财富精英励志演讲18：拉里·佩奇：梦想的力量(1)

 　　Class of 2009!

　　2009届的同学们，

　　I don't think I hurt you.

　　我不认为这伤害了你们。

　　First I’d like you to stand up, and wave and cheer your supportive family and friends!

　　首先我希望大家都站起来，向支持你们的亲朋好友挥手致意！

　　I’m sure you can find them out there.

　　我相信你们都能在人群中找到他们。

　　Show your love!

　　把你们的爱表现出来吧!

　　It is a great honor for me to be here today.

　　今天来到这里我很荣幸。

　　Now wait a second.

　　请稍等一下。

　　I know: that’s such a cliche¹.

　　我知道，对于刚才那句陈词滥调，

　　You’re thinking: every graduation speaker says that — It’s a great honor.

　　大家可能会想：每一位毕业典礼的演讲者都会说——很荣幸。

　　But, in my case, it really is so deeply true--being here is more special and more personal for me than most of you know.

　　但就我而言，的确字真意深——我来到这里发言有着你们诸位并不知道的更特殊、更个人的意义。

　　I’d like to tell you why.

　　我愿意告诉你们这背后的故事。

　　A long time ago, in the cold September of 1962,

　　很久以前，1962年的寒冷9月,

　　there was a Steven’s co-op at this very university.

　　这座校园里有一家史蒂文消费合作社。

　　That co-op had a kitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers probably every decade or so.

　　此合作社有一间厨房,那里的天花板由学生志愿者打扫，大概每十来年才一次吧。

　　Picture a college girl named Gloria, climbing up high on a ladder, struggling to clean that filthy² ceiling.

　　想象一下,画面上有位名叫格洛里亚的女大学生爬上了高高的梯子努力地打扫那脏兮兮的天花板。

　　Standing³ on the floor, a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view.

　　一位名叫卡尔的寄宿生站在地上,为该情景钦佩不已。

　　And that’s how they met.

　　这就是他俩的初次邂逅。

　　They were my parents,

　　他俩就是我的父母亲，

　　so I suppose you could say I’m a direct result of that kitchen chemistry experiment, right here at Michigan.

　　所以我想你们会说,我就是这里——密歇根大学那个“厨房化学实验”的直接成果。

　　My Mom is here with us today,

　　我的母亲今天也来到了这里，

　　and we should probably go find the spot ,

　　也许我们应该去找到他们相遇之处，

　　and put plaque⁴ up on the ceiling that says:"Thanks Mom and Dad!"

　　并在天花板上镶嵌一块铭牌，刻上“谢谢爸爸、妈妈！"

1 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

2 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。