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A Plea for Our Planet --David and Severn Suzuki*

My 12-year-old daughter, Severn, attended the Rio ECO (Environmental Children's Organization) to "act as the conscience for grown-ups." The girls set up a booth at the Global Forum and gave talks that created much interest. Eventually Severn was invited to address a plenary session at the Earth Summit. Here is part of her speech.

"... We have come here to tell you adults you MUST change your ways of life. I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market.

"I am here to speak for all generations yet to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere to go. We can't afford not to be heard.

"I am afraid to go out in the sun because of the hole in the ozone layer. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver with my dad until just a few years ago. We found the fish full of cancer. And now we hear about animals and plants going extinct every day, vanishing forever. I have dreamed of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did you have to worry about these things when you were my age?

All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you! You don't know how to fix holes in our ozone layer. You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream. You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can't bring back the forests that once grew where there is now a desert. If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!

"Here you may be delegates of your governments, business people, organizers, reporters or politicians. But really you are the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles—and all of you are somebody's child.

"I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong; in fact, 30 million species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil. Borders and governments will never change that.

"I'm only a child, yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal... In my country, we make so much waste; we buy and throw away, buy and throw away... even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share. "

"In Canada, we live the privileged life with plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living in the streets. One child told us: 'I wish I was rich and if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection,' If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything so greedy?

"I can't stop thinking that these children are my age; that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born; that I could be one of these children living in the favellas of Rio. I could be a child starving in Somalia, a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India. I'm only a child, yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be.

"At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us to behave in the world. You teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share and not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? "My dad always says 'you are what you do, not what you say.' You grown-ups say you love us, but what you do makes me cry at night. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying 'everything's going to be all right,' 'It's not the end of the world'and 'We are doing the best we can. ' But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words. I question you: Are we even on your list of priorities?"

It sometimes takes a child to point out the obvious. U. S. Senator Al Gore said Severn's speech was the best one given at the Earth Summit and as a proud father, I have to agree. I hope some people heard.

Notes: David Suzuki is a writer, TV and radio host and a world-renowned geneticist. He is also a leading spokesperson on social and environmental issues.

参考译文

我12岁的女儿Severn参加了Rio环境儿童组织的活动，“帮助大人唤起良知”。女孩子们在全球论坛上建起一个摊位，她们的发言引起人们的很大关注。最后，Severn被邀请在“地球峰会”大会上讲话。她的演讲稿如下：

“...至此是为了告诉大人们，你们必须改变自己的生活方式。我没有幕后动机，而是在为我的未来而战。失掉未来和丢掉大选或是股市受损是不同的。”

“我为未来所有的人类致辞，并代表全世界嗷嗷待哺而无人理睬的儿童讲话，我为这个星球上无数无数安身而濒临死亡的动物讲话，我们无法承担起这种无动于衷的后果。”

“我不敢到太阳下，因为臭氧层已有漏洞；我不敢呼吸空气，因为我不知道那里面有多少化学成分；就在几年前，我还经常和爸爸一起去Vancouver钓鱼，我们发现那里的鱼体内都是致癌毒素。现在，我们听说，每天都有动植物灭绝，永远消失。我曾梦见大群野生动物、到处都是鸟儿和蝴蝶的丛林和雨林，然而现在，我怀疑它们能够一直生存到让我的孩子们也能看到的时候。你们在我这个年龄也要担心这些事情吗？”

所有这些都正在我们眼前上演，然而，我们表现得好像有的是时间和解决方法。我只是个孩子，没有所有的解决办法，但是，我希望你们意识到。你们不知道如何修补臭氧层的窟窿，也不知道怎么把鲑鱼扔回死水潭，不知道怎么救活濒临灭绝的动物。你们也不能把曾经是森林的沙漠恢复原状。如果你们不知道怎么补救，那么请停止破坏！

“你们可能是政府的代表、商人、组织者、记者或政客，但是，你们也为人父母、兄妹、叔婶--你们也都是别人的孩子。”

“我现在还只是个孩子，然而我知道，我们都是五亿万个家庭中的一员，事实上，世界上有30百万种生物和我们共享一片蓝天、水和土壤。国界和政府都不能改变这一点。”

“我只是个孩子，然而我知道，我们是生活在一起的，我们应该协作成一个单一的世界、向同一个目标努力...在我的国家，浪费严重，我们购买物品、扔掉、购买、扔掉...哪怕是拥有得足够多，也还是害怕失去一些财富，害怕与人分享。”

“在加拿大，我们过着优越的生活，拥有充足的食物、水和住处。我们有手表、自行车、电脑和电视机。两天前，在巴西，我们与流落街头的孩子相处，他们的处境令人震惊。一个孩子告诉我：“我希望自己富有，如果能够实现，我会给街上的每个孩子提供食物、衣服、药物、住处、爱和感情。”一个身无分文的街头流浪孩子都愿意分享，为什么拥有一切的我们却这么贪婪？”

“我不由得想起那些和我同龄的孩子们，不同的出身造成了巨大的差异；我也可能是里约热内卢的孩子中的一个，也可能是饥饿不堪的索马里孩子，也可能是中东战争的受害者，或是印度的弃儿。我只是个孩子，然而我知道，如果把花在战争上的钱都用在解决贫困和环境问题上，这个世界将是多么的美妙！”

“在学校，甚至在幼儿园的时候，你们就教我们如何做人。你们教我们不要打架，解决问题，尊重他人，维持整洁，不伤及其他生灵，与人共享，切忌贪婪。然而，你们为什么越轨做这些不许我们做的事情呢？”

“爸爸经常说“是你是什么样的人，是要看你做了什么，而不是看你说了什么”，你们大人总说爱我们，但是你们的所为常惹得我们夜晚哭叫。父母们应该安慰孩子们，告诉他们

“一切都会好起来的，”“这还不是世界末日”以及“我们在尽最大努力。”但是，我认为你们再也不会这么跟我们说了。我要挑战你们，请保持言行一致。我质问你们，我们在你们的优先权名单上是平等的吗？”

有时候需要孩子来指出问题所在，美国参议员Al Gore说Severn的演讲时这次“地球峰会”上最好的，我这个深感自豪的父亲同意这一点。我希望有的人可以听进去。

词汇释义

1.conscience n.良心， 道德心， 良知

例句：

a clear conscience
清白的良心，问心无愧

2.ozone layer n. 〈气〉臭氧层

例句：

The pollution had destroyed ozone layer and caused many changes in weather.
污染破坏了臭氧层，并引起了许多天气变化。

3.extinct adj. 灭绝的,熄灭的 n. 消灭,熄灭

例句：

Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.
恐龙已绝种几百万年了。

4.privileged adj. 有特权的

例句：

She came from a privileged background.
她出身於特权阶层.

5.tremendous adj. 巨大的,惊人的

例句：

She does her work with tremendous vigour.
她工作起来干劲十足.

6.priority n. 优先权,优先顺序,优先

例句：

I have priority over you in my claim.
我的请求比你的优先权力。