我们为什么要上学?（节选）

编辑点评：在这个“一年之计在于春”的季节，让我们重温奥巴马的著名演讲《我们为什么要上学》，该演讲特点在于，词句大都比较简单，因为对象是中小学生；为了使演讲更亲和，奥巴马使用了很多口语化表达，同时，谈及深刻话题时，用词则严谨规范。

Ø  学会对自己负责

We can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world - and none of it will make a difference，none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.

哪怕我们有最尽职的教师，最好的家长和最优秀的学校，假如你们不去履行自己的责任的话，那么这一切努力都会白费。

Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

你们中的每一个人都会有自己擅长的东西，每一个人都是有用之材，而发现自己的才能是什么，就是你们要对自己担起的责任。教育给你们提供了发现自己才能的机会。

Maybe you could be a great writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write that English paper - that English class paper that’s assigned to you.

或许你能写出优美的文字——甚至有一天能让那些文字出现在书籍和报刊上——但假如不在课堂上经常练习写作，你不会发现自己有这样的天赋。

Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class.

或许你能成为一个发明家、创造家一一甚至设计出像今天的iPhone这样流行的产品，或研制出新的药物与疫苗一一但假如不在自然科学课程上做上几次实验，你不会知道自己有这样的天赋。

Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice - but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

或许你能成为一名议员或最高法院法官，但假如你不去加入什么学生会或参加几次辩论赛，你也不会发现自己的才能。

Ø  成功不在朝夕

No one's born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice.

没有哪一个人一生出来就擅长做什么事情的，只有努力才能培养出技能。任何人都不是在第一次接触一项体育运动时就成为校队的代表，任何人都不是在第一次唱一首歌时就找准每一个音，一切都需要熟能生巧。

The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it.

对于学业也是一样，你或许要反复运算才能解出一道数学题的正确答案，你或许需要读一段文字好几遍才能理解它的意思。这都是很正常的。

Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's why I succeed.

因为在这个世界上，最最成功的人们往往也经历过最多的失败。迈克尔•乔丹上高中时被学校的篮球队刷了下来，在他的职业生涯里，他输了几百场比赛、投失过几千次射篮，知道他是怎么说的吗？“我一生不停地失败、失败再失败，这就是我现在成功的原因。”

And even when you're struggling，even when you're discouraged，and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

你要记住，哪怕你表现不好、哪怕你失去信心、哪怕你觉得身边的人都已经放弃了你一一永远不要自己放弃自己。因为当你放弃自己的时候，你也放弃了自己的国家。

（整理自奥巴马2009年演讲《我们为什么要上学》）