Verb Master 動詞達人

#一分鐘英語聽力

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement, 2008(20-28)(完)

從賈伯斯、比爾蓋茲、祖克柏、賴瑞佩吉，這些成功人士都有一個共同特點，發現機會、勇於冒險

Steven Spielberg 和 J.K. Rowling，甚至吳寶春，他們比較不同，他們根本看不到任何機會，只是執著於自己的愛好，傻傻全力去做，不管危險，反正已經是最糟了，他們成功

所以成功，冒險是絕對且必要的因素；但是，如果真這麼簡單，成功的人就不會這麼鳳毛麟角

用另一個思維，如果大家都用這個方式成功，基礎工誰來做？蘋果也不會有富士康這樣的鐵血工廠幫它賣命

以這種思維，我們絕大多數人的保守、怕死，才是建構成這個世界的主幹，We're the backbone of the world.

不管是追求成功，還是謹守本分，J.K. Rowling引述這句話說得好：As is a tale so is life. “Not how long it is, but how good it is”is what matters. (人生就像精彩的故事，不在乎天長地久，只在乎活得精采，這才是重點)

什麼是精彩？要自己定義，活出自己的精彩，就是成功

【Part 20】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all.

They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are.

They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all.

許多人一點也不願意運用他們的想像力

They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are.

他們選擇舒服地侷限在自己的經驗裡，不願花精神去思考如果他們出生在不同的地方會是什麼光景

They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

他們可以拒絕聽到尖叫聲，拒絕窺視牢籠裡面的情況；他們可以關上心門，對接觸不到的苦難不動於衷；他們可以拒絕去了解

【Part 21】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do.

Choosing to live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors.

I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters.

They are often more afraid.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do.

我可能會忍不住羨慕這些人可以過這樣的生活，指不過我不相信他們的惡夢會比我還少

Choosing to live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors.

選擇活在狹隘的空間會導致陌生場地恐懼症(廣場恐懼症)，自己給自己帶來恐怖

I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters.

這些故意讓自己沒有想像力的人會看到更多的怪獸

They are often more afraid.

他們通常比其他人更害怕

【Part 22】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

What is more, those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters.

For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

What is more, those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters.

更糟的是，那些選擇不用同理心的人會引發真正的怪獸

For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

雖然自己沒有直接參與猖狂的惡行，我們其實是用我們的冷漠跟他們共謀連成一氣

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”

當我在18歲冒險進入古典文學走廊，追尋我無法解釋和定義的事物，其中學到一項，就是希臘作者Pluarch說的：「我們內心的成就會改變外面的真實世界」

【Part 23】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives.

It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives?

Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status and unique responsibilities.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives.

真是令人驚嘆的論述，至今在我們的生活眾印證千次

It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

在某種程度上，它講述我們無發和外部世界脫離關係，事實是只要我們活著，就會接觸到其他人的生活

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives?

但是，2008年哈佛畢業生們，你們願意接觸多少他人的生活？

Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status and unique responsibilities.

你們的智慧，你們的解決困難的功力，你們努力得到的學歷，給予你們獨特的地位和獨特的責任

【Part 24】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

Even your nationality sets you apart.

The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower.

The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders.

That is your privilege and your burden.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

Even your nationality sets you apart.

即使是你們的國籍，也會讓你們不同於他人

The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower.

你們絕大多數的人都來自世界僅存的強權國家

The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders.

你們的投票方式、生活方式、抗議方式，施在政府上的壓力，都會對國界以外的世界造成重大的影響

That is your privilege and your burden.

這是你們的特權，也是你們的責任

【Part 25】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice, if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless, if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped changed.

We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice, if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless, if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped changed.

你們如果選擇運用自己的地位和影響力位那些發不出聲音的人吶喊，如果選擇認同強勢也認同弱勢，如果你們保持想像力去想像那些沒有你相同優勢的人類，這樣不僅僅你們驕傲的父母會為你慶賀，世界千百萬人的命運都因你們而改變

We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better.

改變這個世界不需要魔法，我們本身已經具備這樣的能力，我們有本事發揮更大的想像力

【Part 26】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

I nearly finished.  I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21.

The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life.

They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of real trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

I nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21.

就要結束我的演講，對你們我有最後一個希望，這是我在21歲就有的期待

The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life.

當年畢業典禮坐在我身邊的人是我一輩子的朋友

They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of real trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters.

他們是我孩子的教父(乾父母)，他們是我在艱難中幫助我度過難關的人，他們佛心來著不會告我用他們的名字在食死徒小說裡

【Part 27】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

在我們當時的畢業典禮，我們被無比的關愛緊緊聯繫在一起，感受彼此共度的時光不會再來，當然，我們也知道，我們手上握有的鐵證照片，如果你們有人要競選首相，這些照片價值可不斐

So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships.

祝大家珍惜類似的友誼

【Part 28】

《聽力挑戰2 – 英文原文》

And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: As is a tale so is life. “Not how long it is, but how good it is” is what matters.

I wish you all very good lives. Thank you very much.

《聽力挑戰5 – 中英對照》

And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: As is a tale so is life. “Not how long it is, but how good it is” is what matters.

明天，即使你們記不得我講過的任何一個字，我希望你們記住古羅馬哲學家塞內卡的這句話，當年我投奔到古典文學學到的，從職業階梯中退卻，尋找古代的智慧：人生就像精彩的故事，不在乎天長地久，只在乎活得精采，這才是重點

I wish you all very good lives. Thank you very much.

祝大家擁有美好的人生，謝謝大家！