名校励志英语演讲 68:做真正的自己

 　　Although I did graduate from the school of hard knocks, our mascot¹ was the knockers. I spent a lot of time here growing up. My mom worked at Newcome and I would go there every time I needed to steal something out of her purse. But why am I here today? Clearly not to steal, you're too far away and I'd never get away with it.

　　但是我确实从历经磨难的生活这所学校毕业了，我们的吉祥物就是磨难和挫折。我在此度过了许多成长岁月。我妈妈在纽科姆工作，每当我需要从她的钱包里偷偷拿些东西的时候，我都会去找她。但今天我为什么来到这里呢？很明显我不是想要偷你们的钱，你们离我太远了，而且我也跑不了。

　　I'm here because of you. Because I can't think of a more tenacious², more courageous³ graduating class. I mean, look at you all, wearing your robes. Usually when you're wearing a robe at 10 in the morning, it means you've given up. I'm here because I love New Orleans. I was born and raised here, I spent my formative years here, and like you, while I was living here I only did laundry six times.

　　我来这儿是因为你们。没有比你们更坚韧更勇敢的毕业生了。我是说，看看你们每一个人都身着学士袍。通常在早上10点还穿着睡袍，说明你们已经放弃人生了。今天我来到这里，因为我热爱纽奥良，我在这里出生，在这里长大，在这里度过了年少岁月。和你们一样，我在这里生活时，只洗过六次衣服。

　　When I finished school, I was completely lost. And by school, I mean middle school, but I went ahead and finished high school anyway. And I—I really, I had no ambition, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I did everything from—I shucked oysters⁴, I was a hostess, I was a bartender, I was a waitress, I painted houses, I sold vaccuum cleaners, I had no idea. And I thought I'd just finally settle in some job, and I would make enough money to pay my rent, maybe have basic cable, maybe not, I didn't really have a plan, my point is that, by the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was, but I had no idea.

　　当我毕业后，我完全迷失了。我指的学校是初中，但是我接着上学，念完了高中。但我当时真的没有什么野心，不知道自己想做什么。我什么都做。我剥过牡蛎，当过迎宾员，做过酒保、服务员，粉刷过房子，卖过吸尘器。我完全不知道自己想做什么。我想随便找个工作稳定下来，只要有足够的钱付房租，可能有一台电视也可能没有。我完全没有计划。我要说的重点是，我像你们这么大的时候，我真的以为我了解自己，但其实并不了解。

　　Anyway, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and the way I ended up on this path was from a very tragic⁵ event. I was maybe 19, and my girlfriend at the time was killed in a car accident. And I passed the accident, and I didn't know it was her and I kept going, and I found out shortly after that, it was her.

　　总之，当时我不知道自己的一生要干什么，最后因为一件十分悲惨的事情，我找到了自己的目标。可能是在19岁时，我的女朋友在一次车祸中身亡。我经过事故现场时不知道是她，就继续走，但不久我就发现，那就是她。

　　名人简介

　　1958年1月艾伦·德詹尼丝出生在路易斯安那的梅泰里。13岁时父母离异，艾伦跟随母亲搬到新奥尔良定居。从事过女招待和售货员等多份工作后，她最终决定发挥自己的幽默感，成为一名喜剧演员。她在Clyde's喜剧俱乐部担任主持人期间，曾获得Showtime1982年度“全美最滑稽的人”称号。

　　成名后的艾伦前往洛杉矶拍摄了HBO的《Young Comedians⁶ Reunion》、《One Night Stand》等专题片，后者为她赢得Cable ACE⁷奖提名。1986年她在约翰尼·卡森（Johnny Carson）的喜剧节目《今夜秀》担任常驻嘉宾，她充满机智的幽默为事业插上高飞的双翅。在福克斯的《Open House》中艾伦首次尝试表演，接下来她又出演了ABC的电视剧《Laurie Hill》，1994年，ABC邀她主演后更名为《艾伦》的电视剧集《These Friends of Mine》，该剧从1994年一直播到1998年，高居收视榜首，德杰尼勒斯的喜剧才华得到观众认可，她也因此获得两项艾美提名。1993年艾伦在《尖头外星族》中首度触电，之后又主演了《二见钟情之新好男人》、《再见爱人》、《当女人爱上女人的时候》等影片。

1 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

2 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

3 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

4 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

7 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。