名校励志英语演讲 15:失败的额外收益和想象力的重要性

 　　However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished¹ backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk² that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

　　然而， 我的父母家境都很贫困，两个人都没上过大学，他们认为我过于丰富的想象力是令人惊讶的个人怪癖，根本不足以让我支付按揭，或者获得足够的养老金。

　　I know that the irony³ strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil⁴, now.

　　我现在明白了反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你，但......

　　So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect⁵ satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled⁷ off down the Classics corridor.

　　他们希望我取得高职学位，而我却想攻读英国文学。最后，我和父母达成了妥协，我改学现代语言。现在回想起来，当时双方都不怎么满意。于是，父母的车刚一开远，我就丢下德语，去学习古典文学。

　　I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology⁸ when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

　　我不记得告诉过父母自己在学习古典文学，他们可能是在我毕业典礼那天才知道的。我想，他们也许认为，在全世界所有专业中，不会有比研究希腊神话更没用的专业了，那甚至无法换来一间独立宽敞的卫生间。

　　I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis⁹, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering¹⁰ you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.

　　在这里我想说明一点：我不会因为父母的观点而责怪他们。不要因为父母给你的人生路指错了方向就无休止地埋怨他们。当你到了一定年龄，可以自己把握人生时，就应该自己承担责任。

　　impoverished

　　adj. 穷困的

　　eg. Money and food were sent to the impoverished drought victims.

　　给贫困的灾民送去了救济金和粮食。

　　quirk

　　n. 怪癖

　　eg. He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.

　　他很怪, 把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。

　　mortgage

　　n. 抵押

　　eg. We're paying out 300 a month on our mortgage.

　　我们每月要付300英镑抵押贷款.

　　vocational

　　adj. 职业的

　　eg. If these can be balanced, the use of a vocational school will be a bonus for his career.

　　如果这些可以得到平衡，选读职业学校就会对未来事业的发展大有裨益。

　　compromise

　　n. 妥协

　　eg.He refused to compromise his principles.

　　他对他的原则寸步不让。

　　in retrospect

　　回顾往事

　　eg. In retrospect all successful policies seem preordained.

　　追溯一切成功的政策，看来都有其预兆。

　　ditch

　　vt. 丢弃；掘沟

　　eg. The driver had to ditch the bus.

　　司机只好把公共汽车驶入沟中。

　　scuttle⁶ off

　　急促奔跑

　　eg. Several conscripts were seen to scuttle off barracks.

　　有人看见几个新兵从兵营里逃走了。

　　corridor

　　n. 走廊

　　eg. She disappeared down the corridor.

　　她消失在走廊尽头。

1 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

3 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

4 anvil   

n.铁钻

参考例句：

• The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。

5 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

6 scuttle   

v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗

参考例句：

• There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
• The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。

7 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

9 parenthesis   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲，间歇，停歇

参考例句：

• There is no space between the function name and the parenthesis.函数名与括号之间没有空格。
• In this expression,we do not need a multiplication sign or parenthesis.这个表达式中，我们不需要乘号或括号。

10 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。