VOA常速英语2017--美国独立日

The United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776 to secure for all Americans their unalienable rights. These rights include, but are not limited to, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

1776年，美国脱离英国获得独立，为所有美国人确保了不可剥夺的权利，包括但不限于“生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利”。

Thomas Jefferson, chief author of the Declaration of Independence, by using the word "unalienable," claimed two things about our human rights. First, these rights are not given to us by the government. We have them even if the government does not respect them. Second, we cannot cede¹ these rights to the government even by our own consent. They cannot be taken away from us, and we cannot give them away.

托马斯 杰斐逊是《独立宣言》的主要起草人。当初使用“不可剥夺”这个词是想申明关于人权的两件事情。其一，人权并非政府所授。所以，我们的人权并不因政府是否尊重而转移。其二，即便有人同意，我们也不能在政府面前放弃人权。人权既不能从我们手里被剥夺走，也不能由我们拱手相让。

Mr. Jefferson was careful to define our rights in this way because this definition justified² a declaration of independence from Great Britain. Revolt, he argued, was lawful³ only if, after a long train of abuses and usurpations, a government continued to refuse to respect and secure the rights of its citizens.

杰斐逊对人权下这样的定义是经过深思熟虑的，因为这样定义的人权赋予美国人脱离英国、宣告自由的合理性。杰斐逊曾表示，反抗在有些情况下是合理的，比如，在经年累月的践踏人权与强取豪夺后，政府依然拒绝尊重和保障公民的权利。

The Revolution was a last resort to Americans. They had to provide new Guards for their future security because of a government that not only exercised despotic power, but also evinced a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism.

革命是美国人的无奈之举。毕竟他们不得不为自己未来的安全提供新的保障，毕竟他们的政府不仅暴虐无度，还通过绝对专制的统治方式来欺压人民。

The 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence did not take their duty lightly. They risked being charged with treason against the British government but recognized it to be necessary. Benjamin Franklin, the eldest⁴ signer of the Declaration, said, We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we will hang separately. They were willing to risk their lives to preserve their unalienable rights. Only united could they succeed.

这56名代表签订这份《人权宣言》的同时也扛起了不轻的责任。他们可能会面临反对英国政府的叛国罪，但他们认为值得。本杰明 富兰克林是所有签署者中最年长的一位，她表示，我们确实需要团结在一起，否则我们就会一个一个惨死。这些签署者都愿意冒着生命危险来捍卫这不可剥夺的权利。只有团结起来，他们才会成功。

On this Fourth of July, we Americans celebrate our independence, and the heroism⁵ of the men and women who risked, and gave, their lives to secure our unalienable rights. We recognize that these rights are not unique to Americans, indeed, they belong to every human being. Thus on Independence Day, we celebrate not only our independence and our rights, but also the rights of all peoples throughout the world.

7月4日，所有美国人庆祝美国的独立日，也缅怀那些曾冒着生命危险甚至牺牲生命来保障我们不可剥夺权利的英雄。今天，我们认识到，人权并非美国人专有，而是属于每一个人。因此，在独立日的这一天，我们不仅庆祝自己的独立和权利，也为全球所有人的权利高歌。

1 cede   

v.割让，放弃

参考例句：

• The debater refused to cede the point to her opponent.辩论者拒绝向她的对手放弃其主张。
• Not because I'm proud.In fact,in front of you I cede all my pride.这不是因为骄傲，事实上我在你面前毫无骄傲可言。

2 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

3 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

4 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

5 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。