哈佛大學校園英語情景對話27：畢業(yè)典禮

A photo slips out of John’s book when he is arranging his books. Han Meimei picks it up.

H: John, where did you take the photo? There’re lots of people in the background.

H：約翰，這張照片是在哪照的?背景里怎么有那么多人。

J: Oh, it’s taken against the background of a commencement. It's the picture I took when I attended the Harvard Commencement in 2009.

L:哦，背景是一個畢業(yè)典禮，照片是我09年參加哈佛的畢業(yè)典禮的時候照的。

H: Why did you go there?

H:你怎么去那兒了?

J: My big brother graduated from Harvard last summer. It’s a big day for him. My parents and I were so proud of him. It’s out of question that we should go to witness the great moment.

J：我哥去年從哈佛畢業(yè)。對他來說是個重大的日子，我和父母都為他感到驕傲，當 然要去見證那個偉大時刻了。

H: Is a commencement such a big event in America? I’ve never seen such a scene in China. My cousin told me that her university even didn’t hold a commencement. They had to rent bachelor gowns to take pictures.

H:畢業(yè)典禮在美國這么重要啊?我在中國從沒見過這種情形。我表姐告訴我她們學 校甚至連畢業(yè)典禮都沒有，他們還得自己租學士服照相。

J: That’s awful. Commencement is such a holy day. It demonstrates that all your four years’ hard work finally pay off and that you’ll have a brand new life from that day on.

J：那太糟糕了。畢業(yè)典禮是多么神圣的一天啊，說明你四年的努力設有白費，從那 天開始你就要開始全新的人生了。

H： Tell me about it. It must be interesting. I want to get an idea about how Harvard staff and students celebrate graduation. Can anyone attend Commencement?

H:給我講講吧，肯定很有意思，我想了解哈佛人是怎么慶祝畢業(yè)的。任何人都可以 參加畢業(yè)典禮嗎?

J: No, you must get a ticket first. The tickets to Commencement are limited. Not everybody can go there. We got up early in the morning and arrived at Harvard at seven.

J:不是，你必須得先搞到票。畢業(yè)典禮的票數是有限的，不是每個人都可以去。我 們早上起得很早，七點就到哈佛了。

H: Why did you go there so early? Did the ceremony start so early?

H:為什么要去那么早?典禮那么早就開始了嗎?

J： Because seating capacity is limited, and seats are on a first-come basis and cannot be reserved. If we got there late, we had to stand.

J：因為座位有限，先到先坐，不能預定。如果去晚了，就得站著了。

H: Did the campus look different?

H:校園看起來是不是和平時不一樣?

J： Yes. It looked great. Flowers were everywhere. And parents were thrilled to see their sons and daughters, and were incredibly proud to be here.

J:是的，看起來棒極了，到處是鮮花，家長們見到兒女們很激動，也為自己能到那 兒而感到極其驕傲。

H: To be honest, I don’t understand. Why should parents feel so happy? When I saw the movie The Graduate, I couldn’t understand why everybody was happy to celebrate Benjamin’s graduation from college. He even didn’t get a job or something. I don’t believe Chinese parents will feel the same way.

H:老實說，我不理解。為什么家長們這么高興?我看《畢業(yè)生》這部電影的時候就 很不理解為什么每個人都這么高興地慶祝本杰明從大學畢業(yè)?他甚至都沒找到工 作什么的。我相信中國的父母不會這樣的。

J: It’s hard to tell. We have different cultures.

J:文化不同，很難說清楚。

H ： What else did you see and hear?

H:你的其他見聞呢?

J： On that day, I met with two centenarians. One was the oldest alumnus to take part in the ceremony and one was the oldest Radcliffe graduate to attend. They brought me back to the Harvard of the 1920s, and told me the crucial turning points in Harvard history.

j：那天，我遇見了兩個百歲老人。一個是來參加典禮的最老的校友，一個是來參加 典禮的最老的拉德克利夬院畢業(yè)生。他們把我?guī)Щ氐?0世紀20年代，給我講了 哈佛歷史上重要的轉折點。

H: Were there a lot of alumni? In China alumni only come back to celebrate significant anniversaries instead of animal Commencement, You did learn a lot from those alumni, right?

有很多校友參加?在中國校友只回來參加重大的周年校慶而不是每年的畢業(yè)典 禮。你確實從那些畢業(yè)生那里學到了很多，是吧?

J: My brain was stuffed, so was my stomach. At noon, Harvard put on what may have been the world’s largest picnic, feeding countless graduates, families, and alumni in venues across the University with about 35 different menus. It’s said that planning for Commencement meals began nearly three months ago.

我的腦袋充實了，胃也被塞滿了。中午的時候，哈佛呈上了可能是世上有史以來 最大的野餐，在各個場地為無數的畢業(yè)生、家人和校友提供大約35種不同的菜肴。 據說大概提前3個月就開始準備了。

H: My mouth is watering.

我都流口水了。

J: After lunch, we listened to speech given by the u.s. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. In 2008, the speaker was J. K. Rowling. That day, she received her honorary doctoral degree from Harvard.

午飯后，我們聽了一場美國能源部長朱棣文做的演講。2008年的演講者是J. K. 羅琳。那天她還被授予哈佛榮譽博士學位。

H: Does Harvard invite famous people to give a speech on Commencement each year?

哈佛每年都邀請名人在畢業(yè)典禮上演講嗎?

J: Yes, the speaker in 2010 will be David Souter, a Harvard alumnus who served nearly two decades on the U.S. Supreme Court before stepping down in June 2009.

是的，2010的演講者是前最高法院法官大衛(wèi)?蘇特，他在最高法院干了將近20年， 2009年6月剛退休。

H: Harvard Commencement is a like a visual and hearing feast, and is a real feast.

H:哈佛畢業(yè)典禮就像_場視覺和聽覺盛宴，也是一場真正的盛宴。