名校励志英语演讲 183:一切皆有可能(5)

 　　We grew up believing that being Chinese was the greatest advantage in life; in our house, everything important in life came from China, was invented in China, owed all to the Chinese.

　　我们始终相信作为中国人是生活中最大的优势。在我家、生活中所有重要的东西都来自中国，都是中国发明的，都归功于中国人。

　　We went on elementary school field trips to pulp¹ plants, where they taught us how paper was made. Paper was invented in China, Mom said, after we relayed the process in awe². Our favorite neighbors were Italian and invited us over for spaghetti. When we came home and raved³, Dad would remind us that Marco Polo brought pasta home from China. Not Italian....Chinese....and so it went. And how wonderful they were to instill in us the sense of pride in our heritage⁴ that we have never forgotten.

　　读小学时，我们去纸浆厂参观，在那里他们教我们纸是怎样生产的。回家之后，我们崇拜地描述了一番，然后母亲告诉我们，纸是中国人发明的。我们最喜欢的邻居是意大利人，他们邀请我们去吃意大利面。我们吃完饭回到家极力赞美，父亲提醒我们，马可波罗是从中国把面团带回去的，不是意大利的，而是中国的...不断如此。我的父母很伟大，他们不断地向我们灌输对中国传统文化的自豪感，我们从未忘记中国文化。

　　When I first became CEO, a famous American television journalist interviewed my dad and asked him if he always knew I would be successful in business. No, he said, quite to the contrary, he worried for years that raising me to be a respectful Chinese daughter would hinder⁵ my ability to compete in a world with what he considered the aggressive, cut throat traits⁶ of typical America CEO's. In fact, he passed on a letter to me that I keep, translated from Chinese to English, in my desk drawer.

　　当我刚担任首席执行官时，一个著名的美国电视记者采访我的父亲，问他是否早就知道我会在商界取得成功。不，他回答，恰恰相反，他很多年来一直担心把我教育成一个孝顺的中国女儿会妨碍我在一个他认为充满了攻击性和残酷无情的典型美国首席执行官的圈子里和别人竞争。实际上，他写了一封信给我，我还保存在我办公室的抽屉里。信是由中文翻译成英文的。

1 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

2 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

3 raved   

v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

5 hinder   

adj.后面的；v.阻碍，打扰

参考例句：

• Don't hinder me in my work.不要妨碍我的工作。
• Nobody wants to hinder your doing that.谁也不想阻止你做那件事。

6 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》