邹奇奇演讲中英文对照

Now, I want to start with a question: When was the last time you were called childish? For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Every time we make irrational demands不合理的要求, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish, which really bothers me. After all, take a look at these events: Imperialism 帝国主义and colonization殖民主义, world wars, George W. Bush. Ask yourself: Who's responsible? Adults.

首先我要问大家一个问题：上一回别人说你幼稚是什么时候？像我这样的小孩，可能经常会被人说成是幼稚。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。首先，让我们来回顾下这些事件：帝国主义和殖民主义，世界大战，小布什。请你们扪心自问下：这些该归咎于谁？是大人。

Now, what have kids done? Well, Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful accunt of the Holocaust, Ruby Bridges helped end segregation 种族隔离in the United States, and, most recently, Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti on his little bike. So, as you can see evidenced by such examples, age has absolutely nothing to do with it. 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.

(Applause)

Thank you.

而小孩呢，做了些什么？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。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，查理·辛普森（Charlie Simpson）骑自行车为海地募得12万英镑。所以，这些例子证明了年龄与行为完全没有关系。"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。

（掌声）

谢谢！

Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself, thinking: That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. 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. How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities? 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清空, and scarce 缺失will lead to chaos. On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection. And that's a good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.

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？也许你以前有过宏大的计划，但却半途而废，心想：这个不可能，或代价太高或这对我不利。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。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。你们当中有多少人还会有这样的梦想并相信其可能性？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