名校励志英语演讲 145:跨越物质的藩篱 让世界今非昔比(2)

 　　But you've got a fine governor here, and I also know that Janet is now applying her extraordinary talents to serve our entire country as the secretary of homeland security, keeping America safe. And she's doing a great job.

　　但你们现在拥有另一位出色的州长。珍娜现在担任国土安全部部长，她正在用她非凡的才智服务全国，确保美国国土安全。她工作得非常出色。

　　Now, before I begin, I'd just like to clear the air about that little controversy¹ everybody was talking about a few weeks back. I have to tell you, I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson.

　　首先，我想澄清一点，几周以来，人们一直在争论贵校是否应授予我荣誉学位，我真的觉得这有点儿小题大做，但我们都从中得到了很宝贵的教训。

　　I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA brackets. It won't happen again. President Crow and the Board of Regents will soon learn about being audited² by the IRS.

　　我得到的教训是，我再也不会在美国大学联盟锦标赛篮球队里挑一支比 Sun Devis 更厉害的球队了。这样的事情不会再发生了。克罗校长和懂事会很快因此受到国税局的审查。

　　Now, in all seriousness, I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life. First of all, Michelle concurs³ with that assessment⁴. She has a long list of things that I have not yet done, waiting for me when I get home.

　　现在，我要很严肃地告诉大家，我并不是来这儿争论业绩多寡的。首先，米歇尔就认为我做的还不够。她那儿有一大堆我还未完成的事情等着我回家做。

　　NCAA是美国大学联盟锦标赛。奥巴马是篮球迷，而且大选时曾许诺：如果当选总统就预测一下今年的 NCAA 最后四强。奥巴马兑现承诺，预测了前四强，但只预测对了北卡罗来纳大学队，并言中了北卡会夺冠；

　　Sun Devis 是 ASU最后四强。奥巴马预测的最后四强里有一支是路易斯维尔大学队，该队在十六进八赛时就把 Sun Devis 淘汰掉了，但是路易斯维尔大学并未像奥巴马预测的那样进入四强。所以奥巴马有点自嘲似地说我不会再挑一支比 Sun Devis 厉害的球队了，因为路易斯维尔大学虽然击败了Sun Devis，但没进四强。

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

3 concurs   

同意（concur的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Gilardi concurs that the newly compiled data is a powerful tool. 吉拉迪认同新汇集的数据是一个强有力的工具。
• Curtin concurs that it's been a blessing and a reward. 柯廷也同意这是一种祝福和奖励。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？