名人励志英语演讲 第107期:当梦想来临时抓住它(8)
时间：2018-12-30 作者：英语课 分类：名人励志英语演讲
英语课
My Dad had difficulty breathing his whole life, and the complications of Polio are what took him from us too soon. He would have been very upset that Polio still persists even though we have a vaccine 1. He would have been equally upset that back in India we had polio virus on our shoes from walking through the contaminated gutters 2 that spread the disease. We were spreading the virus with every footstep, right under beautiful kids playing everywhere. The world is on the verge 3 of climinating polio, with 328 people infected so far this year. Let's get it done soon. Perhaps one of you will do that.
我的父亲一生都感觉呼吸困难，而小儿麻痹症的并发症很快就把他从我们身边带走了。如果他知道即使我们有疫苗但小儿麻痹症仍然存在，他会非常苦恼。如果他知道在回到印度时，我们的鞋由于行走于那些传播这种疾病的水沟，而沾染了病毒，他会很不安。我们每走一步都在传播病毒，就是那些到处玩耍的美丽的孩子也都被传染上。世界将彻底消除小儿麻痹症，今年到目前为止只有328人被感染。让我们忙消灭它吧。也许你们中间有人会做那件事。
My Dad was valedictorian of Flint Mandeville High School class of 1956 for about 90 kids. I happened across his graduating speech recently, and it blew me away. 53 years ago my Dad said:"... we are entering a changing world, one of automation and employment change where education is an economic necessity. We will have increased periods of time to do as we wish, as our work week and retirement 4 age continue to decline and we wish that true... We shall take part in, or witness, developments in science, medicine, and industry that we can only dream of today... It is said that the future of any nation can be determined 5 by the care and preparation given to its youth. If all the youths of America were as fortunate in securing an education as we have been, then the future of the United States would be even more bright than it is today."
我父亲是弗林特·曼德维尔高中1956级毕业的90名孩子中的毕业生代表。我碰巧最近看到他的毕业演讲，这演讲完全让我着迷了。53年前，我爸爸在他的毕业演讲中说：“……我们正走进一个改变的世界，一个自动化和就业模式发生改变的世界，在这里，教育对经济发展来说是必需的。我们会有更多的时间做自己想做的事情，因为我们的工作时间和退休年龄在持续下降，而且我们也希望如此。……我们将参与，或见证我们今天只能梦想的科学、医药和工业的发展。……据说，任何一个国家的未来都取决于对其青年一代所进行的关心和培育。如果所有的美国青年都像我们一样有幸受到稳固的教育，那么美国的未来将会比今天更加光明。”
重点讲解：
1. on the verge of
濒临于，接近于；
eg. The country was on the verge of becoming prosperous and successful.
这个国家即将走向繁荣富强。
eg. Carole was on the verge of tears.
卡萝尔差点就要哭了。
2. blow sb. away
使某人神魂颠倒，使着迷；
eg. I was blown away by the tone and the quality of the story.
这个故事的基调和内容打动了我。
eg. She just totally blew me away with her singing.
她的歌声让我完全陶醉其中。
名人简介：
职务变动
北京时间2011年1月21日消息，据国外媒体报道，谷歌联合创始人拉里·佩奇（Larry Page）将在2011年4月4日接替埃里克·施密特(Eric Schmidt）担任公司首席执行官，负责公司的日常运营，施密特将担任公司执行主席，专注于外部合作伙伴与政府的合作。
谷歌宣布新的人事变动后，施密特在微博Twitter中发表信息表示：“不再需要像成人一样进行日常监督了。”
自2001年7月以来，施密特一直担任谷歌首席执行官。谷歌表示，公司另一位创始人塞吉·布林(Sergey Brin）将关注战略项目及新产品。
施密特在新闻发布会上表示，三个人一直是共同做出决定，但过程缓慢。谷歌希望通过让佩奇负责日常运营，施密特负责外部合作伙伴和政府的合作，来使公司业务运营顺畅。
对于谷歌的此次换帅，创新工场董事长兼首席执行官、前谷歌中国总裁李开复在腾讯微博中称，施密特在谷歌的成长过程中扮演了异常重要的角色。“根据我的个人体验，确实如此。”
另外，李开复此前在做客腾讯科技“名人微距离”栏目时，也曾对谷歌和Facebook之间的竞争进行了点评。其表示，从全球市场（不包含中国市场）来看，谷歌的广告市场确实遭到Facebook严重挑战。但是，谷歌还有两张王牌没有兑现，一个是Youtube，另一个是Android，所以还不能预测谷歌的鼎盛时代已经过去。
n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的
- The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
- She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。
（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地
- Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
- They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。
n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临
- The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
- She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
n.退休，退职
- She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
- I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
adj.坚定的；有决心的
- I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
- He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。