偶像励志英语演讲 第123期:直面恐惧(10)

 　　Fear will get the worst of the best of us and peddlers of influence count on that. Throughtout our nation's constant struggle to create a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure our domestic tranquility, we battle fear from outside our borders and from within our own hearts every day of our history.

　　恐惧能造成最糟糕的后果，而那些好生事的人就赖这个活着。我们不断奋斗抗争，就是为了缔造一个更加完美的联邦，建立公平，保障我们国家内部的安宁，我们每天都要对抗外来与心理内在的各种恐惧。

　　Our nation came to be despite the fear of retribution from the king across the sea. America was made strong because people here could live free from the fears that made up their daily lives in whatever land they called the "Old Country". Our history books tell of conflicts taken up to free people from fear-those kept in slavery-in our own states, and to liberate¹ whole nations under the rule of tyrants² and theologies rooted in fear. The American course, at its best, as being the cultivation³ of a faith, that declares we will always live in peace when we are all free to worship as we choose, when we are free to express our hearts, and when we all seek a place free from fear. But we live in a world where too many of us are too ready to believe in things that do not exist-conspiracies abound⁴, divisons are constructed and the differences between us are not celebrated⁵ for making us stronger but are calculated and programmed to set us against each other. Our faith is tested by unpredictable providence⁶, and threatened when common sense is corrupted⁷ by specific interests.

　　我们的国家不顾对面海岸国王的惩罚，逐渐建立了起来。美国越来越强大，因为国民不用再生活在恐惧下，而这曾是他们在被其称为“旧国家”的那片土地上日常生活的全部。我们的历史书上记载了我们国家所展开的斗争，为了人们——那些身陷奴隶制度中的人们——不再恐惧，为了把整个国家从暴君和神学可怕的统治下解放出来。美国的事业和追求，在于一种信念的培养：当我们能够自由选择宗教信仰、自由表达内心想法，而且居住在没有恐惧的地方时，就是我们找到和平的时候。然而，到了今天，却有太多人愿意相信许多毫无根据的虚构说法。各种阴谋论盛行，分化对立严重，族群间的差异，并没有让我们融合壮大，反而被用来挑拨离间。我们的信念正遭受未知天命的考验，并且在常识被一些特定利益所腐蚀时受到了威胁。

1 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

2 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

3 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

4 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

7 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。