演讲稿

And then they said they didn't like the way I looked. This was in 1976, when your boss could call you in and say, "I don't like the way you looked". Now that would be called a lawsuit, but back then they could just say, "I don't like the way you look". Which, in case some of you in the back, if you can't tell, is nothing like Barbara Walters. So, they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm, and after a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head. And then they really didn't like the way I looked. Because now I am black and bald and sitting on TV. Not a pretty picture. But even worse than being bald, I really hated, hated, hated being sent to report on other people's tragedies as a part of my daily duty, knowing that I was just expected to observe, when everything in my instinct told me that I should be doing something, I should be lending a hand.
然后他们还对我说他们不喜欢我的造型。那是在1976年，你的老板可以把你叫进办公室跟你说“我不喜欢你的造型”。但如果是现在的话，那可能会引起诉讼。但那时他们却可以说：“我不喜欢你的造型”。我根本不像芭芭拉·沃尔特斯，坐在后排的同学应该看不出我像不像她。于是他们把我送到美发店，给我烫了发。可是几天后我的头发就变得一团糟。我不得不剃光我的头发。这次他们更不喜欢我的造型了。因为这下成了一个光头黑人坐在摄影机前，这种画面肯定不漂亮。比剃光头发更令我讨厌的是，我不得不把播报别人遭受的痛苦作为我的日常工作。我深知我期待去观察，我的内心告诉我，我应该做些什么了，我需要为他人提供帮助。
So, as President Hennessy said, I'd cover a fire and then I'd go back and I'd try to give the victims blankets. And I wouldn't be able to sleep at night because of all the things I was covering during the day.
所以，正如汉尼斯校长所说的那样，我播报了一起火灾，然后回去给受害者拿毯子。由于白天播报的那些新闻，晚上我难以入睡。
And, meanwhile, I was trying to sit gracefully like Barbara and make myself talk like Barbara. And I thought, well, I could make a pretty goofy Barbara. And if I could figure out how to be myself, I could be a pretty good Oprah. I was trying to sound elegant like Barbara. And sometimes I didn't read my copy, because something inside me said, this should be spontaneous, you know, it should be spontancous. So, I wanted to get the news as I was giving it to the people. So, sometimes, I wouldn't read my copy and it would be, like, six people on a pileup on I-40. Oh, my goodnwss.
与此同时，我尽量保持优雅的坐姿，使我更像芭芭拉，并且像芭芭拉一样讲话。我认为我可能会成为一个傻傻的芭芭拉。但如果我知道如何做回我自己，我就会成为一个很棒的奥普拉。我努力像芭芭拉那样优雅地说话。有时我并不照本宣科，因为内心的声音告诉我，应该自然地播报新闻，所以我希望在播报新闻时，自己也能理解这些新闻。我不会照着稿件读新闻，所以有时会像40号洲际公路上发生了六人连环相撞事故一样报道新闻。哦，上帝！

重点讲解+名人简历

重点讲解：
1. in case
以备；以防；免得；
eg. In case anyone was following me, I made an elaborate detour.
为了防止有人跟踪我，我特地绕了弯路。
eg. Extra boiling water should be kept at hand just in case it is needed.
身边应多准备一些开水，以备不时之需。
2. lend a hand
向…伸出援手；给予…帮助；
eg. I'd be glad to lend a hand.
我很乐意帮忙。
eg. All the teachers were asked to lend a hand with the school concert.
所有老师都被请来帮忙校音乐会。
3. figure out
想出；理解；弄清；
eg. I can't figure out why he quit his job.
我琢磨不透他为什么要辞掉工作。
eg. He's trying to figure out a way to solve the problem.
他正在努力想办法解决这个问题。

名人简介：
感动观众
2001年6月，北卡罗来纳州首府罗利市著名的BTI表演艺术中心的大礼堂内，2300多个观众座位上人头济济，人们正在耐心地等待着本次节目的主角、她们心目中的“访谈皇后”奥普拉的出场。这是奥普拉主题为“度过最完美的生命之旅”巡回演讲的第一站，尽管每张门票要花185美元，但2300多张门票在短短两小时内便告售罄。为了亲耳听一回奥普拉激动人心的演讲，一些“奥普拉迷”们甚至宁愿在EBAY拍卖网站上花2025美元从网络票贩子手上换得一张演讲会的入场券。此次演讲所得的收入将全部捐献给当地的慈善机构。

在为时两个半小时带着传教色彩的幽默演讲中，奥普拉向台下的观众讲述了自己的个人奋斗史，当她面对贫穷、肥胖、事业挫折等问题时，是如何调整自己心态，使自己变得更加坚强的。在谈到事业问题时，奥普拉说：“生活往往有一种巨大的惯性，让人们在现有工作面前安分守己，不思进取，此时我们应该问一问自己的内心，这是否是你想要的工作，什么工作才是最适合你的呢？然后听从自己内心深处的呼唤。”奥普拉还举了自己的例子，自从她1984年在芝加哥当上电视节目访谈主持人后，她才“真正找到了工作的激情和感觉”。奥普拉不时劝告她的崇拜者们，当繁重的工作不能为自己带来丰厚的报酬时，就应该将它断然放弃，而去追寻自己梦想的工作。每个人都应听从“内心的呼唤”，只有一个相信自己的人才能成为生活和事业上的强者，“如果你相信自己有朝一日可以当上总统，也许有一天你就能如愿。”奥普拉如是说。
在美国，奥普拉是个颇有争议的名女人，她主持的访谈节目倾倒了数以百万计的观众，而她自己充满坎坷的奋斗史更给生活中遭遇挫折的美国妇女以巨大的信心和希望。一位35岁的女地产经纪人拉塞尔事后对记者道：“一看到奥普拉出场，我就感到一股电流从头到脚穿越全身。尽管我从电视上看到过她无数次，但却从未想到自己会如此近距离地看到她。”