歐巴馬的精彩英文演講:《我們為什麼要上學》(附中英文對照)!

90後到10後的一代，是物質及其富足的一代，他們從小就在優越的環境中長大，過著吃喝不愁的生活。父母對他們唯一的期望與要求就是：好好上學讀書!

可是為什麼要好好上學讀書，上學讀書的意義究竟是什麼，卻很少有人告訴他們。

奇速君今天和大家分享一個非常鼓舞人心的演講，這是歐巴馬在美國開學日的演講《我們為什麼要上學?》，也是奇速君看過的演講中最為激勵人心的一個，歐巴馬不愧是美國領袖。演講沒有太多「大詞」，他鼓勵每一個個體從哪怕一個小目標開始，馬上行動並堅持不懈。

如果有一天我們的領袖在開學第一天能作出這麼激勵人心的演講，相信許多孩子命運會由此改變。演講內容相當貼近孩子內心 ，建議分享此文和視頻給我們的孩子和身邊的朋友。奇速君先後觀看了視頻很多很多遍，每一次看都有不一樣的收穫和感悟。

瀏覽器版本過低，暫不支持視頻播放

中英文對照版

Hello, everybody! Thank you.Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Allright, everybody go ahead and have a seat.How is everybody doing today?(Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.)

I am here with students atWakefield High School in Arlington,Virginia. And we』ve got students tuning in from all across America,fromkindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join ustoday. And I want to thank Wakefieldfor being such an outstanding host. Giveyourselves a big round of applause.(Applause.)

大家好!謝謝你們。謝謝你們。謝謝你們大家。好，大家請就坐。你們今天都好嗎?蒂姆·斯派塞(Tim Spicer)好嗎?

我現在與維吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡韋克菲爾德高中的學生們在一起。美國各地從小學預備班到中學12年級的學生正在收聽收看。我很高興大家今天都能參與。我還要感謝韋克菲爾德高中出色的組織安排。請為你們自己熱烈鼓掌。

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. Andfor those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re alittle nervous.

I imagine there are some seniors outthere who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one moreyear to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were stillsummer and you could』ve stayed in bed just alittle bit longer this morning.

我知道，今天是你們很多人開學的日子。對於進入小學預備班、初中或高中的學生，今天是你們來到新學校的第一天，心裡可能有點緊張，這是可以理解的。

我能想像有些畢業班學生現在感覺很不錯———還有一年就畢業了。不論在哪個年級，你們有些人可能希望暑假更長一點，今天早上還能多睡一小會兒。

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. Ilived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kidswent to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with anAmerican education.

So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Mondaythrough Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could doit was at 4:30 in the morning.

我了解這種感覺。我小時候，我們家生活在海外。我在印度尼西亞住了幾年。我媽媽沒有錢送我上其他美國孩子上的學校，但她認為必須讓我接受美式教育。

因此，她決定從周一到周五自己給我補課。不過她還要上班，所以只能在清晨四點半給我上課。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. And a lot oftimes, I』d fall asleep right there atthe kitchen table. But whenever I』d complain, my mother wouldjust give me one of those looks and she』d say, 「This is no picnic for meeither, buster.」 (Laughter.)

你們可以想見，我不太情願那麼早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡著了。但每當我抱怨的時候，我媽媽都會那樣地看我一眼，然後說：「小子，這對我也並不輕鬆。」

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back atschool. But I’m here today because I havesomething important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about youreducation and what’s expected of all of you inthis new school year.

我知道你們有些人還在適應開學後的生活。但我今天來到這裡是因為有重要的事情要和你們說。我來這裡是要和你們談談你們的教育問題，以及在這個新學年對你們所有人的期望。

Now, I』ve given a lot of speechesabout education. And I』ve talked aboutresponsibility a lot.

我做過很多次有關教育問題的演講。我多次談到過責任問題。

I』ve talked about teachers』 responsibility forinspiring students and pushing you to learn.

我談到過教師激勵學生並督促他們學習的責任。

I』ve talked about your parents』 responsibility formaking sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with theXbox.

我談到過家長的責任，要確保你們走正路，完成家庭作業，不要整天坐在電視前或玩Xbox遊戲。

I』ve talked a lot about yourgovernment’s responsibility forsettinghigh standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning aroundschools that aren’t working, where studentsaren’t getting the opportunitiesthat they deserve.

我多次談到過政府的責任，要制定高標準，支持教師和校長的工作，徹底改善不能為學生提供應有機會的、教育質量差的學校。

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers,the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of itwill make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill yourresponsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attentionto those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and otheradults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility eachof you has foryour education.

然而，即使我們擁有最敬業的教師，最盡力的家長和全世界最好的學校——如果你們大家不履行你們的責任，不到校上課，不專心聽講，不聽家長、祖父祖母和其他大人的話，不付出取得成功所必須的勤奮努力，那麼這一切都毫無用處，都無關緊要。

這就是我今天講話的重點：你們每個人對自己的教育應盡的責任。

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Everysingle one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something tooffer. And you have a responsibility to yourself todiscover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

我首先要講講你們對自己應盡的責任。你們每個人都有自己的長處。你們每個人都能做出自己的貢獻。你們對自己應盡的責任是發現自己的能力所在。而教育能夠提供這樣的機會。

Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good enough to writea book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you writethat English paper -- that English class paper that’s assigned toyou. Maybe you could be an innovator or aninventor -- maybe even good enoughto come up with the next iPhone or the newmedicine or vaccine -- but you mightnot know it until you do your project foryour science class.

Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Courtjustice -- but you might not knowthat until you join student government or thedebate team.

你或許能成為一名出色的作家——甚至可能寫書或在報紙上發表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文課的作文後才會發現自己的才華。你或許能成為一名創新者或發明家——甚至可能設計出新一代iPhone或研製出新型藥物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科學課的實驗後才會發現自己的才華。

你或許能成為一名市長或參議員或最高法院的大法官——但你可能要在參加學生會的工作或辯論隊後才會發現自己的才華。

And no matter what you want to do with yourlife, I guarantee thatyou』ll need an education to doit. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to bea nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one ofthose careers.

You cannot drop out of schooland just drop into a good job. You』ve got to train for it and work for it andlearn for it.

不論你的生活志向是什麼，我敢肯定你必須上學讀書才能實現它。你想當醫生、教師或警官嗎?你想當護士、建築師、律師或軍人嗎?你必須接受良好的教育，才能從事上述任何一種職業。

你不能指望輟學後能碰上個好工作。你必須接受培訓，為之努力，為之學習。

And this isn’t just important for yourown life and your own future. What you make of your education will decidenothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends onyou. What you’relearning in school todaywill determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in thefuture.

這並非只對你個人的人生和未來意義重大。可以毫不誇大地說，教育給你帶來的益處將決定這個國家的未來。美國的未來取決於你們。你們今日在校學習的知識將決定我們作為一個國家是否能夠迎接我們未來所面臨的最嚴峻挑戰。

You』ll need the knowledge andproblem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases likecancer and AIDS, and to developnew energy technologies and protect ourenvironment.

You』ll need the insightsandcritical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fightpoverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation morefair and more free. You』ll need the creativity andingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that willcreate new jobs and boost our economy.

你們將需要利用你們通過自然科學和數學課程所學到的知識和解決問題的能力來治癒癌症、愛滋病及其他疾病，開發新的能源技術和保護我們的環境。

你們將需要利用你們在歷史學和社會學課堂上所獲得的知識和獨立思考能力來抗擊貧困和解決無家可歸問題，打擊犯罪和消除歧視，使我們的國家更公平、更自由。你們將需要利用你們在所有課堂上培養的創造力和智慧來創辦新公司，增加就業機會，振興我們的經濟。

We need every single one of you to develop your talents and yourskills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficultproblems. If you don’t do that-- if you quitonschool -- you’re not just quitting onyourself, you’re quitting on your country.

我們需要你們每個人發揮你們的聰明才智和技能，以便幫助老一輩人解決我們面臨的最棘手問題。如果你們不這樣做，如果你們輟學，你們不僅僅是自暴自棄，也是拋棄自己的國家。

Now, I know it’s not always easy to do wellin school. I knowa lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that canmake it hard tofocus on your schoolwork.

我自然知道要做到學業優秀並非總是易事。我知道你們許多人在生活中面臨挑戰，難以集中精力從事學業。

I get it. I know what it’s like. My father left my family when I was two yearsold, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled attimes to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us thethings that other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father inmylife. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.

我明白這一點。我有親身感受。兩歲時，我父親離家而去，我是由一位單親母親撫養成人的，母親不得不工作，並時常為支付生活費用而苦苦掙扎，但有時仍無法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時，我渴望生活中能有一位父親。有時我感到孤獨，感到自己不適應社會。

So I wasn’t always as focused as Ishould have been on school, and I did some things I’m not proud of, and I got inmore trouble than I shouldhave. And my life could have easily taken a turn forthe worse.

我並非總是像我應該做到的那樣專心學習，我也曾做過我如今不能引以為豪的一些事情，我曾惹過不應該惹的麻煩。我的人生原本會輕易陷入更糟糕的境地。

But I was -- I was lucky. Igot a lot of second chances, and I hadthe opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams. My wife,our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar story. Neither of her parentshad gone to college, and they didn’t have a lot of money. But they worked hard, and sheworked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

但是，我當年際遇不錯。我有過許多第二次機會，我有幸能上大學，上法學院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾?歐巴馬，也有著類似的經歷。她的父母都未曾上過大學，家裡很窮。但他們非常勤奮，她也是如此，因此她得以進入一些美國最好的學校。

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’thave adults in your life who give you the support thatyou need.

Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around.Maybe you live in aneighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friendswho are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

你們中有一些人可能沒有那些有利條件。或許你們生活中沒有成年人為你們提供你們所需要的支持。

或許你們家中有人失業，經濟非常拮据。或許你們生活在使你們感覺不安全的社區，或有朋友逼迫你們去做你們知道不對的事情。

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life --what youlook like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you』ve got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse forneglecting your homeworkor having a bad attitude in school.

That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cuttingclass, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.

然而說到底，你們生活的環境、你們的膚色、你們的原籍、你們的經濟收入、你們家中的境況等等，這一切都不能成為你們不用功或不努力的理由。

你們沒有理由不服從你們的老師、逃學、或輟學。沒有理由不付出努力。

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine whereyou』ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you, because here inAmerica,you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

你們目前的狀況並不決定著你們的未來。沒有人決定你們的命運，在美國，你們決定自己的命運。你們掌握自己的未來。

That’s what young people like youare doing every day, all across America.

這就是像你們這樣的年輕人每天都在做的事情，全美各地都是如此。

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas.Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Neither ofher parents had gone to college.

But she worked hard, earned good grades, andgot a scholarship to Brown University-- is now in graduate school, studyingpublic health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.

來自得州羅馬城的賈茲敏?佩雷斯(Jazmin Perez)就是一個例證，她剛開始上學時並不會說英文。她的父母都沒有上過大學。

然而，她非常勤奮，成績優秀，獲得了布朗大學的獎學金，她如今正在讀研究生，攻讀公共衛生專業，不久將成為賈茲敏?佩雷斯博士。

I’m thinking about AndoniSchultz, from Los Altos,California,who’s fought brain cancer sincehe was three. He’s had to endure all sorts oftreatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him muchlonger -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fellbehind. He’s headed to college thisfall.

我想起了加州洛斯阿爾託斯城的安多尼?舒爾茨(Andoni Schultz)，他從三歲開始就一直與腦癌進行抗爭，他不得不忍受各類治療和手術帶來的痛苦，其中一項手術曾影響了他的記憶，因此他花在功課上的時間比一般人長得多，要多出數百個小時。然而，他從未落後。他今年秋季將邁進大學。

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from myhometown of Chicago, Illinois.Even when bouncing from foster home to fosterhome in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at alocal health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs,and she’s on track to graduate highschool with honors and go on to college.

我還想起家鄉伊利諾州芝加哥市的尚特爾?史蒂夫(Shantell Steve)。她曾在芝加哥最困難的社區生活，寄養於多個不同的家庭，但她最終在一家地方醫療中心找到工作，並開始了一項幫助年輕人遠離流氓團夥的計劃，她即將以優異成績從中學畢業，緊接著將上大學。

And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They face challenges intheir lives just like you do. In some cases they』ve got it a lot worse off than many of you. But theyrefused to give up.They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for theireducation, and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do thesame.

賈茲敏、安多尼和尚特爾與你們中間的每個人沒什麼兩樣。跟你們一樣，他們在生活中面臨種種挑戰。在某些情況下，他們的處境比起你們許多人更差。但他們拒絕放棄。他們決定要為自己的一生、自己的教育負起責任，為自己設定各項奮鬥目標。我期待你們大家都會這樣做。

That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for youreducation -- and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be somethingas simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spendingsome time each day reading abook. Maybe you』ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity,or volunteer in your community.

Maybe you』ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased orbullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like Ido, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybeyou』ll decide to take bettercare of yourself so you can bemore ready to learn. And along those lines, bythe way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay homefrom school when you don’tfeel well, so we can keeppeople from getting the flu this fall and winter.

因此，我今天呼籲你們每一個人為自己的教育設定目標，並儘自己的最大努力來實現這些目標。你的目標可以是一件十分簡單的事情，例如完成家庭作業、上課專心聽講、或每天花一點時間讀一本書。也許你會決定要參加課外活動或在你的社區提供志願服務。

也許你會決定挺身而出保護那些因為身份或長相而受人戲弄或欺負的孩子，原因是你和我一樣認為所有的年輕人都應該享有一個適合讀書和學習的安全環境。也許你會決定更好地照料自己，以便有更充沛的精力來學習。順便提一下，除了這些事情外，我希望大家要勤洗手，身體感到不舒服的時候要呆在家裡不去上學，這樣我們能防止人們在今年秋冬季節染上流感。

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I wantyou to really work at it.

但無論你決定做什麼，我希望你保證去做。我希望你腳踏實地地去做。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you canbe richand successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is throughrapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you’re not going to be any of those things.

我知道有時候你會從電視上得到這樣的印象：你不用做任何艱苦的工作就能發財致富並取得成功，唱小調、打籃球或成為真人秀明星是走向成功的途徑。但實際情況是：你可能不會成為其中的一員。

The truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject that you study. You won’t click with every teacher that you have. Not everyhomework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right atthisminute. And you won’t necessarily succeed ateverything the first time you try.

事實上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不會喜歡你學習的每一門課目。你不會與你的每一位老師都很投契。不是所有的家庭作業似乎都與你眼前的生活完全有關。你第一次嘗試做每件事的時候，不一定成功。

That’s okay. Some of the mostsuccessful people in the world are the ones who』ve had the most failures. J.K. Rowling’s -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potterbook was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan wascut from his high school basketball team.He lost hundreds of games and missedthousands of shots during his career. Buthe once said, 「I have failed over and over and over again in my life.Andthat’s why I succeed.」

這些都沒關係。世界上最成功的人士中有一些是遭遇失敗最多的人。作者J?K?羅琳(J.K. Rowling)所寫的系列小說《哈利?波特》(Harry Potter)第一部在獲得出版之前被退稿12次。麥可?喬丹(MichaelJordan)曾被他的高中籃球隊除名。在喬丹的籃球生涯中，他輸過數百場比賽，有成千上萬個球沒有投中。但他曾說過：「在我的一生中，我失敗了一次又一次、一次又一次。這就是我成功的原因。」

These people succeeded because they understood that you can’tlet your failures define you -- you have to let yourfailures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently thenext time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it meansyou need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid,it just means youneed to spend more time studying.

這些人士獲得成功，因為他們懂得：你不能讓失敗來限制你，而必須讓失敗來開導你。你必須讓失敗向你展示下次如何以不同的方式去做這件事情。因此，如果你遇到麻煩，那並不表示你是麻煩的製造者，而意味著你需要更加努力去把它做對。如果你有一門課分數低，那不表示你比別人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的時間學習。

No one’s born being good at allthings. You become good atthings through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a newsport. You don’t hit every note the firsttime you sing a song.

You』ve got to practice. The sameprinciple applies to your schoolwork. You might haveto do a math problem a fewtimes before you get it right. You might have toread something a few timesbefore you understand it. You definitely have to doa few drafts of a paperbefore it’s good enough to hand in.

沒有一個人天生擅長做各種事情。你通過勤奮而變得擅長於各種事情。第一次從事新的體育項目時，你不可能是一位主力隊員。第一次唱一首歌曲時，你不可能唱準每個音。

你必須練習。同樣的道理適用於你的學業。你可能要把一道數學題做幾次才把它做對。你可能要把一些材料閱讀幾遍才能理解。在交出一篇優美的作文之前，你肯定需要打幾遍草稿。

Don’t be afraid to askquestions. Don’t be afraid to ask for helpwhen you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s asign of strength because it shows you have the courageto admit when you don’t know something, and thatthen allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust -- aparent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor -- and ask them tohelp you stay on track to meet your goals.

不要害怕提問。不要在需要幫助時害怕請求別人幫助。我天天請求別人的幫助。請求幫助不是軟弱的表現，它是力量的標誌，因為它表明你有勇氣承認自己對某些事情不懂，這樣做會使你學到新的東西。因此，請確定一位你信任的成年人，例如家長、祖父母或老師、教練或輔導員，請他們幫助你遵循既定計劃實現你的目標。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’rediscouraged, and you feel like other people have givenup on you, don’t ever give up on yourself,because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

即使當你苦苦掙扎、灰心喪氣、感到其他人對你不抱希望時，也不要對你自己喪失信心，因為當你自暴自棄時，你也拋棄了自己的國家。

The story of Americaisn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, wholoved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

書寫美國歷史的不是在困難時刻退縮的人，而是堅持不懈、加倍努力的人，他們對國家的愛促使他們全力以赴。

It’s the story of students whosat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and theyfounded this nation. Young people.

Students who sat where you sit 75 years agowho overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights andput a man on the moon.Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who foundedGoogle and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with eachother.

書寫美國歷史的是250年前坐在你們的位置上的學生，他們後來進行了獨立戰爭並創建了這個國家。

還有75年前坐在你們的位置上的年輕人和學生，他們走出了大蕭條並打贏了一場世界大戰;他們為民權而奮鬥並把太空人送上了月球。至於20年前坐在你們的位置上的學生，他們創辦了谷歌(Google)、嘰喳網(Twitter)和臉譜網(Facebook)，改變了我們交流溝通的方式。

So today, I want to ask all of you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are yougoing tosolve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comeshere in20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?

而今天，我要問問你們大家，你們將做出什麼貢獻?你們將解決什麼問題?你們將有什麼發現?20年、50年或100年後來到這裡講話的總統將會怎樣評價你們大家為這個國家所做的一切?

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everythingwe canto make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions.I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you thebooks and the equipment and the computers you need to learn.

But you』ve got to do your part,too. So I expect all of you to getserious this year. I expect you to put yourbest effort into everything you do.I expect great things from each of you. Sodon’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down. Most ofall,don’t let yourself down. Make usall proud.

你們的家人、你們的老師和我正在竭盡全力保證你們接受必要的教育，以便回答上述問題。我正在努力工作，以便你們的教室得到修繕，你們能夠得到學習所需的課本、設備和電腦。

但你們也必須儘自己的努力。因此，我希望你們大家從今年起認真對待這個問題。我希望你們盡最大努力做好每一件事。我希望你們每個人都有出色的表現。不要讓我們失望。不要讓你們的家人或你們的國家失望。而最重要的是，不要辜負你們自己，而要讓我們都能[為你們]感到驕傲。

Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God blessAmerica.Thank you. (Applause.)

非常感謝你們大家。願主保佑你們。願主保佑美國。謝謝你們!

非常值得一聽的歐巴馬成名英文演講《無畏的希望》，經久不衰！

英語單詞記不住，背了又忘怎麼辦？這裡有最全最實用的單詞記憶法