演讲稿

I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but...
我现在明白了反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你，但……
So they had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English literature. A compromise was reaced that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
他们希望我取得高职学位，而我却想攻读英国文学。最后，我和父母达成了妥协，我改学现代语言，现在回想起来，当时双方都不怎么满意。于是，父母的车刚一开远，我就丢下德语，去学习古典文学。
I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.
我不记得告诉过父母自己在学习古典文学，他们可能是在我毕业典礼那一天才知道的。我想，他们也许认为，在全世界的所有专业中，不会有比研究希腊神话更没用的专业了，那甚至无法换来一间独立宽敞的卫生间。
I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibily lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.
在这里我想说明一点：我不会因为父母的观点而怪他们。不要因为父母给你的人生路指错了方向就无休止地埋怨他们。当你到一定年龄，可以自己把握人生时，就应该自己承担责任。再者，父母这样做是希望我不会过穷日子，所以我不能责怪他们。他们经历了贫穷，我后来也一度很穷，所以我很理解他们，因为贫穷并不是一种高贵的经历。贫穷会让人感觉恐惧、有压力，有时甚至让人感觉沮丧。贫穷意味着说不尽的羞辱和艰辛。靠自己的努力摆脱贫穷值得自豪，只有傻瓜才会将贫穷浪漫化。

重点讲解+名人简历

重点讲解：
1. in retrospect
回顾；回想；
eg. In retrospect, I wish that I had thought about alternative courses of action.
回想起来，我真希望自己当时考虑过其他做法。
eg. It was a very strange feeling in retrospect — I was frightened, but excited at the same time.
回想起来那是一种非常奇怪的感觉——我当时既害怕又兴奋。
2. remember doing sth.
记得做过某事；
eg. I definitely remember sending the letter.
我记得这封信肯定发出去了。
eg. I remember having heard you speak on that subject.
我记得曾听你谈论过那个题目。
3. when it comes to
谈到；涉及；
eg. Most of us know we should cut down on fat. But knowing such things isn't much help when it comes to shopping and eating.
我们大多数人都知道应该减少脂肪的摄入量。但是在购物和吃东西的时候，这些常识就丢到一边去了。
eg. However, when it comes down to somebody that they know, they have a different feeling.
然而，涉及他们认识的人，他们的感觉就不同了。
4. in parenthesis
插一句；
eg. In parenthesis, I'd say that there were two aspects to writing you must never lose sight of.
插一句，关于写作，我认为有两个方面你绝不能忽视。
5. blame sb./sth. for sth.
因某事归咎于/责怪/怪罪某人某事；
eg. She blamed him for the failure of their marriage.
她把婚姻的触礁归咎於他。
eg. They blamed the rise in oil prices for the big increase in inflation.
他们把通货膨胀大幅度增长归咎于石油价格的上涨。
6. what is more
更有甚者；更为重要的是；
eg. She learns quickly, and what's more, she remembers what she has learnt.
她学得很快，而且所学的全都记得。
eg. You should remember it, and what's more, you should get it right.
你应该记住它，更重要的是，应该正确理解它。

名人简介：
个人经历（二）
1989年，罗琳在曼彻斯特前往伦敦的火车旅途中，一个瘦弱、戴着眼镜的黑发小巫师，一直在车窗外对着她微笑。他的出现使她萌生了创作哈利·波特的念头。虽然当时她的手边没有纸和笔，但她已经开始天马行空地想象。于是，哈利·波特诞生了——一个11岁小男孩，瘦小的个子，黑色乱蓬蓬的头发，明亮的绿色眼睛，戴着圆形眼镜，前额上有一道细长、闪电状的伤疤……哈利·波特成为风靡全球的童话人物。
1990年，罗琳勉强同意男友提议搬到曼彻斯特和其居住。同年，罗琳在曼彻斯特商会找了一个秘书工作，后又在曼彻斯特大学工作了一段时间。1991年，罗琳在葡萄牙的奥波多一家英考特英语学校做了英语教师。1992年，在葡萄牙奥波多的米亚卡瓦酒巴，一位名为乔治·阿朗特斯的新闻系学生对罗琳一见钟情。10月16日，乔安妮·罗琳与乔治·阿朗特斯结婚，婚礼在葡萄牙奥波多举行。1993年7月27日，罗琳的女儿出生，取名杰西卡。11月17日，在一次激烈的争吵之后，乔治把罗琳独自扔在了奥波多的街头上。圣诞节，罗琳带着女儿杰西卡离开了乔治回到苏格兰爱丁堡。

1994年8月10日，罗琳向乔治·阿朗特斯提出了离婚。J.K.罗琳坦言，在与第一任丈夫离婚之后，作为单身妈妈的她情绪一度崩溃，脑子里充满了自杀的念头。“那段时间我的精神状态很不好，是女儿让我有勇气去向心理医生寻求帮助。我意识到她是这个世界上对我最重要的人，她需要我，而我之前的想法都是错误的，我不能让女儿的成长过程中没有我。”最终，罗琳花了约9个月来接受行为认识治疗。与此同时，乔安娜·罗琳开始在妹夫和别人一起开的名叫尼科尔森的咖啡厅创作她的手稿。并且，罗琳勉强申请到了一份政府资助，每周能获得103.5美元。