财富精英励志演讲16：请追随自己的梦(5)

 　　So here's my final story: On a day like today, you might feel exhilarated —like you've just been shot out of a cannon¹ at the circus and even invincible².Don't ever forget that incredible feeling.But also always remember that the moments we have with friends and family,the chances we have to do things that might make a big difference in the world,or even to make a small difference to the ones we love all those wonderful chances that life gives us,life also takes away.It can happen fast, and a whole lot sooner than you think.In late March 1996, soon after I had moved to Stanford for graduate school,my Dad had difficulty breathing and drove to the hospital.Two months later, he died.I was completely devastated³.Many years later, after a startup, after falling in love,and after so many of life's adventures,I found myself thinking about my Dad.Lucy and I were far away in a steaming hot village walking through narrow streets.

　　我还想说个故事：如果某天你如现在这般欣喜若狂，就像从马戏团的炮口轰了出来，一头冲向蓝天。请铭记那一刻的美妙，同时请铭记那些和家人朋友共处的时光，铭记每一个上天赋予你改造世界的机遇，铭记为所爱的人做出的改变，铭记生活赋予的一切美好，但生活也能轻易将它夺走。人生无常，1996年3月下旬，我到斯坦福大学读研不久，我的父亲便因呼吸困难住进了医院。两个月以后，他去世了。我当时几乎崩溃，许多年后，我创业，恋爱。历生命的种种后，我总会想起我的父亲。我和Lucy去过一个偏远又炎热的村庄，在狭窄的街道上散步。

　　There were wonderful friendly people everywhere, but it was a desperately⁴ poor place.People used the bathroom inside and it flowed out into the open gutter⁵ and straight into the river.We touched a boy with a limp leg, the result of paralysis⁶ from polio.Lucy and I were in rural India, one of the few places where Polio still exists.Polio is transmitted fecal to oral, usually through filthy⁷

　　water.Well, my Dad had Polio.He went on a trip to Tennessee in the first grade and he caught it.He was hospitalized for two months and had to be transported by military DC-3 back home his first flight.

　　那里的人很友好，却极度贫穷。污水不经处理就径直流入饮水河道，我们遇到一个因小儿麻痹而瘸腿的小男孩。那是在印度村庄，少数还存在小儿麻痹症的地方。这种病主要归罪于污染的水源，我的父亲也有小儿麻痹症，他一年级去田纳西州旅行时患病，住院两个月后，由军用航班DC-3送回家，这是他第一次打飞的。

　　My Dad wrote,"Then, I had to stay in bed for over a year, before I started back to school."That is actually a quote from his fifth grade autobiography⁸.My Dad had difficulty breathing his whole life,and the Polio are what took him from us too soon.He would have been very upset,that Polio still persists even though we have a vaccine⁹.He would have been equally upset that back in India we had polio virus on our shoes from walking through the contaminated gutters¹⁰ that spread the disease.We were spreading the virus with every footstep,right under beautiful kids playing everywhere.The world is on the verge¹¹ of eliminating polio,with 328 people infected so far.Let's get it eradicated¹² soon.Perhaps one of you will do that.

　　他在五年级的日记里写道：我必须在床上躺一年，不能上学。父亲一辈子呼吸困难，小儿麻痹症使他过早离开我们。现在即使有了疫苗，小儿麻痹症依然肆虐，在印度脚上的鞋子也会传播小儿麻痹症，穿过那被污染的携带着病毒的水沟，每走一步都在传播病毒，病毒横行于孩子们玩耍的每个角落，人类正在努力消灭小儿麻痹症。到目前为止，还有328例感染病例。让我们加速这一进程吧，也许你们中就有人能够实现这个目标。

1 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

2 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

6 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

7 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

8 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。