But that I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy---they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices.

但是今天我想對你們說的是，天賦和選擇不同。聰明是一種天賦，而善良是一種選擇。天賦得來很容易——畢竟它們與生俱來。而選擇卻頗為艱難。如果一不小心你可能被天賦所誘惑，這可能會損害到你做出的選擇。

This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case because admission is competitive and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.

在應(yīng)各位都擁有許多夭賦。我確信你們的天賦之一就是擁有精明能干的頭腦。我之所以如此確信，是因為入學(xué)競爭十分激烈，如果你們不能表現(xiàn)出聰明智慧，便沒有資格進入這所學(xué)校。

Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels. We humans, plodding as we are, will astonish ourselves. We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it. Atom by atom, we'll assemble small machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs. This month comes the extraordinary but inevitable news that we've synthesized life. In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but engineer it to specifications. I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton---all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now. As a civilization, we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me.

你們的聰明才智必定會派上用場，因為你們將在一片充滿奇跡的土地上前進。我們?nèi)祟惐M管緩步前行，卻終將令自己大吃一驚。我們能夠想方設(shè)法制造各種清潔能源，也能夠一個原子一個原子地紐裝微型機械，使之穿過細(xì)胞壁，然后修復(fù)細(xì)胞。注個月，有一件非凡的而不可避免的事情發(fā)生了，那就是人類終于合成了生命。在未來幾年，我們不僅會合成生命，還會按說明書驅(qū)動它們。我相信你們甚至?xí)吹轿覀冏x懂人類的大腦。儒勒·凡爾納、馬克·吐溫、伽利略、牛頓——所有那些充滿好奇之心的人都希望能夠活到現(xiàn)在。作為文明人，我們會擁有如此之多的天賦，就像是坐在我面前的你們，每一個生命個體都擁有許多獨特的夭賦。

How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?

你們要如何運用這些天賦呢？你們會為自己的夭賦感到驕傲，還是會為自己的選擇感到驕傲？

Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life---the life you author from scratch on your own-begins.

明天，非常現(xiàn)實地說，你們的人生——從零開始塑造的自己的人生——即將開啟。

How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?

你們將如何運用自己的天賦？你們又將做出怎樣的抉擇？

Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?

你們是被慣性所引導(dǎo)，還是追隨自己內(nèi)心的熱情？

Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?

你們會墨守成規(guī)，還是勇于創(chuàng)新？

Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?

你們會選擇安逸的生活，還是選擇一個奉獻(xiàn)與冒險的生活？

Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?

你們會屈從于批評，還是會堅守信念？

Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?

你們會掩飾錯誤，還是會坦誠道歉？

Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?

你們會因害怕拒絕而掩飾內(nèi)心，還是會在面對愛情時勇往直前？

Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?

你們想要波瀾不驚，還是想妥搏擊風(fēng)浪？

When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?

你們會在嚴(yán)峻的現(xiàn)實之下選擇放棄，還是繼續(xù)前行？

Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?

你們要做憤世嫉俗者，還是踏實的建設(shè)者？

Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

你們要不計一切代價地展示聰明，還是選擇善良？

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. Thank you and good luck!

我要冒險做一個預(yù)測。在你們80歲時，只有你一個人靜靜對內(nèi)心訴說著你的人生故事，其中最為充實、最有意義的那段講述，會被你們做出的一系列決定所填滿。最后，是選擇塑造了我們的人生。為你自己塑造一個偉大的人生故事吧！謝謝，祝你們好運！

更多 英語演講小短文、英文演講稿、英語演講稿 相關(guān)文章和資料，請繼續(xù)關(guān)注 英語作文大全