公众人物毕业演讲第399期:奥巴马2012年哥伦比亚大学毕业演讲(17)

 　　Some of those communities are still very poor There are still a lot of gangs¹ out there But I believe that it was those small victories.

　　这些社区中有一些仍然很贫穷那里仍然有很多的帮派出没但我相信 就是这些小小的胜利

　　That helped me win the bigger victories of my last three and a half years as President And I wish I could say that this perseverance².

　　帮助我在这三年半里作为总统赢得了更大的胜利我希望我能说这种执着

　　Came from some innate³ toughness in me But the truth is, it was learned⁴ I got it from watching the people who raised me.

　　源于我与生俱来的某种毅力但事实是 这是后天学到的我是从养育我的人身上学到的

　　More specifically⁵ I got it from watching the women who shaped my life I grew up as the son of a single mom.

　　更具体地说我是从影响了我的生活的那些女性身上学到的我是一个单身母亲的儿子

　　Who struggled to put herself through school and make ends meet She had marriages that fell apart.

　　她含辛茹苦在努力维持家庭生计的同时完成学业她有过破碎的婚姻

　　Even went on food stamps at one point to help us get by But she didn't quit And she earned her degree.

　　甚至一度靠领取食品劵勉强养家度日但她没有放弃她获得了学位

　　And made sure that through scholarships and hard work my sister and I earned ours She used to wake me up when we were living overseas.

　　并确保我和我妹妹能依靠奖学金和辛勤努力来获得我们的学位当我们在海外生活时 她常常叫我起床

　　Wake me up before dawn to study my English lessons And when I'd complain.

　　天不亮就起床学习英语课程当我抱怨时

　　She'd just look at me and say This is no picnic for me either, buster And my mom ended up dedicating⁶ herself.

　　她就会看着我说小子 这对我也并不轻松我的母亲最终完全投入到

　　To helping⁷ women around the world access the money they needed to start their own businesses she was an early pioneer in microfinance.

　　帮助世界各地妇女获得创业所需资金的工作中她是微型信贷的一个先驱

　　And that meant, though, that she was gone a lot and she had her own struggles trying to figure out balancing motherhood and a career.

　　但这意味着她经常不在家而且她有着自身的挣扎要努力在做母亲和发展事业之间找到平衡

1 gangs   

n.（罪犯有组织的）一帮( gang的名词复数 )；一伙；（闹事青少年的）一群；（工人有组织的）一队

参考例句：

• Gangs of youths went on the rampage in the city yesterday. 成群结伙的年轻人昨天在城里横冲直撞。
• a vicious turf war between rival gangs of drug dealers 对立贩毒团伙之间的猛烈火并

2 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

3 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。

6 dedicating   

v.奉献( dedicate的现在分词 )；（为表示感情或敬意将著作、乐曲、艺术作品等）题献给（某人、某事业等）(to)；（在书、音乐或作品的前部）题献辞；以…供奉

参考例句：

• With confidence, you will find pleasure in serious dedicating life. 有了信心，你就会在严肃的献身生活中找到乐趣。 来自互联网
• The Beauty Queen spends her time dedicating parks and bursing homes. 她为自己的事业贡献了毕生的精力。 来自互联网

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。