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AdoraSvitak_2010-_大人能从小孩身上学到什么_
Now, I want to start with a question: 首先我要问大家一个问题:
When was the last time you were called childish ? 上一回别人说你幼稚是什么时候？
childish:adj.幼稚的,孩子气的;
For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence . 像我这样的小孩, 可能经常会被人说成是幼稚。
frequent:adj.频繁的;经常发生的;v.常到(某处); occurrence:n.发生;出现;存在;发生的事情;
Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish, which really bothers me. 每一次我们提出不合理的要求, 做出不负责任的行为, 或者展现出有别于 普通美国公民的惯常行为之时, 我们就被说成是幼稚。 这让我很不服气。
irrational:adj.不合理的;无理性的;荒谬的;n.[数]无理数; exhibit:v.展览;表现;展出;n.陈列品;(在法庭上出示的)物证; irresponsible:adj.不负责任的;不可靠的; display:n.显示;炫耀;vt.显示;表现;陈列;vi.[动]作炫耀行为;adj.展览的;陈列用的; bothers:n.麻烦; v.给(某人)造成麻烦(或痛苦); (bother的第三人称单数和复数)
After all, take a look at these events: 首先,让我们来回顾下这些事件:
take a look at:看一看;检查;
Imperialism and colonization , world wars, George W. Bush . 帝国主义和殖民主义, 世界大战,小布什。
Imperialism:n.帝国主义; colonization:n.殖民;殖民地化; Bush:n.灌木; v.以灌木装饰; adj.如灌木般长得低矮的;
Ask yourself: Who's responsible? Adults. 请你们扪心自问下:这些该归咎于谁？是大人。
Now, what have kids done? 而小孩呢,做了些什么？
Well, Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful account of the Holocaust , 安妮·弗兰克(Anne Frank)对大屠杀强有力的叙述 打动了数百万人的心。
Frank:adj.坦白的,直率的;老实的;n.免费邮寄特权;v.免费邮寄; Holocaust:n.大屠杀;毁灭;
Ruby Bridges helped end segregation in the United States, and, most recently , 鲁比·布里奇斯为美国种族隔离的终结作出了贡献。 另外,最近还有一个例子,
Ruby:n.红宝石;深红色;v.把…弄红;把…涂染成红色;adj.红宝石(色)的; segregation:n.隔离,分离;种族隔离; United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) recently:adv.最近;新近;
Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti on his little bike. 查理·辛普森（Charlie Simpson）骑自行车 为海地募得 12万英镑。
Haiti:n.海地;
So, as you can see evidenced by such examples, age has absolutely nothing to do with it. 所以,这些例子证明了 年龄与行为完全没有关系。
as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的; evidenced:证实(evidence的过去式和过去分词); absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
The traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking. 幼稚 这个词所对应的特点 是常常可以从大人身上看到, 由此我们在批评 不负责和非理性的相关行为时, 应停止使用这个年龄歧视的词。
traits:n.特性,特质,性格(trait的复数); abolish:vt.废除,废止;取消,革除; criticizing:v.批评;批判;挑剔;指责;评论;评价;(criticize的现在分词) associated:adj.有关联的; v.联想; (associate的过去分词和过去式) irresponsibility:n.无责任,无责任感;
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you. 谢谢！
Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? 话说回来,谁能说 我们这个世界不正是需要 某些类型的非理性思维吗？
Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself, thinking: 也许你以前有过宏大的计划, 但却半途而废,心想:
That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. 这个不可能,或代价太高 或这对我不利。
For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. 不管是好是坏,我们小孩子 在思考不做某事的理由时,不太受这些考量的影响。
hampered:adj.受阻碍的;v.阻碍(hamper的过去分词);限制;
Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking, like my wish that no one went hungry or that everything were free kind of utopia . 小孩可能会有满脑子的奇思妙想 和积极的想法, 例如我希望没有人挨饿 或者所有东西都是免费的,有点像乌托邦的理念。
inspiring:adj.鼓舞人心的;灌输的;v.鼓舞;激发;使感悟;(inspire的现在分词) aspirations:n.愿望; utopia:n.乌托邦(理想中最美好的社会);理想国;
How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities? 你们当中有多少人还会有这样的梦想 并相信其可能性？
Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free, that the food stocks would become depleted , and scarce and lead to chaos . 有时候对历史 及对乌托邦的了解, 可能是一种负担, 因为你知道假如所有东西都是免费的, 食物储备会被清空, 而缺失将会导致混乱。
utopian:adj.乌托邦的;空想的;理想化的;n.空想家;乌托邦的居民; burden:n.负担;责任;船的载货量;v.使负担;烦扰;装货于; stocks:n.[金融]股票; v.采购; depleted:v.大量减少;耗尽;使枯竭;(deplete的过去分词和过去式) scarce:adv.勉强;刚;几乎不;简直不;adj.缺乏的;不足的;稀少的; chaos:n.混沌,混乱;
On the other hand , we kids still dream about perfection . 另一方面, 我们小孩还对完美抱有希望。
On the other hand:另一方面; perfection:n.完善;完美;
And that's a good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first. 这是件好事,因为 要将任何事情变为现实, 你首先得心怀梦想。
In many ways, our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility. 在很多方面,我们的大胆想象 拓宽了可能性的疆界。
audacity:n.大胆;厚颜无耻; boundaries:n.边界;分界线;(boundary的复数)
For instance , the Museum of Glass in Tacoma , Washington, my home state -- yoohoo Washington -- 例如,华盛顿州塔可马市的玻璃博物馆, 我的家乡华盛顿州——你好！
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; Tacoma:n.塔科马港市(美国华盛顿州西部港市); yoohoo:int.喂！;vi.打招呼;
(Applause) （掌声）
has a program called Kids Design Glass, and kids draw their own ideas for glass art. 这个博物馆里有一个项目叫“儿童玻璃设计”, 小孩们自由创作自己的玻璃作品。
Now, the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas through the program because kids don't think about the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes. 后来,驻馆艺术家说 他们所有的一些极佳灵感就来自这个项目, 因为小孩不去理会 吹出不同形状玻璃的难度限制
resident:adj.居住的;住院医师;定居的;n.居民; limitations:n.局限性;(限制)因素;边界(limitation的复数形式);
They just think of good ideas. 他们只是构思好的点子。
Now, when you think of glass, you might think of colorful Chihuly designs or maybe Italian vases, but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision . 当说到玻璃的时候,你们可能 想到的是奇胡利(Chihuly)色彩丰富的玻璃设计 或意大利花瓶, 但小孩子敢于挑战玻璃艺术家,并超越他们 进入心碎蛇 和火腿男孩的领地——看到了吗,火腿男孩有“肉视力”哦
realm:n.领域,范围;王国; broken-hearted:adj.悲哀的;极度伤心的;绝望的; bacon:n.咸肉;腌肉;熏猪肉; vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insiders' knowledge. 我们先天的智慧 堪比内行人的知识。
inherent:adj.固有的;内在的;与生俱来的,遗传的; wisdom:n.智慧;明智;才智;学问;
Kids already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. 小孩已经从大人身上学到许多, 而我们也有很多东西可以和大人共享。
I think that adults should start learning from kids. 我认为大人应该开始向小孩学习。
Now, I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd, teachers and students, and I like this analogy . 听我演讲的观众大都是教育圈子里的, 这其中有老师和学生。我喜欢这个类比。
analogy:n.类比;类推;类似;
It shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do this, do that. 不应该只是老师站在教室讲台上 告诉学生做这个做那个。
The students should teach their teachers. 学生亦应教育他们的老师。
Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal . 成人和儿童之间 应该互相学习。
reciprocal:adj.互惠的;相互的;倒数的,彼此相反的;n.[数]倒数;互相起作用的事物;
The reality, unfortunately , is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it. 不幸的是,于现实里,情况是截然不同的。 这跟信任的关系很大,或者说是缺乏信任的结果。
unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right. 如果你不信任某人,你就给他们设限,对吧。
restrictions:n.限制规定;限制;约束;制约因素;(restriction的复数)
If I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest 如果我怀疑我姐姐没有能力 偿还我给她的上一笔贷款的
I established on her last loan, 百分之十的利息时,
established:adj.已确立的;著名的;v.建立;创立;设立;(establish的过去分词和过去式)
I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she pays it back. (Laughter) 我将要限制她再向我借钱, 直到她还清借款为止。（笑声）
withhold:v.保留;隐瞒;抑制;忍住;克制;
True story, by the way . 顺便提一下,这是个真实的例子。
by the way:顺便说一下;
Now, adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every "don't do that," 大人呢,似乎普遍地 对小孩持限制性的态度, 从学校手册里的
attitude:n.态度;看法;意见;姿势;
'"don't do this" in the school handbook , to restrictions on school internet use. “不能做这个”、“不能做那个” 到学校互联网使用的各种限制性规定。
handbook:n.手册;指南;
As history points out, regimes become oppressive when they're fearful about keeping control. 历史告诉我们,当政体害怕统治失控时, 它就会变得暴虐。
regimes:n.政治制度,政权,政体(regime的名词复数); oppressive:adj.压迫的;沉重的;压制性的;难以忍受的; fearful:adj.可怕的;担心的;严重的;
And, although adults may not be quite at the level of totalitarian regimes, kids have no, or very little, say in making the rules, when really the attitude should be reciprocal, meaning that the adult population should learn and take into account the wishes of the younger population. 虽然大人可能不会 像独裁政权一样心狠手辣, 但小孩在制定规则方面是几乎没有话语权的。 而正确的态度应该是两者相互尊重的, 也就是说成人群体应该了解 并认真对待年幼群体的 愿望。
totalitarian:adj.极权主义的;n.极权主义者; take into account:考虑;重视;体谅;
Now, what's even worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate kids abilities. 然而比限制更糟糕的是, 大人常常低估小孩的能力。
underestimate:v.低估;看轻;n.低估;
We love challenges, but when expectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them. 我们喜欢挑战,但假如大人对我们期望很低的话, 说真的,我们就会不思进取。
expectations:n.预料;预期;期待;希望;指望;(expectation的复数)
My own parents had anything but low expectations for me and my sister. 我自己的父母对我和姐姐 抱很高的期望。
Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that, but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and pioneer germ fighters when lots of other kids were hearing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round." 当然,他们没有让我们立志成为医生 或律师诸如此类的, 但我爸经常读 关于亚里斯多德 和先锋细菌斗士的故事给我们听, 而其他小孩大多听的是 《公车的轮子转呀转》。
Aristotle:n.亚里士多德; germ:n.[植]胚芽,萌芽;细菌;vi.萌芽;
Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules. 其实我们也有听这个,但《先锋细菌斗士》实在是比那个强多了。
(Laughter) （笑声）
I loved to write from the age of four, and when I was six my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word. 四岁的时候我就喜欢上写作, 六岁的时候, 我妈给我买了台装有微软Word软件的个人手提电脑。
laptop:n.便携式电脑;笔记本电脑;
Thank you Bill Gates and thank you Ma. 谢谢你比尔·盖茨！也谢谢你,妈咪！
I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop, and I wanted to get published. 我用那个小手提电脑 写了300多篇短篇故事, 而且我想发表我的作品。
Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get published, or saying wait until you're older, my parents were really supportive . 一个小孩想发表作品 这简直是天方夜谭,但我父母没有嘲笑我, 也没有说等你长大点儿再说, 他们非常支持我。
scoffing:v.嘲笑;讥讽;贪婪地吃;狼吞虎咽;(scoff的现在分词) heresy:n.异端;异端邪说;异教; supportive:adj.支持的;支援的;赞助的;
Many publishers were not quite so encouraging. 但是很多出版社的回应让人失望。
publishers:n.出版商,出版公司;出版社(publisher的复数);
One large children's publisher ironically saying that they didn't work with children. 颇具讽刺意味的是,一个很大的儿童出版社说, 他们不跟儿童打交道。
ironically:adv.讽刺地;说反话地;
Children's publisher not working with children? 儿童出版社不跟儿童打交道？
I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client there. 怎么说呢,你这是在怠慢一个大客户嘛。
alienating:使疏远;离间;转让(alienate的现在分词); client:n.[经]客户;顾客;委托人;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, one publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to take that leap and trust me, and to listen to what I had to say. 有一个出版商,行动出版社 愿意给我一个机会, 并倾听我想说的话。
leap:n.跳越;跳跃;跳高;骤变;v.跳;跳跃;跳越;猛冲;
They published my first book, "Flying Fingers," -- you see it here -- and from there on, it's gone to speaking at hundreds of schools, keynoting to thousands of educators, and finally , today, speaking to you. 他们出版了我的第一本书《飞舞的手指》——就是这个—— 那以后,我到数百个学校去演讲, 给数千个老师作主题演讲, 最后,在今天,给你们作演讲。
keynoting:n.基调;主旨;主音;vt.给…定基调;说明基本政策;vi.作主旨发言; finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
I appreciate your attention today, because to show that you truly care, you listen. 我感谢你们今天听我演讲, 因为你们会倾听我, 这证明你们真的在乎。
appreciate:v.欣赏;感激;感谢;理解;
But there's a problem with this rosy picture of kids being so much better than adults. 但小孩比大人强得多的这幅乐观图景 是存在一个问题的。
rosy:adj.蔷薇色的,玫瑰红色的;美好的;乐观的;涨红脸的;
Kids grow up and become adults just like you. 小孩会长大并变成像你们一样的大人。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Or just like you, really? 跟你们一样,真的吗？
The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you have been, which may be a little challenging considering your guys credentials , but the way progress happens is because new generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous ones. 我们的目标不是让小孩变成你们这样的大人, 而是比你们强的大人。 考虑到你们都这么了不起, 这可能颇具挑战性。 但进步 是因新的一代人和新的时期而发生, 不断的进步和发展,并超越之前的年代。
credentials:n.[管理]证书; v.得到信用; eras:n.[天]纪元,时代;年代(era的复数形式); previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前;
It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore. 这就是为什么我们不再处于黑暗时代。
Dark Ages:n.黑暗时代(欧洲历史上从罗马帝国衰亡至公元10世纪的时期);
No matter your position of place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away . 不管在生活中你的位置在哪里, 你必须给孩子创造机会。 这样他们才能成长并让你扬眉吐气。
imperative:adj.重要紧急的; n.重要紧急的事; blow you away:震撼你;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Adults and fellow TEDsters, you need to listen and learn from kids and trust us and expect more from us. 大人和TED观众们, 你们需要倾听并向小孩学习, 信任我们和对我们怀有更高的期望。
You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow, which means we're going to be taking care of you when you're old and senile . No, just kidding. 今天你们需要聆听, 因为我们是明天的领导, 这意味着当你们年老体衰时, 我们会照顾你们。哈,只是开玩笑了。
senile:adj.高龄的;老衰的;高龄所致的;
No, really, we are going to be the next generation, the ones who will bring this world forward. 确实,我们将成为推动世界前进 的下一代人。
And, in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you, remember that cloning is possible, and that involves going through childhood again, in which case, you'll want to be heard just like my generation. 而且,假如你认为这对你没有意义的话, 不要忘了克隆是可能的, 而这意味着童年可以重来, 这种情况下,像我们这一代人一样, 你也会希望大人倾听你们的心声。
cloning:n.克隆;v.无性繁殖(clone的现在分词); involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数) childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期
Now, the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas. 世界需要产生新的领导人 和新想法的机会。
Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed. 小孩需要机会去领导和取得成功。
Are you ready to make the match? 你准备好去促成这一切了吗？
Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human family's heirloom . 因为这个世界的问题, 不应该是人类家庭的传家宝。
heirloom:n.传家宝;世代相传之物;
Thank you. 谢谢你们！
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you. Thank you. 谢谢！谢谢！