名校勵(lì)志英語(yǔ)演講 第20期:失敗的額外收益和想象力的重要性

[00:01.04]One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, 想象力使我隨后寫書有了很多的想法， [00:05.18]though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. 但對(duì)我印象最深遠(yuǎn)的經(jīng)歷發(fā)生在寫《哈利·波特》之前。 [00:09.24]This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. 這種影響源于我早期的工作經(jīng)歷。 [00:14.08]Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, 在剛二十幾歲的時(shí)候，為了付房租，我在倫敦大赦國(guó)際總部的調(diào)查部門工作， [00:17.37]I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London. 但我可以在午餐時(shí)間偷偷溜出去寫小說(shuō)。 [00:27.56]There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men, 在那兒，我在狹小的辦公室里看著從集權(quán)主義政體偷運(yùn)出來(lái)的信件。寫這些信件的人， [00:35.25]and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. 為了讓外界知道他們那里所發(fā)生的事情，冒著被監(jiān)禁的危險(xiǎn)，用潦草的字跡匆匆寫下他們的遭遇，然后再將信件寄給我們。 [00:40.57]I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. 我看過(guò)那些由絕望的家人和朋友寄來(lái)的無(wú)跡可尋的人的照片。 [00:48.36]I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. 我讀過(guò)被嚴(yán)刑拷打的受害者的證詞并看了他們遍體鱗傷的圖片。 [00:54.05]I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes. 我打開(kāi)過(guò)目擊者的手記，上面描述了對(duì)于綁架案和強(qiáng)奸案的審判和處決。 [01:03.48]Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, 我的很多同事以前都是政治犯，因?yàn)樗麄兏矣谂姓? [01:09.36]or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. 有自己的想法，所以被趕出家門，或被放逐海外。 [01:15.34]Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, 來(lái)我們辦公室的的訪客，包括那些前來(lái)提供信息的， [01:19.58]or to try and find out what had happened to those who they had left behind. 或想方設(shè)法知道那些留下的同志發(fā)生了什么事的人。 [01:25.17]I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, 我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記那個(gè)非籍酷刑受害者， [01:32.05]who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. 一個(gè)當(dāng)時(shí)還沒(méi)我大的年輕男子，他因在故鄉(xiāng)的經(jīng)歷而精神錯(cuò)亂。 [01:37.21]He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. 在攝像機(jī)前講述被殘暴地摧殘的經(jīng)歷時(shí)，他的身體止不住地顫抖。

00:00

00:00

MP3下載 文本下載