2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Addresses Graduates of Gulf Coast Col

By Paula Wolfson
White House
11 May 2006
 
President Bush paid another visit Thursday to the hurricane-ravaged U.S. Gulf¹ Coast, this time to honor the graduates of one local college.  These students got their degrees in one of the communities hardest hit by hurricane Katrina.

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George Bush gives commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi  
  

The president gives several graduation speeches every year, usually to students at major universities.

But this year, he chose to visit a small, community-based school that found itself in the eye of a hurricane.

"I am proud to stand before some of the most determined² students at any college or university in America," said Mr. Bush.

He spoke³ at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in the city of Biloxi, addressing the students in a stadium still under repair, near streets lined with temporary housing.

"Over the last nine months, you have shown resilience more powerful than any storm," he added.  "You continued your studies in classrooms with crumbling⁴ walls.  You lost homes, and slept in tents near campus to finish courses.  You cleared debris⁵ during the day, and you went to class at night, working past exhaustion⁶ to catch up."

Like community colleges across the country, Mississippi Gulf Coast offers a low-cost, locally based alternative to students of all ages, many of whom hold full-time⁷ jobs or are raising families.

President Bush urged the new graduates to take the skills they learned in school and use them to help their state and the region rebuild.

"I ask you to rise to the challenge of a generation:  Apply your skill and your knowledge, your compassion⁸ and your character, and write a hopeful new chapter in the history of the Gulf Coast," he said.

The president said he is convinced a new vitality⁹ will emerge from the rubble¹⁰ of Hurricane Katrina.  He said, in time, cities from Mobile, Alabama to Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana will be whole again.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 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。

4 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

5 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

8 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

9 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

10 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。