公众人物毕业演讲第397期:奥巴马2012年哥伦比亚大学毕业演讲(15)

 　　But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world I knew I wanted to make a difference.

　　但正是在这里我试图寻找我在这个世界上的立足之地我知道我想有所作为

　　But it was vague how in fact I'd go about it But I wanted to do my part to do my part to shape a better world So even as I worked after graduation.

　　但却不清楚如何去做可我想尽自己的力量去建设一个更美好的世界因此 即使当我毕业后在纽约从事几份

　　In a few unfulfilling jobs here in New York I will not list them all even as I went from motley apartment.

　　没有成就感的工作的时候我不会一 一列举即使在我搬出一间杂乱的公寓

　　To motley apartment I reached out I started to write letters to community organizations.

　　又搬到另一间同样杂乱的公寓的时候我也在努力求索我开始给全国各地的

　　All across the country And one day a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago answered.

　　社区组织写信有一天芝加哥南区的一个小型教会组织回了信

　　Offering me work with people in neighborhoods hit hard by steel mills that were shutting down and communities where jobs were dying away.

　　给了我一份为当地居民服务的工作他们那里的钢厂停业使他们受到沉重打击那里的就业机会也一天天消失

　　The community had been plagued by gang violence so once I arrived one of the first things we tried to do was to.

　　当地社区一直被帮派暴力所扰所以我一到那里我们争取做的第一件事情就是

　　Mobilize¹ a meeting with community leaders to deal with gangs And I'd worked for weeks on this project We invited the police; we made phone calls.

　　与社区领袖开会商量应对帮派的对策我为这项工作忙了好几个星期我们邀请了警察 我们打了电话

　　We went to churches; we passed out flyers The night of the meeting we arranged rows and rows of chairs in anticipation² of this crowd.

　　我们去了教堂 我们散发了传单要开会的那天晚上 我们排好了一排排椅子以为会有一大群人到会

　　And we waited, and we waited And finally, a group of older folks walked in to the hall and they sat down.

　　我们等啊等最后 一群老人走进大厅然后坐下来

1 mobilize   

vt.动员，调动，鼓动起；vi.动员起来

参考例句：

• The troops received orders to mobilize.部队接到动员令。
• He is trying to mobilize all the supporters.他正在竭力把所有的支持者动员起来。

2 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。