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网路上看到的，藉由时事增加英文能力，这或许是不错的教材。
个人觉得是篇很不错的文章，当作英文课文来学习也很不错。
原文如下：
Hello, Chicago.
哈啰，芝加哥！
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
如果外头还有人怀疑，美国是否真的是任何事都可能发生的地方，怀疑我们开国先贤的梦想今天是否依然存在，怀疑我们民主的力量；今夜，就是你们要的答案。
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
这是个用这个国家仅见，环绕学校、教堂的无数人龙，所说的答案。这些人，苦等三、四个小时，许多还是生平头一次，因为他们相信，这次一定要不一样，他们的声音就是明证。
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
这是个由不分老少、贫富、民主党、共和党；黑人、白人、拉丁裔、亚裔、美洲原住民；同性恋、异性恋人；肢障与四体健全者，大家共同诉说的答案。美国民众向全世界发出讯息，我们绝非一盘散沙，也不是由红州、蓝州拼凑而成的集合体。
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
我们现在是，未来也永远是，美利坚合众国。
感谢你们的支持
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
这个是引领国人把手放在历史拱弧，再度让它指向明天会更美好希望的答案。长久以来，这些国人一直被许多人灌输，要嘲讽、害怕和怀疑我们自身的能力。
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
这个答案迟迟未出现，但是今晚，由于我们在这个投票日关键时刻的所作所为，改变终于降临美国。
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
今晚稍早，我接到马侃参议员打来，态度非常恳切的电话。
Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
马侃参议员已打完一场漫长艰苦的选战。他为这个他所热爱的国家所打的仗更久，更艰苦。他为美国的奉献牺牲，是我们多数同胞难以想像的。因为有他这位勇敢无私的领袖的奉献，我们才能过比较好的日子。
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
我向他道贺；也向裴林州长道贺，为他们所成就的一切。我迫不及待想和他们携手合作，在未来数月更新这个国家的许诺。
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
我要感谢我的选举搭档，这位先生全心全意竞选，为与他在史克兰顿街头一起长大的男男女女代言。在前往德拉瓦州的路上，和我一起以火车为家，他就是副总统当选人，拜登先生。
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama.
如果没有过去十六年来坚定支持的挚友，我今晚不可能站在这里。她是我家庭的磐石，我一生的最爱，国家未来的第一夫人蜜雪儿‧欧巴马。
Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.
莎夏和玛利亚。我对你俩的爱远超过你们想像。你们已赢得即将和我们一起到新白宫作伴的新小狗。
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
还有，虽然她已不在我们身边，但是我知道我外婆，也和造就今日之我的家族一起在看。今晚，我想念他们。我知道，我欠他们的，无法衡量。
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
我妹妹玛亚、艾玛、我的其他兄弟姊妹们，非常感谢你们给我的所有支持。我很感谢他们。
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best _ the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
还有，我的竞选经理普罗费，这次竞选的无名英雄，我认为他营造了美国史上最佳的政治运动。
To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
感谢我的首席竞选策略顾问艾索洛，一路走来，他一直是我的得力伙伴。
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
感谢这个政治史上无出其右的最佳竞选团队，你们造就了这项成果，我对你们的牺牲奉献，永存感激。
这是你们的胜利
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
总之，我绝不会忘记这个胜利真正属于谁。它属于你们大家。它是你们的。
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
我从来就不是这个职位最被看好的候选人。刚开始，我没什么钱，也没什么后援。我们参选的念头，并非始于华府大厅，而是来自第蒙市后院，康科市客厅和查尔斯敦的门廊，再经由众多男女，用他们从有限储蓄中拿出，依法所能捐献的五块、十块和廿块美元，共同打造出来的。
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
经过那些拒绝承认他们是冷漠世代的迷思的年轻朋友加持，它成长茁壮，他们离开家，告别亲人，投入待遇菲薄，永远睡眠不足的工作。
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
经过那些年纪不算轻的朋友加持，它成长茁壮，他们冒着寒风酷暑，挨家挨户向完全陌生的民众敲门；经过数百万民众自发性的组织，证明这个民有、民治、民享的政府，在两百多年之后，没有从地球上消失，仍在成长茁壮。
This is your victory.
这是你们的胜利。
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
我知道，你们这么做，不只是为了胜选。我也知道，你们这么做，不是为了我。
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime _ two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
你们这么做，是因为你们了解，横在眼前的是千万斤的重担。因为即使我们今晚庆功，我们也明白，明天所要面临的是此生最大的挑战：两场战争，一个处于存亡之秋的地球，及百年仅见的金融危机。
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
即使我们今晚站在此地，我们也知道，为了我们，美国的勇士们正在伊拉克沙漠巡逻，在阿富汗山区出生入死。
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
许多父母，在子女进入梦乡后，仍辗转难眠，担心房贷、医疗帐单该怎么付，或该怎么存，才够支应子女的大学教育费用。
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
新的能源要研发，新的工作机会要创造，新学校要建，不少威胁要对付，既有盟邦关系要修补。
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
未来的路仍遥，路上的坡仍陡峭，我们可能没办法在一年，或一任内抵达。但是，美国，我从来没有像今晚的我，对我们的使命必达，更充满希望。
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
我向各位许诺，我们会团结一心，一齐抵达目的地。
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
一开始，挫折和失误在所难免。有许多人不会同意我以总统身分所做的每一个决定或每一项政策。我们也知道政府无法解决所有问题。
我需要你们的协助
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years _ block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
但我永远会把我们面对的挑战坦白告诉各位。，尤其是在我们看法不同的时候。最重要的是，我会邀请各位加入重塑这个国家的工作，以美国两百廿一年来采用的唯一方法：一砖一瓦，胼手胝足。
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
廿一个月前发轫于隆冬的，不会就在这个秋夜结束。
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
我们追求的改变，不仅仅是这个胜利。这个胜利只是给我们机会实现我们追求的改变。我们若走回头路，改变便不会发生。
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
少了你，少了新的服务精神，少了新的牺牲精神，改变就不会发生。
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
所以，且让我们唤起新的爱国心、新的责任感，人人挽起衣袖，更加努力，照顾自己之外，更要彼此照顾。
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
我们不要忘记，如果这次金融危机给了我们任何教训，那就是在寻常百姓生活困顿下，华尔街也不可能独自繁荣昌盛。
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
在这个国度，不论兴衰，都是全国与共，全民一体。我们一定要抗拒诱惑，不再靠已毒害我国政治许久的党派之私、褊狭和幼稚。
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
我们不可忘记，第一个把共和党旗帜带进白宫的男士，正是来自本州。共和党的建党根基则是自立、个人自由及全国统一团结等价值观。
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
这些也是我们共享的价值观。虽然民主党今晚大胜，我们却始终谦冲自持，并决心弥合阻挠我们进步的裂缝。
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
正如林肯向一个远比今天更分歧的美国所说的，我们不是敌人，是朋友。激情或曾使选情紧绷，却不容它破坏我们之间感情的连结。
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
我要向那些我仍须努力争取支持的美国同胞说，或许今晚我没能赢得各位的选票，但是我听到诸位的声音，我需要你们协助，我也会是你们的总统。
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
对那些今晚在海外、从各地国会和宫殿观看美国选情的人士，在为世人遗忘的角落围绕着收音机的人们，我要说我们的故事各不相同，命运却是一体，美国新的领导就要出现了。
To those _ to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
对那些想撕裂这个世界的人，我要说：我们会打垮你。对那些追求和平安全的人，我要说：我们支持你。而对那些怀疑美国这灯塔是否依然明亮的人，今晚我们再度证实，美国真正的国力不是来自船坚炮利、富甲天下，而是来自发乎我们理想、历久不衰的力量，这些理想是民主、自由、机会和坚持到底的希望。
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
这正是真正的美国精神：也就是美国能够改变。这个国家的结合可以更完善。我们已经成就的，让我们勇于企盼我们明天能够做到、也必须做到的。
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
这次大选有许多创举和故事足供世世代代传颂。而今晚浮现在我脑海的，是在亚特兰大投票的一位妇人。她和这次大选无数排队投票以表达心声的选民没什么差别，不同的只有一点，安．尼克森．库柏已高龄一百零六。
是的，我们做得到
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons _ because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
她出生于奴隶时代结束后那个世代；当时路上没有汽车，天上不见飞机；而她这样的人没有资格投票，原因有二：其一，她是女人，其二，她的肤色不对。
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America _ the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
但就在今晚，我想到她在美国这百年人生的阅历：心伤和希望；挣扎和进步；那些人告诉我们我们不能的时候，和那些高举着美国人「是的，我们做得到」的信念奋勇向前的人。
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
身处女性声音受压制、希望被漠视的时代，她这一生亲眼看到女性站起来，表达心声，并争取到投票权。是的，我们做得到。
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
就在尘盆地带（指美国大草原的一部分，大致包括科罗拉多州东南部、堪萨斯州西南部、德州与奥克拉荷马州锅柄形突出地带）陷入绝望，大萧条席卷美国全境之际，她目睹一个国家以新政、新的工作机会、新的和衷共济精神克服了恐惧本身。是的，我们做得到。
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
当炸弹落在我们的港口，暴政威胁世界之际，她亲眼看见一个世代巍然挺身而起，拯救了一个民主体制。是的，我们做得到。
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
在蒙哥马利市（黑人）搭巴士抗争，伯明罕市的水龙（警察以强力水龙对付抗议者），赛尔玛城外的桥上（遭警察血腥镇压），来自亚特兰大的一位牧师告诉一个民族「我们终必得胜」时，她都在场。是的，我们做得到。
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
一个人登上了月球，柏林一道墙倒了，一个世界被我们自己的科学和想像连结了起来。
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
而今年，在这次选举中，她用手指触碰屏幕，投下她的一票，因为在美国生活了一百零六年，尝遍酸甜苦辣之后，她知道美国能够有什么样的改变。是的，我们做得到。
这是我们的时刻
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves _ if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
美国，我们已经走了这么远。阅历了这么多。眼前却还有这么多事要做。所以，今晚让我们扪心自问，如果我们的子女能够活到下个世纪；如果我女儿有幸如安．尼克森．库柏般长寿，他们能看到什么改变？我们又促成了什么样的进步？
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
此际正是我们回应那个召唤的机会，这是我们的时刻。
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
就在此刻，我们大家要重新开始工作，为我们的孩子开启希望之门；迎回繁荣并推展和平大业；重新拥抱美国梦并再次确立那基本的真理，也就是我们同舟一命，只要活着就怀抱希望。当旁人嘲讽、怀疑我们，告诉我们我们办不到时，我们会回以那历久不衰、总结一个民族精神的信念：是的，我们做得到。
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
谢谢大家。愿上帝祝福你，求上帝祝福美国。
[ 此文章被kilang在2008-11-07 17:38重新编辑 ]
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