偶像励志英语演讲24:失败的好处和想象的重要性(6)

 　　The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

　　经历了挫折，你变得更加智慧，更加坚强，这意味着你有独立生存的能力。只有经过了逆境的考验，你才能真正了解自己，才能真正知道周围的人所赋予你的力量。这种认识是真正的财富，虽然历经千辛万苦，但这比我以前获得的任何资格证书都有价值。

　　Given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control and the humility¹ to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes².

　　如果我有一台时光转换器，我会告诉21岁的自己，一个人的幸福在于知道人生不只是一份只有收益和成就的表单。资格证书和个人简历不是你们的生活，虽然你们将会遇到很多与我同龄或年龄比我大的人将二者混为一谈。生活的艰辛和复杂，是任何人都无法完全掌控的。谦逊地了解了一这点，你才能从容面对人生的变迁。

　　You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp³, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

　　至于为什么选择第二个主题——想象力的重要性，你们可能会认为是因为它对我重建生活所起的作用，但事实并非完全如此。虽然我坚持认为睡前故事对激发孩子的想象力有很大的价值，但我学会了在更广泛的意义上去理解想象力。想象力不仅仅是人类特有的设想不存在的事故的能力，还是所有发明和创新的源泉。毋庸置疑，想象力是最富转换性和启发性的力量，这种力量能使我们与有着不同经历的人们产生共鸣。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. emerge from

　　（从困境或不好的经历中）摆脱出来，熬出来；

　　eg. There is growing evidence that the economy is at last emerging from recession.

　　有越来越多的证据表明经济终于开始摆脱萧条。

　　eg. The hostages emerged from their ordeal⁴ unscathed.

　　人质经受磨难而平安生还。

　　2. last gasp

　　最终阶段；最后时刻；

　　eg. He snatched a last gasp winner.

　　他在最后关头一举夺冠。

　　eg. The team were at their last gasp.

　　球队正在做最后的拼搏。

　　3. empathize with

　　有同感；产生共鸣；移情；

　　eg. I clearly empathize with the people who live in those neighborhoods.

　　我非常同情生活在那些地方的人们。

　　eg. It is necessary to teach the young to empathize with the old.

　　教导年轻人瞭解老年人的感受是必要的。

1 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

2 vicissitudes   

n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废

参考例句：

• He experienced several great social vicissitudes in his life. 他一生中经历了几次大的社会变迁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. 饱经沧桑，不易沮丧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

4 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。