公众人物毕业演讲第34期:比尔盖茨夫妇于斯坦福大学(15)

 　　Optimism, for me,

　　乐观在我看来

　　is not a passive expectation that things are going to get better.

　　并不是一种认为未来会变好的被动期望

　　For me, it's a conviction and a belief that we can make things better.

　　而是一种信念 相信我们能用自己的双手让未来变得更好

　　So no matter how much suffering we see, no matter how bad it is,

　　无论我们遭受了多少苦难 无论境况有多糟糕

　　we can help people if we don't lose hope and if we don't look away.

　　只要不丧失希望 不假装没看见 我们就能帮助这些人

　　Melinda and I have described some devastating¹ scenes,

　　我和梅琳达都讲述了灾难性的情景

　　but we want to make the strongest case we can for the power of optimism.

　　但我们愿意以最好的期许 相信乐观的力量

　　Even in dire² situations,

　　越是在极端恶劣的情形下

　　optimism fuels innovation

　　乐观越能激发出创新

　　and leads to new approaches that eliminate suffering.

　　为消除苦难找出新的方法

　　But if you never really see the people who are suffering,

　　但如果你没亲眼见过遭受苦难的人们

　　your optimism can't help them.

　　你的乐观将帮不到他们

　　You will never change their world.

　　你也永远无法改变他们的世界

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。