公众人物毕业演讲 第229期:威廉麦克雷文2014德州大学演讲(2)

 　　But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people但是 如果你们每个人能够改变十个人的命运

　　and each one of those people changed the lives of another ten people然后这十个人中的每一个再改变另外十个人的命运and another ten

　　依此类推

　　then in five generations, 125 years

　　那么五代人后 125年以后

　　the class of 2014

　　作为2014届毕业生

　　will have changed the lives of 800 million people你们将总共能改变八亿人的命运

　　800 million people

　　八亿人

　　think about it over twice the population of the United States想想 这超过了美国人口的两倍

　　Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world再往前一代 你们将能够改变全世界所有人的命运8 billion people

　　八十亿人

　　If you think it's hard to change the lives of ten people不要认为自己没能力改变十个人的命运

　　change their lives forever you're wrong

　　这种想法绝对是错误的

　　I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan我在伊拉克和阿富汗每天都在碰到这样的例子

　　A young Army officer makes a decision to go left一位年轻的军官决定往左走

　　instead of right down a road in Baghdad

　　而不是朝巴格达的道路直走

　　and the ten soldiers with his are saved from close-in ambush¹十位战士就因此免受了敌人的伏击

　　In Kandahar province, Afghanistan

　　在阿富汗坎大哈省

　　a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement² Team senses something isn't right来自女性战斗小队的一位士官察觉到了异常

　　and directs the infantry³ platoon away from a 500 pound IED指挥步兵小组远离了一颗500磅的IED炸弹

　　saving the lives of a dozen soldiers

　　这就挽救了十多位士兵的生命

　　But, if you think about it

　　想想这些

　　not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person一个人的决策并不是只挽救了这些士兵的生命

　　but their children were saved and their children's children他们的子女也会由此得救 还有他们子女的子女Generations were saved by one decision of one person一个人的一个决定 就挽救了数代人

　　But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it任何人 在任何地方 都可以改变世界

　　So, what starts here can indeed change the world从这里开始 我们确实能够改变世界

　　but the question is, what will the world look like after you change it?

　　不过问题是 世界被改变后 会变成怎样

 

1 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

2 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

3 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。