万花筒 2009-10-10&10-12 奥巴马惊获诺贝尔和平奖

Good morning, well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in, and said, "Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo’s birthday." And then Sasha added, "Plus we have a three-day weekend coming up." So it’s good to have kids to keep things in perspective. I am both surprised and deeply humbled¹ by the decision of the Nobel committee, let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments², but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations³ held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize. Men and women, who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous⁴ pursuit of peace, but I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans want to build a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents.

And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement, it's also been used as a means to give more momentum⁵ to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept the award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges can’t be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that’s why my administration’s worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take the responsibility for the world we seek. We can not tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread in more nations, and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust⁶ endangers more people.

 

That’s why we’ve begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons because all the nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.

 

1 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

2 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

4 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。