禮儀講話閱讀材料：第二篇 Passage 2

第二篇 Passage 2

Here is the World Organization Created to Serve All People

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Today, the peoples of the United Nations mark the 50th anniversary of the only truly universal organization in humanity’s history. 50 years is a tiny drop in the stream of the centuries. But no other institution in history has gathered together so many political communities, no other has survived so many storms, no other has built such a promising foundation for the future, as has the United Nations.

In the United Nations was born the concept of peacekeeping, a permanent contribution to the all and to the age-old search for peaceful solutions. In the United Nations was heard proudly and clearly the voices of the poorest of the poor. Here the difficult issues of development have received the most productive attention. In the United Nations, the new nations of the world came to take their rightful place as member states. Here sovereignty and statute come together as the foundation stones of an emerging international community.

The peoples of the United Nations stand at the turning point in world affairs. On this anniversary, we commemorate and assess realistically a half-century of the United Nations’ existence. And on this day, we are duty-bound to deliberate on the cause to be taken by the world organization in its second half-century. Peace is an immediate concern, but the cause of development is essential to enduring success. It calls us to look beyond peace to organize and take action in the fields of economy, environment, social justice and democratization.

Let us learn from our setbacks. More importantly, let us build upon our successes, for there have been many successes in situation too complex or undramatic to gain wide attention, successes in slow and diligent effort to achieve progress visible only of the long term, and successes in major operations for peace, development and democracy which have not been given the recognition they merit.

We are gaining momentum. The United Nations provides the focus for the common global issues. Here is the machinery we can transform into a responsive instrument essential to the realization of humanity’s finest hopes.

課文詞語(yǔ) Words and Expressions from the Text

universal organization 全球性組織

the stream of the centuries 世紀(jì)的長(zhǎng)河

age-old 長(zhǎng)期的

member states 成員國(guó)

take one’s rightful place 取得合法席位

duty-bound 肩負(fù)重任的

foundation stones 基石

commemorate and assess 紀(jì)念并評(píng)價(jià)

build upon 依靠，以……為基礎(chǔ)

learn from setbacks 前事不忘，后事之師

merit 應(yīng)該得到

momentum 動(dòng)力

responsive 靈敏的