________________________________
Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer?
(Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high
school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some senior s out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived
overseas . I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain , my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” (Laughter.)
So I know that some of you are still adjust ing to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.
I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and push ing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track , and you get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standard s, and supporting teachers and principal s, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve .
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the
world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed . That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer . And you have a
responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide .
Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good
enough to write a book or article s in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that English paper -- that English class paper that’s assign ed to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know
it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life, I
guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military ? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those career s. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenge s in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure disease s like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our
environment. You’ll need the insight s and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and
homelessness , crime and discrimination , and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy .
We need every single one of you to develop your talent s and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that - if you quit on school - you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Summary writing摘要写作
Read the passage and answer these questions.
1 What type of writing is this passage?
2 Why does Obama thank Wakefield?
3 How do the students probably feel at the beginning of a new term?
4 Did Obama receive any education as a child? If so, how?
5 What does Obama’s mother mean by saying “this is no picnic for me either”?
6 What is the responsibility for students according to Obama?
7 How to discover your own abilities?
8 What is the advantage of an education for a person and a country?
Key expressions 关键短语
Read the passage and put these expressions into Chinese.
1 thank sb. for (doing) sth
2 keep up with
3 adjust to (doing) sth.
4 talk with sb. about sth.
5 push sb. to do sth.
6 stay on track
7 get sth. done
8 make a difference 9 show up 10 pay attention to 11 focus on 12 be good at (doing) sth. 13 come up with sth. 14 nothing less than 15 drop out of 16 depend on
大家好! 谢谢你们。谢谢你们。谢谢你们大家。好，大家请就坐。你们今天都好吗?(掌声) 蒂姆·斯派塞(Tim Spicer)好吗?(掌声) 我现在与弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿郡韦克菲尔德高中的学生们在一起。美国各地从小学预备班到中学12年级的学生正在收听收看。我很高兴大家今天都能参与。我还要感谢韦克菲尔德高中出色的组织安排。请为你们自己热烈鼓掌。(掌声) 我知道，今天是你们很多人开学的日子。对于进入小学预备班、初中或高中的学生，今天是你们来到新学校的第一天，心里可能有点紧张，这是可以理解的。我能想象有些毕业班学生现在感觉很不错——(掌声) ——还有一年就毕业了。不论在哪个年级，你们有些人可能希望暑假更长一点，今天早上还能多睡一小会儿。 你们可以想见，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡着了。但每当我抱怨的时候，我妈妈都会那样地看我一眼，然后说：“小子，这对我也并不轻松。”(笑声) 我了解这种感觉。我小时候，我们家生活在海外。我在印度尼西亚住了几年。我妈妈没有钱送我上其他美国孩子上的学校，但她认为必须让我接受美式教育。因此，她决定从周一到周五自己给我补课。不过她还要上班，所以只能在清晨四点半给我上课。 我知道你们有些人还在适应开学后的生活。但我今天来到这里是因为有重要的事情要和你们说。我来这里是要和你们谈谈你们的教育问题，以及在这个新学年对你们所有人的期望。 我做过很多次有关教育问题的演讲。我多次谈到过责任问题。 我谈到过家长的责任，要确保你们走正路，完成家庭作业，不要整天坐在电视前或玩Xbox 游戏。 我多次谈到过政府的责任，要制定高标准，支持教师和校长的工作，彻底改善不能为学生提供应有机会的、教育质量差的学校。 然而，即使我们拥有最敬业的教师，最尽力的家长和全世界最好的学校——如果你们大家不履行你们的责任，不到校上课，不专心听讲，不听家长、祖父祖母和其他大人的话，不付出取得成功所必须的勤奋努力，那么这一切都毫无用处，都无关紧要。这就是我今天讲话的重点：你们每个人对自己的教育应尽的责任。 我首先要讲讲你们对自己应尽的责任。你们每个人都有自己的长处。你们每个人都能做出自己的贡献。你们对自己应尽的责任是发现自己的能力所在。而教育能够提供这样的机会。 你或许能成为一名出色的作家——甚至可能写书或在报纸上发表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文课的作文后才会发现自己的才华。你或许能成为一名创新者或发明家——甚至可能设计出新一代iPhone 或研制出新型药物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科学课的实验后才会发现自己的才华。你或许能成为一名市长或参议员或最高法院的大法官——但你可能要在参加学生会的工作或辩论队后才会发现自己的才华。 不论你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必须上学读书才能实现它。你想当医生、教师或警官吗? 你想当护士、建筑师、律师或军人吗? 你必须接受良好的教育，才能从事上述任何一种职业。你不能指望辍学后能碰上个好工作。你必须接受培训，为之努力，为之学习。 这并非只对你个人的人生和未来意义重大。可以毫不夸大地说，教育给你带来的益处将决定这个国家的未来。美国的未来取决于你们。你们今日在校学习的知识将决定我们作为一个国家是否能够迎接我们未来所面临的最严峻挑战。 你们将需要利用你们通过自然科学和数学课程所学到的知识和解决问题的能力来治愈癌症、艾滋病及其他疾病，开发新的能源技术和保护我们的环境。你们将需要利用你们在历史学和社会学课堂上所获得的知识和独立思考能力来抗击贫困和解决无家可归问题，打击犯罪和消除歧视，使我们的国家更公平、更自由。你们将需要利用你们在所有课堂上培养的创造力和智慧来创办新公司，增加就业机会，振兴我们的经济。 我们需要你们每个人发挥你们的聪明才智和技能，以便帮助老一辈人解决我们面临的最棘手问题。如果你们不这样做，如果你们辍学，你们不仅仅是自暴自弃，也是抛弃自己的国家。
________________________________
Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer?
(Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high
school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some senior s out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived
overseas . I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain , my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” (Laughter.)
So I know that some of you are still adjust ing to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.
I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and push ing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track , and you get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standard s, and supporting teachers and principal s, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve .
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the
world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed . That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer . And you have a
responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide .
Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good
enough to write a book or article s in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that English paper -- that English class paper that’s assign ed to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know
it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life, I
guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military ? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those career s. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenge s in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure disease s like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our
environment. You’ll need the insight s and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and
homelessness , crime and discrimination , and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy .
We need every single one of you to develop your talent s and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that - if you quit on school - you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Summary writing摘要写作
Read the passage and answer these questions.
1 What type of writing is this passage?
2 Why does Obama thank Wakefield?
3 How do the students probably feel at the beginning of a new term?
4 Did Obama receive any education as a child? If so, how?
5 What does Obama’s mother mean by saying “this is no picnic for me either”?
6 What is the responsibility for students according to Obama?
7 How to discover your own abilities?
8 What is the advantage of an education for a person and a country?
Key expressions 关键短语
Read the passage and put these expressions into Chinese.
1 thank sb. for (doing) sth
2 keep up with
3 adjust to (doing) sth.
4 talk with sb. about sth.
5 push sb. to do sth.
6 stay on track
7 get sth. done
8 make a difference 9 show up 10 pay attention to 11 focus on 12 be good at (doing) sth. 13 come up with sth. 14 nothing less than 15 drop out of 16 depend on
大家好! 谢谢你们。谢谢你们。谢谢你们大家。好，大家请就坐。你们今天都好吗?(掌声) 蒂姆·斯派塞(Tim Spicer)好吗?(掌声) 我现在与弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿郡韦克菲尔德高中的学生们在一起。美国各地从小学预备班到中学12年级的学生正在收听收看。我很高兴大家今天都能参与。我还要感谢韦克菲尔德高中出色的组织安排。请为你们自己热烈鼓掌。(掌声) 我知道，今天是你们很多人开学的日子。对于进入小学预备班、初中或高中的学生，今天是你们来到新学校的第一天，心里可能有点紧张，这是可以理解的。我能想象有些毕业班学生现在感觉很不错——(掌声) ——还有一年就毕业了。不论在哪个年级，你们有些人可能希望暑假更长一点，今天早上还能多睡一小会儿。 你们可以想见，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴在餐桌上就睡着了。但每当我抱怨的时候，我妈妈都会那样地看我一眼，然后说：“小子，这对我也并不轻松。”(笑声) 我了解这种感觉。我小时候，我们家生活在海外。我在印度尼西亚住了几年。我妈妈没有钱送我上其他美国孩子上的学校，但她认为必须让我接受美式教育。因此，她决定从周一到周五自己给我补课。不过她还要上班，所以只能在清晨四点半给我上课。 我知道你们有些人还在适应开学后的生活。但我今天来到这里是因为有重要的事情要和你们说。我来这里是要和你们谈谈你们的教育问题，以及在这个新学年对你们所有人的期望。 我做过很多次有关教育问题的演讲。我多次谈到过责任问题。 我谈到过家长的责任，要确保你们走正路，完成家庭作业，不要整天坐在电视前或玩Xbox 游戏。 我多次谈到过政府的责任，要制定高标准，支持教师和校长的工作，彻底改善不能为学生提供应有机会的、教育质量差的学校。 然而，即使我们拥有最敬业的教师，最尽力的家长和全世界最好的学校——如果你们大家不履行你们的责任，不到校上课，不专心听讲，不听家长、祖父祖母和其他大人的话，不付出取得成功所必须的勤奋努力，那么这一切都毫无用处，都无关紧要。这就是我今天讲话的重点：你们每个人对自己的教育应尽的责任。 我首先要讲讲你们对自己应尽的责任。你们每个人都有自己的长处。你们每个人都能做出自己的贡献。你们对自己应尽的责任是发现自己的能力所在。而教育能够提供这样的机会。 你或许能成为一名出色的作家——甚至可能写书或在报纸上发表文章——但你可能要在完成那篇英文课的作文后才会发现自己的才华。你或许能成为一名创新者或发明家——甚至可能设计出新一代iPhone 或研制出新型药物或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科学课的实验后才会发现自己的才华。你或许能成为一名市长或参议员或最高法院的大法官——但你可能要在参加学生会的工作或辩论队后才会发现自己的才华。 不论你的生活志向是什么，我敢肯定你必须上学读书才能实现它。你想当医生、教师或警官吗? 你想当护士、建筑师、律师或军人吗? 你必须接受良好的教育，才能从事上述任何一种职业。你不能指望辍学后能碰上个好工作。你必须接受培训，为之努力，为之学习。 这并非只对你个人的人生和未来意义重大。可以毫不夸大地说，教育给你带来的益处将决定这个国家的未来。美国的未来取决于你们。你们今日在校学习的知识将决定我们作为一个国家是否能够迎接我们未来所面临的最严峻挑战。 你们将需要利用你们通过自然科学和数学课程所学到的知识和解决问题的能力来治愈癌症、艾滋病及其他疾病，开发新的能源技术和保护我们的环境。你们将需要利用你们在历史学和社会学课堂上所获得的知识和独立思考能力来抗击贫困和解决无家可归问题，打击犯罪和消除歧视，使我们的国家更公平、更自由。你们将需要利用你们在所有课堂上培养的创造力和智慧来创办新公司，增加就业机会，振兴我们的经济。 我们需要你们每个人发挥你们的聪明才智和技能，以便帮助老一辈人解决我们面临的最棘手问题。如果你们不这样做，如果你们辍学，你们不仅仅是自暴自弃，也是抛弃自己的国家。