英语PK台 第290期:小李子联合国《巴黎气候协定》精彩演讲(1)

 　　Section 1

　　Thank you, Mr. Secretary General, for the honor to address this body once more. And thanks to the distinguished¹ climate leaders assembled here today who are ready to take action.

　　谢谢秘书长先生再次给我机会让我站在这里发言，谢谢各位卓越的气候领导人今天在联合国大会汇聚一堂准备开始采取行动。

　　President Abraham Lincoln was also thinking of bold action 150 years ago when he said: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate² to the stormy present…As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." Remarkably⁴, his words ring as true today when applied⁵ to the defining crisis of our time – climate change.

　　150年前，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统也曾考虑过采取大胆的行动，他说：平静过往的教条已不再适用于风雨交加的当下。我们正面临着全新的问题，因此我们必须重新思考，采取新的行动。 我们必须挣脱自身的束缚，如此才能拯救我们的国家。 "

　　（当时林肯总统在美国国会发表了这席演讲，正视他的时代所面临的关键问题——奴隶制。所有人都知道奴隶制要终结，但是没有人有政治意愿去解决这个问题。）今天他的话听来仍然振聋发聩。我们可以用他的话来描述当今时代的关键挑战——气候变化。

　　As a UN Messenger of Peace, I have traveled all over the world for the last two years, documenting how this crisis is changing the natural balance of our planet. I've seen cities like Beijing choked by industrial pollution, ancient Boreal forests in Canada that have been clear-cut, and rainforests in Indonesia that have been incinerated. In Greenland and in the Arctic, I was astonished to see that ancient glaciers⁶ are rapidly disappearing well ahead of scientific predictions.

　　"作为联合国的和平使者，在过去两年当中，我一直在世界各地访问，记录着这场危机如何在改变我们星球的自然平衡。我看到了遭受工业污染困扰的城市，如北京；已被砍伐精光的加拿大古代寒带森林；被焚烧殆尽的印尼热带雨林；在印度，我遇到了庄稼被前所未有的洪水彻底冲走的农民；在美国，我目睹了加州史无前例的干旱以及迈阿密海平面上升淹没街道的情景；在格陵兰和北极，我惊恐地发现古代冰川正在以比科学预言更快的速度在迅速消失。"

　　（另一版参考翻译：作为联合国的和平使者，我在过去两年中走访了世界各地，记录气候变化给地球的自然平衡带来了怎样的改变。我曾经目睹过像北京那样因工业污染而窒息的城市，加拿大古老的寒温带森林被夷为平地，印度尼西亚的热带雨林被焚烧殆尽。在印度，我遇到一些农民，他们的庄稼被百年一遇的洪水冲走；在美国，我经历了加州空前的干旱，并目睹了迈阿密海平面上升淹没了街道；在格林兰和北极，我惊讶地看到古老的冰川迅速消失，其速度远超过科学家的预测。）

　　All that I have seen and learned on my journey has absolutely terrified me. There is no doubt in the world's scientific community that this is a direct result of human activity and the effects of climate change will become astronomically⁸ worse in the future.

　　旅途中所见所闻，已让我深感恐惧。我想科学界已经明确证明这是人类行为所带来的直接后果。今后，气候变化的影响还将更具灾难性。

　　词汇

　　dogma

　　教条，教理

　　if you refer to a belief or a system of beliefs as a dogma, you disapprove⁹ of it because people are expected to accept that it is true, without questioning it.

　　e.g Newspaper should be independent of political dogma.

　　disenthrall

　　释放；解放

　　enthrall³: to hold the complete attention and interest of sb as if by magic

　　迷惑，吸引住

　　incinerate

　　焚烧

　　become reduced to ashes;

　　e.g. The cars caught fire on impact and some of the victims were incinerated.

　　astronomically

　　天文数字地；巨大地

　　If you describe an amount, especially the cost of something as astronomical⁷, you are emphasizing that it is very large indeed.

　　e.g. Houses in Beijing are selling for astronomical prices.

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

3 enthrall   

vt.迷住，吸引住；使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• She kept her audience enthralled throughout her twenty-minute performance.她的20分钟演出使观众目不转睛。
• They were enthralled with the play.他们被那个戏迷住了。

4 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。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

7 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

8 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

9 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。