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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
So here’s my final story:
以下是我要说的最后一个故事:
On a day like today,
就像今天的某一日,
you might feel exhilarated—like you’ve just been shot out of a cannon1 at the circus—and even invincible2.
你们可能感到欣喜若狂,就像你刚从马戏团的大炮口被射了出来——甚至更加所向无敌。
Don’t ever forget that incredible feeling.
绝不要忘了那种难以名状的美妙感觉。
But also: always remember that the moments we have with friends and family,
但同时,也要永远记住和亲朋好友相聚的时刻,
the chances we have to do things that might make a big difference in the world,
记住我们得做些可能会为世界带来巨变的事情的机会,
or even to make a small difference to the ones we love—
或者只是为你所爱的人带来小变化的机会——
all those wonderful chances that life gives us, life also takes away.
所有生活给予我们美好机会,也能将它们带走。
It can happen fast, and a whole lot sooner than you think.
世事瞬息万,比你设想的要快得多。
In late March 1996,
1996年3月下旬,
soon after I had moved to Stanford for grad school,
就在我到斯坦福上研究生院不久,
my Dad had difficulty breathing and drove to the hospital.
我爸爸呼吸出现困难,被送到医院。
Two months later, he died.
两个月后,他去世了。
I was completely devastated3.
我当时几近崩溃了。
Many years later, after a startup, after falling in love, and after so many of life’s adventures,
许多年以后,在我重新振作后,在我谈恋爱后,在我体验了如此多的人生经历后,
I found myself thinking about my Dad.
我发现自己总是想起我的爸爸。
Lucy and I were far away in a steaming hot village walking through narrow streets.
一次,露西和我在一个偏远酷热的村庄散步,走在狭窄的街道上。
There were wonderful friendly people everywhere,
那里的村民都热情好客,
but it was a desperately4 poor place —
但那是一个一贫如洗的地方——
people used the bathroom inside and it flowed out into the open gutter5 and straight into the river.
人们在室内上完厕所后,粪便顺着露天的水沟,径直流进河里。
我们还认识了一个由于患小儿麻痹症导致腿瘸的小男孩。
Lucy and I were in rural India — one of the few places where Polio still exists.
这些是我和露西在印度农村的亲眼所见——那里至今仍是少数几个存在小儿麻痹症的地方之一。
小儿麻痹症是通过排泄物,通常是脏水传播到口腔。
Well, my Dad had Polio.
嗯,我父亲也患有小儿麻痹症。
He went on a trip to Tennessee in the first grade and he caught it.
他是在读一年级的时候,在去田纳西州旅行时染上的。
He was hospitalized for two months and had to be transported by military DC-3 back home — his first flight
住院两个月后,医生用军用DC-3飞机把他送回家,这也是父亲第一次乘坐飞机。
My Dad wrote, “Then I had to stay in bed for over a year, before I started back to school”.
父亲曾这样回忆道:“在我重返学校之前,不得不卧床一年多。”
That is actually a quote from his fifth grade autobiography8.
这是他小学五年级的日记中写的一段话。
My Dad had difficulty breathing his whole life,
父亲生前在呼吸上一直有问题,
and the complications of Polio are what took him from us too soon.
这其实就是小儿麻痹的并发症,这种并发症让父亲早早地离开了我们。
如果他知道即使有疫苗,小儿麻痹症仍然存在,他会非常苦恼。
He would have been equally upset that back in India we had polio virus on our shoes from walking through the contaminated gutters10 that spread the disease.
如果他知道在回到印度时,我们的鞋因为行走过那些传播这种疾病的水沟而沾染了病毒,他同样也会苦恼不已。
We were spreading the virus with every footstep, right under beautiful kids playing everywhere.
我们又通过走路将病毒传播出去,就在可爱的孩子们玩耍的地方。
全世界在预防小儿麻痹症方面已取得了显著成效,到目前为止,今年仅有328名患者。
Let’s get it evadicated soon.
让我们尽快消灭它吧。
Perhaps one of you will do that.
也许你们中有人可以做到。
点击收听单词发音
1 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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2 invincible | |
adj.不可征服的,难以制服的 | |
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3 devastated | |
v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词);摧毁;毁灭;在感情上(精神上、财务上等)压垮adj.毁坏的;极为震惊的 | |
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4 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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5 gutter | |
n.沟,街沟,水槽,檐槽,贫民窟 | |
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6 paralysis | |
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症) | |
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7 filthy | |
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的 | |
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8 autobiography | |
n.自传 | |
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9 vaccine | |
n.牛痘苗,疫苗;adj.牛痘的,疫苗的 | |
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10 gutters | |
(路边)排水沟( gutter的名词复数 ); 阴沟; (屋顶的)天沟; 贫贱的境地 | |
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11 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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