公众人物毕业演讲第18期:迈克尔·彭博哈佛大学2014毕业典礼演讲(10)

 　　Let's get serious

　　让我们严肃一些

　　When 86 Americans are killed with guns every single day

　　每天都有86位美国人死于枪杀

　　and shootings regularly occur at our schools and universities

　　枪击事件也经常发生在校园中

　　including last week's tragedy at Santa Barbara

　　包括上周发生在圣巴巴拉的悲剧

　　it would be almost medical malpractice to say anything else

　　但除此之外 再说什么估计都会被认为是医疗失当

　　But in politics as it is on far too many college campuses

　　在政治上 也同很多大学校园中发生的一样

　　people don't listen to facts that run counter to their ideology¹

　　人们不愿意听到同自己意识形态想抵触的事实

　　They fear them

　　他们害怕它们

　　And nothing is more frightening to them than scientific evidence

　　而且没有什么比科学证据更让他们害怕的了

　　Earlier this year

　　今年早些时候

　　the State of South Carolina adopted new science standards for its public schools

　　南卡罗来纳州对公立学校采用了新标准

　　but the state legislature blocked any mention of natural selection²

　　州议会竟然禁止人们提到自然选择

　　That's like teaching economics³ without mentioning supply and demand

　　这就像是教经济学 却不讲供需

　　Once again, you have to ask: What are they afraid of?

　　还是需要问那个问题 他们害怕什么

　　The answer, of course, is obvious

　　答案很显然

　　Just as members of Congress fear data that undermines their ideological beliefs

　　同国会议员害怕数据破坏他们的意识形态一样

　　these state legislators fear scientific evidence

　　这些州议会议员害怕科学证据

　　that undermines their religious beliefs

　　破坏他们的宗教信念

　　And if you want proof of that, consider this

　　想要证据的人可以考虑这个

　　An 8-year-old girl in South Carolina

　　南卡罗来纳的一位八岁女孩

　　wrote to members of the state legislature

　　给州议会议员们写了一封信

　　urging them to make the woolly mammoth the official state fossil

　　请他们将猛犸象定为官方州化石

　　The legislators thought it was a great idea

　　州议员们认为这个主意很好

　　because a woolly mammoth fossil was found in the state way back in 1725

　　因为猛犸象化石早在1725年就发现于州里

　　But the state senate passed a bill defining the woolly mammoth as having been

　　然后州参议院通过的法案中却将猛犸象定义为

　　"created on the 6th day with the beasts of the field"

　　"创造于陆生动物创生的第六天"

　　You can't make this stuff up

　　这些东西不能胡编乱造

　　Here in 21st century America

　　在二十一世纪的美国

　　the wall between church and state remains under attack

　　教会和国家之间的壁垒仍在受到攻击

　　and it's up to all of us to man the barricades

　　这就需要我们来维持两者的分离

　　Unfortunately

　　很不幸的是

　　Unfortunately

　　很不幸的是

　　the same elected officials who put ideology and religion over data and science

　　将意识形态和宗教观念强加到枪支和进化论的

　　when it comes to guns and evolution are

　　这些民选官员大多也正是

　　often the most unwilling to accept the scientific data on climate change

　　不愿承认气候变化科学证据的那些人

1 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

2 selection   

n.选择，挑选，精选品，可选择的东西

参考例句：

• We left the selection of the team to the captain.我们把挑选队员的工作交给了队长。
• The shop has a fine selection of cheeses.那家商店有各种精美乳酪可供选购。

3 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。