美国国家公共电台 NPR--Poet Amanda Gorman will address a U.N. meeting on global challenges

Poet Amanda Gorman will address a U.N. meeting on global challenges

Transcript¹

World leaders will gather at the U.N. to address poverty, hunger and inequality. NPR's A Martinez talks to Amanda Gorman, who reads part of a poem she wrote for an appearance at the General Assembly.

AMART?NEZ, HOST:

Increased food insecurity, economic instability, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic could see 75 to 95 million more people living in extreme poverty this year. That's all according to the United Nations, where world leaders are gathering² this week to address poverty, hunger and inequality. Poet, activist³ and UNICEF supporter Amanda Gorman wrote a poem for an appearance at the United Nations today to help encourage more global solidarity⁴ and cooperation to tackle those challenges. She told me why these issues are so close to her heart.

AMANDA GORMAN: I was raised by a single mother who also happened to be an English teacher, and she always taught me the power of words and language. That's something I dedicate my life to paying forward to the next generation. I think literacy is not just how we become better people, but it's how we become more active members of society and of our global community because it gives each of us a voice and the capacity to understand.

MART?NEZ: What are your memories of your mom making that important in your life? I'll never forget my mom. When I was learning how to speak English, she would tell me to write down a newspaper article in English and then read it to her when she got home from work. So I'll never forget that - my mom having that instilled⁵ in me every single day. Any memories you have of your mom making literacy and just all of this so important in your life?

GORMAN: Well, I love that story of your mother. It's incredible. I think my experience was animated⁶ by the fact that, growing up, I had a speech impediment. So feeling heard in conversations and in class was incredibly difficult. And one thing my mom did was she ritualized me speaking up for myself. So if there was ever a time in school where I raised my hand or spoke⁷ up or answered a question, she encouraged me to come back home, tell her about that, and then we'd have a kind of little family celebration of that. And I think that created this ceremony of empowerment in my household.

MART?NEZ: That's not bad. Ceremony of empowerment. That's exactly what that sounded like. And you've also joined the literacy initiative Writing Change, launched by the cosmetics⁸ company Estee Lauder. How did that come together, and what do you hope to achieve with them?

GORMAN: What I love about Writing Change is it's not necessarily just about throwing dollars at the board and hoping that some literacy sticks. We're very focused on working with groups that use artistry and literacy as real instruments of social change, that use it as kind of these weapons to imagine a better future.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. And literacy is empowering, right? I mean, it's actually a literal way to describe what it is to empower someone. When they learn how to read, they're smarter. They have more knowledge, more information. So they are literally⁹ empowered into being just more powerful people.

GORMAN: We know from studies and research how important literacy is in the lives of young girls, especially those who are impoverished¹⁰ or in marginalized groups, for having better health, for having more control over their reproductive destinies. We know that populations that are more literate¹¹ tend to show up to vote a lot more often. And we know that people who are literate also better understand the processes that could lead to a more sustainable, climate-friendly future. So when we're talking about disaster, or even if we're talking about development and change, literacy and education has to be included in that.

MART?NEZ: Now, you're 24 years old, but I think, Amanda, forever, I think people will associate you with youth in accomplishing something so young. Why is it important, though, to engage young people on these kinds of issues?

GORMAN: It's funny that you say people associate me with youth because I think at the same time, I'm, like, an 80-year-old woman in a 12-year-old's body. So it's this weird¹² dichotomy I live in. It's something I hold so dearly to my heart, which is that youth are the future. And that's not a figurative, metaphorical¹³ statement. That's fact. That's literal. And I think if we look at some of the most successful movements throughout human history, whether it be the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, gender¹⁴ equality, typically, those changes wouldn't have come about without the fire and the ferocity of young people. We tend to be a lot more imaginative than our elders just because we bring, I think, the creativity and the openness that comes with being young. We have the most dire¹⁵ stakes when it comes to the future. Young people are looking at the dawn and realizing, whatever happens today and tomorrow is going to decide the rest of the fate of me and my family and my society.

MART?NEZ: So tell us now about the inspiration for the poem that you're reading at the U.N. today.

GORMAN: The poem that I'm reading at the U.N. is called "An Ode We Owe." And when the United Nations approached me, I was so excited to do it as a supporter of UNICEF because I really wanted to write a poem that focused around this idea of children and young people being such pivotal changemakers, as well as painting a picture that puts inequality, youth empowerment, sustainability all in conversation with each other. That is to say, in order to fight climate change, we have to fight poverty. We have to fight hunger. We have to fight the prejudicial isms of the world. And if we do it together, then it can absolutely be done.

MART?NEZ: Today's U.N. event, dubbed¹⁶ the SDG Moment, also is going to have performances by the K-pop band Blackpink and singer-songwriter Judith Hill. And now you're going to present us an excerpt¹⁷ from the poem that you've written for today.

GORMAN: Yep. OK. I'm going to take a sip¹⁸ of tea before I do, though.

MART?NEZ: Sure, sure. Take a sip of tea, and we'll spill the tea.

GORMAN: (Reading) We must go the distance, though this battle is hard and huge, though this fight we did not choose. For preserving the Earth isn't a battle too large to win but a blessing¹⁹ too large to lose. That is the most pressing truth. Our people have only one planet, and our planet has only one people. We can either divide and be conquered by the few, or we can decide to conquer the future and say that today - a new dawn we wrote - say that as long as we have humanity, we will always have hope.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MART?NEZ: That's Amanda Gorman with an excerpt from her poem "An Ode We Owe." Amanda, thank you.

GORMAN: Thank you so much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

5 instilled   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nature has instilled in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth. 自然给我们心灵注入了永无休止的发现真理的欲望。 来自辞典例句
• I instilled the need for kindness into my children. 我不断向孩子们灌输仁慈的必要。 来自辞典例句

6 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

7 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。

8 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

9 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。

10 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》

11 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

14 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

15 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

16 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

18 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

19 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。