词汇提示

1.Inaugural Address 就职演说

2.distinguished 尊敬

3.oath 誓言

4.flawed 有缺陷的

5.fallible 易犯错的

6.enduring 持久

7.halted 停止

8.solemn 庄重

原文

George W. Bush: 'Inaugural Address' (1)

President Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellow citizens, the peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country.

With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.

As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our nation.

And I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.

I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of America's leaders have come before me, and so many will follow.

We have a place, all of us, in a long story-a story we continue, but whose end we will not see.

It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer.

It is the American story - a story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.

The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.

Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws.

And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.

Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea.

Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.

Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along.

And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.

While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise, even the justice, of our own country.

The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth.

And sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country.

We do not accept this, and we will not allow it.

Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in every generation.

And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.

I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in his image.

And we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward.

America has never been united by blood or birth or soil.

We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.

Every child must be taught these principles.

Every citizen must uphold them.

And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less,American.

Today,we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage,compassion and character.

America,at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility.

A civil society demands from each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.

Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates appear small.

翻译

乔治·W·布什：“就职演说”（1）

克林顿总统、各位贵宾和我的同胞们，和平移交权力在历史上是罕见的，但在我们国家却很常见。
只要简单的誓言，我们就能肯定旧的传统，开创新的开端。
首先，我感谢克林顿总统为我们国家所做的贡献。
我感谢戈尔副总统以精神进行比赛，并以优雅结束比赛。
我很荣幸也很谦卑地站在这里，有这么多美国领导人在我之前，也有这么多人将在我之后。
在一个漫长的故事中，我们所有人都有一席之地——这个故事我们还在继续，但我们看不到它的结局。
这是一个新世界成为旧世界的朋友和解放者的故事，是一个蓄奴社会成为自由仆人的故事，一个权力进入世界是为了保护而不是占有，是为了保卫而不是征服的故事。
这就是美国的故事——一个有缺陷、易犯错误的人的故事，他们几代人因伟大而持久的理想而团结在一起。
这些理想中最伟大的是一个正在展开的美国承诺，即每个人都属于自己，每个人都应该有机会，没有一个微不足道的人出生。
美国人被要求在我们的生活和法律中实现这一承诺。
尽管我们的国家有时停顿，有时拖延，但我们决不能走其他道路。
在上个世纪的大部分时间里，美国对自由和民主的信仰就像汹涌大海中的一块石头。
现在，它就像风中的种子，在许多国家生根发芽。
我们的民主信仰不仅仅是我们国家的信条，它是我们人类与生俱来的希望，是我们承载但并不拥有的理想，是我们承受和传递的信任。
即使在将近225年之后，我们还有很长的路要走。
虽然我们的许多公民都很成功，但其他人却怀疑我们国家的承诺，甚至是正义。
一些美国人的雄心壮志受到失败的学校、隐藏的偏见和他们出生的环境的限制。
有时我们的分歧如此之深，似乎我们共享一个大陆，但不是一个国家。
我们不接受这一点，也不会允许。
我们的团结，我们的联盟，是每一代领导人和公民的认真工作。
这是我的庄严承诺：我将努力建设一个正义与机遇并存的国家。
我知道这是我们力所能及的，因为我们受到一种比我们自己更强大的力量的引导，他按照自己的形象创造了平等的我们。
我们对团结和引导我们前进的原则充满信心。
美国从未因血缘、出身或土地而统一。
我们被理想所束缚，这些理想使我们超越背景，使我们超越利益，并教会我们作为公民意味着什么。
必须教会每个孩子这些原则。
每个公民都必须坚持这些原则。
每一位移民，通过接受这些理想，都让我们的国家变得更美，而不是更少。
今天，我们重申一项新的承诺，即通过文明、勇气、同情心和品格来实现我们国家的承诺。
在最好的情况下，美国将对原则的承诺与对文明的关注相匹配。
一个公民社会要求我们每个人都有良好的意愿和尊重、公平交易和宽恕。
有些人似乎认为，我们的政治可以微不足道，因为在和平时期，我们辩论的利害关系似乎很小。

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Level 5-Day 10.George W. Bush 'Inaugural Address' (1)