2006年VOA标准英语-Speakers, Not Graduates, Take Center Stage at C

By Suzanne Presto¹
Washington, DC
31 May 2006
 
watch Commencement report
 
  
  
There is a constant at the end of academic years.  Each May or June, graduates from colleges and universities across the country receive their degrees.

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After years of hard work, homework, tests and obscure vocabulary terms, there are a few words college students long to hear from their educators.  

Final statements, such as George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg declared the other day, "I hereby confer your degrees and I declare you fully² entitled to the rights (cheers)." 
 
  
  
College commencements. The details may vary but the moment is constant -- college students become college graduates. 

Some graduations are especially meaningful and jubilant, such as Tulane University's first commencement since Hurricane Katrina devastated³ the school's home city, New Orleans. 

Some take a humorous turn, as when George Washington University's namesake -- the American president who held office more than two centuries ago -- showed up with his wife to take the stage. 

Some graduations are even a bit contentious⁴.  Protesting students at Columbia University carried umbrellas with anti-war slogans and turned their backs to Republican Senator John McCain. "I supported the decision to go to war in Iraq.  Many Americans, including a few out here, did not."  

  
  
Some students actually have messages for the audience.  And some grads have so much to share; they talk on their cell phones through the ceremony.

While graduates are the reason for the graduation, they aren't the focal point.  Commencement speakers -- often famous names in the political, business or entertainment worlds -- offer final words of advice to graduates about to enter the so-called real world.

Former President Bill Clinton at Tulane's graduation said, "Dream your dreams and try to live them. For life's largest disappointments are not rooted in failures or mistakes. Anybody who's lived long enough has made a fair share of both."

Former President George H.W. Bush also spoke⁵. "Find a way to be of service to others. And though I've had a challenging, diversified⁶, wonderful life, I got more of a kick out of being one of the founders⁷ of the Midland, Texas, YMCA in 1952 than almost anything else I did because we did something positive."

Most commencement speakers underscore the same message time and again -- so much so that Mr. Bush and his wife Barbara made that point at George Washington University.

"Barbara and I thought we'd give you a Cliffs Notes version of our favorite commencement addresses -- sort of a greatest hits of commencement speeches." (laughter) Former first lady Barbara Bush added, "Don't just talk about principles.  Live them."

Mr. Bush makes the distinction of politics and personal values. "Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house."  "Read, read, read," said Mrs. Bush.

  
  
At the University of Pennsylvania graduation, award-winning actress and director Jodie Foster also borrowed someone else's words.  The Ivy⁸ League graduate quoted controversial rapper, Eminem. “Class of 2006,I'll leave you with a quote you should all know by know.  Feel free to chime in. I'll say it twice.  It's from Eminem.”

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment,
You own it. You better never let it go.
One shot! Do not miss your chance to blow.
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.

Another entertainer, Bill Cosby, spoke words that were all his own -- and a departure from standard commencement remarks.  At Spelman College, a historically black school for women, Cosby told the graduates they needed to take the lead in society because they could not count on black men.

"The men as young boys are dropping out of high school, but they've memorized the lyrics⁹ of very difficult rap songs. They know how to braid each other's hair."

But what goes through the minds of graduates as they listen to speakers' words of advice?

George Washington University graduate Mark Facciolo. "Some of the speeches were, I don't know, a little mundane¹⁰.  But the take-home message is the same: it's over.  Where's the beer?"

Fellow graduate Omkar Kulkarni. "Lots of good advice for the future and things like that.  I liked it a lot."

At the University of Pennsylvania, student Agnes Terry was impressed by Jodie Foster, even though before the speech many students had complained of the school's choice of speakers. "I thought she could relate really well to the younger generation.  I liked the metaphor¹¹ of picking up experiences and putting them in a bag."

  
  
For Tulane Law graduate Sean Brady, the presence of two former presidents benefited the graduates and hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. "I think it's great that people like them keep coming down here and bringing attention to New Orleans and keeping people focused on what we're trying to do here and what needs to be done here."  

Years down the road, after the celebratory music fades from memory and graduates forget the faces of their classmates; will they remember the words of their esteemed¹² speakers? 

Does a proud father who watched his daughter graduate with a degree in biomedical engineering from George Washington recall the advice of his own graduation speaker? 

But that fact will not prevent schools from lining¹³ up the biggest names they can find for next year's ceremonies.

1 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

8 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

9 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

10 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

11 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

12 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。