时代周刊:失去毕业典礼意味着什么(2)

For the Class of 2020, our college experience has ended abruptly¹.

在我们2020届的毕业生看来，我们的大学生活结束得是那么的突然。

To make matters worse, we’re plunging² headfirst into a public-health nightmare compounded by potentially the worst recession since the Great Depression.

更糟糕的是，刚失去毕业典礼，我们又一头扎进了新冠肺炎这场公共健康噩梦，还有堪称大萧条以来最为严重的一次经济衰退。

Some of us will be the first in our families to graduate from college.

我们中的一些人还是家族中的第一个大学生。

Many have overcome other great barriers to achieve this milestone³.

许多人都克服了巨大的障碍，才取得了这一里程碑式的成绩。

But as the “real world” knocks on our door, we crave⁴ nothing more than a little direction and a little tradition.

然而，当“赤裸裸的现实”敲响我们的大门，得到一点指引，守住一点传统就已经成了我们唯一的渴求。

For graduating college students, commencement speeches—the punchy one-liners; inspirational anecdotes⁵;

对于即将毕业的大学生而言，毕业致辞——致辞里那些绝妙的俏皮话；鼓舞人心的轶事；

and calls to action from celebrities⁶, entrepreneurs and politicians— are a rite⁷ of passage.

还有来自名人、企业家和政治家的行动召唤——无异于一场重大的仪式。

Though these speeches gesture toward the future, they also commemorate⁸ the past four years.

那些演讲无不都在着眼未来，但它们同时也是对我们过去四年大学生活的纪念。

In these final moments, we recognize that we influenced our schools as much as they influenced us.

在最后的这些时刻，我们终于意识到，我们对学校的影响并不亚于学校对我们的影响。

“I always wanted first to say we notice that you were here,” former Harvard president Drew Faust told us,

“我一直想先说一句，我们有注意到你们来过这里，”在谈及她想通过毕业典礼致辞传达怎样的信息时，

describing what she wanted to accomplish in a commencement speech.

哈佛大学前校长德鲁·浮士德曾对我们说道。

“You’ve mattered here, and we know that you’ve been here,

“你们曾在这里发过光，发过热，我们知道你们来过这里，

and there are things that we shared together during these years that make you not just yet another class of students.”

这些年，我们甘苦与共，风雨同舟，你们已经不再只是一个班级的同学。”

Students won’t put on caps and gowns and listen to celebratory speakers this year.

今年，毕业班的同学们不会再戴礼帽，穿长袍，听祝贺自己毕业的演讲。

Curbing¹⁰ the pandemic requires that we all do our part.

控制疫情需要我们所有人都贡献自己的一份力。

The decision to send students home and cancel or postpone¹¹ in-person commencements has likely saved the lives of students, professors, faculty¹² and staff.

学生、教授和教职员工还能安然无恙，校方让学生回家，取消或推迟现场举行的毕业典礼的这一决定或许也是功臣之一。

While virtual commencements are all many of us can have in this time,

尽管我们中间的很多人当前都只能拥有一场云毕业典礼，

watching them through screens, thousands of miles apart, will be different.

与其他同学相隔数千英里，在屏幕面前观看典礼势必收获不一样的感受。

Postponed¹³ ceremonies will be different too.

推迟毕业典礼也会收获不一样的感受。

We won’t all be in the same place in our lives: excited, scared, hopeful during the bittersweet end of college.

我们无法再在同一个校园里，一起度过一段既兴奋，又害怕，又充满希望，既甜蜜又苦涩的大学生活尾声。

But that doesn’t mean they won’t mean anything.

但这并不意味着今年的毕业典礼就没有了意义。

“For some campuses like ours, students were away on spring break,”

“对于我们这样的校园来说，毕业之前学生们就已经放春假离校了，”

University of Virginia president James E. Ryan said in an April interview.

弗吉尼亚大学校长詹姆斯·E·瑞安在4月份的一次采访中说。

“They didn’t have four or five days to say goodbye.

“他们都没有四五天的时间跟其他人告别。

So, for many of them, this will be the first time they’ve seen each other since March.

所以，对于他们中的许多人来说，毕业典礼将会是他们自3月份以来的第一次见面。

I think it will be a remarkably¹⁴ special occasion.”

我觉得那将是一个非常非常特别的时刻。”

And he’s right: we’ll all be together again, some time when the curve has flattened¹⁵ and things are better.

他说的没错：我们会有再聚首的那天，等疫情曲线平缓，情况有所好转以后一定会有那么一天。

Once more, we will sit on library steps, fill quad¹⁶ lawns and take in one another’s company.

我们将再次坐上图书馆的台阶，再次坐满学校广场的草坪，再次回到彼此的怀抱。

On our last day on campus, March 15, two of our friends geared up for a 16-hour drive to Michigan.

在我们校园生活的最后一天，也就是3月15日这天，我们的两个朋友准备驱车16个小时去密歇根。

We gathered around their rented minivan to say goodbye.

我们围着他们租来的面包车跟他们道别。

They pulled away from the curb⁹, then pulled back in, as if we didn’t really have to leave each other.

他们从路边开走之后又开了回来，好像我们并不是真的要分开一样。

Finally, they drove off campus and disappeared into the world.

最后，他们终于驱车离开了校园，消失在了茫茫人海里。

Those of us who remained held each other close, hopefully not for the last time.

我们剩下的人紧紧相拥着目送他们离开，希望，这不是我们的最后一次相拥。

1 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

2 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

5 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

8 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

11 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

12 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

13 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

14 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

15 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

16 quad   

n.四方院；四胞胎之一；v.在…填补空铅

参考例句：

• His rooms were on the left-hand side of the quad.他的房间位于四方院的左侧。
• She is a 34-year-old mother of quads.她是个生了四胞胎的34岁的母亲。