穿越海洋--第三届全国英语演讲比赛冠军作品

 　　Crossing the Sea

　　By Liang Limin(梁励敏 北京外国语大学)

　　(获得第三届全国英语演讲比赛冠军)

　　专家点评:引用文学大师的诗句作为开场白，与结束语首尾呼应，颇有感染力。东西方文化的融合表现得十分鲜明

　　，意味深长，是篇优秀的演讲。

　　Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The title of my speech today is "Crossing the Sea" . An English  poet by the name of Rudyard Kipling once wrote in this poem "We and They" :

　　All the people like us are We

　　and everyone else is They

　　We live over the sea

　　While They live over the way

　　We eat pork and beef with cow horn-handled knives

　　They who gobble their rice off a leaf

　　Are horrified¹ out of their lives.

　　When these lines first caught my eyes, I was shocked--how could two people remain so isolated² and ignorant of each other in the past? Today's society, of course, is an entirely³ different picture. Those people who used to eat with gobble their rice might be as well have taken to fish and chips.

　　Indeed, just take China as example; Our modern life has been influenced by Western style of living  in so many ways that it's no longer surprising to see teenagers going crazy about rock-and-roll, whole families dining out at McDonald's and even rather elderly people dressed in Apple  Jeans.

　　However, these are only some expressions of the cultural changes taking place in our society today. What is really going on is a subtle but significant restructuring of the nation's mentality⁴. Just look  around.

　　How many college graduates are ready to compete aggressively for every job opportunity, whereas  not long ago they were asked just to sit idle and wait for whatever was to be assigned to them by the  government?

　　How many young people are now eager to seek for an independent life whereas only two decades ago  they would rely totally on their parents to arrange for their future? Ask anyone who participates in  today's speech contest. Who has not come with a will to fight and who has not come determined⁵ to achieve self-fulfillment in winning the game? And I'm quite certain that if Confucius had lived to see today's China, he would have been horrified to see young lovers kissing each other in public places in an unreserved expression of their passion.

　　It is therefore evident that we as descendants of an ancient Eastern civilization are already  living under strong influence of the Western culture. But it is not only in China that we find the  incorporation of the two cultures.

　　Take the United States as an example: During the 1980s, in face of the overwhelming competition from  Japan, many American companies such as the Ford⁶ began to adopt a teamwork management from their rivals,  the essence of which, lay at the very core of Eastern culture.

　　Take the Chinese acupuncture⁷ as another example: This traditional treatment of diseases is finally  finding its way to the West and hence the underlying⁸ notion that illness is resulted from the imbalance between yin and yang within the body--an idea which would strike any Westerner as  incredible in the past!

　　Ladies and Gentlemen, we live in a great epoch⁹ when the global integration¹⁰ of economy and the  information revolution have brought cultures of the world closer than ever before. We live in a particular era when countries, East and West, find themselves in need of readjusting their traditional  values. We live, at the same time, at a critical juncture¹¹ of our evolution because such problems as  ethnic conflicts and regional unrest are increasingly posing a threat to the peace and happiness of the  whole human race.To cope with such an era and to embrace an even brighter future, we need to learn to live more harmoniously¹² in a world community which is becoming smaller and smaller. My dear fellow students, our command of the English language render sit possible for us to gain an  insight into Western culture while retaining our own cultural identity.

　　Therefore, it is our sacred responsibility to promote the cultural exchanges and hence the mutual¹³ understanding between China and the rest of the world.

　　It is my happiest dream that new generation of Chinese will not only grow up drinking Coca cola and  watching Hollywood, but also be blessed with the far-reaching benefits of multiple cultures; benefits  that our forefathers¹⁴ had never, ever dreamed of.

　　To end my speech, I would like to quote Rudyard Kipling again:

　　All the people like us are We

　　And everyone else is They

　　But once you cross over the sea

　　You will end by looking on We

　　As only a sort of They.

　　Thank you.

　　译文:穿越海洋

　　女士们、先生们，晚上好。今天，我演讲的题目是:《穿越海洋》。

　　英国诗人罗得雅德·吉卜林曾写过一首诗，名叫《我们与他们》，其中写道:

　　像我们的人是我们

　　其余的人是他们

　　我们生活在海这边

　　他们生活在路那边

　　我们用牛角柄的刀叉吃猪牛肉

　　吞吃粽叶包饭的他们

　　吓得要死。

　　第一次读到这首诗，我很震惊——过去两个民族何以如此疏离、彼此陌生?当然今日的社会呈现出完全不同的情景

　　:那些过去吃米饭的人们也开始喜欢吃鱼和薯条。

　　的确如此，就拿中国来说，西方的生活方式已经广泛地影响了我们的现代生活，以致对于年轻人对摇滚乐着

　　迷，全家去吃麦当劳，老年人穿苹果牌牛仔裤，大家都已习以为常。

　　然而，这不过是我们当今社会中所发生的文化变迁的表面现象而已，真正发生的却是我们的民族心理开始了微妙

　　而又有重大意义的重建，大家只要看看周围就会清楚。

　　不久以前，大学生还只是束手空坐，等待政府给他们分配工作;如今，又有多少大学生正在做充分准备，为争取任

　　何工作机会而激烈角逐?

　　20年前年轻人还完全依靠父母为他们安排未来，今天又有多少年轻人在急切地寻求一种独立的生活?试问今天参加

　　演讲比赛的诸位，谁不是带着志在一搏的心情来到这里?谁不是铁下心来赢得这场比赛以实现自我?如今年轻人毫无顾

　　忌地宣泄情感当众亲吻，我确信，倘若孔子在世，他必被吓坏。

　　很明显，我们这些东方古老文明的后裔们早已生活在西方文化的强烈影响之下，然而出现这种异质文化合流的

　　现象不止是在中国。

　　以美国为例，20世纪80年代，面对来自日本的强大竞争压力，许多美国公司如福特公司开始采用对手的集体合作

　　管理方式，而这种方式正是东方文化核心之精华。

　　再以中华针灸为例，这种传统的医疗方法以及这种疗法的依据——即人体阴阳失调导致疾病最终得到西方社会的

　　承认，而在过去，西方人还认为这是无稽之谈。

　　女士们，先生们，我们恰逢一个伟大的时代:全球经济一体化、信息革命使得世界各种文化联系比以往更加紧密;

　　我们恰逢一个特殊的年代:无论是东方国家还是西方国家都意识到自身急需调整传统价值。与此同时，我们正生活在发

　　展的关键时刻:种族冲突，地区动荡正越来越威胁着整个人类的和平与幸福。如何对待这一时代，拥抱更加灿烂的未来

　　，我们需要学会在越来越小的世界大家庭中更加和睦地生活。

　　亲爱的同学们，我们掌握英语，得以了解西方文化，与此同时，又不失本民族的文化特征。

　　因此，促进中国与世界的文化交流与相互理解是我们神圣的责任。

　　我有一个美好的梦想，我梦想中国的年轻一代不仅仅在喝可口可乐、看好莱坞影片中成长，而且还受益于我们的

　　父辈所从未梦想过的多元文化所带来的深远影响。

　　最后，再次以罗得雅德·吉卜林的诗作为我此次演讲的结尾:

　　像我们的人是我们

　　其余的人是他们

　　然而一旦你们穿洋越海

　　就不会再把我们

　　看做仅仅是他们。

　　谢谢。

1 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

8 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

9 epoch   

n.(新)时代；历元

参考例句：

• The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
• We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期，另一个历史时代的开端。

10 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

11 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

12 harmoniously   

和谐地，调和地

参考例句：

• The president and Stevenson had worked harmoniously over the last eighteen months. 在过去一年半里，总统和史蒂文森一起工作是融洽的。
• China and India cannot really deal with each other harmoniously. 中国和印度这两只猛兽不可能真心实意地和谐相处。

13 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

14 forefathers   

n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人

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。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》