名校励志英语演讲 27:如何解决这个世界上最严重的不平等?

 　　From that moment, I worked day and night on that extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable¹ journey with Microsoft.

　　从那一刻起，我日以继夜地致力于这个课外项目，这标志着我大学教育的结束，也标志着通往微软公司的非凡的旅程的开始。

　　What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating², sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege—and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.

　　我对哈佛的回忆全都与充沛的精力和丰富的智力活动有关。哈佛的生活令人振奋，也令人生畏，有时甚至会让人感到泄气，但永远充满了挑战性。生活在哈佛是一种吸引人的特殊待遇……虽然我离开得比较早，但是我在这里生活学习的岁月，在这里结识的朋友，在这里发展起来的一些想法，改变了我。

　　But taking a serious look back…I do have one big regret.

　　但是，如果现在认真回顾一下，我确实有一个很大的遗憾。

　　I left Harvard with no real awareness³ of the awful inequities in the world—the appalling⁴ disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn⁵ millions of people to lives of despair.

　　我离开哈佛的时候，根本没有意识到这个世界是多么的不平等。人类在健康、财富和机遇上的差距令人震惊，这使得数百万人们被迫生活在绝望之中。

　　I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.

　　我在哈佛学到了很多经济学和政治学方面的新思想。我也了解了很多科学上的新进展。

　　But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries—but in how those discoveries are applied⁶ to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity—reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

　　但是，人类最大的进步并不在于这些发现，而在于如何用这些发现来减少人类不平等现象。无论通过民主制度、健全的公共教育体系、高质量的医疗保健、还是通过广泛的经济机会，减少不平等才是人类最大的成就。

　　in the midst of

　　在......之中

　　eg.The knight⁷ felt no fear in the midst of battle.

　　那武士在战斗中毫不感到惧怕。

　　intelligence

　　n. 智力

　　eg. Intelligence was her main asset.

　　智力是她的主要财富。

　　exhilarating

　　adj. 令人振奋的

　　eg. Our first parachute jump was an exhilarating experience.

　　我们第一次跳伞感到兴奋莫名。

　　intimidating

　　adj. 吓人的

　　eg. We may find prayer intimidating for some of the same reasons.

　　我们可能还会因为一些类似的原因而惧怕祈祷。

　　privilege

　　n. 特权；优待

　　eg. You have earned this privilege.

　　你获得者这项特权。

　　appalling

　　adj. 可怕的；令人震惊的

　　eg. The aggressors committed appalling atrocities⁸.

　　侵略者犯下了骇人听闻的暴行。

　　disparity

　　n. 差异

　　eg. The disparity of age made it even grotesque⁹.

　　年龄的悬殊甚至使它显得可笑。

　　condemn

　　vt. 使处于......境地

　　eg. The United Nations is expected to strongly condemn such action.

　　人们期望联合国强烈谴责这种行为。

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

5 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

8 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。