美国国家公共电台 NPR What Does Patriotism Mean To You?

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's Memorial Day weekend, time to reflect on the men and women who died serving in our military. For Ricardo Garcia of Lansing, Mich., that defines his idea of patriotism¹.

RICARDO GARCIA: We had a lot of people that fought for our freedom - that I recognize that the freedom we have now today is established because of the many lives that have died for us to have it.

SIMON: We went to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and asked visitors about what patriotism means to them.

KARI JAMBOR: Hi. I'm Kari Jambor, and I'm visiting from Seattle, Wash. I think about the sacrifices my family has given for our country. Being married to a pilot and, you know, having children at home when dad is overseas protecting us and defending us.

DONG VUE: My name is Dong Vue. I'm from Detroit, Mich. To me patriotism means, you know, just devoting yourself to your country, you know, protecting your rights as a citizens. My brother is actually in the Navy. So, you know, I'm very proud of him and everything.

SABRA ROSNER: My name is Sabra Rosner. I'm from Iowa. Top of mind is freedom. Freedom is absolutely No. 1 to me. Free speech is very important to me. You know, you might have to fight for them because, otherwise, they'll disintegrate².

SIMON: Voices from the National Mall.

Service, sacrifice, freedom. Reverend William Barber II, a longtime civil rights leader from North Carolina, understands those themes. His father was drafted during World War II into a U.S. Navy that was segregated³. But still, he says...

WILLIAM J. BARBER II: My father understood the threat that Hitler was to the whole world. He was willing to love this country, but it is not a love that is a blind love. It is not a love that says my country and nowhere else. It is not a love that says God bless America. It is a qualified⁴ love that loves the country enough to literally⁵ tell the truth to that country and to constantly want it to be better than it has been.

SIMON: Reverend William Barber is also co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, a revival⁶ of Martin Luther King's original campaign more than 50 years ago that focused on poverty and economic justice.

BARBER: What I do know, that I'm clear on is that the need for those who will organize, who will stand and speak truth to power in this country is a tremendously important patriotic⁷ act. And it is needed now and in some ways more than it was needed then because there are attempts to literally remove or undo⁸ what has been done. And so patriotism requires us to not only fight to hold on to the things of the past but to fight to push to the victories that we have not yet won.

SIMON: The Reverend William Barber II. And throughout today's program, we'll hear more voices about the meaning of patriotism.

1 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

2 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

3 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

4 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。