名人励志英语演讲 第161期:奏出生命中最美的乐曲(8)

 　　Because at that moment I became the worst scourge¹ on God's green earth, a rock star with a cause. Krikee. Except it isn't the cause. Seven thousand Africans dying every day of preventable, treatable disease like AIDS? That's not a cause--that's an emergency. And when the disease gets out of control because most of the population live on less than a dollar a day? That's not a cause, that's an emergency. And when resentment² builds because of unfair trade rules and the burden of unfair debt, that are debts by the way that keep Africans poor? That's not a cause--that's an emergency. So--"We Are The World, Live Aid", start me off. You know, it was an extraordinary thing and really that event was about charity. But 20 years on I'm not that interested in charity. I'm interested in justice. There's a difference. Africa needs justice as much as it needs charity.

　　因为那一刻，我成为了这个绿色地球上最痛苦的人，一个肩负使命的摇滚明星。上帝啊，这不是一项事业。每天有7000非洲人死于可预防、可治疗的疾病，比如艾滋病。这不是一项事业——而是燃眉之急。这种疾病失控是因为这里大部分人每天的生活费不足一美元。这不是可以慢慢解决的事情，这是燃眉之急呀。不公平的贸易规则和不平等的债务使非洲无法摆脱贫困，这造成人们的怨恨。这不是一项事业，而是燃眉之急。因此“四海一家，现场援助”等活动使我开始了这段非凡的旅程，而且这些事情完全是慈善性质的。但是，20年之后，我不再对慈善那么感兴趣了，我感兴趣的是公平。慈善和公平是有区别的。非洲对公平的渴求如同慈善一样多。

　　Equality for Africa is a big idea. It's a big expensive idea. I see that the Wharton graduates now getting out the math on the back of their programs. Numbers are intimidating⁴, aren't they? But not to you! But the scale--the scale of the suffering and the scope of the commitment, they often numb³ us into a kind of indifference⁵. Wishing for the end to AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa is like wishing that gravity didn't make things so damn heavy. We can wish it, but what the hell can we do about it?

　　赋予非洲平等是一项伟大而耗资巨大的事业。我看到沃顿商学院的毕业生已经在计算它的成本了。数目大得惊人，不是吗？但对你们来说不是这样的。苦难的沉重和责任的重大往往使我们麻木，漠不关心。对终结非洲的艾滋病和极度贫困的希望，如同希望引力不要让物体那么重一样。我们可以抱有希望，但我们究竟能为此做些什么呢？

1 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

2 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

3 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

4 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

5 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。