TED演讲:曝光政府腐败的战斗(1)

 　　Once upon a time, the world was a big, dysfunctional family. 很久以前，世界是个很大却不和谐的大家庭。

　　It was run by the great and powerful parents, and the people were helpless and hopeless naughty children. 这个家庭被“伟大的”、“强大的”家长们主宰着，人们却像是淘气的孩子一样无望、无助。

　　If any of the more rowdier children questioned the authority of the parents, they were scolded. 如果吵闹的孩子们怀疑了家长的权威，他们就会被责骂。

　　If they went exploring into the parents' rooms, or even into the secret filing cabinets, 如果孩子们进去探索家长的房间或是悄悄溜进家长的秘密档案柜，

　　they were punished, and told that for their own good they must never go in there again. 他们就会被狠狠地惩罚，家长会告诉他们，为了孩子自己，以后再也不要去家长秘密的房间了。

　　Then one day, a man came to town with boxes and boxes of secret documents stolen from the parents' rooms. 有一天，一个人来到了这个小镇，带着一箱一箱的从家长那里偷来的秘密文件。

　　"Look what they've been hiding from you," he said. 他说，“看看家长们在背后藏了什么”。

　　The children looked and were amazed. 孩子们看了，并且很吃惊。

　　There were maps and minutes from meetings where the parents were slagging¹ each other off. 这些是从会议里得出的绘图和备忘录，而在会议里家长们互相指责对方。

　　They behaved just like the children. And they made mistakes, too, just like the children. 他们的行为简直就像小孩一样。不但这样，他们也会像孩子一样犯错。

　　The only difference was, their mistakes were in the secret filing cabinets. 唯一的不同就是，他们的错误被藏在秘密的档案阁里。

　　Well, there was a girl in the town, and she didn't think they should be in the secret filing cabinets, 镇里有个小女孩，她并不觉得家长的秘密应该被藏在秘密的档案阁里，

　　or if they were, there ought to be a law to allow the children access. And so she set about to make it so. 即使藏在那里，也必须有法规允许孩子们知道内容。于是，她开始着手实现这个想法。

1 slagging   

v.造渣；（使）成渣（状）( slag的现在分词 )；诋毁；贬损；辱骂

参考例句：

• He's always slagging his brother off. 他老损他的弟弟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mark's always slagging off his friends behind their backs. 马克老是在背后诋毁他的朋友。 来自辞典例句