第一篇：夢想與責(zé)任---奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的全國講話 中英演講稿大全

名人名校勵(lì)志演講：夢想與責(zé)任---奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的全國講話 中英演講稿

國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬2009年9月8日開學(xué)演講 英文全文 For Immediate Release September 8, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN A NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA'S SCHOOLCHILDREN

Wakefield High School Arlington, Virginia

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody!Thank you.Thank you.Thank you, everybody.All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat.How is everybody doing today?(Applause.)How about Tim Spicer?(Applause.)I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade.And I am just so glad that all could join us today.And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host.Give yourselves 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？（掌聲）蒂姆?斯派塞（Tim Spicer）好嗎？（掌聲）我現(xiàn)在與弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡韋克菲爾德高中的學(xué)生們在一起。美國各地從小學(xué)預(yù)備班到中學(xué)12年級的學(xué)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。（掌聲）

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school.And for 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 a little nervous.I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now--(applause)--with just one more year to go.And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.我知道，今天是你們很多人開學(xué)的日子。對于進(jìn)入小學(xué)預(yù)備班、初中或高中的學(xué)生，今天是你們來到新學(xué)校的第一天，心里可能有點(diǎn)緊張，這是可以理解的。我能想象有些畢業(yè)班學(xué)生現(xiàn)在感覺很不錯(cuò)——（掌聲）——還有一年就畢業(yè)了。不論在哪個(gè)年級，你們有些人可能希望暑假更長一點(diǎn)，今天早上還能多睡一小會(huì)兒。

I know that feeling.When I was young, my family lived overseas.I lived in Indonesia for a few years.And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education.So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday.But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.我了解這種感覺。我小時(shí)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(xué)校，但她認(rèn)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(bǔ)課。不過她還要上班，所以只能在清晨四點(diǎn)半給我上課。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early.And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table.But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”(Laughter.)

你們可以想見，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡著了。但每當(dāng)我抱怨的時(shí)候，我媽媽都會(huì)那樣地看我一眼，然后說：“小子，這對我也并不輕松?！保ㄐβ暎㏒o I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school.But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.我知道你們有些人還在適應(yīng)開學(xué)后的生活。但我今天來到這里是因?yàn)橛兄匾氖虑橐湍銈冋f。我來這里是要和你們談?wù)勀銈兊慕逃龁栴}，以及在這個(gè)新學(xué)年對你們所有人的期望。Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education.And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.我做過很多次有關(guān)教育問題的演講。我多次談到過責(zé)任問題。

I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.我談到過教師激勵(lì)學(xué)生并督促他們學(xué)習(xí)的責(zé)任。

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making 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 the Xbox.我談到過家長的責(zé)任，要確保你們走正路，完成家庭作業(yè)，不要整天坐在電視前或玩Xbox游戲。I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve.我多次談到過政府的責(zé)任，要制定高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，支持教師和校長的工作，徹底改善不能為學(xué)生提供應(yīng)有機(jī)會(huì)的、教育質(zhì)量差的學(xué)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 it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.然而，即使我們擁有最敬業(yè)的教師，最盡力的家長和全世界最好的學(xué)?！绻銈兇蠹也宦男心銈兊呢?zé)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，那么這一切都毫無用處，都無關(guān)緊要。這就是我今天講話的重點(diǎn)：你們每個(gè)人對自己的教育應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Every single one of you has something that you’re good at.Every single one of you has something to offer.And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.That’s the opportunity an education can provide.我首先要講講你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。你們每個(gè)人都有自己的長處。你們每個(gè)人都能做出自己的貢獻(xiàn)。你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任是發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的能力所在。而教育能夠提供這樣的機(jī)會(huì)。

Maybe you could be a great writer--maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper--but you might not know it until you write that English paper--that English class paper that’s assigned to you.Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor--maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine--but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class.Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice--but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.你或許能成為一名出色的作家——甚至可能寫書或在報(bào)紙上發(fā)表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文課的作文后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。你或許能成為一名創(chuàng)新者或發(fā)明家——甚至可能設(shè)計(jì)出新一代iPhone或研制出新型藥物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科學(xué)課的實(shí)驗(yàn)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)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(xué)生會(huì)的工作或辯論隊(duì)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。

And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.不論你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必須上學(xué)讀書才能實(shí)現(xiàn)它。你想當(dāng)醫(yī)生、教師或警官嗎？你想當(dāng)護(hù)士、建筑師、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(yè)。你不能指望輟學(xué)后能碰上個(gè)好工作。你必須接受培訓(xùn)，為之努力，為之學(xué)習(xí)。And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future.What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.The future of America depends on you.What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.這并非只對你個(gè)人的人生和未來意義重大。可以毫不夸大地說，教育給你帶來的益處將決定這個(gè)國家的未來。美國的未來取決于你們。你們今日在校學(xué)習(xí)的知識將決定我們作為一個(gè)國家是否能夠迎接我們未來所面臨的最嚴(yán)峻挑戰(zhàn)。

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.You’ll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.你們將需要利用你們通過自然科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)課程所學(xué)到的知識和解決問題的能力來治愈癌癥、艾滋病及其他疾病，開發(fā)新的能源技術(shù)和保護(hù)我們的環(huán)境。你們將需要利用你們在歷史學(xué)和社會(huì)學(xué)課堂上所獲得的知識和獨(dú)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(yǎng)的創(chuàng)造力和智慧來創(chuàng)辦新公司，增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，振興我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)。

We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems.If you don’t do that--if you quit on school--you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.我們需要你們每個(gè)人發(fā)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(xué)，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 well in school.I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.我自然知道要做到學(xué)業(yè)優(yōu)秀并非總是易事。我知道你們許多人在生活中面臨挑戰(zhàn)，難以集中精力從事學(xué)業(yè)。

I get it.I know what it’s like.My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us the things that other kids had.There were times when I missed having a father in my life.There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.我明白這一點(diǎn)。我有親身感受。兩歲時(shí)，我父親離家而去，我是由一位單親母親撫養(yǎng)成人的，母親不得不工作，并時(shí)常為支付生活費(fèi)用而苦苦掙扎，但有時(shí)仍無法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時(shí)，我渴望生活中能有一位父親。有時(shí)我感到孤獨(dú)，感到自己不適應(yīng)社會(huì)。So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I’m not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have.And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.我并非總是像我應(yīng)該做到的那樣專心學(xué)習(xí)，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(yīng)該惹的麻煩。我的人生原本會(huì)輕易陷入更糟糕的境地。

But I was--I was lucky.I got a lot of second chances, and I had the 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 parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have a lot of money.But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.但是，我當(dāng)年際遇不錯(cuò)。我有過許多第二次機(jī)會(huì)，我有幸能上大學(xué)，上法學(xué)院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾?奧巴馬，也有著類似的經(jīng)歷。她的父母都未曾上過大學(xué)，家里很窮。但他們非常勤奮，她也是如此，因此她得以進(jìn)入一些美國最好的學(xué)校。Some of you might not have those advantages.Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around.Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who 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?；蛟S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(yè)，經(jīng)濟(jì)非常拮據(jù)?；蛟S你們生活在使你們感覺不安全的社區(qū)，或有朋友逼迫你們?nèi)プ瞿銈冎啦粚Φ氖虑椤?/p>

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life--what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home--none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school.That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school.There is no excuse for not trying.然而說到底，你們生活的環(huán)境、你們的膚色、你們的原籍、你們的經(jīng)濟(jì)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(xué)、或輟學(xué)。沒有理由不付出努力。

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up.No one’s written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny.You make your own future.你們目前的狀況并不決定著你們的未來。沒有人決定你們的命運(yùn)，在美國，你們決定自己的命運(yùn)。你們掌握自己的未來。That’s what young people like you are 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 of her parents had gone to college.But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University--is now in graduate school, studying public 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(gè)例證，她剛開始上學(xué)時(shí)并不會(huì)說英文。她的父母都沒有上過大學(xué)。然而，她非常勤奮，成績優(yōu)秀，獲得了布朗大學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，她如今正在讀研究生，攻讀公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)，不久將成為賈茲敏?佩雷斯博士。I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three.He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer--hundreds of extra hours--to do his schoolwork.But he never fell behind.He’s headed to college this fall.我想起了加州洛斯阿爾托斯城的安多尼?舒爾茨（Andoni Schultz），他從三歲開始就一直與腦癌進(jìn)行抗?fàn)?，他不得不忍受各類治療和手術(shù)帶來的痛苦，其中一項(xiàng)手術(shù)曾影響了他的記憶，因此他花在功課上的時(shí)間比一般人長得多，要多出數(shù)百個(gè)小時(shí)。然而，他從未落后。他今年秋季將邁進(jìn)大學(xué)。And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.我還想起家鄉(xiāng)伊利諾伊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(qū)生活，寄養(yǎng)于多個(gè)不同的家庭，但她最終在一家地方醫(yī)療中心找到工作，并開始了一項(xiàng)幫助年輕人遠(yuǎn)離流氓團(tuán)伙的計(jì)劃，她即將以優(yōu)異成績從中學(xué)畢業(yè)，緊接著將上大學(xué)。And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you.They face challenges in their lives just like you do.In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you.But they refused to give up.They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.And I expect all of you to do the same.賈茲敏、安多尼和尚特爾與你們中間的每個(gè)人沒什么兩樣。跟你們一樣，他們在生活中面臨種種挑戰(zhàn)。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(fù)起責(zé)任，為自己設(shè)定各項(xiàng)奮斗目標(biāo)。我期待你們大家都會(huì)這樣做。

That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education--and do everything you can to meet them.Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book.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 or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn.Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.因此，我今天呼吁你們每一個(gè)人為自己的教育設(shè)定目標(biāo)，并盡自己的最大努力來實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)。你的目標(biāo)可以是一件十分簡單的事情，例如完成家庭作業(yè)、上課專心聽講、或每天花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間讀一本書。也許你會(huì)決定要參加課外活動(dòng)或在你的社區(qū)提供志愿服務(wù)。也許你會(huì)決定挺身而出保護(hù)那些因?yàn)樯矸莼蜷L相而受人戲弄或欺負(fù)的孩子，原因是你和我一樣認(rèn)為所有的年輕人都應(yīng)該享有一個(gè)適合讀書和學(xué)習(xí)的安全環(huán)境。也許你會(huì)決定更好地照料自己，以便有更充沛的精力來學(xué)習(xí)。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(shí)候要呆在家里不去上學(xué)，這樣我們能防止人們在今年秋冬季節(jié)染上流感。But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.I want you to really work at it.但無論你決定做什么，我希望你保證去做。我希望你腳踏實(shí)地地去做。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work--that your ticket to success is through rapping 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(shí)候你會(huì)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(fā)財(cái)致富并取得成功，唱小調(diào)、打籃球或成為真人秀明星是走向成功的途徑。但實(shí)際情況是：你可能不會(huì)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 every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute.And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.事實(shí)上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不會(huì)喜歡你學(xué)習(xí)的每一門課目。你不會(huì)與你的每一位老師都很投契。不是所有的家庭作業(yè)似乎都與你眼前的生活完全有關(guān)。你第一次嘗試做每件事的時(shí)候，不一定成功。

That’s okay.Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures.J.K.Rowling’s--who wrote Harry Potter--her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published.Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career.But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life.And that’s why I succeed.” 這些都沒關(guān)系。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。邁克爾?喬丹（Michael Jordan）曾被他的高中籃球隊(duì)除名。在喬丹的籃球生涯中，他輸過數(shù)百場比賽，有成千上萬個(gè)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’t let your failures define you--you have to let your failures teach you.You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time.So if you get into trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right.If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.這些人士獲得成功，因?yàn)樗麄兌茫耗悴荒茏屖硐拗颇?，而必須讓失敗來開導(dǎo)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，那并不表示你是麻煩的制造者，而意味著你需要更加努力去把它做對。如果你有一門課分?jǐn)?shù)低，那不表示你比別人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)。

No one’s born being good at all things.You become good at things through hard work.You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport.You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song.You’ve got to practice.The same principle applies to your schoolwork.You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right.You might have to read something a few times before you understand it.You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.沒有一個(gè)人天生擅長做各種事情。你通過勤奮而變得擅長于各種事情。第一次從事新的體育項(xiàng)目時(shí)，你不可能是一位主力隊(duì)員。第一次唱一首歌曲時(shí)，你不可能唱準(zhǔn)每個(gè)音。你必須練習(xí)。同樣的道理適用于你的學(xué)業(yè)。你可能要把一道數(shù)學(xué)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(yōu)美的作文之前，你肯定需要打幾遍草稿。Don’t be afraid to ask questions.Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.I do that every day.Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and that then allows you to learn something new.So find an adult that you trust--a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor--and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.不要害怕提問。不要在需要幫助時(shí)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(xiàn)，它是力量的標(biāo)志，因?yàn)樗砻髂阌杏職獬姓J(rèn)自己對某些事情不懂，這樣做會(huì)使你學(xué)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(dǎo)員，請他們幫助你遵循既定計(jì)劃實(shí)現(xiàn)你的目標(biāo)。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up 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(dāng)你苦苦掙扎、灰心喪氣、感到其他人對你不抱希望時(shí)，也不要對你自己喪失信心，因?yàn)楫?dāng)你自暴自棄時(shí)，你也拋棄了自己的國家。

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough.It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.書寫美國歷史的不是在困難時(shí)刻退縮的人，而是堅(jiān)持不懈、加倍努力的人，他們對國家的愛促使他們?nèi)σ愿啊?/p>

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation.Young people.Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war;who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.書寫美國歷史的是250年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們后來進(jìn)行了獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭并創(chuàng)建了這個(gè)國家。還有75年前坐在你們的位置上的年輕人和學(xué)生，他們走出了大蕭條并打贏了一場世界大戰(zhàn)；他們?yōu)槊駲?quán)而奮斗并把宇航員送上了月球。至于20年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們創(chuàng)辦了谷歌（Google）、嘰喳網(wǎng)（Twitter）和臉譜網(wǎng)（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 you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 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，你們將做出什么貢獻(xiàn)？你們將解決什么問題？你們將有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)？20年、50年或100年后來到這里講話的總統(tǒng)將會(huì)怎樣評價(jià)你們大家為這個(gè)國家所做的一切？

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions.I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books 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 get serious this year.I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do.I expect great things from each of you.So don’t let us down.Don’t let your family down or your country down.Most of all, don’t let yourself down.Make us all 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(xué)習(xí)所需的課本、設(shè)備和電腦。但你們也必須盡自己的努力。因此，我希望你們大家從今年起認(rèn)真對待這個(gè)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(gè)人都有出色的表現(xiàn)。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(fù)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 bless America.Thank you.(Applause.)非常感謝你們大家。愿主保佑你們。愿主保佑美國。謝謝你們。（掌聲）

第二篇：奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的中英演講稿

奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的全國講話 中英演講稿

“沒有什么是你們無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的，只要你們胸懷大志，只要你們愿意努力，只要你們專注于學(xué)習(xí)，” know that for many of you, today is the first day of school.And for 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 a little nervous.I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now--(applause)--with just one more year to go.我知道，今天是你們很多人開學(xué)的日子。對于進(jìn)入小學(xué)預(yù)備班、初中或高中的學(xué)生，今天是你們來到新學(xué)校的第一天，心里可能有點(diǎn)緊張，這是可以理解的。我能想象有些畢業(yè)班學(xué)生現(xiàn)在感覺很不錯(cuò)——（掌聲）——還有一年就畢業(yè)了。

I know that feeling.When I was young, my family lived overseas.I lived in Indonesia for a few years.And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education.So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday.我了解這種感覺。我小時(shí)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(xué)校，但她認(rèn)為必須讓我接受美式教育。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early.And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table.But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say

你們可以想見，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡著了。但每當(dāng)我抱怨的時(shí)候，我媽媽都會(huì)那樣地看我一眼

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school.But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.我知道你們有些人還在適應(yīng)開學(xué)后的生活。但我今天來到這里是因?yàn)橛兄匾氖虑橐湍銈冋f。我來這里是要和你們談?wù)勀銈兊慕逃龁栴}，以及在這個(gè)新學(xué)年對你們所有人的期望。

Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education.And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.我做過很多次有關(guān)教育問題的演講。我多次談到過責(zé)任問題。

I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.我談到過教師激勵(lì)學(xué)生并督促他們學(xué)習(xí)的責(zé)任。

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making 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 the Xbox.我談到過家長的責(zé)任，要確保你們走正路，完成家庭作業(yè)，不要整天坐在電視前或玩Xbox游戲。I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve.我多次談到過政府的責(zé)任，要制定高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，支持教師和校長的工作，徹底改善不能為學(xué)生提供應(yīng)有機(jī)會(huì)的、教育質(zhì)量差的學(xué)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 it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.That’s what I want to focus on today

然而，即使我們擁有最敬業(yè)的教師，最盡力的家長和全世界最好的學(xué)校——如果你們大家不履行你們的責(zé)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，那么這一切都毫無用處，都無關(guān)緊要。這就是我今天講話的重點(diǎn)

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Every single one of you has something that you’re good at.Every single one of you has something to offer.我首先要講講你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。你們每個(gè)人都有自己的長處。

Maybe you could be a great writer--maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper--but you might not know it until you write that English paper--that English class paper that’s assigned to you.Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor--maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine

你或許能成為一名出色的作家——甚至可能寫書或在報(bào)紙上發(fā)表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文課的作文后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。你或許能成為一名創(chuàng)新者或發(fā)明家——甚至可能設(shè)計(jì)出新一代iPhone或研制出新型藥物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科學(xué)課的實(shí)驗(yàn)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)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(xué)生會(huì)的工作或辯論隊(duì)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.不論你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必須上學(xué)讀書才能實(shí)現(xiàn)它。你想當(dāng)醫(yī)生、教師或警官嗎？你想當(dāng)護(hù)士、建筑師、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(yè)。你不能指望輟學(xué)后能碰上個(gè)好工作。你必須接受培訓(xùn)，為之努力，為之學(xué)習(xí)。

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future.What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.The future of America depends on you.What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.這并非只對你個(gè)人的人生和未來意義重大?？梢院敛豢浯蟮卣f，教育給你帶來的益處將決定這個(gè)國家的未來。美國的未來取決于你們。你們今日在校學(xué)習(xí)的知識將決定我們作為一個(gè)國家是否能夠迎接我們未來所面臨的最嚴(yán)峻挑戰(zhàn)。

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.You’ll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessne and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.你們將需要利用你們通過自然科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)課程所學(xué)到的知識和解決問題的能力來治愈癌癥、艾滋病及其他疾病，開發(fā)新的能源技術(shù)和保護(hù)我們的環(huán)境。你們將需要利用你們在歷史學(xué)和社會(huì)學(xué)課堂上所獲得的知識和獨(dú)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(yǎng)的創(chuàng)造力和智慧來創(chuàng)辦新公司，增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，振興我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)。We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems.If you don’t do that--if you quit on school--you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.我們需要你們每個(gè)人發(fā)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(xué)，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 well in school.I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.我自然知道要做到學(xué)業(yè)優(yōu)秀并非總是易事。我知道你們許多人在生活中面臨挑戰(zhàn)，難以集中精力從事學(xué)業(yè)。I get it.I know what it’s like.My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us the things that other kids had.There were times when I missed having a father in my life.There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.我明白這一點(diǎn)。我有親身感受。兩歲時(shí)，我父親離家而去，我是由一位單親母親撫養(yǎng)成人的，母親不得不工作，并時(shí)常為支付生活費(fèi)用而苦苦掙扎，但有時(shí)仍無法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時(shí)，我渴望生活中能有一位父親。有時(shí)我感到孤獨(dú)，感到自己不適應(yīng)社會(huì)。

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I’m not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have.And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.我并非總是像我應(yīng)該做到的那樣專心學(xué)習(xí)，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(yīng)該惹的麻煩。我的人生原本會(huì)輕易陷入更糟糕的境地。

But I was--I was lucky.I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportu, she has a similar story.Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have a lot of money.But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.但是，我當(dāng)年際遇不錯(cuò)。我有過許多第二次機(jī)會(huì)，我有幸能上大學(xué)，上法學(xué)院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾?奧巴馬，也有著類似的經(jīng)歷。她的父母都過大學(xué)，家里很窮。但他們非常勤奮，她也是如此，因此她得以進(jìn)入一些美國最好的學(xué)校。

Some of you might not have those advantages.Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.Maybe someone in your family has lor job and there’s not enough money to go around.Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who 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?；蛟S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(yè)，經(jīng)濟(jì)非常拮據(jù)。或許你們生活在使你們感覺不安全的社區(qū)，或有朋友逼迫你們?nèi)プ瞿銈冎啦粚Φ氖虑椤?/p>

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life--what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home--none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school.That’s no e for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school.There is no excuse for not trying.然而說到底，你們生活的環(huán)境、你們的膚色、你們的原籍、你們的經(jīng)濟(jì)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。你們沒有理從你們的老師、逃學(xué)、或輟學(xué)。沒有理由不付出努力。

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up.No one’s written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny.You make your own future.你們目前的狀況并不決定著你們的未來。沒有人決定你們的命運(yùn)，在美國，你們決定自己的命運(yùn)。你們掌握自己的未來。

That’s what young people like you are 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 of her parents had gone to college.But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University--is now in graduate school, studying public 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(gè)例證，她剛開始上學(xué)時(shí)并不會(huì)說英文。她的父母都沒有上過大學(xué)。然而，她非常勤奮，成績優(yōu)秀，獲得了布朗大學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，她如今正在讀研究生，攻讀公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)，不久將成為賈茲敏?佩雷斯博士。

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three.He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer--hundreds of extra hours--to do his schoolwork.But he never fell behind.He’s headed to college this fall.我想起了加州洛斯阿爾托斯城的安多尼?舒爾茨（Andoni Schultz），他從三歲開始就一直與腦癌進(jìn)行抗?fàn)帲坏貌蝗淌芨黝愔委熀褪中g(shù)帶來的痛苦，其中一項(xiàng)手術(shù)曾影響了他的記憶，因此他花在功課上的時(shí)間比一般人長得多，要多出數(shù)百個(gè)小時(shí)。然而，他從未落后。他今年秋季將邁進(jìn)大學(xué)。

And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you.They face challenges in their lives just like you do.In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you.But they refused to give up.They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.And I expect all of you to do the same.賈茲敏、安多尼和尚特爾與你們中間的每個(gè)人沒什么兩樣。跟你們一樣，他們在生活中面臨種種挑戰(zhàn)。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(fù)起責(zé)任，為自己設(shè)定各項(xiàng)奮斗目標(biāo)。我期待你們大家都會(huì)這樣做。That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education--and do everything you can to meet them.Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book.Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurri because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn.Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.因此，我今天呼吁你們每一個(gè)人為自己的教育設(shè)定目標(biāo)，并盡自己的最大努力來實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)。你的目標(biāo)可以是一件十分簡單的事情，例如完成家庭作業(yè)、上課專心聽講、或每天花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間讀一本書。也許你會(huì)決定要參加課外活動(dòng)或在你的有的年輕人都應(yīng)該享有一個(gè)適合讀書和學(xué)習(xí)的安全環(huán)境。也許你會(huì)決定更好地照料自己，以便有更充沛的精力來學(xué)習(xí)。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(shí)候要呆在家里不去上學(xué)，這樣我們能防止人們在今年秋冬季節(jié)染上流感。

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.I want you to really work at it.但無論你決定做什么，我希望你保證去做。我希望你腳踏實(shí)地地去做。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work--that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star.Chances are you’re not going to 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 every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute.And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.事實(shí)上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不會(huì)喜歡你學(xué)習(xí)的每一門課目。你不會(huì)與你的每一位老師都很投契。不是所有的家庭作業(yè)似乎都與你眼前的生活完全有關(guān)。你第一次嘗試做每件事的時(shí)候，不一定成功。That’s okay.Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures.J.K.Rowling’s--who wrote Harry Potter--her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published.這些都沒關(guān)系。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。邁克爾?喬丹（Michael Jordan）曾被他的高中籃球隊(duì)除名。在喬丹的籃球生涯中，他輸過數(shù)百場比賽，有成千上萬個(gè)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?！?/p>

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.I do that every day.Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strenge it shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and that then allows you to learn something new.So find an adult that you trust--a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor--and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.不要害怕提問。不要在需要幫助時(shí)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(xiàn)，它是力量的標(biāo)志，因?yàn)樗砻髂阌杏職獬姓J(rèn)自己對某些事情不懂，這樣做會(huì)使你學(xué)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(dǎo)員，請他們幫助你遵循既定計(jì)劃實(shí)現(xiàn)你的目標(biāo)。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don’t ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation.Young people.Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war;who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.書寫美國歷史的是250年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們后來進(jìn)行了獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭并創(chuàng)建了這個(gè)國家。還有75年前坐在你們的位置上的年輕人和學(xué)生，他們走出了大蕭條并打贏了一場世界大戰(zhàn)；他們?yōu)槊駲?quán)而奮斗并把宇航員送上了月球。至于20年前坐在你

So today, I want to ask all of you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 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，你們將做出什么貢獻(xiàn)？你們將解決什么問題？你們將有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)？20年、50年或100年后來到這里講話的總統(tǒng)將會(huì)怎樣評價(jià)你們大家為

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions.I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books and the equipment and the compeed to learn.But you’ve got to do your part, too.So I expect all of you to get serious this year.I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do.I expect great things from each of you.So don’t let us down.Don’t let your family down or your country down.Most of all, don’t let yourself down.Make us all 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(xué)習(xí)所需的課本、設(shè)備和電腦。但你們也必須盡自己的努力。因此，我希望你們大家從今年起認(rèn)真對待這個(gè)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(gè)人都有出色的表現(xiàn)。不要讓我們失望。不人或你們的國家失望。而最重要的是，不要辜負(fù)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 bless America.Thank you.(Applause.)非常感謝你們大家。愿主保佑你們。愿主保佑美國。謝謝你們。（掌聲）

第三篇：名人名校勵(lì)志演講：夢想與責(zé)任---奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的全國講話 中英演講稿

名人名校勵(lì)志演講：夢想與責(zé)任---奧巴馬對美國學(xué)生的全國講話 中英演講稿 “沒有什么是你們無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的，只要你們胸懷大志，只要你們愿意努力，只要你們專注于學(xué)習(xí)，”奧巴馬以“過來人”的姿態(tài)向美國的青少年發(fā)出這樣的呼吁。

know that for many of you, today is the first day of school.And for 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 a little nervous.I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now--(applause)--with just one more year to go.And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.我知道，今天是你們很多人開學(xué)的日子。對于進(jìn)入小學(xué)預(yù)備班、初中或高中的學(xué)生，今天是你們來到新學(xué)校的第一天，心里可能有點(diǎn)緊張，這是可以理解的。我能想象有些畢業(yè)班學(xué)生現(xiàn)在感覺很不錯(cuò)——（掌聲）——還有一年就畢業(yè)了。不論在哪個(gè)年級，你們有些人可能希望暑假更長一點(diǎn)，今天早上還能多睡一小會(huì)兒。

I know that feeling.When I was young, my family lived overseas.I lived in Indonesia for a few years.And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education.So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday.But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.我了解這種感覺。我小時(shí)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(xué)校，但她認(rèn)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(bǔ)課。不過她還要上班，所以只能在清晨四點(diǎn)半給我上課。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early.And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table.But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”(Laughter.)

你們可以想見，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡著了。但每當(dāng)我抱怨的時(shí)候，我媽媽都會(huì)那樣地看我一眼，然后說：“小子，這對我也并不輕松?！保ㄐβ暎?/p>

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school.But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.我知道你們有些人還在適應(yīng)開學(xué)后的生活。但我今天來到這里是因?yàn)橛兄匾氖虑橐湍銈冋f。我來這里是要和你們談?wù)勀銈兊慕逃龁栴}，以及在這個(gè)新學(xué)年對你們所有人的期望。

Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education.And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.我做過很多次有關(guān)教育問題的演講。我多次談到過責(zé)任問題。

I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.我談到過教師激勵(lì)學(xué)生并督促他們學(xué)習(xí)的責(zé)任。

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making 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 the Xbox.我談到過家長的責(zé)任，要確保你們走正路，完成家庭作業(yè)，不要整天坐在電視前或玩Xbox游戲。I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve.我多次談到過政府的責(zé)任，要制定高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，支持教師和校長的工作，徹底改善不能為學(xué)生提供應(yīng)有機(jī)會(huì)的、教育質(zhì)量差的學(xué)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 it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those

teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.然而，即使我們擁有最敬業(yè)的教師，最盡力的家長和全世界最好的學(xué)?！绻銈兇蠹也宦男心銈兊呢?zé)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，那么這一切都毫無用處，都無關(guān)緊要。這就是我今天講話的重點(diǎn)：你們每個(gè)人對自己的教育應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Every single one of you has something that you’re good at.Every single one of you has something to offer.And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.That’s the opportunity an education can provide.我首先要講講你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。你們每個(gè)人都有自己的長處。你們每個(gè)人都能做出自己的貢獻(xiàn)。你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任是發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的能力所在。而教育能夠提供這樣的機(jī)會(huì)。

Maybe you could be a great writer--maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper--but you might not know it until you write that English paper--that English class paper that’s assigned to you.Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor--maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine--but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class.Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice--but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.你或許能成為一名出色的作家——甚至可能寫書或在報(bào)紙上發(fā)表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文課的作文后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。你或許能成為一名創(chuàng)新者或發(fā)明家——甚至可能設(shè)計(jì)出新一代iPhone或研制出新型藥物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科學(xué)課的實(shí)驗(yàn)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)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(xué)生會(huì)的工作或辯論隊(duì)后才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才華。And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.不論你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必須上學(xué)讀書才能實(shí)現(xiàn)它。你想當(dāng)醫(yī)生、教師或警官嗎？你想當(dāng)護(hù)士、建筑師、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(yè)。你不能指望輟學(xué)后能碰上個(gè)好工作。你必須接受培訓(xùn)，為之努力，為之學(xué)習(xí)。

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future.What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.The future of America depends on you.What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.這并非只對你個(gè)人的人生和未來意義重大?？梢院敛豢浯蟮卣f，教育給你帶來的益處將決定這個(gè)國家的未來。美國的未來取決于你們。你們今日在校學(xué)習(xí)的知識將決定我們作為一個(gè)國家是否能夠迎接我們未來所面臨的最嚴(yán)峻挑戰(zhàn)。

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.You’ll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and

homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.你們將需要利用你們通過自然科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)課程所學(xué)到的知識和解決問題的能力來治愈癌癥、艾滋病及其他疾病，開發(fā)新的能源技術(shù)和保護(hù)我們的環(huán)境。你們將需要利用你們在歷史學(xué)和社會(huì)學(xué)課堂上所獲得的知識和獨(dú)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(yǎng)的創(chuàng)造力和智慧來創(chuàng)辦新公司，增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，振興我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)。We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems.If you don’t do that--if you quit on school--you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.我們需要你們每個(gè)人發(fā)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(xué)，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 well in school.I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.我自然知道要做到學(xué)業(yè)優(yōu)秀并非總是易事。我知道你們許多人在生活中面臨挑戰(zhàn)，難以集中精力從事學(xué)業(yè)。I get it.I know what it’s like.My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us the things that other kids had.There were times when I missed having a father in my life.There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.我明白這一點(diǎn)。我有親身感受。兩歲時(shí)，我父親離家而去，我是由一位單親母親撫養(yǎng)成人的，母親不得不工作，并時(shí)常為支付生活費(fèi)用而苦苦掙扎，但有時(shí)仍無法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時(shí)，我渴望生活中能有一位父親。有時(shí)我感到孤獨(dú)，感到自己不適應(yīng)社會(huì)。

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I’m not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have.And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.我并非總是像我應(yīng)該做到的那樣專心學(xué)習(xí)，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(yīng)該惹的麻煩。我的人生原本會(huì)輕易陷入更糟糕的境地。

But I was--I was lucky.I got a lot of second chances, and I had the 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 parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have a lot of money.But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.但是，我當(dāng)年際遇不錯(cuò)。我有過許多第二次機(jī)會(huì)，我有幸能上大學(xué)，上法學(xué)院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾?奧巴馬，也有著類似的經(jīng)歷。她的父母都未曾上過大學(xué)，家里很窮。但他們非常勤奮，她也是如此，因此她得以進(jìn)入一些美國最好的學(xué)校。

Some of you might not have those advantages.Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around.Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who 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?；蛟S你們生活中沒有成年人為你們提供你們所需要的支持?；蛟S

你們家中有人失業(yè)，經(jīng)濟(jì)非常拮據(jù)。或許你們生活在使你們感覺不安全的社區(qū)，或有朋友逼迫你們?nèi)プ瞿銈冎啦粚Φ氖虑椤?/p>

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life--what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home--none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school.That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school.There is no excuse for not trying.然而說到底，你們生活的環(huán)境、你們的膚色、你們的原籍、你們的經(jīng)濟(jì)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(xué)、或輟學(xué)。沒有理由不付出努力。

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up.No one’s written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny.You make your own future.你們目前的狀況并不決定著你們的未來。沒有人決定你們的命運(yùn)，在美國，你們決定自己的命運(yùn)。你們掌握自己的未來。

That’s what young people like you are 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 of her parents had gone to college.But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University--is now in graduate school, studying public 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(gè)例證，她剛開始上學(xué)時(shí)并不會(huì)說英文。她的父母都沒有上過大學(xué)。然而，她非常勤奮，成績優(yōu)秀，獲得了布朗大學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，她如今正在讀研究生，攻讀公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)，不久將成為賈茲敏?佩雷斯博士。

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three.He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer--hundreds of extra hours--to do his schoolwork.But he never fell behind.He’s headed to college this fall.我想起了加州洛斯阿爾托斯城的安多尼?舒爾茨（Andoni Schultz），他從三歲開始就一直與腦癌進(jìn)行抗?fàn)?，他不得不忍受各類治療和手術(shù)帶來的痛苦，其中一項(xiàng)手術(shù)曾影響了他的記憶，因此他花在功課上的時(shí)間比一般人長得多，要多出數(shù)百個(gè)小時(shí)。然而，他從未落后。他今年秋季將邁進(jìn)大學(xué)。And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.Even when bouncing from

foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.我還想起家鄉(xiāng)伊利諾伊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(qū)生活，寄養(yǎng)于多個(gè)不同的家庭，但她最終在一家地方醫(yī)療中心找到工作，并開始了一項(xiàng)幫助年輕人遠(yuǎn)離流氓團(tuán)伙的計(jì)劃，她即將以優(yōu)異成績從中學(xué)畢業(yè)，緊接著將上大學(xué)。

And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you.They face challenges in their lives just like you do.In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you.But they refused to give up.They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.And I expect all of you to do the same.賈茲敏、安多尼和尚特爾與你們中間的每個(gè)人沒什么兩樣。跟你們一樣，他們在生活中面臨種種挑戰(zhàn)。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(fù)起責(zé)任，為自己設(shè)定各項(xiàng)奮斗目標(biāo)。我期待你們大家都會(huì)這樣做。

That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education--and do everything you can to meet them.Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying

attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book.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 or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn.Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.因此，我今天呼吁你們每一個(gè)人為自己的教育設(shè)定目標(biāo)，并盡自己的最大努力來實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)。你的目標(biāo)可以是一件十分簡單的事情，例如完成家庭作業(yè)、上課專心聽講、或每天花一點(diǎn)時(shí)間讀一本書。也許你會(huì)決定要參加課外活動(dòng)或在你的社區(qū)提供志愿服務(wù)。也許你會(huì)決定挺身而出保護(hù)那些因?yàn)樯矸莼蜷L相而受人戲弄或欺負(fù)的孩子，原因是你和我一樣認(rèn)為所有的年輕人都應(yīng)該享有一個(gè)適合讀書和學(xué)習(xí)的安全環(huán)境。也許你會(huì)決定更好地照料自己，以便有更充沛的精力來學(xué)習(xí)。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(shí)候要呆在家里不去上學(xué)，這樣我們能防止人們在今年秋冬季節(jié)染上流感。But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.I want you to really work at it.但無論你決定做什么，我希望你保證去做。我希望你腳踏實(shí)地地去做。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work--that your ticket to success is through rapping 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(shí)候你會(huì)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(fā)財(cái)致富并取得成功，唱小調(diào)、打籃球或成為真人秀明星是走向成功的途徑。但實(shí)際情況是：你可能不會(huì)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 every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute.And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.事實(shí)上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不會(huì)喜歡你學(xué)習(xí)的每一門課目。你不會(huì)與你的每一位老師都很投契。不是所有的家庭作業(yè)似乎都與你眼前的生活完全有關(guān)。你第一次嘗試做每件事的時(shí)候，不一定成功。That’s okay.Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures.J.K.Rowling’s--who wrote Harry Potter--her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published.Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career.But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life.And that’s why I succeed.”

這些都沒關(guān)系。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。邁克爾?喬丹（Michael Jordan）曾被他的高中籃球隊(duì)除名。在喬丹的籃球生涯中，他輸過數(shù)百場比賽，有成千上萬個(gè)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’t let your failures define you--you have to let your failures teach you.You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time.So if you get into trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right.If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.這些人士獲得成功，因?yàn)樗麄兌茫耗悴荒茏屖硐拗颇悖仨氉屖黹_導(dǎo)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，那并不表示你是麻煩的制造者，而意

味著你需要更加努力去把它做對。如果你有一門課分?jǐn)?shù)低，那不表示你比別人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)。

No one’s born being good at all things.You become good at things through hard work.You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport.You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song.You’ve got to practice.The same principle applies to your schoolwork.You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right.You might have to read something a few times before you understand it.You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.沒有一個(gè)人天生擅長做各種事情。你通過勤奮而變得擅長于各種事情。第一次從事新的體育項(xiàng)目時(shí)，你不可能是一位主力隊(duì)員。第一次唱一首歌曲時(shí)，你不可能唱準(zhǔn)每個(gè)音。你必須練習(xí)。同樣的道理適用于你的學(xué)業(yè)。你可能要把一道數(shù)學(xué)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(yōu)美的作文之前，你肯定需要打幾遍草稿。

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.I do that every day.Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and that then allows you to learn something new.So find an adult that you trust--a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor--and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.不要害怕提問。不要在需要幫助時(shí)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(xiàn)，它是力量的標(biāo)志，因?yàn)樗砻髂阌杏職獬姓J(rèn)自己對某些事情不懂，這樣做會(huì)使你學(xué)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(dǎo)員，請他們幫助你遵循既定計(jì)劃實(shí)現(xiàn)你的目標(biāo)。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up 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(dāng)你苦苦掙扎、灰心喪氣、感到其他人對你不抱希望時(shí)，也不要對你自己喪失信心，因?yàn)楫?dāng)你自暴自棄時(shí)，你也拋棄了自己的國家。

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough.It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.書寫美國歷史的不是在困難時(shí)刻退縮的人，而是堅(jiān)持不懈、加倍努力的人，他們對國家的愛促使他們?nèi)σ愿啊?/p>

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation.Young people.Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war;who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.書寫美國歷史的是250年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們后來進(jìn)行了獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭并創(chuàng)建了這個(gè)國家。還有75年前坐在你們的位置上的年輕人和學(xué)生，他們走出了大蕭條并打贏了一場世界大戰(zhàn)；他們?yōu)槊駲?quán)而奮斗并把宇航員送上了月球。至于20年前坐在你們的位置上的學(xué)生，他們創(chuàng)辦了谷歌（Google）、嘰喳網(wǎng)（Twitter）和臉譜網(wǎng)（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 you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 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，你們將做出什么貢獻(xiàn)？你們將解決什么問題？你們將有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)？20年、50年或100年后來到這里講話的總統(tǒng)將會(huì)怎樣評價(jià)你們大家為這個(gè)國家所做的一切？

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the

education you need to answer these questions.I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books 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 get serious this year.I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do.I expect great things from each of you.So don’t let us down.Don’t let your family down or your country down.Most of all, don’t let yourself down.Make us all 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(xué)習(xí)所需的課本、設(shè)備和電腦。但你們也必須盡自己的努力。因此，我希望你們大家從今年起認(rèn)真對待這個(gè)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(gè)人都有出色的表現(xiàn)。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(fù)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 bless America.Thank you.(Applause.)非常感謝你們大家。愿主保佑你們。愿主保佑美國。謝謝你們。（掌聲）

第四篇：奧巴馬總統(tǒng)對美國學(xué)生的全國講話

奧巴馬總統(tǒng)對美國學(xué)生的全國講話

嗨，大家好！謝謝，謝謝大家！你們今天過得怎樣？蒂姆·斯派塞好嗎？ 我現(xiàn)在與弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡韋克菲爾德高中的學(xué)生們在一起，全國各地也有從幼兒園到高三的眾多的學(xué)生們通過電視關(guān)注這里。我很高興你們能共同分享這一時(shí)刻。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！我知道，對你們中的許多人來說，今天是開學(xué)的第一天，對于剛進(jìn)幼兒園或升上初中高中的學(xué)生，今天是你們來的新學(xué)校的第一天。一次，假如你們感到有些緊張那也是正常的。我想也會(huì)有許多畢業(yè)班的學(xué)生們正自信滿滿，還有一年就畢業(yè)了。不論在哪個(gè)年級，許多人打心底里希望現(xiàn)在還在放暑假，今天早上還能多睡一小會(huì)兒，我可以理解這份心情。

小時(shí)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(xué)校，但她認(rèn)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(bǔ)課，不過她還要上班。所以只能在清晨四點(diǎn)半給我上課。你們可以想象，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上酒睡著了。每當(dāng)我埋怨的時(shí)候，我媽媽總會(huì)用同一副表情看著我說：小鬼，你以為教你我很輕松？所以我能理解你們有些人還在適應(yīng)開學(xué)后的生活。但今天我站在這里，是為了和你們談一些重要的事情。

我要和你們談一談你們每個(gè)人的教育，以及在這個(gè)新學(xué)年對你們所有人的期望。我做過許多關(guān)于教育的講話，也常常用到“責(zé)任”這個(gè)詞，我談到過教師們有責(zé)任激勵(lì)你們，督促你們學(xué)習(xí)，我談到過家長們有責(zé)任確保你們走正道，完成家庭作業(yè)，不要成天只會(huì)看電視或打游戲機(jī)。我也多次談到過政府有責(zé)任制定高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，協(xié)助老師和校長們的工作，改變在有些學(xué)校學(xué)生得不到應(yīng)有學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)的現(xiàn)狀。但哪怕這一切都達(dá)到最好，哪怕我們擁有最敬業(yè)的教師，最盡力的家長和全世界最好的學(xué)校，家人你們不去履行自己的責(zé)任的話，那么這一切努力都會(huì)白費(fèi)。除非你每天準(zhǔn)時(shí)去上學(xué)，除非你認(rèn)真地聽老師講課，除非你把父母、長輩和其他大人們的話放在心上，除非你肯付出成功所必需的努力，否則這一切都會(huì)失去意義。而這是我今天講話的重點(diǎn)。你們每個(gè)人對自己的教育應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。我首先要講講你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。你們每個(gè)人都有自己的長處，你們每個(gè)人都是有用之才，你們對自己應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任是發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的才能所在，而教育能夠提供這樣的機(jī)會(huì)。

或許你能寫出優(yōu)美的文字，甚至有一天能讓那些文字出現(xiàn)在書籍或報(bào)刊上。但假如不在英語課上經(jīng)常練習(xí)寫作，你不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有這樣的才能；

或許你能成為一名創(chuàng)新者或發(fā)明家，甚至可能設(shè)計(jì)出新一代iPhone，或研制出新型藥物與疫苗。但假如不在自然科學(xué)課堂上做上幾次實(shí)驗(yàn)，你不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有這樣的才能； 或許你能成為一名市長或參議員，或最高法院的大法官。但假如你不去假如學(xué)生會(huì)或參加幾次辯論賽，你不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有這樣的才能。

不論你生活的志向是什么？我敢肯定你都需要相應(yīng)的教育。你想當(dāng)醫(yī)生、教師或警官嗎？你想當(dāng)護(hù)士、建筑師、律師或軍人嗎？你必需接受教育才能從事上述任何一種職業(yè)。你不能指望輟學(xué)后能碰上個(gè)好工作，你必須接受培訓(xùn)，為之努力，為之學(xué)習(xí)。這并非只對你個(gè)人的人生和未來意義重大，教育給你帶來的益處將決定這個(gè)國家的未來。美國的未來取決于你們！

今天你們在學(xué)校中學(xué)習(xí)的內(nèi)容將會(huì)決定我們整個(gè)國家在未來迎接重大挑戰(zhàn)時(shí)的表現(xiàn)。你們需要在數(shù)理科學(xué)課程上學(xué)習(xí)的知識和技能，去治療癌癥、艾滋那樣的疾病，開發(fā)新的能源技術(shù)，保護(hù)我們的環(huán)境。你們需要?dú)v史社科課程上獲得的工程里與判斷力來抗擊貧困和解決無家可歸問題，打擊罪犯和消除歧視，讓這個(gè)國家變得更加公平和自由。你們需要在各類課程中逐漸培養(yǎng)的創(chuàng)造力和智慧去創(chuàng)辦新公司，制造就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)和推動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長。我們需要你們每個(gè)人都發(fā)揮天賦、技能和才智，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(xué)，那么你們不僅僅是放棄了自己，也是放棄了國家。

我當(dāng)然明白讀好書并不總是件容易的事，我知道你們中的許多人在生活中面臨著各種問題，很難把精力集中在專心讀書上。我明白這一點(diǎn)，我有親身感受。我父親在我兩歲時(shí)就離開了家庭，是我母親一人將我拉扯大。母親不得不工作，并時(shí)常為支付生活費(fèi)用而苦苦掙扎。但有時(shí)仍無法為我們提供其他孩子享有的東西。有時(shí)我渴望生活中能有一位父親，有時(shí)我會(huì)感到孤獨(dú)無助，感覺與周圍的環(huán)境格格不入。我并非總是像我應(yīng)該做到的那樣專心學(xué)習(xí)，我做過許多自己覺得丟臉的事情，也惹出過許多不該惹的麻煩，我的生活岌岌可危，隨時(shí)可能急轉(zhuǎn)直下。但我很幸運(yùn)，我在許多事上都得到了重來的機(jī)會(huì)。我有幸上大學(xué)，上法學(xué)院，追求自己的理想。我的妻子，我們的第一夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬也有相似的人生故事。她的父母都沒讀過大學(xué)，也沒什么財(cái)產(chǎn)，打他們都非常勤奮，她也是如此，一次她得以進(jìn)入一些美國最好的學(xué)校。你們中有些人可能沒有那些有利條件，或許你的生活中沒有能為你提供幫助的長輩，或許你們家中有人失業(yè)，經(jīng)濟(jì)非常拮據(jù)，或許你住的市區(qū)不那么安全，或許你認(rèn)識一些對你產(chǎn)生不良影響的朋友。但歸根結(jié)底，你的生活狀況、你的長相、出身、經(jīng)濟(jì)條件、家庭氛圍都不是疏忽學(xué)業(yè)和態(tài)度惡劣的借口。這些不是你去跟老師頂嘴、逃課或輟學(xué)的借口，這些不是你不好好讀書的借口。

你們目前的狀況并不決定著你們的未來，沒有人為你編排好你的命運(yùn)。在美國，你的命運(yùn)由你自己書寫，你的未來由你自己掌握。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。例如德克薩斯州羅馬市的賈思敏·佩雷茲，她剛進(jìn)學(xué)校時(shí)不會(huì)說英語，她的父母都沒有上過大學(xué)。然而，她非常勤奮，成績優(yōu)異，獲得了布朗大學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，如今正攻讀公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)的研究生，不久將成為賈思敏·佩雷茲博士。我還想起了加州洛斯拉圖斯市的安多尼·舒爾茲，他從三歲起就開始與腦癌病魔作斗爭。他熬過了一次次治療與手術(shù)，其中一項(xiàng)手術(shù)曾影響力他的記憶，一次他得比常人多花幾百小時(shí)來完成作業(yè)，但他從不曾落下自己的功課。這個(gè)秋天，他要開始在大學(xué)讀書了。我還想起家鄉(xiāng)伊利諾伊州芝加哥市的一名孤兒香特爾·史蒂夫，她曾寄養(yǎng)于多個(gè)不同的家庭，從小在治安很差的地區(qū)長大。但她通過努力在一家地方醫(yī)療中心找到工作，發(fā)起了一個(gè)讓青少年遠(yuǎn)離犯罪團(tuán)伙的項(xiàng)目，他即將以優(yōu)異成績從中學(xué)畢業(yè)去大學(xué)深造。賈思敏、安多尼和香特爾與你們并沒有什么不同，和你們一樣，他們也在生活中遭遇各種問題。在在某些情況下，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人生、自己的教育負(fù)起責(zé)任，給自己定下奮斗目標(biāo)。我希望你們中的每一個(gè)人都能做到這些。

因此，我今天號召你們每一個(gè)人為自己的教育設(shè)定目標(biāo)，并盡自己最大努力來實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)。你的目標(biāo)可以很簡單，像是完成作業(yè)、認(rèn)真聽講或每天閱讀，或許你打算參加一些課外活動(dòng)，或在你的社區(qū)提供志愿服務(wù)，或許你會(huì)挺身而出保護(hù)那些因身份或長相而受人欺負(fù)的孩子。原因是你和我一樣認(rèn)為，每個(gè)孩子都應(yīng)該享有適合讀書和學(xué)習(xí)的安全環(huán)境。或許你決定該學(xué)著更好地照顧自己，為將來的學(xué)習(xí)做準(zhǔn)備。除此之外，順便提一下，我希望大家要勤洗手，感到身體不舒服的時(shí)候要多在家休息，免得大家在秋冬感冒高發(fā)季節(jié)都得流感。

但無論你決定做什么我都希望你能堅(jiān)持到底，我希望你腳踏實(shí)地去做。我知道有時(shí)候你會(huì)從電視上得到這樣的印象：不需要付出多大的努力就能腰纏萬貫、功成名就。只要會(huì)rap、會(huì)打籃球或參加真人秀節(jié)目就能坐享其成。但現(xiàn)實(shí)是，你幾乎沒有可能走上其中任何一條道路。事實(shí)上，取得成功不是輕而易舉的事情。你不可能對要讀的每門課程都興趣盎然，你不可能和每名帶課老師都相處順利，不是所有的家庭作業(yè)都與你眼前的生活完全有關(guān)，并不是每件事情，你都能在頭一次嘗試時(shí)獲得成功。但那沒關(guān)系！世界上最成功的人士中有一些是遭遇失敗最多的。J.k.羅琳，《哈利·波特》的作者，她的《哈利·波特》第一部在出版前被退稿12次；邁克爾·喬丹上高中時(shí)被?；@球隊(duì)刷了下來，在他的職業(yè)生涯里，他輸了幾百場球，投失過幾千次射籃，但她曾說過：我一生不停地失敗、失敗再失敗，這就是我成功的原因！

他們的成功，源于他們明白不能讓失敗左右自己，而是要從中吸取教訓(xùn)，從失敗中，你能明白下一次可以做出怎樣的改變。假如你惹了什么麻煩，那并不說明你就是個(gè)搗蛋鬼，而意味著你需要更加努力去把它做好。假如你考了個(gè)低分，那不表示你比別人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)。沒有一個(gè)人天生擅長做什么事情，只有努力才能培養(yǎng)出技能。第一次接觸新的體育項(xiàng)目時(shí)，你不可能是一位主力隊(duì)員，第一次唱一首歌時(shí)，你不可能唱準(zhǔn)每個(gè)音。一切都是熟能生巧的！對于學(xué)業(yè)也是一樣，你或許要反復(fù)運(yùn)算才能正確解出一道數(shù)學(xué)題，你或許需要反復(fù)讀一段文字才能理解它的意思，你或許得把論文改上好幾次才能符合提交的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。不要害怕提問，不要不敢向他人求助，我每天都在這么做。求助并不是軟弱的表現(xiàn)，它是力量的標(biāo)志！因?yàn)樗砻髂阌杏職獬姓J(rèn)自己的不足，這樣做會(huì)使你學(xué)到新的東西。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(dǎo)員，請他們幫助你遵循既定計(jì)劃實(shí)現(xiàn)你的目標(biāo)。

即使你苦苦掙扎，即使當(dāng)你灰心喪氣，你覺得身邊的人都已經(jīng)放棄了你，永遠(yuǎn)不要自己放棄自己！因?yàn)楫?dāng)你放棄自己的時(shí)候，你也放棄了自己的國家。書寫美國歷史的不是在困難時(shí)刻退縮的人，而是堅(jiān)持不懈、加倍努力的人。他們對國家的愛促使他們?nèi)σ愿?。書寫美國歷史的是250年前和你們一樣的學(xué)生，他們之后用一場革命最終造就了這個(gè)國家；75年前，有一群和你們一樣的學(xué)生，他們之后戰(zhàn)勝了大蕭條、贏得了二戰(zhàn)，他們?yōu)槊駲?quán)而奮斗并把宇航員送上月球；就在20年前，有一群和你們一樣的學(xué)生，他們后來創(chuàng)立了Google、Twitter和Facebook，改變了我們之間交流溝通的方式。

因此，今天我要問問你們大家，你們會(huì)做什么樣的貢獻(xiàn)？你們將解決什么樣的難題？你們能發(fā)現(xiàn)什么樣的事物？20年、50年或100年后，假如那時(shí)的美國總統(tǒng)也來做一次開學(xué)演講的話，他會(huì)怎樣描述你們對這個(gè)國家所做的一切？你們的家長、你們的老師和我正在竭盡全力確保你們都能等到應(yīng)有的教育以便回答上述問題。我正在努力為你們提供更安全的教室、更多的書籍、更先進(jìn)的設(shè)施與計(jì)算機(jī)。但你們也要擔(dān)起自己的責(zé)任！因此我要求你們在今年能夠認(rèn)真起來，我要求你們盡心地去做自己著手的每一件事，我要求你們每一個(gè)人都有所成就！請不要讓我們失望！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(fù)你們自己！你們要成為我們的驕傲！

非常感謝你們大家！

第五篇：奧巴馬對敘利亞白宮講話(中英全文)

Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Syria

奧巴馬總統(tǒng)就敘利亞問題向全國發(fā)表講話

East Room, Washington, D.C.東廳，華盛頓哥倫比亞特區(qū)

September 10, 2012013年9月10日

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria--why it matters, and where we go from here.我的美國同胞們，今晚我想對你們談?wù)剶⒗麃唵栴}--為什么此事很重要，從現(xiàn)在開始我們將做些什么。

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war.Over 100,000 people have been killed.Millions have fled the country.In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement.But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.過去兩年來，最初為反對巴沙爾阿薩德專制政權(quán)舉行的一系列和平示威演變成一場殘酷的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。有100,000多人被殺害。數(shù)百萬人逃離這個(gè)國家。在此期間，美國與各盟國一起提供人道主義援助，幫助溫和的反對派，并努力促成政治解決。但是我拒絕了關(guān)于采取軍事行動(dòng)的要求，因?yàn)槲覀儫o法通過武力解決別國的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)問題，特別是在伊拉克和阿富汗經(jīng)過了10年戰(zhàn)爭之后。

The situation profoundly changed, though, on August 21st, when Assad’s government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children.The images from this massacre are sickening: Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas.Others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath.A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons, and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off-limits--a crime against humanity, and a violation of the laws of war.8月21日，局勢出現(xiàn)了巨大的變化。當(dāng)時(shí)，阿薩德政府使用毒氣殺害了一千多民眾，其中包括數(shù)百名兒童。這場大屠殺的情景令人慘不忍睹：男子、婦女、兒童橫尸遍地，都是因?yàn)橹卸旧硗觥Ａ硪恍┤丝谕掳啄粑舷?。一位父親摟著死去的孩子們，還在哀求他們站起來走走。在那個(gè)可怕的夜晚，全世界通過慘絕人寰的詳盡畫面親眼目睹化學(xué)武器的恐怖性質(zhì)。這也說明為什么人類絕大多數(shù)宣布禁止使用這類武器——使用這類武器屬于反人類的罪行，也違反了戰(zhàn)爭法。

This was not always the case.In World War I, American GIs were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in the trenches of Europe.In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horror of the Holocaust.Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them.And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, now joined by 189 governments that represent 98 percent of humanity.事情往往沒有那么簡單。在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，數(shù)以千萬計(jì)的人在歐洲的戰(zhàn)壕中被致命的毒氣殺害，美國士兵也在其中。在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，納粹使用毒氣制造了大屠殺的慘劇。由于這類武器可以大規(guī)模殺人害命，不論他們是士兵還是嬰兒，文明世界花了一個(gè)世紀(jì)的時(shí)間努力禁止這類武器。1997年，美國參議院以壓倒多數(shù)批準(zhǔn)禁止使用化學(xué)武器的國際公約，現(xiàn)已有代表全人類98%的189個(gè)政府參加這項(xiàng)國際公約。

On August 21st, these basic rules were violated, along with our sense of common humanity.No one disputes that chemical weapons were used in Syria.The world saw thousands of videos, cell phone pictures, and social media accounts from the attack, and humanitarian organizations told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas.8月21日，這些基本準(zhǔn)則受到破壞，我們關(guān)于共同人性的信念被踐踏。對于化學(xué)武器在敘利亞已經(jīng)被使用一事，已沒有人提出質(zhì)疑。全世界從數(shù)千份視頻、手機(jī)攝像和社會(huì)媒體條目上都看到這次襲擊事件的情景。人道主義組織也提供了有關(guān)報(bào)道，指出一些醫(yī)院人滿為患，患者出現(xiàn)毒氣中毒的癥狀。

Moreover, we know the Assad regime was responsible.In the days leading up to August 21st, we know that Assad’s chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas.They distributed gasmasks to their troops.Then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces.Shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread, and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded.We know senior figures in Assad’s military machine reviewed the results of the attack, and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed.We’ve also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin.此外，我們知道阿薩德政權(quán)應(yīng)為此負(fù)責(zé)。在8月21日前的幾天，我們知道阿薩德的化學(xué)武器人員為了準(zhǔn)備發(fā)動(dòng)襲擊，在鄰近地區(qū)配制沙林毒氣。他們向自己的軍隊(duì)發(fā)放了防毒面具。然后他們從該政權(quán)控制的地區(qū)向附近的11個(gè)小區(qū)發(fā)射火箭，該政權(quán)正企圖在這些地區(qū)清除反對派武裝?；鸺涞睾蟛痪?，毒氣就開始蔓延，醫(yī)院里到處都是死傷的人員。我們知道阿薩德軍事機(jī)器的高級要員察看了襲擊的結(jié)果，此后幾天該政權(quán)加強(qiáng)了對這些小區(qū)進(jìn)行炮擊的火力。我們還檢驗(yàn)了從現(xiàn)場人員身上取得的血液和毛發(fā)樣品，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)呈沙林陽性。When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory.But these things happened.The facts cannot be denied.The question now is what the United States of America, and the international community, is prepared to do about it.Because what happened to those people--to those children--is not only a violation of international law, it’s also a danger to our security.當(dāng)獨(dú)裁者采取罪惡行動(dòng)時(shí)，他們期待全世界對此不聞不問，直到這些慘無人道的景象從記憶中漸漸消失。但這些情況千真萬確。事實(shí)不可否認(rèn)?，F(xiàn)在的問題是，美利堅(jiān)合眾國和國際社會(huì)準(zhǔn)備對此采取什么行動(dòng)。因?yàn)檫@些民眾—這些兒童—的遭遇不僅僅涉及違反國際法的行為，而且也對我國安全造成威脅。

Let me explain why.If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons.As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them.Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield.And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.請讓我說明這是為什么。如果我們不采取行動(dòng)，阿薩德政權(quán)就會(huì)認(rèn)為沒有理由停止使用化學(xué)武器。一旦禁止使用這類武器的禁令受到侵蝕，其他專制暴君也會(huì)毫不猶豫地獲得毒氣并投入使用。長此以往，我國軍隊(duì)在戰(zhàn)場上將再次面臨化學(xué)戰(zhàn)的局面。恐怖主義組織也更容易獲得這類武器并使用這些武器襲擊平民。

If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan, and Israel.And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction, and embolden Assad’s ally, Iran--which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon, or to take a more peaceful path.如果戰(zhàn)火蔓延到敘利亞邊境之外，這些武器會(huì)對土耳其、約旦和以色列等盟國造成威脅。如果不制止使用化學(xué)武器的行為，對其他大規(guī)模毀滅性武器的禁令也會(huì)被削弱，使阿薩德的盟國伊朗更膽大妄為--伊朗必須作出抉擇，是以制造核武器對抗國際法，還是走上更和平的道路。

This is not a world we should accept.This is what’s at stake.And that is why, after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike.The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime’s ability to use them, and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.這不是我們應(yīng)接受的世界。這是利害攸關(guān)所在。正因?yàn)槿绱?，在?jīng)過審慎研究后，我斷定，以有針對性的軍事打擊回應(yīng)阿薩德政權(quán)動(dòng)用化學(xué)武器的行徑符合美國國家安全利益。打擊是為了制止阿薩德使用化學(xué)武器，削弱該政權(quán)使用化學(xué)武器的能力，并向世界表明，我們決不容使用化學(xué)武器。

That’s my judgment as Commander-in-Chief.But I’m also the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy.So even though I possess the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress.I believe our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress.And I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together.這是我作為全軍統(tǒng)帥的判斷。然而我也是世界最悠久的憲政民主國家的總統(tǒng)。因此，雖然我有權(quán)下令進(jìn)行軍事打擊，但我認(rèn)為，在我們的安全沒有受到直接和緊迫威脅的情況下，應(yīng)該將此提交國會(huì)辯論。我認(rèn)為，總統(tǒng)的行動(dòng)得到國會(huì)支持會(huì)使我們的民主制更有力。我認(rèn)為，我們的團(tuán)結(jié)一致會(huì)使美國能夠更有效地在海外展開行動(dòng)。

This is especially true after a decade that put more and more war-making power in the hands of the President, and more and more burdens on the shoulders of our troops, while sidelining the people’s representatives from the critical decisions about when we use force.由于十年來總統(tǒng)的戰(zhàn)爭決定權(quán)越來越大，我們軍隊(duì)的負(fù)擔(dān)越來越多，而在事關(guān)我們何時(shí)動(dòng)武的重大決定中人民代表作用旁落，這一點(diǎn)尤其如此。

Now, I know that after the terrible toll of Iraq and Afghanistan, the idea of any military action, no matter how limited, is not going to be popular.After all, I’ve spent four and a half years working to end wars, not to start them.Our troops are out of Iraq.Our troops are coming home from Afghanistan.And I know Americans want all of us in Washington--especially me--to concentrate on the task of building our nation here at home: putting people back to work, educating our kids, growing our middle class.我知道，在付出伊拉克和阿富汗的沉重代價(jià)后，任何有關(guān)軍事行動(dòng)的設(shè)想，無論多么有限，都不會(huì)受歡迎。畢竟，我已經(jīng)用了四年半的時(shí)間努力結(jié)束戰(zhàn)爭，而不是開始戰(zhàn)爭。我們的軍隊(duì)現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)撤出伊拉克。我們的軍隊(duì)正在從阿富汗返回家園。而且我知道，美國人民希望我們在華盛頓的所有人——特別是我——集中精力進(jìn)行國內(nèi)建設(shè)：讓人們重返工作崗位，讓我們的孩子受教育，壯大我們的中產(chǎn)階層。

It’s no wonder, then, that you’re asking hard questions.So let me answer some of the most important questions that I’ve heard from members of Congress, and that I’ve read in letters that you’ve sent to me.所以，毫不奇怪，你們提出了尖銳的問題。那么就讓我來回答一些我從國會(huì)議員那里聽到和從你們給我的來信中讀到的最重要的問題。

First, many of you have asked, won’t this put us on a slippery slope to another war? One man wrote to me that we are “still recovering from our involvement in Iraq.” A veteran put it more bluntly: “This nation is sick and tired of war.”

首先，你們許多人問，這樣做不是將導(dǎo)致我們跌入另一場戰(zhàn)爭嗎？一位給我來信的人寫道，我們“還在從對伊拉克的介入的恢復(fù)中”。一位退伍軍人更直截了當(dāng)?shù)貙懙溃骸斑@個(gè)國家厭倦戰(zhàn)爭?！?/p>

My answer is simple: I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria.I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan.I will not pursue a prolonged air campaign like Libya or Kosovo.This would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective: deterring the use of chemical weapons, and degrading Assad’s capabilities.我的回答簡單明了：我不會(huì)向敘利亞派遣美國地面軍隊(duì)。我不會(huì)開展像在伊拉克或阿富汗的那種無限期行動(dòng)。我不會(huì)進(jìn)行像在利比亞或科索沃那樣的長期空中行動(dòng)。這將是為達(dá)到一個(gè)明確目標(biāo)而進(jìn)行的有針對性的打擊：防止使用化學(xué)武器，削弱阿薩德的能力。

Others have asked whether it’s worth acting if we don’t take out Assad.As some members of Congress have said, there’s no point in simply doing a “pinprick” strike in Syria.還有些人質(zhì)疑，如果我們不推翻阿薩德，這種行動(dòng)是否值得。正像一些國會(huì)成員所說，對敘利亞給予“輕扎”的一擊毫無意義。

Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver.I don’t think we should remove another dictator with force--we learned from Iraq that doing so makes us responsible for all that comes next.But a targeted strike can make Assad, or any other dictator, think twice before using chemical weapons.請讓我明確一點(diǎn)：美國軍隊(duì)不作輕扎之舉。即使是有限打擊也將對阿薩德傳遞任何其他國家都無法傳遞的信息。我不認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該用武力再去推翻一個(gè)獨(dú)裁者——我們從伊拉克懂得，這樣做意味著我們要承擔(dān)隨后的所有一切。但是，有限的打擊能夠讓阿薩德，或任何其他獨(dú)裁者，在動(dòng)用化學(xué)武器前三思。

Other questions involve the dangers of retaliation.We don’t dismiss any threats, but the Assad regime does not have the ability to seriously threaten our military.Any other retaliation they might seek is in line with threats that we face every day.Neither Assad nor his allies have any interest in escalation that would lead to his demise.And our ally, Israel, can defend itself with overwhelming force, as well as the unshakeable support of the United States of America.其他一些提問涉及報(bào)復(fù)的危險(xiǎn)。我們不排除任何威脅，但是阿薩德政權(quán)沒有能力對我們的軍隊(duì)構(gòu)成嚴(yán)重威脅。他們有可能圖謀的任何報(bào)復(fù)手段與我們每天面臨的威脅并無兩樣。阿薩德和他的同伙都不會(huì)希望加劇導(dǎo)致自身滅亡。我們的盟友以色列能夠依靠其壓倒性的軍事力量和美利堅(jiān)合眾國堅(jiān)定不移的支持實(shí)現(xiàn)自衛(wèi)。

Many of you have asked a broader question: Why should we get involved at all in a place that’s so complicated, and where--as one person wrote to me--“those who come after Assad may be enemies of human rights?”

你們許多人提出了一個(gè)更宏觀的問題：我們到底為什么要介入一個(gè)如此復(fù)雜的地方，在那里——就像一位人士寫給我的——“接替阿薩德的人也許與人權(quán)為敵？”

It’s true that some of Assad’s opponents are extremists.But al Qaeda will only draw strength in a more chaotic Syria if people there see the world doing nothing to prevent innocent civilians from being gassed to death.The majority of the Syrian people--and the Syrian opposition we work with--just want to live in peace, with dignity and freedom.And the day after any military action, we would redouble our efforts to achieve a political solution that strengthens those who reject the forces of tyranny and extremism.確實(shí)，在阿薩德的反對派中有些是極端主義分子。但是，如果人們看到世界對防止無辜平民遭毒氣殺害無動(dòng)于衷，那只會(huì)使“基地”組織（al Qaeda）在變得更加混亂的敘利亞得勢。大多數(shù)敘利亞人——以及我們與之合作的敘利亞反對派——僅希望過和平、有尊嚴(yán)和自由的生活。在任何軍事行動(dòng)過后，我們都將加倍努力實(shí)現(xiàn)政治解決，增強(qiáng)那些抵制暴政與極端主義的力量。

Finally, many of you have asked: Why not leave this to other countries, or seek solutions short of force? As several people wrote to me, “We should not be the world’s policeman.”

最后，你們很多人都問道：為什么不把這個(gè)問題留給其他國家，為什么不尋求不使用武力的解決方式？有些人致信給我時(shí)寫道：“我們不應(yīng)充當(dāng)世界警察。”

I agree, and I have a deeply held preference for peaceful solutions.Over the last two years, my administration has tried diplomacy and sanctions, warning and negotiations--but chemical weapons were still used by the Assad regime.我對此表示贊同，而且我深信應(yīng)優(yōu)先考慮和平解決。兩年來，本屆政府采用過外交方式、實(shí)施過制裁、發(fā)出過警告并進(jìn)行過談判——但阿薩德政權(quán)卻依然使用了化學(xué)武器。

However, over the last few days, we’ve seen some encouraging signs.In part because of the credible threat of U.S.military action, as well as constructive talks that I had with President Putin, the Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons.The Assad regime has now admitted that it has these weapons, and even said they’d join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits their use.不過，我們在最近幾天看到了一些積極跡象。在一定程度上由于美國要采取軍事行動(dòng)的有力威懾，以及我與普京總統(tǒng)進(jìn)行的建設(shè)性會(huì)談，俄羅斯政府已表示愿意加入國際社會(huì)的行列，迫使阿薩德放棄其化學(xué)武器。阿薩德政權(quán)現(xiàn)已承認(rèn)擁有這類武器，甚至表示要加入禁止使用這類武器的《禁止化學(xué)武器公約》。

It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments.But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad’s strongest allies.確定這個(gè)方案是否可行現(xiàn)在還為時(shí)過早，而且任何一項(xiàng)協(xié)議都必須核實(shí)阿薩德政權(quán)遵守承諾的情況。但這項(xiàng)提案有可能在不使用武力的情況下消除化學(xué)武器的威脅，尤其是因?yàn)槎砹_斯是阿薩德最牢靠的盟友之一。

I have, therefore, asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path.I’m sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin.I’ve spoken to the leaders of two of our closest allies, France and the United Kingdom, and we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the U.N.Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons, and to ultimately destroy them under international control.We’ll also give U.N.inspectors the opportunity to report their findings about what happened on August 21st.And we will continue to rally support from allies from Europe to the Americas--from Asia to the Middle East--who agree on the need for action.因此，在我們探求這個(gè)外交途徑的同時(shí)，我已要求國會(huì)領(lǐng)袖推遲就授權(quán)使用武力進(jìn)行投票。我將派國務(wù)卿約翰·克里于本周四同俄羅斯外長見面，我也將繼續(xù)同普京總統(tǒng)進(jìn)行商談。我已同我們最親密的兩個(gè)盟國——法國和英國——的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人交談過，我們將與俄羅斯和中國磋商，共同努力在聯(lián)合國安理會(huì)提出一項(xiàng)決議，要求阿薩德必須放棄化學(xué)武器，并在國際監(jiān)控下最終銷毀它們。我們還將讓聯(lián)合國核查人員有機(jī)會(huì)報(bào)告他們對8月21日所發(fā)生的一切的調(diào)查結(jié)果。我們也將繼續(xù)爭取同樣認(rèn)為有必要采取行動(dòng)的盟友的支持——從歐洲到美洲、從亞洲到中東。

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad, and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.And tonight, I give thanks again to our military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.與此同時(shí)，我已命令我軍保持他們目前的態(tài)勢，以便繼續(xù)向阿薩德施壓，并在外交失效的情況下能夠作出應(yīng)對。今晚，我再次感謝我軍軍人及其家屬的無比堅(jiān)強(qiáng)以及他們付出的巨大犧牲。

My fellow Americans, for nearly seven decades, the United States has been the anchor of global security.This has meant doing more than forging international agreements--it has meant enforcing them.The burdens of leadership are often heavy, but the world is a better place because we have borne them.我的美國同胞們，近70年來，美國一直是全球安全的支柱。這不僅意味著締結(jié)國際協(xié)定——而且意味著嚴(yán)格執(zhí)行國際協(xié)定。發(fā)揮領(lǐng)導(dǎo)作用的擔(dān)子往往是沉重的，但正因?yàn)槲覀円殉袚?dān)起這個(gè)重?fù)?dān)，這個(gè)世界才變得更加美好。

And so, to my friends on the right, I ask you to reconcile your commitment to America’s military might with a failure to act when a cause is so plainly just.To my friends on the left, I ask you to reconcile your belief in freedom and dignity for all people with those images of children writhing in pain, and going still on a cold hospital floor.For sometimes resolutions and statements of condemnation are simply not enough.因此，我要請右翼的朋友們想一想，以你們對美國強(qiáng)大軍力的承諾，能否容許不為如此顯而易見的正義事業(yè)采取行動(dòng)。我要請左翼的朋友們想一想，以你們對所有人民的自由和尊嚴(yán)的信念，能否對那些痛苦掙扎的兒童在醫(yī)院冰冷的地板上奄奄一息的畫面無動(dòng)于衷。有時(shí)僅僅拿出決議及發(fā)表譴責(zé)聲明是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的。

Indeed, I’d ask every member of Congress, and those of you watching at home tonight, to view those videos of the attack, and then ask: What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas, and we choose to look the other way?

是的，我要請每一位國會(huì)議員以及今晚在家中收看講話的每一個(gè)人都去看一看有關(guān)那次襲擊的視頻并捫心自問：如果美國看到一名獨(dú)裁者動(dòng)用毒氣肆無忌憚地踐踏國際法卻視而不見，那我們的這個(gè)世界會(huì)變成什么樣子？

Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged.” Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with our leadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst weapons will never be used.富蘭克林·羅斯福曾說：“我國不介入國外戰(zhàn)爭和國外糾葛的決心不能阻止我們在我們所珍視的理念和原則受到挑戰(zhàn)的時(shí)候深深地感到關(guān)切?！?我們的理念和原則，以及我們的國家安全，都在敘利亞問題上面臨利害攸關(guān)的時(shí)刻，此外還有我們在全世界為確保最殘酷的武器絕不被使用而發(fā)揮的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)作用。

America is not the world’s policeman.Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong.But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act.That’s what makes America different.That’s what makes us exceptional.With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth.美國不是世界警察。全球到處都有可怕的事情發(fā)生，我們沒有能力去糾正每一樁惡行。但當(dāng)我們付出適度的努力并承擔(dān)適度的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)就能阻止用毒氣殺害兒童的行徑，并從長遠(yuǎn)來看能以此進(jìn)一步保障我們本國兒童的安全，我便堅(jiān)信我們應(yīng)當(dāng)采取行動(dòng)。正是這一點(diǎn)讓美國獨(dú)樹一幟。正是這一點(diǎn)讓我們出類拔萃。讓我們以謙和為懷，同時(shí)下定決心，永遠(yuǎn)牢記這個(gè)至關(guān)重要的真理。

Thank you.God bless you.And God bless the United States of America.謝謝你們。愿上帝保佑你們。愿上帝保佑美利堅(jiān)合眾國。