本文选自《爱思英语》的博客，点击查看博客原文

　　拉里·佩奇(Larry Page，1973.03.26－)，全名劳伦斯·爱德华·佩奇(Lawrence Edward Page)，Google搜索引擎的创始人之一，2011年4月4日佩奇正式出任谷歌CEO。佩奇为美国密歇根大学安娜堡分校的毕业生，拥有理工科学士学位；因其出色的领导才能获得过多项荣誉，以奖励他对工学院的贡献。他曾担任密西根大学Eta Kappa Nu荣誉学会的会长。其指导教授是Terry Winograd 博士。Google就是由Page在斯坦福大学发起的研究项目转变而来的。

　　Class of 2009!I don't think I heard you.Class of 2009!First I want you to stand up and wave and cheer your supportivefamily and friends!I am sure you can find them out there.Show your love!It is a great honor for me to be here today。

　　09届的同学们！来点激情给我个回应。各位同学，我希望大家站起来向支持你们的亲朋好友挥手致意。你们一定能在人群中找到他们，借此机会表达你们的爱吧！能站在这里我感到非常荣幸。

　　Now wait a second.I know:that's such a cliche.You're thinking: every graduation speaker says that - It's a great honor.But, in my case, it really is so deeply true being here is more special and more personal for me than most of you know. I'd like to tell you why.A long time ago,in this cold September of 1962,there was a Steven's co-op at this very university.That co-op had a kitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers probably every decade or so。

　　等等，大家可能觉得有点矫情。“我很荣幸”这句话都说烂了。但真的是大实话，大家不知道：我对密歇根大学有特殊的感情。很久以前，1962年9月，天很冷，在密歇根大学里有一家餐厅，学生志愿者负责打扫厨房的天花板，大约十年才会打扫一次。

　　Picture a college girl named Gloria,climbing up high on a ladder,struggling to clean that filthy ceiling.Standing on the floor, a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view.And that's how they met.They were my parents,so I suppose you could say I'm a direct result of that kitchen chemistry experiment, right here at Michigan.My Mom is here with us today,and we should probably go find the spot and put a plaqueup on the ceiling that says: "Thanks Mom and Dad!"

　　想象一下：有个叫格洛丽亚的女学生，爬上了高高的梯子，努力地打扫脏兮兮的天花板。而一个叫卡尔的寄宿生在下面偷窥，这是他俩的初次邂逅，他们就是我父母。所以说，我是地地道道从密歇根大学厨房里造出来的，我母亲今天也来了。我想找到当年那个厨房，在天花板挂个匾上刻"感谢父母"！

　　Everyone in my family went here to Michigan:my brother, my Mom ,my Dad -- all of us.My Dad actually got the quantity discount:He got all three and a half of his degrees here.His Ph.D. was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad when he earned it 44 years ago.He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that degree.They argued at times over pennies, while raising my newborn brother.Mom typed

　　my Dad's dissertation by hand,kind of ironic of those computer science dissertation。

　　我的家人都毕业于密歇根大学：我哥、我父母、还有我。我爸在文凭数量上更胜一筹：他在这获得了三个半学位，其中一个是通信工程的博士。44年前，他们认为计算机火不了多久。为取得这个学位，爸妈做出了很大的牺牲。为了抚养刚出生的哥哥，省吃俭用。堂堂计算机博士，论文是我妈逐字敲出来的，讽刺吧？

　　This velvet hood I'm wearing, this was my Dad's.This diploma, yeah,this diploma I have here that just like the one you are about to get this is my Dad's.And my underwear, oh never mind, sorry.My father's father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint, Michigan. He was an assemblyline worker.He drove his two children here to Anna Arbor,and told them: That is where you're going to go to college.I know it sounds funny now.Both of his kids actually did graduate from Michigan.That was the American dream。

　　我身上这套博士服是我爸的，还有这张毕业证，跟你们即将拿到手的一样，也是我爸的。还有我的内裤，呃……算了。我的祖父曾在雪佛兰汽车厂工作，他曾开车带两个孩子来到安娜堡。告诉他们：你们以后要上这所大学！听起来挺扯。不过两个孩子确实都进了密歇根大学，这就是我们家的“美国梦”。

　　His daughter, Beverly, is also with us today.My Grandpa used to carry an "Alley Oop" hammer,a heavy iron pipe with a big hunk of lead melted on the end.The workers made them during the sit-down strikes to protect themselves.When I was growing up, we used that hammer whenever we needed to pound a stake or something into the yard.It is wonderful that most people don't need to carry a heavy blunt object for protection anymore.But just in case, I brought it with me.My Dad became a professor at uh…Michigan State,and I was an incredibly lucky boy.A professor's life is pretty flexible,and he was able to spend oodles of time raising me.Could there be a better upbringing than university brat?

　　我姑姑贝弗利今天也来了。爷爷以前经常扛着一个大铁锤，铁管上铸着大铅坨的那种。那是用来在静坐罢工时，保护自己的武器。小时候，我们常用它在后院打桩子。现在世道好了，大家不需要铁锤保护自己了。但以防万一，我还是把它带来了。后来我的父亲成为了一名教授，密歇根州立大学的教授，我很走运，因为教授的工作比较灵活，有大量的时间陪我。还有比这更棒的吗？

　　What I'm trying to tell you is that this is way more than just a homecoming for me.It's not easy for me to express how proud I am to be here,with my Mom, my brother and my wife Lucy, and with all of you,at this amazing institution that is responsible for my very existence.I am thrilled for all of you,and I'm thrilled for your families and friends,as all of us join this great, big Michigan family I feel I've been a part of all of all my life.What I'm also trying to tell you is that I know exactly what it feels like to be sitting in your seat,listening to some old gasbag give a long-winded commencementspeech.Don't worry. I'll be brief.I have a story about following dreams.Or maybe more accurately,

　　it's a story about finding a path to make those dreams real。

　　我想要告诉大家的是：这次回来，意义非凡！我不知道该如何表达我的喜悦之情。今天和家人还有你们相聚在此，我无比激动！因为这里造就了我，我为你们感到骄傲，也为你们的家人和朋友感到骄傲，因为我们都是密歇根大家庭的一员，它是我生命中不可或缺的一部分。同时，我也知道你们现在坐在台下的感受：听我们这些老家伙絮叨，老生常谈。别担心，我不是话痨。我给大家讲个追梦的故事，确切地说是一个将梦想变为现实的故事。

　　You know what it's like,to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream?And you know how, if you don't have a pencil and pad by the bed it will be completely gone by the next morning.I had one of those dreams when I was 23.When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking:what if we could download the whole web,and just keep the links and… I grabbed a pen and started writing!Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming.I spent the middle of that night scribbling out the details and convincing myself it would work。

　　想想看：午夜你从美梦中醒来，然后躺下接着睡回笼觉，第二天早上准会把昨晚的美梦忘个精光。我23岁时，就做过这样的美梦。我猛然惊醒，想把所有的网络内容下载下来，通过链接的方式保存。于是，我抓起笔就开始写。还好我把握住机会，从梦里及时醒来，花了一整晚研究出实现方案，自信满满。

上一页 1 2 下一页