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網路上看到的，藉由時事增加英文能力，這或許是不錯的教材。
個人覺得是篇很不錯的文章，當作英文課文來學習也很不錯。
原文如下：
Hello, Chicago.
哈囉，芝加哥！
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
如果外頭還有人懷疑，美國是否真的是任何事都可能發生的地方，懷疑我們開國先賢的夢想今天是否依然存在，懷疑我們民主的力量；今夜，就是你們要的答案。
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
這是個用這個國家僅見，環繞學校、教堂的無數人龍，所說的答案。這些人，苦等三、四個小時，許多還是生平頭一次，因為他們相信，這次一定要不一樣，他們的聲音就是明證。
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
這是個由不分老少、貧富、民主黨、共和黨；黑人、白人、拉丁裔、亞裔、美洲原住民；同性戀、異性戀人；肢障與四體健全者，大家共同訴說的答案。美國民眾向全世界發出訊息，我們絕非一盤散沙，也不是由紅州、藍州拼湊而成的集合體。
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
我們現在是，未來也永遠是，美利堅合眾國。
感謝你們的支持
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
這個是引領國人把手放在歷史拱弧，再度讓它指向明天會更美好希望的答案。長久以來，這些國人一直被許多人灌輸，要嘲諷、害怕和懷疑我們自身的能力。
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
這個答案遲遲未出現，但是今晚，由於我們在這個投票日關鍵時刻的所作所為，改變終於降臨美國。
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
今晚稍早，我接到馬侃參議員打來，態度非常懇切的電話。
Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
馬侃參議員已打完一場漫長艱苦的選戰。他為這個他所熱愛的國家所打的仗更久，更艱苦。他為美國的奉獻犧牲，是我們多數同胞難以想像的。因為有他這位勇敢無私的領袖的奉獻，我們才能過比較好的日子。
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
我向他道賀；也向裴林州長道賀，為他們所成就的一切。我迫不及待想和他們攜手合作，在未來數月更新這個國家的許諾。
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
我要感謝我的選舉搭檔，這位先生全心全意競選，為與他在史克蘭頓街頭一起長大的男男女女代言。在前往德拉瓦州的路上，和我一起以火車為家，他就是副總統當選人，拜登先生。
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama.
如果沒有過去十六年來堅定支持的摯友，我今晚不可能站在這裡。她是我家庭的磐石，我一生的最愛，國家未來的第一夫人蜜雪兒‧歐巴馬。
Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.
莎夏和瑪利亞。我對妳倆的愛遠超過妳們想像。你們已贏得即將和我們一起到新白宮作伴的新小狗。
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
還有，雖然她已不在我們身邊，但是我知道我外婆，也和造就今日之我的家族一起在看。今晚，我想念他們。我知道，我欠他們的，無法衡量。
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
我妹妹瑪亞、艾瑪、我的其他兄弟姊妹們，非常感謝你們給我的所有支持。我很感謝他們。
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best _ the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
還有，我的競選經理普羅費，這次競選的無名英雄，我認為他營造了美國史上最佳的政治運動。
To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
感謝我的首席競選策略顧問艾索洛，一路走來，他一直是我的得力夥伴。
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
感謝這個政治史上無出其右的最佳競選團隊，你們造就了這項成果，我對你們的犧牲奉獻，永存感激。
這是你們的勝利
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
總之，我絕不會忘記這個勝利真正屬於誰。它屬於你們大家。它是你們的。
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
我從來就不是這個職位最被看好的候選人。剛開始，我沒什麼錢，也沒什麼後援。我們參選的念頭，並非始於華府大廳，而是來自第蒙市後院，康科市客廳和查爾斯敦的門廊，再經由眾多男女，用他們從有限儲蓄中拿出，依法所能捐獻的五塊、十塊和廿塊美元，共同打造出來的。
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
經過那些拒絕承認他們是冷漠世代的迷思的年輕朋友加持，它成長茁壯，他們離開家，告別親人，投入待遇菲薄，永遠睡眠不足的工作。
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
經過那些年紀不算輕的朋友加持，它成長茁壯，他們冒著寒風酷暑，挨家挨戶向完全陌生的民眾敲門；經過數百萬民眾自發性的組織，證明這個民有、民治、民享的政府，在兩百多年之後，沒有從地球上消失，仍在成長茁壯。
This is your victory.
這是你們的勝利。
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
我知道，你們這麼做，不只是為了勝選。我也知道，你們這麼做，不是為了我。
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime _ two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
你們這麼做，是因為你們了解，橫在眼前的是千萬斤的重擔。因為即使我們今晚慶功，我們也明白，明天所要面臨的是此生最大的挑戰：兩場戰爭，一個處於存亡之秋的地球，及百年僅見的金融危機。
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
即使我們今晚站在此地，我們也知道，為了我們，美國的勇士們正在伊拉克沙漠巡邏，在阿富汗山區出生入死。
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
許多父母，在子女進入夢鄉後，仍輾轉難眠，擔心房貸、醫療帳單該怎麼付，或該怎麼存，才夠支應子女的大學教育費用。
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
新的能源要研發，新的工作機會要創造，新學校要建，不少威脅要對付，既有盟邦關係要修補。
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
未來的路仍遙，路上的坡仍陡峭，我們可能沒辦法在一年，或一任內抵達。但是，美國，我從來沒有像今晚的我，對我們的使命必達，更充滿希望。
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
我向各位許諾，我們會團結一心，一齊抵達目的地。
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
一開始，挫折和失誤在所難免。有許多人不會同意我以總統身分所做的每一個決定或每一項政策。我們也知道政府無法解決所有問題。
我需要你們的協助
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years _ block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
但我永遠會把我們面對的挑戰坦白告訴各位。，尤其是在我們看法不同的時候。最重要的是，我會邀請各位加入重塑這個國家的工作，以美國兩百廿一年來採用的唯一方法：一磚一瓦，胼手胝足。
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
廿一個月前發軔於隆冬的，不會就在這個秋夜結束。
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
我們追求的改變，不僅僅是這個勝利。這個勝利只是給我們機會實現我們追求的改變。我們若走回頭路，改變便不會發生。
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
少了你，少了新的服務精神，少了新的犧牲精神，改變就不會發生。
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
所以，且讓我們喚起新的愛國心、新的責任感，人人挽起衣袖，更加努力，照顧自己之外，更要彼此照顧。
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
我們不要忘記，如果這次金融危機給了我們任何教訓，那就是在尋常百姓生活困頓下，華爾街也不可能獨自繁榮昌盛。
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
在這個國度，不論興衰，都是全國與共，全民一體。我們一定要抗拒誘惑，不再靠已毒害我國政治許久的黨派之私、褊狹和幼稚。
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
我們不可忘記，第一個把共和黨旗幟帶進白宮的男士，正是來自本州。共和黨的建黨根基則是自立、個人自由及全國統一團結等價值觀。
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
這些也是我們共享的價值觀。雖然民主黨今晚大勝，我們卻始終謙沖自持，並決心彌合阻撓我們進步的裂縫。
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
正如林肯向一個遠比今天更分歧的美國所說的，我們不是敵人，是朋友。激情或曾使選情緊繃，卻不容它破壞我們之間感情的連結。
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
我要向那些我仍須努力爭取支持的美國同胞說，或許今晚我沒能贏得各位的選票，但是我聽到諸位的聲音，我需要你們協助，我也會是你們的總統。
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
對那些今晚在海外、從各地國會和宮殿觀看美國選情的人士，在為世人遺忘的角落圍繞著收音機的人們，我要說我們的故事各不相同，命運卻是一體，美國新的領導就要出現了。
To those _ to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
對那些想撕裂這個世界的人，我要說：我們會打垮你。對那些追求和平安全的人，我要說：我們支持你。而對那些懷疑美國這燈塔是否依然明亮的人，今晚我們再度證實，美國真正的國力不是來自船堅砲利、富甲天下，而是來自發乎我們理想、歷久不衰的力量，這些理想是民主、自由、機會和堅持到底的希望。
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
這正是真正的美國精神：也就是美國能夠改變。這個國家的結合可以更完善。我們已經成就的，讓我們勇於企盼我們明天能夠做到、也必須做到的。
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
這次大選有許多創舉和故事足供世世代代傳頌。而今晚浮現在我腦海的，是在亞特蘭大投票的一位婦人。她和這次大選無數排隊投票以表達心聲的選民沒什麼差別，不同的只有一點，安．尼克森．庫柏已高齡一百零六。
是的，我們做得到
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons _ because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
她出生於奴隸時代結束後那個世代；當時路上沒有汽車，天上不見飛機；而她這樣的人沒有資格投票，原因有二：其一，她是女人，其二，她的膚色不對。
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America _ the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
但就在今晚，我想到她在美國這百年人生的閱歷：心傷和希望；掙扎和進步；那些人告訴我們我們不能的時候，和那些高舉著美國人「是的，我們做得到」的信念奮勇向前的人。
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
身處女性聲音受壓制、希望被漠視的時代，她這一生親眼看到女性站起來，表達心聲，並爭取到投票權。是的，我們做得到。
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
就在塵盆地帶（指美國大草原的一部分，大致包括科羅拉多州東南部、堪薩斯州西南部、德州與奧克拉荷馬州鍋柄形突出地帶）陷入絕望，大蕭條席捲美國全境之際，她目睹一個國家以新政、新的工作機會、新的和衷共濟精神克服了恐懼本身。是的，我們做得到。
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
當炸彈落在我們的港口，暴政威脅世界之際，她親眼看見一個世代巍然挺身而起，拯救了一個民主體制。是的，我們做得到。
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
在蒙哥馬利市（黑人）搭巴士抗爭，伯明罕市的水龍（警察以強力水龍對付抗議者），賽爾瑪城外的橋上（遭警察血腥鎮壓），來自亞特蘭大的一位牧師告訴一個民族「我們終必得勝」時，她都在場。是的，我們做得到。
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
一個人登上了月球，柏林一道牆倒了，一個世界被我們自己的科學和想像連結了起來。
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
而今年，在這次選舉中，她用手指觸碰屏幕，投下她的一票，因為在美國生活了一百零六年，嘗遍酸甜苦辣之後，她知道美國能夠有什麼樣的改變。是的，我們做得到。
這是我們的時刻
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves _ if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
美國，我們已經走了這麼遠。閱歷了這麼多。眼前卻還有這麼多事要做。所以，今晚讓我們捫心自問，如果我們的子女能夠活到下個世紀；如果我女兒有幸如安．尼克森．庫柏般長壽，他們能看到什麼改變？我們又促成了什麼樣的進步？
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
此際正是我們回應那個召喚的機會，這是我們的時刻。
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
就在此刻，我們大家要重新開始工作，為我們的孩子開啟希望之門；迎回繁榮並推展和平大業；重新擁抱美國夢並再次確立那基本的真理，也就是我們同舟一命，只要活著就懷抱希望。當旁人嘲諷、懷疑我們，告訴我們我們辦不到時，我們會回以那歷久不衰、總結一個民族精神的信念：是的，我們做得到。
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
謝謝大家。願上帝祝福你，求上帝祝福美國。
[ 此文章被kilang在2008-11-07 17:38重新編輯 ]
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