米歇尔.奥巴马成都七中演讲稿(中英文双语全文(3)

米歇尔.奥巴马成都七中演讲稿(中英文双语全文),后面还链接有第一夫人在北大的演讲,是学习地道英语的极好资料,同时学生也能受到很好教育和激励。

uncle shave and dress each morning, dashing downstairs in the middle of the night to

check on my aunt.

So in my family, like in so many of your families, we took care of each other.

And while we certainly weren’t rich, my parents had big dreams for me and my

brother. They had only a high school education themselves, but they were

determined to send us both to universities.

So they poured all of their love and all of their hope into us, and they worked hard.

They saved every penny. And I know that wasn’t easy for them, especially for my

father. You see, my father had a serious illness called multiple sclerosis. And as he

got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, and it took him longer to get dressed in the

morning.

But no matter how tired he felt, no matter how much pain he was in, my father

hardly ever missed a day of work, because he was determined to give me and my

brother a better life. And every day, like so many of you, I felt the weight of my

parents’ sacrifices on my shoulders. Every day, I wanted to make them proud.

So while most American kids attend public schools near their homes, when it was

time for me to attend high school, I took an exam and got into a special public high

school where I could get a better education. But the school was very far from my

home, so I had to get up early every morning and ride a bus for an hour, sometimes an

hour and a half if the weather was bad. And every afternoon, I’d ride that same bus

back home and then immediately start my homework, often studying late into the

night -- and sometimes I would wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to study even

more.

And it wasn’t easy. But whenever I got tired or discouraged, I would just think

about how hard my parents were working for me. And I would remember something

my mother always told me –- she said: “A good education is something that no

one can take away from you.”

And when it was time for me to apply to university, I had many options, because in

America, there are many kinds of universities. There are four-year universities.

There are two-year community colleges which are less expensive. There are

universities where you take classes at night while working during the day. So you

don’t have to be a top student to attend a university. And even if your parents don’

t have much money or you live in a tiny town in a rural area, in America, you can still

attend university. And you can get scholarships and government loans to help pay

your tuition.

So I attended Princeton University for my undergraduate degree, and I went on

to Harvard University for my graduate degree in law. And with those degrees I was

able to become a lawyer at a large law firm, and then I worked as an executive at a

city hospital, and then I was the director of an organization that helped disadvantaged