中英双语新闻 对奥巴马国情咨文演讲的思考

对奥巴马国情咨文演讲的思考

In the early hours of yesterday morning, President Obama gave his last State of the Union address.

It's always a difficult speech, with time running out to propose a legislative² agenda... Instead, as well as delivering a robust³ defence of his legacy⁴, he returned to 

the language of his presidential campaign, with a speech focused around hope.

Political rhetoric⁵ often swings between two poles, two defining elements of human experience: hope and fear.

Sadly, fear is the one that usually comes more easily, both in life and politics. And so despite the President’s efforts, the current political landscape in the U.S. 

is evolving into a competition to see who can paint the most apocalyptic⁶ vision of the future.

Neither side is immune from using the politics of fear, painting a picture of horrors to come - that only they are qualified⁷ to deliver the nation from.

Conservative New York Times columnist⁸ David Brooks⁹ recently raised serious concerns about this trend, calling on the Republican presidential candidates to back off 

from what he calls a “fear-driven brutalism” and adopt a more hopeful approach.

The trouble is, hope is hard, and not just politically. It feels naive¹⁰ and dangerous. Many people listening to the President will feel sceptical. I certainly did. 

Surely all this ‘Hopey changey” stuff just leaves us open to disappointment and mockery. In the ancient biblical book of Proverbs, it says "hope deferred¹¹ makes the 

heart sick". The hard-headed, grown up thing to do often seems to involve taking Camus' advice to "think clearly and not hope any more".

I spend quite a lot of time thinking about what Christians¹³ might be able to offer a society, in which a significant number will longer calls itself Christian¹². What we 

could give, as those who feel we've been given much. And maybe it's partly this: acting¹⁴ as cheerleaders for the gritty work of hope. Pulitzer Prize winning novelist 

Marilynne Robinson has written repeatedly on this. She makes two points: “first, contemporary America (and I would argue the UK too) is full of fear. And second, fear 

is not a Christian habit of mind”.

Christians believe a hopeful habit of mind is worth cultivating. Not because hope is easy, or that there is nothing to be afraid of, but because there is something to 

hope in. And because, as behavioural psychologists would agree, our habits of mind become habits in our lives, and habits affect outcomes.

Choosing to hope draws us out beyond ourselves, while fear drives us inward. Hope gives us courage to face the very real pain and horror of the world, and not to cower¹⁵ in fear, but to set about doing what we can to make a dent¹ in it.

昨天一大早，奥巴马总统做了最后的国情咨文演讲。

这样的演讲总是不容易做，因为已经没有足够的时间来提出立法议案了。除了为自己的政治遗产做有力的维护外，他回到总统竞选时使用的语言来，将演讲的重点放在希望上。

政治辞令总是游走在两个极之间，那就是人类体验的两大因素：希望和恐惧。

不幸的是，恐惧总是很容易出现的，无论是生活中还是政治中。所以尽管总统很努力，美国目前的政治局面陷入了这样的竞争，那就是看谁能描绘出未来最具灾难性的图景。

两党都没有避免使用恐惧政治，描述出未来的可怕景象，然后只有自己才有资格来将这个国家解救出来。

保守的《纽约时报》专栏作者戴维·布鲁克斯最近表示对这一趋势的担忧，他呼吁共和党候选人不要使用所谓的“恐惧驱动的野蛮主义”，采用更有希望的途径。

问题在于，希望是艰难的，不仅仅是政治方面，它让人感到天真和危险。很多聆听总统演讲的人都感到怀疑，我当然也是，所有这些“希望的变革”之类的东西只会让我们失望和嘲讽。《旧约》的〈箴言〉说，“希望迟迟未实现令人心烦。”头脑冷静者通常似乎听取了加缪的建议，“思考清楚，然后不再抱任何希望”。

我花了大量时间来思考基督徒可能建造一个什么样的社会，这个社会的大多数人不自称是基督徒。正如那些认为我们已经得到太多的人那样，我们所能做的，就是为创造希望这样艰难的工作鼓劲。普利策奖得主、小说家玛丽琳·罗宾逊写过很多这类文章。她指出两点：“首先，当代美国人满怀恐惧（我敢说英国人也是如此）；第二，恐惧并不是基督徒的思维习惯。”

基督徒认为，充满希望的思维方式是值得培养的，不仅因为希望很简单，也不是因为无可恐惧，而是因为我们需要对有些东西心怀希望。因为正如行为心理学家都认为的那样，我们的思维习惯变成我们的生活习惯，然后生活习惯会影响最后的结果。

选择希望让我们走出自我，而恐惧只会让我们做缩头乌龟。希望给我们以勇气，让我们敢于面对真实的伤痛与对这个世界的恐惧，不是退缩到恐惧中，而是做自己所能做的事并取得进步。

1 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

6 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

9 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

11 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 cower   

v.畏缩，退缩，抖缩

参考例句：

• I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.我决不会在任何一位大师面前发抖，也不会为任何恐吓所屈服。
• Will the Chinese cower before difficulties when they are not afraid even of death?中国人死都不怕，还怕困难吗？