口译中级辅导：美国总统奥巴马2011年国情咨文_第2页

　　Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown. You didn’t always need a degree, and your competition was pretty much limited to your neighbors. If you worked hard, chances are you’d have a job for life, with a decent paycheck, good benefits, and the occasional promotion. Maybe you’d even have the pride of seeing your kids work at the same company.

　　许多观看今晚演讲的人可能还记得那个找到好工作意味着在附近工厂或者市中心商业区就业的时候。你并不总是需要获得一个学位，你的竞争基本只限于你的邻居。如果你努力工作，你可能会终身拥有这个职位，这个工作会给你带来体面的收入、好的福利，有时还会获得升职。你可能还会拥有看到你的孩子在同一公司工作的自豪感。

　　That world has changed. And for many, the change has been painful. I’ve seen it in the shuttered windows of once booming factories, and the vacant storefronts of once busy Main Streets. I’ve heard it in the frustrations of Americans who’ve seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear – proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.

　　世界已发生了变革。对于许多人来说，变革是痛苦的。在曾经一度业务繁忙工厂面临关闭时，我透过百叶窗看到了这种痛苦;在一度繁忙的商业街道空空如也的店门前，我看到了这种痛苦;在那些看到收入不断缩水或者失业美国人的绝望言论中，我听到了这种痛苦。这就好像，在比赛进行到一半时，表现出色而又颇感自豪的运动员发现规则突然改变了。

　　They’re right. The rules have changed. In a single generation, revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business. Steel mills that once needed 1,000 workers can now do the same work with 100. Today, just about any company can set up shop, hire workers, and sell their products wherever there’s an internet connection.

　　他们是正确的，规则发生了变化。仅仅用了一代人的时间，技术革命已改变了我们的工作、生活和做生意的方式。一度需要1000名工人的钢铁厂现在用100名工人就可以完成同样的工作。今天，任何一家公司都可以设立商店、雇佣员工、把产品销售给有互联网连接的所有地方。

　　Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science. They’re investing in research and new technologies. Just recently, China became home to the world’s largest private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer.

　　与此同时，中国和印度等国已意识到，它们在作出一些变革后将能够在新世界里与其它国家进行竞争。所以，他们开始对他们的孩子进行更早和更长时间的教育，更加重视数学和科学。他们投资于研发和新技术。就在不久之前，中国已拥有世界上最大的私营太阳能研究设施，世界上运行速度最快的计算机。

　　So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn’t discourage us. It should challenge us. Remember – for all the hits we’ve taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world’s best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth.

　　所以，是的，世界发生了变革。就业岗位的竞争是真实存在的，但这不应当使我们灰心，它应当成为激励我们的动力。请记住，尽管我们在过去几年遭受到了巨大打击，尽管所有的悲观者预言美国在衰落，但美国仍是世界上最大、最繁荣的经济体。我们工人的劳动生产率是最高的，我们的公司是最成功的，我们的投资者和企业家所拥有的专利数是最多的。我们拥有世界上最好的院校和大学，来美国就读的学生超过任何其它国家。

　　What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

　　更为重要的是，我们是首个以思想立国的国家，这个思想是我们中的每个人都应当有机会来塑造自己的命运。这就是为什么先驱们和移民们数个世纪以来不惜冒着失去一切的风险来到美国的原因。这就是我们的学生不只是记住方程式，而是会提出“你认为这个想法如何?你想如何改变世界?当你长大后你想成为什么样的人”等问题。

　　The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can’t just stand still. As Robert Kennedy told us, “The future is not a gift. It is an achievement.” Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.

　　我们将赢得未来，但为了实现这一点，我们不能原地踏步。正如罗伯特·肯尼迪所说的那样“未来不是一个礼物，它是一个成就。”维持美国梦从来不是墨守成规。它需要每一代人作出牺牲、斗争，满足新时代的要求。

　　Now it’s our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit, and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future. And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get there.

　　现在轮到我们这一代人了。我们知道在我们的时代为工作和行业进行竞争需要什么。我们需要在创新、教育和建设方面超越其它国家。我们要使美国成为商业环境最好的国家。我们需要对我们的赤字负责任，对我们的政府进行改革。这就是我们的人民实现繁荣的方法。这就是我们如何赢得未来的方法。今晚，我想谈谈我们如何作到这些。

　　The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.

　　赢得未来的首个步骤是鼓励美国人创新。

　　None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be, or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do – what America does better than anyone – is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living.

　　我们所有人都无法肯定地预言下一个主要行业将是什么行业或者新的就业岗位来自哪里。三十年前，我们不知道一个被称作互联网的东西会引发经济革命。我们所能做的是，争取在这些方面比其它国家的人做得更好，激发美国人民的创造性和想像力。我们是一个将车开到车道上、把计算机放在办公室的国家，是一个拥有爱迪生、莱特兄弟的国家，是一个拥有谷歌和脸谱(Facebook)的国家。在美国，创新不只改变我们的生活，更重要的是，这是我们赖以谋生的方法。

　　Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because it’s not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research, throughout history our government has provided cutting-edge scientists and inventors with the support that they need. That’s what planted the seeds for the Internet. That’s what helped make possible things like computer chips and GPS.

　　我们的自由企业制度驱动着创新，但是由于公司投资基础研究并不总是有利可图，在历史上，我们的政府向一流的科学家和发明家提供了他们所需要的支持。这些支持种下了互联网的种子，这些支持帮助制造出计算机芯片和全球定位仪这样的东西。

　　Just think of all the good jobs – from manufacturing to retail – that have come from those breakthroughs.

　　想想所有的好工作，从制造业到零售业都来自于这些突破。

　　Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t there yet. NASA didn’t even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

　　半个世纪之前，当苏联人发射一颗名为“伴侣号”的人造卫星从而在太空竞赛领域击败我们时，我们不知道我们如何在登月方面击败他们。那方面的科学当时还不存在，美国宇航局当时甚至都还未组建。但在更好的研究和教育方面投资后，我们不仅超过了苏联人，我们还推动了一系列的创新，这些创新创造了新的行业和数百万个新就业岗位。wｗw.ExamＷ.CoM

　　This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

　　这是我们那一代人创造的“伴侣号”走在世界前沿的时刻。我在两年前说过，我们需要将研发拓展到自太空竞赛高峰后再也没有出现过的新层次上。我将在未来几周内向国会提交一份预算案，它将帮助我们实现这一目标。我们将投资于生物医药研究、信息技术，尤其是清洁能源技术，这一投资将会强化我们的安全、保护我们的地球、为我们的人民创造无数新就业岗位。

　　Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard.

　　我们已看到了可再生能源的潜力。罗伯特·阿伦和加里·阿伦是一对在密歇根州经营屋顶公司的兄弟。他们在“9·11”恐怖袭击事件后志愿派出他们最好的装修屋顶员工来帮助维修五角大楼，但是他们工厂的半个厂区没有开工，经济衰退重创了他们的工厂。