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 philosophically   

adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地

参考例句：

• He added philosophically that one should adapt oneself to the changed conditions. 他富于哲理地补充说，一个人应该适应变化了的情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Harry took his rejection philosophically. 哈里达观地看待自己被拒的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

15 illegible   

adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的

参考例句：

• It is impossible to deliver this letter because the address is illegible.由于地址字迹不清，致使信件无法投递。
• Can you see what this note says—his writing is almost illegible!你能看出这个便条上写些什么吗？他的笔迹几乎无法辨认。