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ShabanaBasijRasikh_2012X-_让阿富汗女孩接受教育的勇气_
When I was 11, 我11岁那年,
I remember waking up one morning to the sound of joy in my house. 记得有一天早晨醒来,听见家里有愉悦的声音。
My father was listening to BBC News on his small, gray radio. 我的父亲在用他的灰色小收音机 听BBC新闻。
There was a big smile on his face which was unusual then, because the news mostly depressed him. 他面带笑容,这很少见, 因为大部分的新闻都只会使他沮丧。
depressed:adj.沮丧的; v.使抑郁; (depress的过去式和过去分词)
'"The Taliban are gone!" my father shouted. “塔利班走了！” 父亲大声叫着。
Taliban:塔利班;
I didn't know what it meant, but I could see that my father was very, very happy. 我不知道那意味着什么, 但是我能看出父亲非常非常高兴。
'"You can go to a real school now," he said. “你现在可以去个真正的学校念书了。” 他说。
A morning that I will never forget. 我永远不会忘记那个早晨。
A real school. 一个真正的学校。
You see, I was six when the Taliban took over Afghanistan and made it illegal for girls to go to school. 我6岁那年,塔利班占领阿富汗 并规定女孩上学是违法的。
Afghanistan:n.阿富汗(国家名称,位于亚洲); illegal:adj.不合法的;非法的;n.非法移民;非法劳工;
So for the next five years, I dressed as a boy to escort my older sister, who was no longer allowed to be outside alone, to a secret school. 所以在那之后5年,我女扮男装 陪着我姐姐去一个秘密学校 姐姐那时已经不被允许独自外出了。
escort:n.陪同;护航舰;护卫队;护送者;v.护送;陪同;为…护航;
It was the only way we both could be educated. 这是我们俩人唯一的受教育方式。
Each day, we took a different route so that no one would suspect where we were going. 我们每天要走不同的路线 这样才没有人会怀疑我们要去哪里。
route:n.路线;路途;固定线路;途径;v.按某路线发送; suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的;
We would cover our books in grocery bags so it would seem we were just out shopping. 我们把书放在食品杂货袋中 这样别人就会以为我们只是要去购物
grocery:n.食品杂货店;食品杂货;
The school was in a house, more than 100 of us packed in one small living room . 学校在一个房屋里, 我们100多人挤在一个小客厅里。
living room:n.客厅;起居室;
It was cozy in winter but extremely hot in summer. 冬天很舒服,但夏天却极热。
cozy:n.保温罩;v.蒙骗;抚慰;adj.舒适的;安逸的; extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地;
We all knew we were risking our lives -- the teacher, the students and our parents. 我们都知道自己正冒着生命的危险- 老师,学生以及家长都很明白
From time to time , the school would suddenly be canceled for a week because Taliban were suspicious . 有时,学校会突然停课一周 因为被塔利班怀疑了。
From time to time:不时,有时; suspicious:adj.可疑的;怀疑的;多疑的;
We always wondered what they knew about us. 我们总是担心会被塔利班发现。
Were we being followed? 我们在被跟踪吗？
Do they know where we live? 他们知道我们的住处吗？
We were scared, but still, school was where we wanted to be. 我们很害怕, 但是,我们仍然渴望去学校。
I was very lucky to grow up in a family where education was prized and daughters were treasured. 我很幸运地成长在一个 珍视教育也珍爱女儿的家庭。
My grandfather was an extraordinary man for his time. 我的祖父在他的年代是位非凡的人。
extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的;
A total maverick from a remote province of Afghanistan, he insisted that his daughter, my mom, go to school, and for that he was disowned by his father. 他出身阿富汗边远地区,有着与他人不同的见解 他坚持让他的女儿,我的母亲, 去上学,并因此被迫与他的父亲断绝父子关系。
maverick:n.没打烙印的动物; vt.用不正当手段获取; vi.迷途; adj.未打烙印的; remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的; disowned:v.与…断绝关系;否认对…的责任(disown的过去分词和过去式)
But my educated mother became a teacher. 但是我那受过教育的母亲成为了一名教师。
There she is. 那就是她。
She retired two years ago, only to turn our house into a school for girls and women in our neighborhood . 她两年前退休了,结果却把我家 变成了一所学校,教育社区中的女孩和妇女
neighborhood:n.附近;地区;街坊;adj.附近的;
And my father -- that's him -- he was the first ever in his family to receive an education. 我的父亲-那就是他- 他是他家族中第一个受到教育的人。
There was no question that his children would receive an education, including his daughters, despite the Taliban, despite the risks. 因此毫无疑问,他的孩子 应当受到教育,包括他的女儿, 尽管有塔利班,尽管有风险。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱;
To him, there was greater risk in not educating his children. 对他来说,孩子不接受教育才是更大的风险。
During Taliban years, I remember there were times I would get so frustrated by our life and always being scared and not seeing a future. 在塔利班控制阿富汗的那些年,我记得 有时我会对自己的生活感到沮丧 总是会害怕,看不见未来。
frustrated:adj.失意的,挫败的;泄气的;v.挫败;阻挠;(frustrate的过去式和过去分词)
I would want to quit , but my father, he would say, "Listen, my daughter, you can lose everything you own in your life. 我想过要放弃, 但我的父亲 这时就会说 “听着,我的女儿, 你可能失去你生命中的任何东西。
quit:v.离开;放弃;停止;使…解除;n.离开;[计]退出;adj.摆脱了…的;已经了结的;
Your money can be stolen. You can be forced to leave your home during a war. 你的钱可能被偷,你可能因战争而背井离乡。
But the one thing that will always remain with you is what is here, and if we have to sell our blood to pay your school fees, we will. 而你唯一能够守护住的东西 就是这里, 如果我们不得不靠卖血来支付你的学费, 我们会毫不犹豫。
So do you still not want to continue?" 即便如此你还是不想继续吗？”
Today I am 22. 如今我22岁。
I was raised in a country that has been destroyed by decades of war. 我所成长的国家被几十年的 战争所摧毁。
Fewer than six percent of women my age have made it beyond high school, and had my family not been so committed to my education, 我这个年龄的女性中,高中毕业的人数不到6%, 如果不是我家人的坚持,
committed:adj.坚信的; v.做出错事; (commit的过去分词和过去式)
I would be one of them. 我也会像绝大多数人一样。
Instead, I stand here a proud graduate of Middlebury College. 而如今我已经是一名自豪的明德学院的毕业生
(Applause) （掌声）（明德学院(Middlebury College)是全美国的顶级文理学院之一,位于美国佛蒙特州明德镇, 2012年在全美国文理学院中排名第五）
When I returned to Afghanistan, my grandfather, the one exiled from his home for daring to educate his daughters, was among the first to congratulate me. 当我回到阿富汗时,我的祖父, 那位因让女儿接受教育而被逐出家门的老人, 最先向我表示了祝贺。
exiled:v.流放;放逐;(exile的过去分词和过去式)
He not only brags about my college degree, but also that I was the first woman, and that I am the first woman to drive him through the streets of Kabul. 他骄傲的不仅仅是因为我的大学学历, 也是因为在女性中,我是第一个, 在女性中,我是第一个 开车带他在喀布尔的大街兜风的人。
brags:v.吹嘘;自吹自擂(brag的第三人称单数)
(Applause) （掌声）
My family believes in me. 我的家人很信任我。
I dream big, but my family dreams even bigger for me. 我的梦想很大,但他们对我的期待甚至更高。
That's why I am a global ambassador for 10x10, a global campaign to educate women. 这就是我成为 10x10 的全球大使的原因, 这是一个致力于女性教育的全球组织。
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; ambassador:n.大使;代表;使节;
That's why I cofounded SOLA , the first and perhaps only boarding school for girls in Afghanistan, a country where it's still risky for girls to go to school. 那也是我参与创立 SOLA 的原因, 这是第一所,可能也是阿富汗唯一一所 寄宿女校, 因为在阿富汗,让女孩接受教育依然十分危险。
SOLA:n.粗糙田皂角; boarding school:n.寄宿学校;
The exciting thing is that I see students at my school with ambition grabbing at opportunity. 让我兴奋的是,我看见我学校中的学生 能够把握机遇,志向远大。
ambition:n.追求的目标;野心;志向;抱负; grabbing:v.抓住;夺得;利用,抓住(机会)(grab的现在分词)
And I see their parents and their fathers who, like my own, advocate for them, despite and even in the face of daunting opposition . 我看见她们的双亲,尤其是她们的父亲, 就像我父亲那样支持她们, 尽管从他们脸上也看出了畏惧。
advocate:v.拥护;支持;提倡;n.支持者;提倡者;辩护律师;出庭辩护人; in the face of:面对; daunting:adj.令人生畏的:令人胆怯的:v.使胆怯:使失去信心;(daunt的现在分词) opposition:n.反对党;对立;在野党;对抗;
Like Ahmed. That's not his real name, and I cannot show you his face, but Ahmed is the father of one of my students. 比如艾哈迈德,这不是真名, 我也不能让你们看见他的长相, 他是我一个学生的父亲。
Less than a month ago, he and his daughter were on their way from SOLA to their village, and they literally missed being killed by a roadside bomb by minutes. 不到一个月前,他和他女儿 在从学校回村里的路上 他们差一点就被 路边炸弹炸死。
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: roadside:n.路边;路旁;adj.路边的;路旁的;
As he arrived home, the phone rang, a voice warning him that if he sent his daughter back to school, they would try again. 他到家时,电话响了, 一个声音警告他 如果他再将女儿送去学校, 刚才的事情就会再次发生。
'"Kill me now, if you wish," he said, "but I will not ruin my daughter's future because of your old and backward ideas." “如果你想,现在就可以杀了我。”他说, “但我不会因你落后的思想 而毁了我女儿的未来。”
ruin:n.废墟;毁坏;灭亡;v.毁灭;使破产; backward:adj.向后的;反向的;发展迟缓的;adv.向后地;相反地;
What I've come to realize about Afghanistan, and this is something that is often dismissed in the West, that behind most of us who succeed is a father who recognizes the value in his daughter and who sees that her success is his success. 对于阿富汗,我意识到 ——这是西方国家也不曾意识到的—— 即在我们成功的背后 是一个这样的父亲——他能认识到自己女儿的价值, 也明白女儿的成功,就是他自己的成功。
dismissed:v.不予考虑;摒弃;去除,消除;解雇;(dismiss的过去分词和过去式) recognizes:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的第三人称单数)
It's not to say that our mothers aren't key in our success. 这并不是说母亲们对于我们的成功并不重要。
In fact, they're often the initial and convincing negotiators of a bright future for their daughters, but in the context of a society like in Afghanistan, we must have the support of men. 事实上,为了女儿的美好未来,她们通常是 最初和最有说服力的交涉者, 但是在像阿富汗这样的社会中, 我们必须有男性的支持。
initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于; convincing:adj.令人信服的; v.使确信; (convince的现在分词) negotiators:n.谈判代表(negotiator的复数); context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉;
Under the Taliban, girls who went to school numbered in the hundreds -- remember, it was illegal. 在塔利班控制下,去上学的女孩 曾经只有几百人—— 请不要忘了,当时是非法的。
But today, more than three million girls are in school in Afghanistan. 但是今天,阿富汗接受教育的女孩已经超过300万。
(Applause) （掌声）
Afghanistan looks so different from here in America. 阿富汗与美国有很大不同。
I find that Americans see the fragility in changes. 我发现,美国人能看出我们变化中的脆弱性。
fragility:n.脆弱;[力]易碎性;虚弱;
I fear that these changes will not last much beyond the U.S. troops' withdrawal . 我担心这些变化在美军撤军之后 能够维持多久。
withdrawal:n.撤退,收回;提款;取消;退股;
But when I am back in Afghanistan, when I see the students in my school and their parents who advocate for them, who encourage them, I see a promising future and lasting change. 但是当我回到阿富汗 看见我的学生 以及支持她们 并鼓励她们的父母时,我看到了未来的希望, 也看到这种变化会延续下去。
To me, Afghanistan is a country of hope and boundless possibilities, and every single day the girls of SOLA remind me of that. 对我来说,阿富汗充满了希望和无限的可能性, 每一天 在 SOLA 读书的女孩儿都这么提醒着我。
boundless:adj.无限的;无边无际的; remind:v.提醒;使想起;
Like me, they are dreaming big. 像我一样,她们也有很大的梦想。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）