公众人物毕业演讲第400期:奥巴马2012年哥伦比亚大学毕业演讲(18)

 　　And when she was gone my grandmother stepped up to take care of me She only had a high school education.

　　她不在家时我的外祖母承担起照顾我的责任她仅受过高中教育

　　She got a job at a local bank She hit the glass ceiling and watched men she once trained.

　　她在当地银行找到一份工作她遇到了事业上的瓶颈眼看着她曾经培训过的男人

　　Promoted up the ladder ahead of her But she didn't quit Rather than grow hard or angry each time she got passed over.

　　晋升到比她更高的级别但她没有退却她没有因一次次机会旁落而变得冷漠或愤怒

　　She kept doing her job as best as she knew how and ultimately¹ ended up being vice² president at the bank She didn't quit.

　　而是继续尽自己最大努力做好工作最终她成为银行的副总裁她没有退却

　　And later on, I met a woman who was assigned to advise me on my first summer job at a law firm.

　　后来 我遇到一位女性 她被派来担任我在一家律师事务所从事的第一份暑期工作的指导

　　And she gave me such good advice that I married her And Michelle and I gave everything we had to balance our careers and a young family.

　　她对我的指导如此之好 以致于我娶了她米歇尔和我竭尽全力在发展事业与照顾幼小的孩子之间找到平衡

　　But let's face it no matter how enlightened³ I must have thought myself to be it often fell more on her shoulders.

　　但是说实话不管我当时可能认为自己是多么开明在我外出旅行时 在我不在家时

　　When I was traveling, when I was away I know that when she was with our girls she'd feel guilty that she wasn't giving enough time to her work.

　　家事往往更多地落在她的肩上我知道 在照顾我们的两个女儿时她为没有在工作上付出足够时间感到内疚

　　And when she was at her work she'd feel guilty she wasn't giving enough time to our girls And both of us wished we had some superpower.

　　而当她上班时又为没有给孩子足够的时间感到内疚我们俩都唯愿我们有某种超人的能力

　　That would let us be in two places at once But we persisted⁴ We made that marriage work.

　　使我们能够两者兼顾但我们坚持住了我们的努力保证了婚姻的成功

　　And the reason Michelle had the strength to juggle⁵ everything and put up with me and eventually the public spotlight⁶ was because she, too, came from.

　　米歇尔之所以能够坚强地招架一切并忍受我 而且最终忍受公众聚光是因为她同样来自

1 ultimately   

adv.最后地，最终地，首要地，基本地

参考例句：

• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience.那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。
• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 enlightened   

a.开明的，有知识的

参考例句：

• The teacher's words made me at once become enlightened. 老师的一席话使我顿开茅塞。
• What she said enlightened all of us. 她一讲，大家心里都亮堂了。

4 persisted   

坚持( persist的过去式和过去分词 )； 维持； 保持； 持续存在

参考例句：

• They persisted in going there in spite of the bad weather. 尽管天气很坏，他们还是坚持去那里。
• She persisted that she was strong enough to go back to work. 她反复地说她身体已经好了，可以去上班了。

5 juggle   

v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招

参考例句：

• If you juggle with your accounts,you'll get into trouble.你要是在帐目上做手脚，你可要遇到麻烦了。
• She had to juggle her job and her children.她得同时兼顾工作和孩子。

6 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。