发布时间 : 星期六 文章2012年奥巴马在哥伦比亚大学毕业典礼上的演讲更新完毕开始阅读bbb2b37901f69e31433294b8
2012奥巴马在巴纳德学院毕业典礼上的讲话
Remarks by President Obama at Barnard College Commencement Ceremony
Barnard College Columbia University New York, New York
May 14, 2012
美国总统奥巴马在巴纳德学院毕业典礼上的讲话
纽约州 纽约市
哥伦比亚大学巴纳德学院
2012年5月14日
巴纳德学院简介：
巴纳德学院(Barnard College)是美国的一所私立女子高等学校，1889年于纽约市创办，以原哥伦比亚学院院长费雷德里克·巴纳德的名字命名。1900年并入哥伦比亚大学，仍保留独立的学校董事会和财政机构，有自己的教师、图书馆和与哥伦比亚大学共同享有的设备，但学士学位由哥伦比亚大学授予。课程涉及人文学、社会科学和自然科学，亦提供音乐、戏剧等方面的专门课程。学生可参加哥伦比亚大学的许多活动，亦可到哥伦比亚大学听课。
Thank you so much. (Applause.) Thank you. Please, please have a seat. Thank you. (Applause.)
非常感谢大家。(掌声)谢谢大家，请入座。谢谢大家。(掌声)
Thank you, President Spar, trustees, President Bollinger. Hello, Class of 2012! (Applause.) Congratulations on reaching this day. Thank you for the honor of being able to be a part of it.
谢谢你们，斯巴院长[译者注：中文名石德葆]、各位校董、伯林格校长。2012届毕业生，你们好!(掌声)祝贺你们迎来了这一天。感谢你们让我有幸来参加这个活动。
There are so many people who are proud of you -- your parents, family, faculty, friends -- all who share in this achievement. So please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) To all the moms who are here today, you could not ask for a better Mother’s Day gift than to see all of these folks graduate. (Applause.)
有很多人为你们感到骄傲——你们的父母、家人、师长和朋友——都为取得这一成就出了力。因此，请为他们热烈鼓掌。(掌声)今天在座的各位母亲们，再也没有比看到所有这些孩子们毕业更好的母亲节礼物了。(掌声)
I have to say, though, whenever I come to these things, I start thinking about Malia and Sasha graduating, and I start tearing up and -- (laughter) -- it's terrible. I don't know how you guys are holding it together. (Laughter.)
但是我得说，每当我来到这种场合，就会想到玛莉娅和萨夏将来毕业的情景，我就会热泪盈眶——(笑声)——真不好意思。我不知道你们大家是怎么把持得住的。(笑声)
I will begin by telling a hard truth: I’m a Columbia college graduate. (Laughter and applause.) I know there can be a little bit of a sibling rivalry here. (Laughter.) But I’m honored nevertheless to be your commencement speaker today -- although I’ve got to say, you set a pretty high bar given the past three years. (Applause.) Hillary Clinton -- (applause) -- Meryl Streep -- (applause) -- Sheryl Sandberg -- these are not easy acts to follow. (Applause.)
我一开始就要说明一个确凿的事实：我是一名哥伦比亚大学的毕业生。(笑声和掌声)我知道可能会有一点同门弟子相争的劲儿。(笑声)但我还是为能够在你们今天的毕业典礼上讲话而感到荣幸——不过我得说，你们在过去三年树立了相当高的标准。(掌声)希拉里·克林顿——(掌声)——梅丽尔·斯特里普——(掌声)——谢里尔·桑德伯格——在她们之后出场可不容易。(掌声)
But I will point out Hillary is doing an extraordinary job as one of the finest Secretaries of State America has ever had. (Applause.) We gave Meryl the Presidential Medal of Arts and Humanities. (Applause.) Sheryl is not just a good friend; she’s also one of our economic advisers. So it’s like the old saying goes -- keep your friends close, and your Barnard commencement speakers even closer. (Applause.) There's wisdom in that. (Laughter.)
但我要指出，希拉里的工作极为出色，她是美国有史以来最杰出的国务卿之一。(掌声)我们已授予梅丽尔艺术与人文总统奖章。(掌声)谢里尔不仅是一位好朋友;她还是我们的经济顾问之一。正如那句老话所说——亲近你的朋友，但更要亲近在你们巴纳德学院毕业典礼上讲话的人。(掌声)这话寓意深长。(笑声) Now, the year I graduated -- this area looks familiar -- (laughter) -- the year I graduated was 1983, the first year women were admitted to Columbia. (Applause.) Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Music was all about Michael and the Moonwalk. (Laughter.)
话说我毕业那年——这个地方看着眼熟——(笑声)——我毕业于1983年，哥伦比亚大学开始录取女生的第一年。(掌声)当时萨莉·莱德成为第一位进入太空的美国女性。那时的音乐全是麦克尔和太空步。(笑声) [AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do it! (Laughter.)] 【画外音：一名听众说“走一个!”(笑声)】
No Moonwalking. (Laughter.) No Moonwalking today. (Laughter.) 不走太空步。(笑声)今天不走太空步。(笑声)
We had the Walkman, not iPods. Some of the streets around here were not quite so inviting. (Laughter.) Times Square was not a family destination. (Laughter.) So I know this is all ancient history. Nothing worse than commencement speakers droning on about bygone days. (Laughter.) But for all the differences, the Class of 1983 actually had a lot in common with all of you. For we, too, were heading out into a world at a moment when our country was still recovering from a particularly severe economic recession. It was a time of change. It was a time of uncertainty. It was a time of passionate political debates.
我们当时有“随身听”，没有IPod。这四周的一些街区没有现在这样诱人。(笑声)时报广场不是适合全家人去的地方。(笑声)我知道这一切都属于古老的过去了。毕业典礼演讲人絮叨旧事是再糟糕不过的。但是，尽管有种种差别，1983年毕业班其实与你们各位有许多共同之处。这是因为，当时我们踏入社会的时候，也正值国家从一场特别严重的经济衰退中恢复。那是一个变革的时期，一个充满未知的时期，一个政治辨伦激情高涨的时期。
You can relate to this because just as you were starting out finding your way around this campus, an economic crisis struck that would claim more than 5 million jobs before the end of your freshman year. Since then, some of you have probably seen parents put off retirement, friends struggle to find work. And you may be looking toward the future with that same sense of concern that my generation did when we were sitting where you are now. 你们能够体会到这一点，因为在你们刚开始熟悉这所校园的时候，经济危机降临，不等你们第一学年结束，它已经导致500多万人失业。从那个时候以来，你们大概看到一些父母推迟了退休计划，一些朋友在苦苦求职。面对未来，你们也许像当年我这一代坐在你们的座位上的时候一样，感到忧心忡忡。
Of course, as young women, you’re also going to grapple with some unique challenges, like whether you’ll be able to earn equal pay for equal work; whether you’ll be able to balance the demands of your job and your family; whether you’ll be able to fully control decisions about your own health.
当然，作为年轻女性，你们还要应对某些特殊的挑战，比如是否能够享有同工同酬;是否能够平衡工作和家庭的需要;是否能够对自身健康有全部决定权。 And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways you have it even tougher than we did. This recession has been more brutal, the job losses steeper. Politics seems nastier. Congress more gridlocked than ever. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens. (Laughter.)
虽然过去30年来女性的机会有了突飞猛进的增加，但作为年轻人，你们在很多方面面临着比我们当时更严峻的挑战。这场衰退更加严重，失业人数更多。政治争议似乎更加难以调和。国会比以往任何时候更加僵持。金融界的一些人很难被称为模范企业公民。(笑声)
No wonder that faith in our institutions has never been lower,
particularly when good news doesn’t get the same kind of ratings as bad news anymore. Every day you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal and stories with a message that suggest change isn’t possible; that you can’t make a difference; that you won’t be able to close that gap between life as it is and life as you want it to be.
所以，毫不奇怪，对我们体制的信心达到空前之低，特别是好消息不如坏消息引人注意的时候。人们每天接到一连串耸人听闻的消息或者丑闻，其中传递的信息是：变革是不可能的;你们的努力无济于事;你们无法消除现实生活与你们的理想生活之间的差距。
My job today is to tell you don’t believe it. Because as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher. I’ve seen your passion and I’ve seen your service. I’ve seen you engage and I’ve seen you turn out in record numbers. I’ve heard your voices amplified by creativity and a digital fluency that those of us in older generations can barely comprehend. I’ve seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course.
我今天的任务就是要告诉你们，不要相信这些说法。因为尽管困难很大，但我坚信你们的能力更大。我看到过你们的激情，我看到过你们的奉献。我看到过你们的投入，我看到过你们挺身而出，人数空前。我听到了你们的声音，创意和对数码技术的精通使得这种声音格外响亮，而我们这些年长的人几乎不得其解。我看到心情迫切、跃跃欲试的一代人准备跻身历史激流中，扭转其方向。
And that defiant, can-do spirit is what runs through the veins of American history. It’s the lifeblood of all our progress. And it is that spirit which we need your generation to embrace and rekindle right now.