名校励志英语演讲 136:敢于竞争 勇于关爱(3)

 　　I was there because of Billy Jean King promoting¹ an HBO special about women in sports called “Dare² to compete.” It was about Title IX and how we finally, thanks to government action, provided³ opportunities to girls and women in sports.

　　我去那儿是因为比利·琼·金要在家庭影院频道宣传一个名为“敢于竞争”的体育节目。这个节目旨在宣传“第九项体育运动”，宣扬在政府的帮助下女性最终获得了参加体育比赛的机会。

　　And although I played not very well at intramural sports, I have always been a strong supporter⁴ of women in sports. And I was introduced by this young woman, and as I went to shake her hand she obviously⁵ had been reading the newspapers about people saying I should or shouldn’t run for the Senate⁶. And I was congratulating her on the speech she had just made and she held onto my hand and she said, “Dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton. Dare to compete.”

　　尽管在学校时我并不擅长体育运动，但我非常支持女性参加体育运动。经别人的介绍，我认识了这位年轻女士。我前去跟她握手，而她显然已经在报纸上看到了有关人们讨论我该不该参加竞选的报道。我在对她刚刚的成功演讲表示祝贺时，她紧紧握住我的手，对我说，“要敢于竞争，克林顿夫人。要敢于竞争。”

　　I took that to heart because it is hard to compete sometimes, especially in public ways, when your failures are there for everyone to see and you don’t know what is going to happen from one day to the next. And yet so much of life, whether we like to accept it or not, is competing with ourselves to be the best we can be, being involved in classes or professions or just life, where we know we are competing with others.

　　我牢牢记住了她的话，因为有时候竞争真的很残酷，特别是通过公开方式进行竞争，因为在那种情况下你的失败人人可见，而且你不知道接下来的一天天会发生什么。然而，这就是生活，不管我们愿意接受与否，我们总是在不断挑战自我，力争做到最好。无论是在学校还是在职场甚至是在生活中，我们也都在和别人竞争。

　　I took her advice and I did compete because I chose to do so. And the biggest choices that you’ll face in your life will be yours alone to make.

　　我采纳了她的建议，参加了竞选，因为我已经做出了这样的决定。最重要的选择必须由自己来抉择。

　　名人简介

　　希拉里1947年10月26日生于伊利诺伊州的芝加哥。1965年，希拉里进入马萨诸塞州韦尔利斯利学院主修政治学。1969年，她又就读于耶鲁大学法学院，1973年获法学博士学位，求学期间，她结实了后来成为美国总统的比尔·克林顿。

　　希拉里1975年10月与克林顿结婚后，进入美国著名的罗斯律师事务所工作，并曾两次当选全美百名杰出律师。

1 promoting   

促进( promote的现在分词 )； 提升； 推销； 使 （学生）升级

参考例句：

• The company are promoting their new products on television. 这家公司在电视上宣传他们的新产品。
• They are promoting a boxing match. 他们正在筹划一次拳击比赛。

2 dare   

n.敢，挑战；aux.敢；vi.敢；vt.敢于，勇于面对

参考例句：

• He didn't dare to look at her in the face.他不敢正眼看她。
• How dare you?Take your hand off me at once.放肆！马上把你的手挪开。

3 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

4 supporter   

n.支持者；扶养者；支撑物，支柱

参考例句：

• I'm a strong supporter of women's rights.我是一个妇女权益的坚强支持者。
• He was an effective supporter of reform.他是改革的有力支持者。

5 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

6 senate   

n.参议院，上院

参考例句：

• They feel deeply the honour of belonging to the Senate.他们为作为参议院的成员而深感荣幸。
• His unsuccessful senate run was his last hurrah.这次失败的参议员竞选是他最后的尝试。