【有声阅读空间】JK罗琳的演讲

PresidentFaust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, membersof the faculty¹, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

1. HarvardCorporation 是指哈佛大学校务委员会

2. Board ofOverseers 是指监察会

The firstthing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me anextraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea² I have endured at thethought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-winsituation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint³ at the red bannersand convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.

1. 幽他一默的方式在演讲中非常的常见，可以迅速拉近与听众的距离。

2. not onlybut (also)的句型在实际运用时往往把also省略

3. give me anextraordinary honour 在中高口翻译中十分常见哦

4. nausea作呕；恶心；反胃；晕船 

5. A win-winsituation 双赢

6.squint atthe red banners 眯着眼睛看着红色的横幅

Actually, Ihave wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I haveasked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what importantlessons I have learned in the 21 years that have expired between that day andthis.

1. wrackedmy mind and heart 绞尽脑汁

2. expire 在这里阿福觉得也有些许调侃自己的意味哦

On thiswonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success,I have decided⁴ to talk to you about the benefits of failure. Half my lifetimeago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself,and what those closest to me expected of me. 

1. I wasstriking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and whatthose closest to me expected of me. 原来中西方的年轻人都有这样的困扰啊！！

I wasconvinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels.However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished⁵ backgrounds and neitherof whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination wasan amusing personal quirk⁶ that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they mightwell have found out for the first time on graduation day.

1. impoverished穷困的；用尽了的

2. overactiveimagination 异常活跃的想象力

3. personalquirk 个人怪癖

4. However,my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whomhad been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was anamusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. 层次丰富的长句，可以背下来哦

I would liketo make it clear, in parenthesis⁷, that I do not blame my parents for theirpoint of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering⁸ youin the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel,responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise⁹ my parents forhoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves,and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not anennobling experience. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that isindeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticisedonly by fools.

1. parenthesis,插入语，圆括号，间歇

2. There isan expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction;the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. 又是一个很经典的长句！意义也很深刻~~特别是对于一些还深陷在其中的童鞋~~

3. What ismore, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experiencepoverty. 就像我妈说的，爸妈的出发点还不是为你好吗！！

4. Climbingout of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to prideyourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools. 阿福并没有品尝过真正的贫穷，但这句话相信会给立志于climbing out的人很多激励与共鸣吧。

Now, I amnot going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of mylife was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what thepress has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. So why do Italk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a strippingaway of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anythingother than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing theonly work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I mightnever have found the determination to succeed in the one arena¹⁰ I believed Itruly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, andI was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an oldtypewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation onwhich I rebuilt my life.

1. Thatperiod of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to bewhat the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. 这句话的翻译是：那段日子是我生命中的黑暗时期，我也不知道会出现后来被媒体称为童话般的美满结局。

2. Simplybecause failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. 因为失败意味着剥离一切多余的事物

3. I stoppedpretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began todirect all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. 

4. Had Ireally succeeded at anything else 要是我在其他事情上曾获成功

5. And sorock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. 我的谷底成为了重建生活的坚实基础。

Failure gaveme an inner security that I had never attained¹¹ by passing examinations. Failuretaught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. Idiscovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected;I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price ofrubies.The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacksmeans that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.Life isdifficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humilityto know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes¹².

1 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

2 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

3 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

7 parenthesis   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲，间歇，停歇

参考例句：

• There is no space between the function name and the parenthesis.函数名与括号之间没有空格。
• In this expression,we do not need a multiplication sign or parenthesis.这个表达式中，我们不需要乘号或括号。

8 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

9 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

10 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

11 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

12 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》