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我的美國之旅(美國國務卿鮑威爾)

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My American Journey

padding-bottom: 120.08%;">我的美國之旅(美國國務卿鮑威爾)
美國國務卿鮑威爾簡歷

  鮑威爾1937年4月5日出生於紐約,牙買加移民後裔。  1958年畢業於紐約市立學院,獲地理學學士學位。他在校期間參加後備軍官訓練隊,畢業時被授予少尉軍銜。在完成了步兵軍官基礎訓練後,被派至德國服役並晉升爲中尉。

  1962年8月25日與阿爾瑪·維維安·約翰遜(alma vivian johnson)結婚。育有一子兩女。

  1962-1963和1968-1969兩次被派到越南,參加越戰。

  1971年畢業於喬治·華盛頓大學,獲商業管理碩士學位。

  1973-1974年任駐韓國美軍大隊司令。後被任命爲第101空降師,第2旅旅長兼美駐德國陸軍第5團團長。

  1977-1980年任國防部副部長高級軍事助理。1978年晉升爲准將。

  1983-1986年任國防部長高級軍事助理。

  1987年12月-1989年1月任里根總統的國家安全顧問。

  1989年 喬治·布什總統任命他爲參謀長聯席會議主席,晉升四星上將。

  1993年9月30日退役,並辭去參謀長聯席會議主席的職務。

  1995年9月出版自傳《我的美國曆程》(My American Journey)。

  2000年12月16日,美國當選總統喬治·W·布什提名他爲國務卿,成爲美國曆史上第一位黑人國務卿。

  鮑威爾1993年獲英國女王授予的榮譽爵士爵位。

Nevertheless, I do not 1)unequivocally rule out a political future. If I ever do decide to enter politics, however, it will not be because of high popularity ratings, but because I have a vision for this country. Frankly, the present atmosphere does not make entering public service especially attractive. I find that civility is being driven from our political discourse. For all the present sensitivity over correctness, we seem to have lost our sense of shame as a society.

We say we are 2)appalled by the rise of sexually transmitted disease, by the wave of teenage pregnancies, by violent crime. Yet we 3)drench ourselves in depictions of explicit sex and crime on television, in the movies and in pop music. How do we find our way again? How do we reestablish moral standards? How do we end the ethnic fragmentation that is making us an increasingly 4)hyphenated people? How do we restore a sense of family to our national life? On a speech circuit, I tell a story that goes to the heart of America’s longing. The ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson was interviewing a young African-American soldier in a tank 5)platoon on the eve of battle in Desert Storm. Donaldson asked, “How do you think the battle will go? Are you afraid?”

“We’ll do okay. We’re well trained. And I’m not afraid,” the 6)GI answered, gesturing toward his buddies around him. “I’m not afraid because I’m with my family.”

The other soldiers shouted: “Tell him again. He didn’t hear you.”

The soldier repeated: “This is my family and we’ll take care of each other.”

That story never fails to touch me or the audience. It is a metaphor for what we have to do as a nation. We have to start thinking of America as a family. We have to stop 7)screeching at each other, stop hurting each other, and instead start caring for, sacrificing for, and sharing with each other. We have to stop continually criticizing, which is the cry of the ideologue, and instead get back to the can-do attitude that made America. We have to keep trying, and risk failing, in order to solve this country’s problems. We cannot move forward if cynics and critics 8)swoop down and pick apart anything that goes wrong to a point where we lose sight of what is right, decent, and uniquely good about America.

Jefferson once wrote, “There is a debt of service due from every man to his country, proportioned to the bounties which nature and fortune have measured to him.” As one who has received so much from his country, I feel that debt heavily, and I can never be entirely free of it. My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given to us, as we continue our American journey together.

我的美國之旅

然而,我並非決定以後絕不再從政。如果我一旦決定踏足政界,那並不是因爲在民意測驗中選民對我極爲垂青,而是因爲我對這個國家還懷有一個夢想。坦率地說,在目前的形勢下,擔任公職並不是很有吸引力。我覺得在我們的政治言論中禮貌修養正在消逝。儘管目前人們對是非曲直很敏感,但作爲一個社會整體,我們似乎已喪失了羞恥感。

我們總是說,我們對性病的上升、少女懷孕現象的激增以及暴力罪行感到震驚,然而,我們仍沉浸於電視、電影和流行音樂對性和暴行赤裸裸的描寫之中。我們怎樣才能找到一條出路呢?怎樣重建道德標準?怎樣結束那使我們逐步成爲歸化民族的種族複雜狀態呢?怎樣使家庭的感覺回到民衆的生活中?在一次巡迴演講中,我講了一個觸及到美國人渴望心理的故事。美國廣播公司記者山姆·唐納遜於“沙漠風暴”戰役的前夕在某坦克排採訪了一位非裔美國士兵。唐納遜問他:“你覺得這場戰爭的結果會怎樣?你害怕嗎?”

“我們會打好的,我們訓練有素,我不害怕。”這位美國士兵回答,他邊說邊指着他身邊的夥伴們。“我不害怕是因爲我和家人在一起。”

其他士兵高喊道:“再給他說一遍。他沒聽見。”

士兵又說了一遍:“這是我的家人,我們互相關照。”

這個故事一直打動着我和聽衆。作爲一個民族,我們應該按這個比喻所說的去做。我們必須把美國看做一個大家庭,必須停止相互間的惡言惡語,停止相互傷害。相反,我們應該互相關心,互相做出犧牲,同舟共濟。我們應停止不斷地指責他人,那只是理論家的發泄方式罷了,相反,應重新恢復不怕困難的精神,正是這種精神造就了美國。我們要不斷嘗試,敢於失敗,以求能解決這個國家的問題。如果聽任那些憤世嫉俗者和吹毛求疵的人不分青紅皁白,不論事情大小都大做文章,那麼我們就看不出美國正確、大氣和獨有的長處。這樣的話,我們就不會前進。

傑弗遜曾經寫道:“每個人都有爲國效勞的義務,這一義務與自然和命運給他的饋贈成正比。”作爲一個受國家恩賜很多的人,我感到義務重大,這筆債永遠無法還清。作爲一名幸運的美國人,在共同繼續我們的美國之旅的過程中,應盡力報答這個國家的恩情,這是我的責任,也是我們的責任。

1、unequivocally [5Qn5kwivEkEli] ad. 明確地,毫不含糊地

2、appall [E5pC:l] v. 使驚駭

3、drench [drentF] v. 充滿,瀰漫

4、hyphenated [5haifEneitid] a. 歸化的

5、platoon [plE5tu:n] n. (軍隊)排

6、GI 美國兵

7、screech [5skri:tF] v. 尖叫,尖銳刺耳的聲音

8、swoop [swu:p] v. 迅速行動,突然襲擊