演讲稿

And sometimes I wouldn't read the copy, and I'd be--because I wanted to be spontaneous--and I'd come across a list of words I didn't know and I'd mispronounce. And one day I was reading copy and I called Canada "Cah-Nah-Dah". And I did just that. I cracked myself on the air. And I decided, this Barbara thing's not going too well. I should try being myself.
由于想要更自然而不照本宣科，所以有时我会遇到一些不认识的词，甚至还会发错音。有一天我居然把“加拿大”念成了“卡——那——大”。我真的念错了，我差点儿崩溃，于是我决定，模仿芭芭拉并不是好事，我要做回我自己。
But at the same time, my dad was saying, "Oprah Gail, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. You'd better keep that job." And my boss was saying, "This is the nightly news. You're an anchor, not a social worker. Just do your job."
但那时我爸爸却对我说：“奥普拉·盖尔，这是你一生的机会。你最好继续做那份工作。”我的老板也说：“这是晚间新闻。你是播报员，不是社工。还是做你的本职工作吧。”
So, I was juggling these messages of expectation and obligation and feeling really miserable with myself. I'd go home at night and fill up my journals, because I've kept a journal since I was 15--so I now have volumes of journals. So, I'd go home at night and fill up my journals about how miserable I was and frustrated. Then I'd eat my anxiety. That's where I learned that habit.
我辜负了这些期待和责任，感觉自己很糟糕。晚上回到家后我会记日记。自从15岁时我就开始记日记了——现在我已经有好几卷日记了。我晚上回到家后，我会记录下我是多么不幸，多么沮丧。然后独自一人将忧愁吞噬。这一切已经成为我的习惯。
And after eight months, I lost that job. They said I was too emotional. I was too much. But since they didn't want to pay out the contract, they put me on a talk show in Baltimore. And the moment I sat down on that show, the moment I did, I felt like I'd come home. I realized that TV could be more than just a playground, but a platform for service, for helping other people lift their lives. And the moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing. It felt, it felt right. And that's where everything that followed for me began.
8个月后我失去了那份工作。他们说我太情绪化了，过头了。但因为他们不想付违约金，就让我去巴尔的摩主挂一档脱口秀节目。从我开始主持那档节目的一刻开始，我便有了无拘无束的感觉。我意识到电视不应该仅仅是一个娱乐场，更应该是一个以服务为目的的平台，以帮助他人更好地生活。当我坐下来开始主持节目时，就感觉像呼吸一样自在，感觉好极啦。而那才是我工作真正开始的时候。
And I got that lesson. When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.
于是我得到了这个教训，当你从事自己喜爱的工作时，那种感觉棒极了，每天都像在领奖金，不管赚多少钱。

重点讲解+名人简历

重点讲解：
1. come across
偶然发现；偶然遇见；
eg. I came across a group of children playing.
我碰到一群正在玩耍的小孩。
eg. We like to identify and celebrate women's success whenever we come across it.
每当女性取得成功，我们都会表示认同并予以颂扬。
2. fill up
装满；填写；填充；
eg. I fill up the tank with gasoline about once a week.
大约每个星期我加满一箱汽油。
eg. We fill up our lives with meaningless tasks.
我们终日忙忙碌碌，过得毫无意义。
3. pay out
支付，花费（通常指一大笔钱）；（保单）赔付，偿付；
eg. Many policies pay out only after a period of weeks or months.
很多保单在几周或几个月后才得以赔付。
eg. He had paid out good money to educate his daughter at a boarding school.
他花了很多钱让他的女儿在寄宿学校受教育。
4. be meant to do sth.
原本打算的；理应的；
eg. I can't say any more, it's meant to be a big secret.
我再也无可奉告了，这本是重大的秘密。
eg. Parties are meant to be fun.
派对就是为了乐和一下。
5. regardless of
不顾；不管；不论；
eg. She is determined to do regardless of all consequences.
她不顾一切后果，决心这样做。
eg. Regardless of whether he is right or wrong, we have to abide by his decisions.
不管他正确与否，我们都得服从他的决定。

名人简介：
堕落天使
作为一名黑人，奥普拉少时的生活与别人一般无二。她1954年出生于美国南方密西西比州的一个单亲家庭，生活异常困顿，几乎整日处于颠沛流离的状态。与别的黑人少年一样，奥普拉曾一度自甘堕落。在她日后的金牌节目“奥普拉脱口秀”中，奥普拉曾面对3300万观众坦承了自己那段不光彩的历史：吸毒，堕胎，甚至还生下过一名不久就夭折的女婴。奥普拉的生父曾对女儿说：“有些人让事情发生，有些人看着事情发生，有些人连发生什么事情都不知道。”于是极度空虚的奥普拉想知道自己生命中究竟会有什么事情发生。

奥普拉自幼就有与生俱来的说话技巧和不俗的记忆力，她发现自己的言谈很容易带动别人的情绪，于是17岁的奥普拉先是参加了当地的一次选美比赛，后又凭着自己的三寸不烂之舌与不错的运气，在19岁那年被当地一家电台聘为业余新闻播音员，从此涉足传媒界。大学毕业后，奥普拉成为巴尔的摩一家电视台的正式播音员。然而她早期的电视生涯并不顺利。由于奥普拉在播报新闻时无法保持客观中立的态度，她的情绪往往随播报的内容忽喜忽忧，因此常常招致观众的批评。好在台里慧眼识珠，给她安排了一个早间的谈话节目，才使她如鱼得水，不久她就成为当地小有名气的女主持。1983年，奥普拉结识了生命中的伯乐——“A.M.芝加哥”电台的老板丹尼斯·施瓦逊。当时施瓦逊正在物色一名出色的脱口秀主持人，以其提高以前访谈节目的收视率。尽管电视台的多数人对聘用一名黑人来主持节目深表怀疑，但施瓦逊还是力排众议，以23万美元的年薪将奥普拉招至麾下。出人意料的是，仅仅一个月，奥普拉访谈节目的收视率就超过了从前，从此一发而不可收，奥普拉直登“美国最当红脱口秀主持人”的宝座。