偶像勵志英語演講26:失敗的好處和想象的重要性(8)

As long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed.

在我的有生之年，我都會記得一件事，當時我正經(jīng)過一條空曠的走廊，突然聽到緊閉著的房門里傳出一聲痛苦和恐懼的尖叫，那是至今我從未再聽過的。那扇門打開了，調(diào)查員探出頭請我快去給坐在她旁邊的年輕男子調(diào)一杯熱飲料。她剛剛告訴那個年輕人，為報復他對祖國專政的直言批判，他的母親已被抓走并處決了。

Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

在我20多歲的那段日子里，每一天的工作都在提醒我自己是多么幸運，能夠生活在一個民主選舉的政府領(lǐng)導的國家，人人都享有依法申述與公開審理的權(quán)利。

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

每天，我都能看到更多有關(guān)惡人的證據(jù)，他們?yōu)榱双@得或維持權(quán)力而對自己的同胞實施暴行。我開始做噩夢，真實的噩夢，全都和我的所見所聞有關(guān)。

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

同時在大赦國際我也更多地了解了人類的善良，遠比我以前了解的多。

Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and securtiy are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

大赦國際動員成千上萬沒有因為個人信仰而受到折磨或監(jiān)禁的人，去為那些遭受這種不幸的人奔走。人類的同情心引發(fā)了集體行動，拯救生命，使那些被關(guān)押的人們得以釋放。個人的福祉和安全有保證的普通百姓聚集在一起，攜手挽救那些與他們素不相識，也許永遠不會見面的人。我的參與雖然微不足道，但那卻是我一生中最振奮人心的一次經(jīng)歷。

重點講解：

1. poke out

(使)(頭)伸出;(使)探出;

eg. We hadn't been able to poke our heads out and see what was going on.

我們無法伸出頭去，看看發(fā)生了什么。

eg. Never poke your head out of a train window.

絕不可把你的頭伸出火車窗外。

2. in retaliation for

為了報復……;

eg. Police said they believed the attack was in retaliation for the death of the drug trafficker.

警察說他們認為這次襲擊是針對那個毒犯的死實施的報復。

eg. The arson was in retaliation for the killing of their friend.

惡意縱火是為了替被殺害的朋友報仇。

3. inflict on

予以(打擊);使遭受(損傷、苦痛等);

eg. Rebels say they have inflicted heavy casualties on government forces.

反叛武裝稱他們使政府軍遭受重創(chuàng)。

eg. Don't inflict damage on any person.

不要傷害任何人。

4. on behalf of

代表;

eg. Secret Service officer Robin Thompson spoke on behalf of his colleagues.

特工處官員羅賓·湯普森代表他的同僚發(fā)表了講話。

eg. I am appealing on behalf of the famine victims.

我代表饑民懇求援助。

5. well-being

健康;安樂;康樂;

eg. Singing can create a sense of wellbeing.

唱歌能夠給人一種心曠神怡的感覺。

eg. His work emphasised the emotional as well as the physical well-being of children.

他的工作不僅重視孩子們的身體健康，同時也關(guān)注他們的情感健康。

名人簡介：

公益事業(yè)

2012年4月17日，《哈利·波特》英國著名作家J·K·羅琳在官方網(wǎng)站宣布，她正撰寫《哈利·波特百科全書》，并會將版稅收益全數(shù)撥捐慈善機構(gòu)。此外，羅琳表示現(xiàn)在沒有寫《哈利·波特》續(xù)集的計劃。

《哈利·波特》系列衍生書《神奇的魁地奇球》《神奇動物在哪里》的收入全部捐贈給慈善事業(yè)，并向“多發(fā)性硬化癥協(xié)會”捐贈25萬英鎊。