名校勵(lì)志英語(yǔ)演講 第56期:拯救世界 拯救兒童
Friends, let me paint a picture for you. Here is a typical day in America—six youths under the age of 20 will commit suicide, 12 children under the age of 20 will die from firearms—remember this is a DAY, not a year—399 kids will be arrested for drug abuse, 1,352 babies will be born to teen mothers. This is happening in one of the richest, most developed countries in the history of the world.
朋友們，讓我給大家描述一幅這樣的情景，這是美國(guó)典型的一天——每一天將有6個(gè)不滿20歲的青年自殺，12個(gè)20歲以下的孩子死于槍擊——記住這只是一天，不是一年——另外還有399個(gè)少年因?yàn)榉枚酒范淮叮?352個(gè)嬰兒被十幾歲的媽媽生下來(lái)，這些都發(fā)生在世界上最富有最發(fā)達(dá)的國(guó)家。
Yes, in my country there is an epidemic of violence that parallels no other industrialized nation. These are the ways young people in America express their hurt and their anger. But don't think that there is not the same pain and anguish among their counterparts in the United Kingdom. Studies in this country show that every single hour, three teenagers in the UK inflict harm upon themselves, often by cutting or burning their bodies or taking an overdose. This is how they have chosen to cope with the pain of neglect and emotional agony.
是的，我國(guó)所充斥的暴力，其他的工業(yè)化國(guó)家無(wú)法與之相比。這只是美國(guó)年輕人宣泄他們的傷痛和憤怒的方式，但是，不要認(rèn)為英國(guó)就不存在有這樣痛苦和煩惱的人。種種調(diào)查表明英國(guó)每小時(shí)都會(huì)有3個(gè)青少年自殘，他們通常會(huì)割傷或燙傷自己的身體或者服用過(guò)量藥劑。這是他們所選擇的用來(lái)發(fā)泄被忽視的痛苦和煩惱的方法。
In Britain, as many as 20% of families will only sit down and have dinner together once a year.Once a year! And what about the time-honored tradition of reading your kid a bedtime story?Research from the 1980s showed that children who are read to, had far greater literacy and significantly outperformed their peers at school.
在大不列顛，多達(dá)20%的家庭一年只能聚在一起吃一次晚飯，一年才一次!那么給孩子們講睡前故事的悠久傳統(tǒng)又處于一種什么狀況呢?20世紀(jì)80年代以來(lái)的研究表明，聽睡前故事的孩子在讀寫方面遠(yuǎn)勝過(guò)學(xué)校的同齡孩子。
