名人英语演讲:英国首相梅姨2017新年贺词
1
The New Year is a time to reflect on what has passed and look ahead to the opportunities to come. And this year, as I consider all that 2017 has in store, I believe those opportunities are greater than ever. For we have made a momentous decision and set ourselves on a new direction.
新年正是这样一个时刻,我们既要反思过去,也要放眼未来,展望机遇。而今年,当我考虑到2017年将面临的各种状况,我坚信我们迎来了比以往更加千载难逢的机遇。我们做出了一项重要的抉择,它带领我们朝着新方向一路前行。
And if 2016 was the year you voted for that change. This is the year we start to make it happen. I know that the referendum last June was divisive at times. I know, of course, that not everyone shared the same point of view or voted in the same way. But I know too that, as we face the opportunities ahead of us, our shared interests and ambitions can bring us together. We all want to see a Britain that is stronger than it is today. We all want a country that is fairer so that everyone has the chance to succeed. We all want a nation that is safe and secure for our children and grandchildren. These ambitions unite us so that we are no longer the 52% who voted Leave and the 48% who voted Remain, but one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future.
如果说,2016年是你投票选择想做出改变。那么今年,我们则要开始实现改变。我知道去年六月的公投可以说是具有分裂性的。当然我也知道,不是所有人都有相同的观点投票做出一致决定。但我也同样知道,当我们面对未来这些机遇时,我们共同的利益和雄心将使我们联合起来。我们都希望看到一个比现在更强大的英国。我们都想要一个更为公平公正的国家,这样才能让每个人都有成功的机会。为了子孙后代,我们都希望国家变得更加安全稳定。这些雄心将我们联合起来,我们不再是52%支持脱欧的选民,也不再是48%支持留欧的选民,而是一个由人民和构成国组成的伟大联盟,我们拥有光荣的历史和光明的前途。
So when I sit around the negotiating table in Europe this year, it will be with that in mind: the knowledge that I am there to get the right deal, not just for those who voted to Leave, but for every single person in this country.
因此,今年当我坐在谈判桌前与欧盟继续协商时,我会将此铭记于心:我在这里是要为英国争取最佳利益,不只是为投票脱欧的人争取,而是为这个国家的每个人争取。
Of course, the referendum laid bare some further divisions in our country between those who are prospering and those who are not; those who can easily buy their own home, send their children to a great school, find a secure job and those who cannot; in short, those for whom our country works well and those for whom it does not.
确实,脱欧公投进一步加剧了我们国家的分化程度,在富裕阶层和并不富裕的人之间产生分化;那些可以轻而易举购置房产,将子女送进最好的学校,轻易找到一份稳定工作的人和做不到这些的人也产生了分化;总之,分化就在这些国家利益既得者和国家利益缺失者之间产生。
This is the year we need to pull down these barriers that hold people back securing a better deal at home for ordinary working people. The result will be a truly united Britain in which we are all united in our citizenship of this great nation; united in the opportunities that are open to all our people and united by the principle that it is only your talent and hard work that should determine your future. After all, it is through unity that our people have achieved great things: through our precious union of nations—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; through our union of people—from sports teams to armed forces; business to charities; schools to hospitals; and, above all, through our union of communities and families.
在新的一年,我们必须扫清这些阻隔人民之间的障碍,为辛勤工作的普通人争取更好的待遇。这才会带来一个真正联合的英国,我们以这个伟大国家的公民身份彼此联合;面对全民开放的机会我们彼此联合,而联合所遵循的原则是只有你的才华和你的努力程度才是决定你未来的关键。毕竟,只有联合在一起,我们的人民才能取得如此伟大的成就:我们有四大构成国组成的宝贵联盟——英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰;还有国民之间的联合——从奥运代表队到武装力量;从企业机构到慈善组织;从学校到医院;但最为重要的还是我们社区组织和每家每户的联合。
Of course, it isn’t just big, global events that define a year, it is personal things. 2017 might be the year you start your first job, or buy your first home. It might be the year your children start school, or go off to university or that you retire after a lifetime of hard work. These things—life’s milestones—are the things that bind us, whoever we are.
当然,要给这一年下定义,不仅仅要看全球性的大事件,更要看个人化的事件。2017年或许你会开始人生的第一份工作,或买下第一套房子。这一年你的孩子可能第一次走进课堂,或者离家迈入大学校园,又或者你努力工作了一本子,今年终于得以退休。正是这些小事成为我们生命的里程碑,把我们紧紧联系在一起,无论我们是谁。
As the fantastic MP Jo Cox, who was so tragically taken from us last year put it: “We are far more united and have for more in common than which divides us.” We have a golden opportunity to demonstrate that. To bring this country together as never before so that whoever you are, wherever you live, our politics, economy and society work for you, not just a privileged few. So as we look ahead to a year of opportunity and unity, let me wish you and your family, a peaceful, prosperous and happy New Year.
去年,了不起的JO COX议员不幸地永远离开了我们,她生前曾说过:“跟分化我们的因素相比,我们更有理由联合在一起,拥有更多的共同之处。”如今有这样千载难逢的机会来证明这点。为了让国家前所未有的联合起来,无论你姓甚名谁,无论你住在何处,我们的政治、经济和社会都会服务于你的利益,而不是服务于那些特权少数阶层。因此,当我们展望明年的机遇和联合统一时,请让我祝福您和您的家人拥有一个祥和安定、幸福快乐的新年。
本文地址:http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/speech/15993.html