名人励志英语演讲 第120期:致戴安娜(4)

 　　These were days I will always treasure. It was as if we had been transported back to our childhood when we spent such an enormous amount of time together the two youngest in the family. Fundamentally she had not changed at all from the big sister who mothered me as a baby, fought with me at school and endured those long train journeys between our parents' homes with me at weekends. It is a tribute to her level-headedness and strength that despite the most bizarre-like life imaginable after her childhood, she remained intact, true to herself.

　　这些日子我会永远珍惜，我现在好像又回到了从前，我俩一起生活很多年的日子，我和她是家里最小的两个孩子。她基本上同小时候我心目中的姐姐一样，待我像母亲对待婴孩般慈爱。在学校里和我一起打架，忍受周末与我一同度过往返双亲各自家中的漫长的火车旅行。在童年以后，即便身处复杂奇怪的环境，她总保持完整和自己的真实，这要归功于她冷静的头脑和内心的力量。

　　There is no doubt that she was looking for a new direction in her life at this time. She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hands of the newspapers. I don't think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered² at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling.

　　毫无疑问，她一直在找寻一个新生活方向。她不时说起要离开英国，主要是受不了报纸对她的围攻。我想她始终不明白为什么她的真诚善意会被传媒扭曲嘲弄，为什么周围总有一股永远要把她拉倒的代表传媒的势力，这些确实令人难以理解。

　　My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum³. It is a point to remember that of all the ironies⁴ about Diana, perhaps the greatest is this: a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age. She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys Williams and Harry⁵ from a similar fate and I do this here, Diana, on your behalf. We will not allow them to suffer the anguish⁶ that used regularly to drive you to tearful depair.

　　我自己唯一的解释，就是真正的善与美对那些位于道德光谱另一端的人来说，是一种威胁。但是，在一切有关戴安娜的嘲讽中，也许最大的讽刺是：一个女孩子，她的名字是古代狩猎女神（Diana），自己最后却成为现代社会最受围剿的一个人。她想要我们今天誓言保护她钟爱的孩子威廉和哈里，免遭相同的命运。戴安娜，我在这里代表你起拆誓，我们决不会让他们遭受那种常常把你逼到绝望落泪的苦难。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. get away

　　离开；脱身；

　　eg. She'd gladly have gone anywhere to get away from the cottage.

　　只要能离开那个小屋，去哪儿她都乐意。

　　eg. I wanted a divorce. I wanted to get away.

　　我想离婚，以求解脱。

　　2. bring down

　　使垮台；射落；击落；击倒；

　　eg. They were threatening to bring down the government by withdrawing from the ruling coalition⁷.

　　他们威胁要退出执政联盟，让政府垮台。

　　eg. Military historians may never know what brought down the jet.

　　军事史学家们可能永远也不会知道是什么击落了这架喷气式飞机。

　　3. sneer¹ at

　　讥笑；嘲笑；讥讽；

　　eg. There is too great a readiness to sneer at anything the Opposition⁸ does.

　　对反对党的任何举动都想加以嘲笑的心理过于急切了。

　　eg. If you go to a club and you don't look right, you're sneered at.

　　如果你去夜总会却穿得不合时宜，人家会笑你的。

　　4. pledge oneself to do sth.

　　使保证，使许诺，使发誓（遵循或支持）；

　　eg. The President pledged himself to increase taxes for the rich but not the middle classes.

　　总统保证增加对富人而非中产阶级的税收。

　　eg. Tony Cottee has pledged himself to Everton Football Club for another three years...

　　托尼·科蒂已答应同埃弗顿足球俱乐部再续约3年。

　　5. on behalf of/on sb.'s behalf

　　代表；为（某人）；替（某人）；

　　eg. She made an emotional public appeal on her son's behalf.

　　她代表儿子动情地发出了公开呼吁。

　　eg. Secret Service officer Robin⁹ Thompson spoke¹⁰ on behalf of his colleagues.

　　特工处官员罗宾·汤普森代表他的同僚发表了讲话。

　　eg. 'What do you mean?' I asked, offended on Liddie's behalf.

　　“你什么意思啊？”我问，替利迪感到愤愤不平。

　　名人简介：

　　查尔斯·斯宾塞伯爵，男，1965年出生，是戴安娜王妃唯一的弟弟，是英女王伊丽莎白二世的教子。他在戴安娜的葬礼上的讲话被“卫报”评为20世纪14位最佳主题之一。

　　1992年，父亲斯宾塞伯爵八世去世，他继承爵位成为斯宾塞九世，同时也继承了家族的遗产。英国媒体披露，斯宾塞伯爵的财产高达1亿英镑。

　　他最为人所知的是1997年在戴妃葬礼上的感人悼词。他是作家及广播员，还担任NBC的通讯记者。

1 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

2 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

3 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

4 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。