目录
【英语演讲最经典名篇赏析】
1: The Mirror and I (4)
2: From Walls to Bridges (7)
3: A Scene to Remember (10)
4: The English Language (13)
5: I have a dream (16)
6: The Gettysburg Address (21)
【语言输入晨读美文】
第一篇：Youth 青春 (24)
第二篇：Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明 (25)
第三篇：If I Rest, I Rust 如果我休息，我就会生锈 (26)
第四篇：Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明 (27)
第五篇：Born to Win 生而为赢 (28)
第六篇：The Road to Success 成功之道 (29)
附录
语音语调篇 0
口语连贯性提升 0
【英语演讲经典名篇赏析】
The Mirror and I
(刘欣)
I like to look into the mirror. I remember when I was a little girl, I often stood on my toes, trying to find my face in the mirror of the dressing table, which was nearly as high as I was. Now I still like to look into the mirror. Only now, the dressing table is too low for me. As I bend down, I see the face of a young woman, glowing with maturity, confident in her future and fascinated with her own reflection.
The fact that I like to look into the mirror has to do with my granny with whom I spent most of my childhood. I remember clearly that one night I heard her murmuring, "Women can't be seen. Women can't be seen." I was so confused as to look into the mirror the next morning to check if I could indeed see myself. Only now as a young woman myself, can I understand that it was not physical visibility that granny had on her mind.
Granny spent all her life taking care of the family, day in and day out. She cooked for her husband and 10 children. But whenever guests came, she and other female family members had to eat by the stove in the small kitchen. At family discussions, she was never asked for her opinion. After grandpa passed away, she had to listen to my uncle, her eldest son, fulfilled her duty as daughter, wife, and mother; yet as a person, she remained little noticed. Even though she could see herself in the mirror of the dressing table, she was never visible in the mirror of society.
I have been living a different life. At home, I make decisions together with the rest of the family. In school, I often take charge of various activities the same as other boys and girls. Not only that, I can see something granny could not have dreamed of─making decisions for my own future. My life has been a series of decisions. I could choose from several universities as I came out of high school. At university, I could choose from a range of subjects from English literature to business law. And now upon graduation, I am again faced with decisions─to further my study or to go to work; to stay in China or to go abroad; to get married right away or to remain single for a bit longer.
It does not matter whether or not I will become famous or rich, but I will treasure the chance to demonstrate my potential and to help other women demonstrate theirs as full members of society, fully visible in the mirror of history. I will treasure it because the abundance of choice that I enjoy came only after decades of efforts made by my granny, my mum, and millions of other Chinese women.
However, the choices to be made by me and others of my generation are a great challenge. The misconception that men are superior to women is still dominating many people's minds. While men are encouraged to compete and to assert themselves, we are expected to be quiet, loyal and obedient. This is not very different from what is expected of us as good wives and good mothers. The challenge we face calls for a higher level of our personal development and self-determination.
The story of my grandmother and myself mirrors the lives of millions of other women in China and perhaps in the world. Many of them still lead the life of my grandmother. Their worth is not yet recognized. It is the responsibility of a young person like me to work hard and struggle hard so that they too will see themselves and will be seen in the mirror of society.
This is my dream. This dream, I believe, is not only shared by our grandmothers, mothers and sisters, but also by many of our fathers, brothers, husbands and male colleagues.
It will not come true until everyone fully realizes that women can contribute to society and should be guaranteed the right to do so. Women hold up half the sky.
[译]
我喜爱照镜子。记得很小的时候，我常常踮着脚尖在跟我差不多高的梳妆台前，想要看到镜子里自己的小脸。现在，我依然喜爱照镜子，只不过那张旧梳妆台已变得太矮了。弯下腰去照镜子时，我看到的已是一个年轻、散发着成熟光彩的姑娘，一个对未来充满自信的姑娘，一个对镜中的身影依然那般着迷的姑娘。
爱照镜子的这个癖好始于我和奶奶共同度过的童年时光。我清楚地记得一天夜里，听见奶奶低声自语：女人啊，别人怎么就看不见你，怎么就看不见你呢？我对此感到十分困惑，第二天一早就跑到镜子面前要检验一下是否镜子照得见自己。直到现在长大成人后我才明白，奶奶所看不见的并不是镜子里的形象。
奶奶为了照顾一大家人，起早贪黑，忙碌操持了一辈子。她每天为丈夫和十个子女生火做饭，每到家里来了客人，她却只能和家中所有女性成员一起挤在狭小的厨房里的灶前吃饭。家里讨论家事，奶奶从没有过问的权利。爷爷去世之后，她只得听从新的一家之主──我的大伯，也就是她的长子。经历了一生的艰辛，奶奶尽到了作为女儿、妻子和母亲的全部责任，但作为一个人，她却很少被别人关注过。尽管她能够在梳妆台的镜子中看到自己的模样，在家庭和社会中她却总是一个隐形人。
我过的是与奶奶截然不同的生活。在家里，我与家人一同商定家庭事务。在学校里，我和其他同学一样经常组织各种活动。不仅如此，我做了奶奶做梦也想不到的事情：为自己的未来做出选择。我的生活就是一连串自我抉择的结果。高中毕业时，我可以从众多大学中挑选一所。在大学里，我可以从一系列专业中挑选自己最喜爱的专业──从英国文学到商法。现在毕业将至，我又一次面对选择：或继续深造，或开始工作；或留在国内，或走出国门；或很快成家，或暂时单身。
不论成名富有还是默默无闻，我都会珍惜发挥自己潜质的机会。不仅如此，我更要帮助其他妇女珍惜发挥才智的机会，因为她们也是社会的全权成员。我十分珍惜这一点，因为我所享有的广阔的选择余地是我的奶奶、我的妈妈，乃至千千万万个中国妇女几十年艰苦奋斗的结果。
然而，我和我们这一代人将要做出的并非是轻而易举的选择。重男轻女的偏见仍然主导着许多人的思想。当男人被鼓励着去竞争，去为自己的权力奋斗时，却要我们女人保持沉默，坚守贞操，一味服从。这与只要我们当个贤妻良母又有什么不同？我们所面临的挑战正激励我们为更高的个人素质和更强的自立能力而奋斗。
我奶奶和我的故事折射出千百万中国乃至全世界妇女的生活。她们中仍有不少人正走着我奶奶曾经走过的道路，她们的价值还没有被认识到。努力工作，不懈奋斗，让世界的妇女都在镜子中看到自己，得到别人的承认，这正是每一个像我这样的青年所肩负的使命。
这是我的梦想。我相信，这个梦想不仅曾是我们的奶奶、母亲和姐妹们所有过的，也是我们的父亲、兄弟、丈夫和男同事们所拥有的梦想。
妇女能够为社会做出贡献。她们的这种权利应该得到保障。当每一个人都充分认识到这一点时，我的梦想就会实现。
妇女撑起半边天。
From Walls to Bridges
夏鹏
I'm studying in a city famous for its walls. All visitors to my city are amazed by the imposing sight of the city walls, silhouetted by the setting sun with gold and shining lines. With old, cracked bricks patched with lichen, the walls are weather-beaten guards, standing still for centuries in protecting the city.
Our ancestors liked to build walls. They built walls in Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing and many other cities, and they built the Great Wall, which snakes through half of our country. They built walls to ward off enemies and evil spirits. This tradition has been maintained to this day as we still have many parks and schools walled off from the public. I grew up at the foot of the city walls, and I've loved them since my childhood. For a long time, walls were one of the most natural things in the world.
My perception, however, changed after a hiking trip to the Eastern Suburbs, a scenic area of my city. My classmates and I were walking with some international students. As we walked out of the city, we found ourselves flanked by taller and taller trees, which formed a huge canopy above our heads. Suddenly an international student asked me, "Where is the entrance to the Eastern Suburbs?"
"We're already in the Eastern Suburbs," I replied.
He seemed taken aback, "I thought you Chinese have walls for everything." His remark set off a heated debate. At one point, he likened our walled cities to "jails," while I insisted that the Eastern Suburbs were one of the many places in China that had no walls.
That debate had no winners, but I did learn a lot from this international student. For instance, he told me that universities like Oxford and Cambridge were not surrounded by walls; the campuses were just part of the cities. I have to admit that we do have many walls in China, and as we are developing our country, we must carefully examine them, whether they are physical or intangible. We will keep some walls but tear down those that impede China's development.
Let me give you an example.
A year ago, when I was working on a term paper, I needed a book on business law and found a copy in the law school library. However, the librarian turned down my request with a cold shoulder, saying, "You can't borrow this book, you are not a student here." In the end, I had to spend 200 yuan buying a copy; meanwhile, the copy in law school was gathering dust on the shelf.
At the beginning of this semester, I heard that my university has started not only to unify its libraries but also link them up with libraries of other universities, so my experience will not be repeated. Barriers will be replaced by bridges. Through an inter-library loan system, we will have
access to books from any library. With globalization, with China integrated into the world, I believe many of these intangible walls will be knocked down.
I know globalization is a controversial issue, and it is hard to say whether it is good or bad. But one thing is for sure: it draws our attention to China's tangible and intangible walls and forces us to examine their roles in the modern world.
And how about the ancient walls in my city and other cities? Should we tear them down? Just the opposite. My city, like Beijing and other cities, is actually making a great effort to preserve the walls. These walls attract not only historians and archeologists but also many schoolchildren trying to study our history and cultural heritage. Walls have turned into bridges to our past and to the rest of the world. If the ancient builders of these walls were still alive today, they would be proud to see such great change in the role of their walls. They are now bridges that link East and West, South and North, and all countries of the world. Our cultural heritage will survive globalization.
[译]
我在一个以城墙闻名的城市上学.所有到这个城市观光的游客都会为落日余晖中轮廓金光闪闪的城墙那宏伟的景象而惊叹.古老的砖石裂纹遍布,青苔丛生,城墙像饱经风霜的卫士般守护着这座城市,静静的驻立了几个世纪.
我们的祖先喜欢修筑城墙.他们在北京、西安、南京和许多其它城市都修造了城墙.他们修建了万里长城,那蜿蜒的城墙延绵了大半个中国.祖先修筑城墙是为了抵御外敌和恶灵的侵犯.这个传统一直延续到今天——我们现在还有许多学校和公园修建高高的围墙不让公众进入.我成长在城墙脚下,自小就热爱这些砖砖瓦瓦.有好长一段时间,围墙仿佛是世界上最普通最平常的东西之一.
不过,我这个观念在去东郊的一次远足后改变了.东郊是我们那座城市的一个风景区.我和同学和几个外国学生一起步行前往.出城后,绿荫蔽日,两排高高的树木把我们夹在中间,在我们的头顶形成了一个巨大的天篷.突然,一个外国学生问我：“东郊的入口在哪里啊?”
“我们已经在东郊了啊.”我应着.
他看样子有点吃惊：“我以为中国哪里都有围墙呢.”他的这番话引发了一场激烈的讨论.他一度把我们有围墙的城市比作监狱,而我坚持说中国没有围墙的地方还有很多,东郊只是其中一个.
辩论自然没有结果,但我确实从这位外国学生身上学到了很多.比如,他告诉我,像牛津和剑桥之类的大学并不是在围墙内的；开放式的校园不过是城市的一部分.我不得不承认,在中国我们确实有很多围墙.当进行国家建设和发展时,我们必须认真审视这些墙的存在,不管他们是有形的还是无形的.我们要推倒一些围墙,同时要保留另外一些.
让我举个例子吧.
一年前,我在忙着学期论文,当时我需要一本关于商法的书,碰巧在法学院图书馆发现了一本.但是,图书管理员冷冷地拒绝了我的借书请求.他说：“你不能借这本书.因为你不是这儿的学生.”最后,我花了两百元钱买了一本.而法学院的那本,却尘封在书架上.
这学期刚开学,我得知我的大学要把所有院系的图书馆同意起来,并且要跟其它高校的图书馆互通有无.因此,我那次借书的经历不会重演了.最终,障碍会被桥梁代替.通过内部图书馆借阅系统,我们可以从任何图书馆中借阅图书.随着全球化的发展,随着中国和世界的紧密联系结合,我相信,许多像这样的无形的墙终将被推倒.
我清楚知道全球化是一个争议性的话题.它是好是坏我们也很难说清.但是有一点是肯定的：它让我们注意到了中国存在着有形的和无形的墙,并迫使我们审视这些墙在今天社会中所扮演的角色.
那么,我们应该如何处理我的城市和其他城市中的城墙呢?我们应该也把它们推倒吗?恰恰相反.我的城市,和北京以及其它城市一样,正在花大力气对这些城墙进行保护.这些城墙不仅对历史学家和考古学家有吸引力,也能让学校的孩子们学习到我们的历史和文化遗产.这些城墙已经变成了一座座桥梁,通向我们的过去,并连结到世界上的其他地区和人民.如果这些古老城墙的建造者能够活到今天,他们一定会为见到城墙所起的作用发生如此巨大的改变而感到自豪.现在,这些城墙已经变成了联结东西,维系南北,和世界各国沟通的文化桥梁.我们的文化遗产定会在全球化进程中继续存在.
A Scene to Remember
顾秋蓓
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I would like to begin with a story.
There was once a physical 1) therapist who traveled all the way from America to Africa to do a 2) census about mountain 3) gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; this put them severely under threat of 4) poaching and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we've ever been, where in the very depth of the African rainforest, surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas 5) cuddled their babies.
Yes, that's a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies, called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs. Dian Fossey, who spent most of bet lifetime in Rwanda to protect the ecoenvironment there until the very end of her life.
To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a 6) timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our ecoenvironment. Today, we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21st century, provides people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. But on the other hand, many problems can occur---natural scenes aren't natural anymore. Deforestation to heat lodges is devastating Nepal. Oil spills from tourist boats are polluting Antarctica. Tribal people are forsaking their native music and dress to listen to U2 on Walkman and wear Nike and Reeboks. All these 7) appalling(令人震惊的) facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been 8) eroding(侵蚀) our resources. Encouragingly, the explosive growth of global travel has put tourism again in the spotlight, which is why the United Nations has made 2002 the year of ecotourism, for the first time to bring to the world's attention the benefits of tourism, but also its capacity to destroy our ecoenvironment.
Now every year, many local ecoenvironmental protection organizations an: receiving donations--big notes, small notes or even coins--from housewives, 9) plumbers(水管工人), ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and 10) invalids(残疾人), Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in hospitals, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care. Because they still want their Mother Nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them. This kind of feeling that I have, ladies and gentlemen, is when it feels like it, smells like it, and looks like it, it's all coming from a scene to remember, a scene to recall and to cherish.
The other night, as l saw the moon linger over the land and before it was sent into the invisible, my mind was filled with songs. I found myself humming softly, not to the music, but to some- thing else, someplace else. a place remembered, a place untouched, a field of grass where no one seem to have been except the deer.
And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it's lime for us to do something, for our own and our coming generation.
Once again, I have come to think of Mrs. Dian Fossey be- cause it's with her spirit, passion, courage and strong sense of our ecoenvironment that we are taking our next step into the world. And no matter who we are, what we do and where we go, in our mind, there's always a scene to remember, a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it.
Thank you very much.
[译]
今天，我想首先用一个小故事。曾经有一个物理治疗师谁亲赴从美国到非洲做一个关于山地大猩猩普查。这些大猩猩是对游客的吸引力，主要来自世界各地，这使他们严重不足的偷猎威胁，目前到动物园付诸表决。她去了好奇，但她看见她的决心，增强她的一生奉献为这些美丽的生物战斗。她亲眼目睹的场景，场景带我们到一个地方，我们从来没有影像，我们经历过的，其中在非洲热带雨林的深处，树木，花卉，蝴蝶，大猩猩包围的母亲拥抱自己的婴儿。是的，在我最喜欢的电影之一难忘的场景，呼吁在薄雾大猩猩的基础上，戴安娜弗西夫人，谁在此度过了一生中最卢旺达保护，直到她生命的最后的生态环境有真实的故事。
对我来说，电影，不仅提供了一个难忘的场景，而且也是一个永恒提醒我们，我们不应该在发展我们的生态成本，环境，旅游业行为。
今天，我们生活在一个繁荣的世界，但仍这么多的新问题的威胁。一方面，旅游业作为21世纪最有前途的产业之一，为我们提供了极好的机会都没有看到人都会看到，并前往任何地方有去。这已成为一些人的生活方式，并已被证明是在国内生产总值增长的推动力。它的神奇，把一个繁荣仙境1落后的小城。但在另一方面，可能会出现很多问题-自然景观不自然了。砍伐森林的热小屋是毁灭性的尼泊尔。旅游船油泄漏污染是南极。部落的人丧失了本土音乐和服饰，听取他们对随身听U2和穿耐克和锐步。
所有这些令人震惊的事实使我们认识到，我们不能再袖手旁观，什么都不做，因为它认为非常侵蚀了我们的资源。令人鼓舞的是，全球旅游的爆炸性增长已经把旅游业再次在聚光灯下，这就是为什么联合国2002年提出的生态旅游首次提请全世界注意旅游业的好处，但也其能力，破坏我们的生态环境。
现在每年有很多地方ecoenvironmental保护组织接受捐赠-大笔记，笔记，甚至小硬币-从家庭主妇，管道工，救护车司机，售货员，教师，儿童和残疾人。其中一些人可没有钱给的钱，但他们这样做。这是谁驾驶的出租车，谁在医院护士，谁从他们所在地区的生态破坏的痛苦。为什么？因为他们的照顾。因为他们仍然希望他们回到大自然。因为他们知道它仍然属于他们。
这种感觉，我有，女士们，先生们，是当它的感觉，喜欢这种气味，而且看来，这一切都从一个场景来记住，一个场景回顾和珍惜。
有一天晚上，我看见月亮徘徊在土地和前被送进了无形的，心里却充满了歌曲。我发现自己轻轻哼唱，而不是音乐，而是别的东西，别的地方，一个地方记住，一个地方不动，一个草地，再没有人似乎除了鹿被。
和那些难忘的情景更增强了的感觉，现在需要我们做一些事情，为我们自己和我们的未来一代。
再次，我所认为的夫人戴安娜弗西，因为它与她的精神，热情，勇气和强烈的生态环境，我们的感觉是，我们正在进入世界的下一个步骤。
不管我们是谁，我们做什么，而且我们去，在我们的脑海，总有一个场景要记住，一个值得努力保护，并争取的场景。
非常感谢。
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Mr. Chairman, adjudicators, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
The arrival of the year 1999 has brought with it a near perfect opportunity to take a look back at the last one thousand years, assess man’s successes and failures, and look forward with our predictions of the third 1)millennium. Already t his afternoon you’ve heard many assessments and you’ve heard a variety of predictions.
A few hundred years ago to have held an event like this it would have been 2)imperative that we were all fluent in a number of different 3)tongues, for the approach of combating the language barrier was simply to learn many different languages. Of course people back then had an 4)ulterior motive: that was to ensure that different languages held their different societal positions, or as King Charles V of Spain put it, “I speak Spanish to God, Italian to woman, French to men and German to my horse.”
Today our approach is somewhat different. Instead of trying to vastly spread our 5)verbal ability 6)across the board, we’ve chosen rather to focus it, concentrating on our abi lity to master one particular language, the English language. Time magazine recently suggested that by the turn of the millennium, English will be the 7)Lingua Franca for one quarter of the world’s population. Already today sixty percent of the world’s tel evision and radio broadcasts are produced and delivered in English. Seventy percent of the world’s mail addressed in English. And it is the language of choice for almost every byte of computer data sent across the globe.
But why English? There are no clear linguistic reasons for its suggested global dominance, certainly the grammar is complicated, the spelling peculiar and the pronunciation 8)eccentric, to say the very least. One would need only look through the dictionary to find the vast list of amusing paradoxes in the English language- 9)quicksand that works slowly, a 10)boxing ring that is in fact square and a 11)guinea pig that’s really neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Doesn’t it seem odd that one can make 12)amends but not one 13)amend. Or 14)go through the 15)annals of history but not one annal. The reason, ladies and gentlemen, is simple. English is strange, but no where near as strange as some of our 16)alternatives.
Perhaps I should give you a few 17)idiomatic examples. In English we say “once in a blue moon.” The Italians choose instead “every death of a Pope.” Yiddish doesn’t like our “drop dead,” replacing it rather with the slightly more obscure “you should lie in the earth?” And if you wanted to 18)tell someone off in Spanish our relati vely obvious “19)go fly a kite” would be better served by the phrase “go fry 20)asparagus.” English’s primary advantage is that of flexibility. On the one hand it has the largest vocabulary of all modern languages, allowing us, as its users, to say exactly what we want in exactly the words we choose to use. On the other, globalization has insured the introduction of a business English, a sort of 21)trimmed down variety of the language we’ve all come to know and love.
In a thousand years time, Western clocks will hopefully have ticked onto the year 2999 and we can be assured that scientists, academics and 22)futurists will 23)convene, much like we’ve done today to look back at the third millennium and offer their predictions for the successes of the forth. It’s impossible to imagine what they might say, impossible to imagine what technology they’ll have available or even which planet they’ll hold the meeting on. In fact, quite possibly the only thing we can say for sure is that they’ll be discussing the iss ues in one common universal language. And that will be the language of the third millennium. And that language without any doubt looks set to be English. Thank you.
[译]
英语语言
主席先生，诸位评判员，女士们，先生们：
下午好。
1999年的到来给我们带来了一个回顾过去一千年的好机会，评价人类的成与败，展望第三个千年的前景。今天下午大家已经听到了许多评价和不同的展望。
几百年前，举办一次这样的活动是十分麻烦的，我们得流利地说许多种不同的语言，因为在当时克服语言障碍的办法就是学习多种不同的语言。当然，那时候的人们有一个心照不宣的观念：不同的语言显示着不一样的社会地位，就如西班牙国王查尔斯五世所说，“我对上帝说西班牙语，对女人说意大利语，对男人说法语，对马儿说德语。”
今天我们的做法有些不一样。我们不用分散精力去学习多种语言，而只需集中精力掌握一种特别的语言--英语。《时代》杂志最近说，在世纪之交，英语将会成为世界四分之一人口的通用语言。今天已经有60%的电视和广播在用英语制作和传送。70%的信件是用英语写的。在全球传送的电脑数据中，几乎每个字节用的都是英语。
但为什么偏偏是英语呢？人们很难从语言学方面为英语在全球的主导地位找一个原因。但至少我们可以说英语的语法是复杂的，拼写是独特的，发音是古怪的。只要翻翻字典，你就能发现一大串逗人的似非而是的隽语--quicksand反而慢腾腾，boxing ring原来是方的，guinea pig既不是来自几内亚，也不是猪。一个人可以说“make amends”，但却不能说“one amend”，这不是很奇怪吗？你可以仔细翻阅一本史册，但却不能把“一本史册”说“one annal”。其中的原因，女士们，先生们，是很简单的。英语确实很奇怪，但与其它语言相比，就显得小巫见大巫了。
也许我该给大家举几个成语例子。“千载难逢”用英语我们说“once in a blue moon”，在意大利语中则成了“every death of a Pope”。依地语不喜欢把“猝死”说成“drop dead”，而用更为模糊
的“you should lie in the earth”来表达。如果你想用西班牙语指责某人“滚开”，那么最好是用“go fry asparagus”，而不是相对较直白的英语说法“go fly a kite”。英语的最基本的优势即在于它的灵活性。一方面，它在所有现代语言中词汇量是最大的，允许我们这些使用者能用最恰当的词汇恰如其分地表达出我们的思想。另一方面，全球化使得商业英语的出现成为必然，而商业英语是简化了的英语，它已成为我们都熟悉并喜爱的语言。
在一千年后，西方的时钟将滴答走向2999年，我们也可以肯定，届时，科学家、学者和未来主义者将汇集在一起，就像我们今天这样，回顾第三个千年，并展望第四个千年的辉煌成就。
我们无法想像得到届时他们将说些什么。他们会掌握了什么样的科技，甚至他们会在哪个星球上开会，是我们无法想像的。实际上，我们唯一敢肯定的事情是，他们将用一种共通的世界语言讨论事务。这就是第三个千年的语言。毫无疑问，这种语言就是英语。谢谢大家。
1、millennium n. 一千年，千年期
2、imperative a. 绝对必要的，迫切的，强制的
3、tongue n. 语言，方言
4、ulterior a. 日后的，将来的；秘而不宣的
5、verbal a. 字面的，词语的，口头的
6、across the board 全部地，包括一切地
7、lingua franca n.（不同民族之间交往或进行交易时用的）混合语；混合方言
8、eccentric a. （人，行为等）古怪，偏执
9、quicksand n. 沙漏。这里和以下数句是演讲者玩的文字游戏，以说明英语语言的巧妙之处
10、boxing ring n. 拳击场
11、guinea pig n. 豚鼠，一种产自巴西的啮齿小动物，约7英寸（约18厘米）长，通常为白色，有黑色或橙色斑点，一般作为宠物饲养，或用于科研实验；供进行医学（或其他科学）实验的人或物。Guiea: 几内亚
12、amends n. （复数形式）赔罪，赎罪
13、amend v. 改正，改过自新
14、go through 仔细检查，全面考虑
15、annals n. （复数形式）编年史，历史记载
16、alternative n. 替换物
17、idiomatic a. 符合语言习惯的，成语的；富于习语性质的
18、tell off 斥责，责备
19、go fly a kite [美国俚语] 滚开，走开
20、asparagus n. 芦笋
21、trim v. 削减，缩减
22、futurist n. 未来主义者
23、convene v. 集合
Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream"
delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust
of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged
by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black
boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!" And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring -- from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring -- from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring -- from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring -- from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring -- from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring -- from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring -- from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring -- from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
"Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
【译】
今天，我高兴地同大家一起，参加这次将成为我国历史上为了争取自由而举行的最伟大的示威集会。
100年前，一位伟大的美国人——今天我们就站在他象征性的身影下——签署了《解放宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布，对于千百万灼烤于非正义残焰中的黑奴，犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔，恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。
然而，100年后，黑人依然没有获得自由。100年后，黑人依然悲惨地蹒跚于种族隔离和种族歧视的枷锁之下。100年后，黑人依然生活在物质繁荣翰海的贫困孤岛上。100年后，黑人依然在美国社会中间向隅而泣，依然感到自己在国土家园中流离漂泊。所以，我们今天来到这里，要把这骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。
从某种意义上说，我们来到国家的首都是为了兑现一张支票。我们共和国的缔造者在拟写宪法和独立宣言的辉煌篇章时，就签署了一张每一个美国人都能继承的期票。这张期票向所有人承诺——不论白人还是黑人——都享有不可让渡的生存权、自由权和追求幸福权。
然而，今天美国显然对她的有色公民拖欠着这张期票。美国没有承兑这笔神圣的债务，而是开始给黑人一张空头支票——一张盖着“资金不足”的印戳被退回的支票。但是，我们决不相信正义的银行会破产。我们决不相信这个国家巨大的机会宝库会资金不足。因此，我们来兑现这张支票。这张支票将给我们以宝贵的自由和正义的保障。
我们来到这块圣地还为了提醒美国：现在正是万分紧急的时刻。现在不是从容不迫悠然行事或服用渐进主义镇静剂的时候。现在是实现民主诺言的时候。现在是走出幽暗荒凉的种族隔离深谷，踏上种族平等的阳关大道的时候。现在是使我们国家走出种族不平等的流沙，踏上充满手足之情的磐石的时候。现在是使上帝所有孩子真正享有公正的时候。
忽视这一时刻的紧迫性，对于国家将会是致命的。自由平等的朗朗秋日不到来，黑人顺情合理哀怨的酷暑就不会过去。1963年不是一个结束，而是一个开端。
如果国家依然我行我素，那些希望黑人只需出出气就会心满意足的人将大失所望。在黑人得到公民权之前，美国既不会安宁，也不会平静。反抗的旋风将继续震撼我们国家的基石，直至光辉灿烂的正义之日来临。
但是，对于站在通向正义之宫艰险门槛上的人们，有一些话我必须要说。在我们争取合法地位的过程中，切不要错误行事导致犯罪。我们切不要吞饮仇恨辛酸的苦酒，来解除对于自由的饮渴。
我们应该永远得体地、纪律严明地进行斗争。我们不能容许我们富有创造性的抗议沦为暴力行动。我们应该不断升华到用灵魂力量对付肉体力量的崇高境界。席卷黑人社会的新的奇迹般的战斗精神，不应导致我们对所有白人的不信任——因为许多白人兄弟已经认识到：他们的命运同我们的命运紧密相连，他们的自由同我们的自由休戚相关。他们今天来到这里参加集会就是明证。
我们不能单独行动。当我们行动时，我们必须保证勇往直前。我们不能后退。有人问热心民权运动的人：“你们什么时候会感到满意？”只要黑人依然是不堪形容的警察暴行恐怖的牺牲品，我们就决不会满意。只要我们在旅途劳顿后，却被公路旁汽车游客旅社和城市旅馆拒之门外，我们就决不会满意。只要黑人的基本活
动范围只限于从狭小的黑人居住区到较大的黑人居住区，我们就决不会满意。只要我们的孩子被“仅供白人”的牌子剥夺个性，损毁尊严，我们就决不会满意。只要密西西比州的黑人不能参加选举，纽约州的黑人认为他们与选举毫不相干，我们就决不会满意。不，不，我们不会满意，直至公正似水奔流，正义如泉喷涌。
我并非没有注意到你们有些人历尽艰难困苦来到这里。你们有些人刚刚走出狭小的牢房。有些人来自因追求自由而遭受迫害风暴袭击和警察暴虐狂飙摧残的地区。你们饱经风霜，历尽苦难。继续努力吧，要相信：无辜受苦终得拯救。回到密西西比去吧；回到亚拉巴马去吧；回到南卡罗来纳去吧；回到佐治亚去吧；回到路易斯安那去吧；回到我们北方城市中的贫民窟和黑人居住区去吧。要知道，这种情况能够而且将会改变。我们切不要在绝望的深渊里沉沦。
朋友们，今天我要对你们说，尽管眼下困难重重，但我依然怀有一个梦。这个梦深深植根于美国梦之中。
我梦想有一天，这个国家将会奋起，实现其立国信条的真谛：“我们认为这些真理不言而喻：人人生而平等。”
我梦想有一天，在佐治亚州的红色山岗上，昔日奴隶的儿子能够同昔日奴隶主的儿子同席而坐，亲如手足。我梦想有一天，甚至连密西西比州——一个非正义和压迫的热浪逼人的荒漠之州，也会改造成为自由和公正的青青绿洲。
我梦想有一天，我的四个小女儿将生活在一个不是以皮肤的颜色，而是以品格的优劣作为评判标准的国家里。
我今天怀有一个梦。
我梦想有一天，亚拉巴马州会有所改变——尽管该州州长现在仍滔滔不绝地说什么要对联邦法令提出异议和拒绝执行——在那里，黑人儿童能够和白人儿童兄弟姐妹般地携手并行。
我今天怀有一个梦。
我梦想有一天，深谷弥合，高山夷平，歧路化坦途，曲径成通衢，上帝的光华再现，普天下生灵共谒。这是我们的希望。这是我将带回南方去的信念。有了这个信念，我们就能从绝望之山开采出希望之石。有了这个信念，我们就能把这个国家的嘈杂刺耳的争吵声，变为充满手足之情的悦耳交响曲。有了这个信念，我们就能一同工作，一同祈祷，一同斗争，一同入狱，一同维护自由，因为我们知道，我们终有一天会获得自由。
到了这一天，上帝的所有孩子都能以新的含义高唱这首歌：
我的祖国，可爱的自由之邦，我为您歌唱。这是我祖先终老的地方，这是早期移民自豪的地方，让自由之声，响彻每一座山岗。如果美国要成为伟大的国家，这一点必须实现。因此，让自由之声响彻新罕布什尔州的巍峨高峰！
让自由之声响彻纽约州的崇山峻岭！
让自由之声响彻宾夕法尼亚州的阿勒格尼高峰！