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偉大必須靠努力來成就
Work to Be Done
President Obama's Inaugural
Address Urges Nation to Roll Up Its Sleeves
【本文
取自《CNN
互動英語》MAR
2009 No.102 3月號
p.17-21】
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
My
fellow citizens, I stand here today humbled by the task
before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful
of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President
Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the
generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this
transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.
The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity
and the still waters of peace. Yet every so often, the oath
is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these
moments, America has carried on not simply because of the
skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the
People have remained faithful to the ideals of our
forebearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of
Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood.
Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of
violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a
consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of
some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices
and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost,
jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too
costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings
further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our
adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and
statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a
sapping of confidence across our land,
a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that
the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real,
they are serious, and they are many. They will not be met
easily or in a short span of time,
but know this America: they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over
fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this
day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and
false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that
for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the
time has come to set aside childish things. The time has
come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to choose our better
history, to carry forward that precious gift -- that noble
idea -- passed on from generation to generation: the
God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all
deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand
that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our
journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for
less.
Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves
off and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state
of our economy calls for action -- bold and swift. And we
will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new
foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges,
the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce
and bind us together. We will restore science to its
rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise
health care's quality and lower its costs. We will harness
the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run
our factories, and we will transform our schools and
colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions,
who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big
plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten
what this country has already done, what free men and women
can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and
necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is
that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale
political arguments that have consumed us for so long no
longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is
too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps
families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a
retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we
intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs
will end.
And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held
to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our
business in the light of day,
because only then can we restore the vital trust between a
people and their government.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is
ultimately the faith and determination of the American
people upon which this nation relies.
It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees
break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut
their hours than see a friend lose their job, which sees us
through our darkest hours.
Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we
meet them may be new, but those values upon which our
success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair
play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism --
these things are old. These things are true. They have been
the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is
required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a
recognition, on the part of every American that we have
duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that
we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in
the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the
spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to
a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is
the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls
on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of
our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of
every race and every faith can join in celebration across
this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than
60 years ago might not have been served at a local
restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred
oath.
So let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how
far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the
coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by nine
campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was
abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained
with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution
was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these
words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of
winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that
the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came
forth to meet it."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter
of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With
hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents,
and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our
children's children that when we were tested we refused to
let this journey end; that we did not turn back nor did we
falter, and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace
upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and
delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you.
And
God bless the United States of America.
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Vocabulary
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1.
humble (v.) 使謙卑 |
2.
bestow (v.) 給予、贈興 |
3.
amidst (prep.) 在…之中 |
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4.
forebearers (n.) 祖先(複數形) |
5.
shed (v.) 脫落；流洩 |
6.
shutter (v.) 關店；停止營業 |
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7.
adversary (n.) 敵人；對手 |
8.
indicator (n.) 指示物；指標；信號 |
9.
sap (v.) 消弱；逐漸消耗 |
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10.
nag (v.) 糾纏不休；使操煩不斷 |
11. discord (n.) 不和；爭吵 |
12. grievance (n.) 不滿；抱怨；牢騷 |
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13. recrimination (n.) 反責；反控 |
14. worn-out (adj.) 陳腐的；過時的 |
15. dogma (n.) 陳見；教條 |
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16.
strangle (v.) 壓制；扼住；勒住 |
17. dust sb. off 準備繼續做某事；重新振作 |
18. swift (adj.) 迅速的；敏捷的 |
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19. electric grid 輸電網格 |
20. wield (v.) 使用(工具)；揮舞；行使(權力) |
21. harness (v.) 利用；駕馭 |
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22. cynic (n.) 憤世嫉俗者；愛挖苦人者 |
23. stale (adj.) 腐壞的；污濁的 |
24. decent (adj.) 像樣的；還不錯的 |
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25. levee (n.) 堤防；堤壩 |
26. grudgingly (adv.) 勉強地；不情願地 |
27. creed (n.) 信條；信念 |
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28. huddle (v.) 擠成一團；依偎 |
29. falter (v.) 畏縮；動搖 |
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