1)Barbara Pierce Bush

¹⁾Barbara Pierce Bush

Commencement Address at ²⁾Wellesley College

 

Wellesley, you see, is not just a place but an idea --an experiment in excellence¹ in which ³⁾diversity is not just ⁴⁾tolerated, but is ⁵⁾embraced. The ⁶⁾essence of this spirit was ⁷⁾captured in a moving speech about tolerance² given last year by a student body president of one of your sister colleges. She related the story by Robert Fulghum about a young ⁸⁾pastor³, finding himself in charge of some very ⁹⁾energetic children, hits upon a game called “Giants, Wizards, and ¹⁰⁾Dwarfs.” “You have to decide now,” the pastor ¹¹⁾instructed the children, “Which you are -- a giant, a wizard or a dwarf⁴?” At that, a small girl tugging⁵ at his pants leg, asked, “But where do the ¹²⁾mermaids⁷ stand?” And the pastor tells her there are no mermaids. And she says, “Oh yes, there are. I am a mermaid⁶.”

   Where do the mermaids stand? All of those who are different, those who do not fit the boxes and the ¹³⁾pigeonholes? “Answer that question,” wrote Fulghum, “and you can build a school, a nation, or a whole world.” As that very wise young woman said, “Diversity, like anything worth having, ¹⁴⁾requires effort. Effort to learn about and respect difference, to be ¹⁵⁾compassionate⁹ with one another, to ¹⁶⁾cherish your own ¹⁷⁾identity, and to accept ¹⁸⁾unconditionally¹⁰ the same in others.”

   You should all be very proud that this is the Wellesley spirit. You have a first class education from a first class school. And so you need not, probably cannot, live a “paint-by-numbers” life. Decisions are not ¹⁹⁾irrevocable. Choices do come back. And as you ²⁰⁾set off from Wellesley, I hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.

The first is to believe in something larger than yourself, to ²¹⁾get involved in some of the big ideas of our time. I chose ²²⁾literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that ²³⁾plague our nation and our society.

And ²⁴⁾early on I made another choice, which I hope you’ll make as well. Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you’re talking about life -- and life really must have joy. It’s supposed to be fun! Find the joy in life, because as ²⁵⁾Ferris Bueller said on his day off, “Life moves pretty fast; and if ya don’t stop and look around once in a while, ya gonna miss it!”

The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years, you’ve had impressed upon you the importance to your career, ²⁶⁾dedication¹¹ and hard work. And, of course, that’s true. But as important as your ²⁷⁾obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first. And those human connections -- with ²⁸⁾spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important ²⁹⁾investment you will ever make.

   At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more ³⁰⁾verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

For over fifty years, it was said that the winner of Wellesley’s annual hoop¹³ race would be the first to get married. Now they say, the winner will be the first to become a CEO. Both of those ³¹⁾stereotypes show too little tolerance for those who want to know where the mermaids stand. So I want to offer a new legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream -- not society’s dreams -- her own personal dream.

 

芭芭拉·皮尔斯·布什

在韦尔斯利学院毕业典礼上的演讲

 

你们知道，韦尔斯利，不仅是一处地方，还是一种理念——一种对美德的考验。在此其中，多样化的差别不光得到包容，而且还受到拥护。一个来自你们姐妹院校学生团体的主席，在去年一个关于宽容的感人演讲中，已经把握住了这种精神的实质。她谈到罗伯特·富尔冈的一个故事，说的是一个年轻牧师发现自己带着一群非常活泼好动的孩子。无意中他碰上一个叫做“巨人、巫师和矮子”的游戏。“现在你们要决定啦，”他提醒那些小朋友，“你自己是哪一种人：巨人、巫师、还是矮子？”他正说着，一个小女孩拽着他的裤腿问道：“但是美人鱼站哪呢？”那牧师就告诉她没有美人鱼。但是她说：“有啊，有的，我就是一条美人鱼。”

美人鱼站哪？那些与众不同，不适合常规定位，不适合传统类别的人又站哪？“回答那个问题吧，”富尔冈写道，“那么你就能构建一所学校，一个国家或者整个世界。”正如那个聪明绝顶的女孩子所说的，“多样性的差异，如同所有值得存在的东西那样，需要人们付出努力——努力去了解和尊重差异，互相爱护，珍惜自己的独特个性，同时无条件地接纳别人同样具有的独特品质。”

你们大家都应该以这就是韦尔斯利的精神而自豪。你们拥有来自一流学校的一流教育。所以你们不需要，很可能也不允许，过一种“依序号涂颜色”的生活。决定并非无可挽回；选择确实还可以重来。在你们离开韦尔斯利之际，我希望你们中许多人会考虑作出三个十分 特别的选择。

第一个选择是，信仰某些比你自身更为博大的东西，并参与到我们这个时代一些大的构想之中。我之所以选择了读写识字能力，是因为我真诚地相信，多一些人能读会写，会理解，会更利于我们解决诸多滋扰国家和社会的问题。

早前，我做了另一个选择——我希望你们也同样会这样选择。无论你们谈论的是教育、职业生涯还是劳务活动，你们说的都是生活——生活实在要有乐趣；生活还应该是好玩的！寻找生活的乐趣吧，因为就像费里斯·巴勒在他自己的假日里说的：“人生过得飞快，要是你不偶尔停一停，到处瞧一瞧，你就会失去它啦！”

第三个你一定不要错过的选择就是，珍惜你的人际关系——你和家人朋友之间的关系。有好几年，你只记得成就自己的事业以及积极投身工作何其重要。当然，那是对的。但是，和你作为医生、律师、商界领袖的职责一样重要的还有一样东西，那就是，你首先是人类一员。而那些人际关系——夫妻之间的，父母与孩子之间的，朋友之间的——是你作过的投资中最为重要的。

在人生结束之时，你决不会因又一次考试不及格，又输了一场官司或是又丢了一桩生意而悔恨；你会为自己没花时间与丈夫、孩子、朋友和父母在一起而后悔。你家庭的幸福，我们整个社会的幸福并不取决于白宫这所房子里发生的一切，而在于你自家房子里发生的一切。

有五十多年，人们都说每年韦尔斯利学院携圈赛跑的冠军会是最快嫁出去的人；现在他们说，冠军会最先成为执行董事。这两种版本的说法，对于那些想知道“美人鱼站哪？”的人都过于苛刻了。因此我想提出一个新的说法：携圈赛跑的冠军会是最早意识到自己梦想的人—这个梦想并非社会之梦，而是她个人独有之想。

 

注释:

1) Barbara Pierce Bush 前美国第一夫人，现任总统小布什的母亲。

2) Wellesley College 韦尔斯利学院。位于美国马萨诸塞州的著名女子文理学院，素有“没有男子的常春藤”之称，从这里走出的著名女性不胜枚举。前美国第一夫人希拉里就在这里度过了她的大学时光

3) diversity [dai5vE:siti] n. 差异，多样性

4) tolerate [5tClEreit] v. 忍受，容忍

5) embrace [im5breis] v. 拥抱，包含

6) essence [5esns] n. 本质，精髓

7) capture [5kAptFE] v. 捕捉，夺取

8) pastor [5pB:stE] n. （主管教堂的）牧师（尤指非国教派牧师）

9) energetic [7enE5dVetik] a. 精力充沛的，积极的

10) dwarf [dwC:f] n. 矮子，侏儒

11) instruct [in5strQkt] v. 教导，指示

12) mermaid [5mE:meid] n. （传说中的）美人鱼

13) pigeonhole⁸ [5pidVinhEul] n. 鸽巢，分类架

14) require [ri5kwaiE] v. 需要，要求

15) compassionate [kEm5pAFEnit] a. 有同情心的，慈悲的

16) cherish [5tFeriF] v. 珍爱，珍惜

17) identity [ai5dentiti] n. 身份，特征

18) unconditionally [5QnkEn5diFEnEli] av. 无条件地，无限制地

19) irrevocable [i5revEkEbl] a. 不能取消的，不可挽回的

20) set off 出发，动身

21) get involved in 参与

22) literacy [5litErEsi] n. 有文化，会读会写

23) plague [plei^] v. 折磨，使苦恼

24) early on 在早期，早先

25) Ferris Bueller 费里斯·巴勒，美国80年代一部电视连续剧《今天不是读书天》(Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)的导演

26) Dedication [7dedi5keiFEn] n. 奉献，献身

27) obligation [7Cbli5^eiFEn] n. 义务，职责

28) spouse¹² [spauz] n. 配偶（夫或妻）

29) investment [in5vestmEnt] n. 投资，可获利的东西

30) verdict [5vE:dikt] n. （陪审团的）裁定，定论

31) stereotype¹⁴ [5stiEriEutaip] n. 陈规，老套

 

 

1 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

4 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

5 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

6 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

7 mermaids   

n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
• This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白

8 pigeonhole   

n.鸽舍出入口；v.把...归类

参考例句：

• The pigeonhole principle is an important principle in combinatorics.鸽巢原理是组合学中一个非常重要的原理。
• I don't want to be pigeonholed as a kids' presenter.我不想被归类为儿童节目主持人。

9 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

10 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

11 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

12 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

13 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

14 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。