公众人物毕业演讲第391期:奥巴马2012年哥伦比亚大学毕业演讲(9)

 　　And indeed it was 225 years ago today that the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia and our founders¹.

　　的确如此225年前的今天费城召开了制宪大会

　　Citizens all began crafting an extraordinary document Yes, it had its flaws.

　　我们的开国元勋 我们所有的公民开始起草一项伟大的纲领是的 该文件有缺陷

　　Flaws that this nation has strived to perfect over time Questions of race and gender² were unresolved No woman's signature graced the original document.

　　这个国家后来为了完善它而作出了努力种族和性别问题当时没有得到解决最初的文件上没有妇女的签名来为之增添光彩

　　Although we can assume that there were founding mothers whispering smarter things in the ears of the founding fathers.

　　但是我们可以想象一些开国之母在开国之父的耳旁轻声细语地指点一些高招

　　I mean, that's almost certain What made this document special was that it provided the space.

　　我是说 几乎肯定如此这份文件之所以特别是因为它为那些没有被纳入

　　The possibility for those who had been left out of our charter to fight their way in It provided people the language to appeal to principles.

　　我们的宪法的人们提供了争取权利的空间和可能性它为人民提供了借助于一些原则

　　And ideals that broadened democracy's reach It allowed for protest, and movements and the dissemination³ of new ideas that would repeatedly.

　　和理想拓展民主范围的语言它允许发起抗议和运动允许传播新思想

　　Decade after decade, change the world a constant forward movement that continues to this day.

　　一代又一代地改变着世界形成了一股永不休止的潮流一直延续到今天

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 dissemination   

传播,宣传,传染(病毒)

参考例句：

• The dissemination of error does people great harm. 谬种流传，误人不浅。
• He was fully bent upon the dissemination of Chinese culture all over the world. 他一心致力于向全世界传播中国文化。