奧巴馬我們為什麼要上學
美國總統奧巴馬於2009年9月8日在美國阿林頓中學開學典禮上演講。這場題為《我們為什麼要上學》的演講，在網路上非常流行。那麼，我們為什麼要上學下面就由小編告訴大家我們為什麼要上學吧!
奧巴馬：我們為什麼要上學
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***我現在與弗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。***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。我能想象有些畢業班學生現在感覺很不錯 —— ***掌聲*** —— 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. 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.
我瞭解這種感覺。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，她決定從週一到週五自己給我補課。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 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。 ” ***笑聲***
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 speeches about education. And I’ve talked about responsibility 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 for inspiring 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 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 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任，要制定高標準，支援教師和校長的工作，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 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. 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 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 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 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 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和數學課程所學到的知識和解決問題的能力來治癒癌症、艾滋病及其他疾病，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 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 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 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。 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 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. 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 • 奧巴馬，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’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。或許你們生活中沒有成年人為你們提供你們所需要的支援。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群，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 you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
但歸根結底，你的生活狀況 —— 你的長相、出身、經濟條件、家庭氛圍 —— 都不是疏忽學業和態度惡劣的藉口，這些不是你去跟老師頂嘴、逃課、或是輟學的藉口，這些不是你不好好讀書的藉口。
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
你的未來，並不取決於你現在的生活有多好或多壞。沒有人為你編排好你的命運，在美國，你的命運由你自己書寫，你的未來由你自己掌握。
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
而在這片土地上的每個地方，千千萬萬和你一樣的年輕人正是這樣在書寫著自己的命運
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured 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, and he’s headed to college this fall. 。
例如德克薩斯州羅馬市的賈斯敏 ? 佩雷茲*** Jazmin Perez ***。剛進學校時，她根本不會說英語，她住的地方几乎沒人上過大學，她的父母也沒有受過高等 教育，但她努力學習，取得了優異的成績，靠獎學金進入了布朗大學，如今正在攻讀公共衛生專業的博士學位。
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, she managed to get a job at a local health 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.
又比如在我的 家鄉，伊利諾斯州芝加哥市，身為孤兒的香特爾 ? 史蒂夫*** Shantell Steve ***換過多次收養家庭，從小在治安很差的地區長大，但她努力爭取到了在 當地保健站工作的機會、發起了一個讓青少年遠離犯罪團伙的專案，很快，她也將以優異的成績從中學畢業，去大學深造。
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
賈斯敏、安多尼和香特爾與你們並沒有什麼不同。和你們一樣，他們也在生活中遭遇各種各樣的困難與問題，但他們拒絕放棄，他們選擇為自己的教育擔起責任、給自己定下奮鬥的目標。我希望你們中的每一個人，都能做得到這些。
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to 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 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 kids 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, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and 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，在今天，我號召你們每一個人都為自己的教育定下一個目標 —— 並在之後，儘自己的一切努力去實現它。你的目標可以很簡單，像是完成作業、認真聽講或每天 閱讀 —— 或許你打算參加一些課外活動，或在社群做些志願工作;或許你決定為那些因為長相或出身等等原因而受嘲弄或欺負的孩子做主、維護他們的權益，因為你 和我一樣，認為每個孩子都應該能有一個安全的學習環境;或許你認為該學著更好的照顧自己，來為將來的學習做準備 …… 當然，除此之外，我希望你們都多多洗 手、感到身體不舒服的時候要多在家休息，免得大家在秋冬感冒高發季節都得流感。
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
不管你決定做什麼，我都希望你能堅持到底，希望你能真的下定決心。
I know that sometimes, you get the 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, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
我知道有些時候，電視上播放的節目會讓你產生這樣那樣的錯覺，似乎你不需要付出多大的努力就能腰纏萬貫、功成名就 —— 你會認為只要會唱 rap 、會打籃球或參加個什麼真人秀節目就能坐享其成，但現實是，你幾乎沒有可能走上其中任何一條道路。
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
因為，成功是件難事。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教師都相處順利，你也不可能每次都遇上看起來和現實生活有關的作業。而且，並不是每件事，你都能在頭一次嘗試時獲得成功。
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and 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 is why I succeed."
但那沒有關係。因為在這個世界上，最最成功的人們往往也經歷過最多的失敗。 J.K. 羅琳的第一本《哈利 ? 波特》被出版商拒絕了十二次才最終出版;邁克爾 ? 喬 丹上高中時被學校的籃球隊刷了下來，在他的職業生涯裡，他輸了幾百場比賽、投失過幾千次射籃，知道他是怎麼說的嗎? “ 我一生不停地失敗、失敗再失敗，這就 是我現在成功的原因。 ”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
他們的成功，源於他們明白人不能讓失敗左右自己 —— 而是要從中吸取經驗。從失敗中，你可以明白下一次自己可 以做出怎樣的改變;假如你惹了什麼麻煩，那並不說明你就是個搗蛋貴，而是在提醒你，在將來要對自己有更嚴格的要求;假如你考了個低分，那並不說明你就比別 人笨，而是在告訴你，自己得在學習上花更多的時間。
No one’s born being good at 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. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
沒有哪一個人一生出來就擅長做什麼事情的，只有努力才能培養出技能。任何人都不 是在第一次接觸一項體育運動時就成為校隊的代表，任何人都不是在第一次唱一首歌時就找準每一個音，一切都需要熟能生巧。對於學業也是一樣，你或許要反覆運 算才能解出一道數學題的正確答案，你或許需要讀一段文字好幾遍才能理解它的意思，你或許得把論文改上好幾次才能符合提交的標準。這都是很正常的。
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. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
不要害怕提問。不要不敢向他人求助。 —— 我每天都在這麼做。求助並不是軟弱的表現，恰恰相反，它說明你有勇氣承認自己的不足、並願意去學習新的知識。所以， 有不懂時，就向大人們求助吧 —— 找個你信得過的物件，例如父母、長輩、老師、教練或輔導員 —— 讓他們幫助你向目標前進。
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.
你要記住，哪怕你表現不好、哪怕你失去信心、哪怕你覺得身邊的人都已經放棄了你 —— 永遠不要自己放棄自己。因為當你放棄自己的時候，你也放棄了自己的國家。
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.
美國不是一個人們遭遇困難就輕易放棄的國度，在這個國家，人們堅持到底、人們加倍努力，為了他們所熱愛的國度，每一個人都盡著自己最大的努力，不會給自己留任何餘地。
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. 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, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
250 年前，有一群和你們一樣的學生，他們之後奮起努力、用一場革命最終造就了這個國家; 75 年前，有一群和你們一樣的學生，他們之後戰勝了大蕭條、贏得了二 戰;就在 20 年前，和你們一樣的學生們，他們後來創立了 Google 、 Twitter 和 Facebook ，改變了我們人與人之間溝通的方式。
So today, I want to ask 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 twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
因此，今天我想要問你們，你們會做出什麼樣的貢獻?你們將解決什麼樣的難題?你們能發現什麼樣的事物?二十、五十或百年之後，假如那時的美國總統也來做一次開學演講的話，他會怎樣描述你們對這個國家所做的一切?
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, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect 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 or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
你們的家長、你們的老師和我，每一個人都在盡最大的努力，確保你們都能得到應有的教育來回答這些問題。例如我正在努力為你們提供更安全的教室、更多的書籍、 更先進的設施與計算機。但你們也要擔起自己的責任。因此我要求你們在今年能夠認真起來，我要求你們盡心地去做自己著手的每一件事，我要求你們每一個人都有 所成就。請不要讓我們失望 —— 不要讓你的家人、你的國家和你自己失望。你們要成為我們驕傲，我知道，你們一定可以做到。
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
謝謝大家，上帝保佑你們，上帝保佑美國。