對(duì)于英語(yǔ)聽力的練習(xí)，關(guān)鍵還是要多聽多練!光說(shuō)不練假把式嘛~下面是出國(guó)留學(xué)網(wǎng)小編為大家收集整理詩(shī)文英語(yǔ)聽力材料：我的個(gè)性不是你想的那樣。和出國(guó)留學(xué)網(wǎng)小編一起來(lái)見識(shí)一下地道的英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)吧!
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Host: Is there integrity in world politics today?
主持人：當(dāng)今的世界政治有正直可言嗎?
Herbert Bush: Much more than you’d believe from the current wisdom: that everybody in politics is selfish, everybody is in there to glorify himself, or herself, that all politicians are corrupt. I’m disturbed by the attack on political figures. The assumption that everyone is guilty until proven innocent is just 180 degrees different than the justice systems ought to be. And I don’t know what it takes to change that. I think the attacks that hurt me the most were not those that differed with me on abortion, or guns, or prayer in school, or on balanced budgets, or on taxes. The ones that hurt the most were those that challenged my character. Didn’t trust my word. And I think there’s an adversarial feeling in the press that “All politicians are going to lie to me, and therefore it’s my obligation to get to the truth.” It’s a very unhealthy view. And some political people do lie all the time, and step over their friend to achieve the objective themselves. But I'm one who believes that one’s word of honor is about one of the most fundamentally important things there is.
赫伯特.布什：比現(xiàn)在大家所認(rèn)為的正 直要多很多，現(xiàn)在大家認(rèn)為和政治相關(guān) 的人都很自私，都想著給自己貼金，所 有的政治家都很腐敗。這些對(duì)政治人物 的攻擊讓我很難過。大家先假定每個(gè)人 都是有罪的，然后一旦被證明是清白的，態(tài)度就來(lái)個(gè)180度大轉(zhuǎn)彎，法律體 制不應(yīng)該是這樣的。我不知道要改變這 種狀況需要什么。我認(rèn)為這些攻擊最傷 害我的不是那些在墮胎、槍支，在學(xué)校 祈禱或者平衡預(yù)算和稅收方面的不同的 言論。最傷害我的是那些攻擊我性格的 言論。不相信我的話。我認(rèn)為媒體上說(shuō) 的“所有的政治家都會(huì)對(duì)我撒謊，因此 我有義務(wù)知道事實(shí)”有一種矛盾的感 覺。這是不健康的觀點(diǎn)。一些政治人物 確實(shí)一直撒謊，不惜踐踏朋友以達(dá)到他 們自己的目的。但是我是那種相信說(shuō)實(shí) 話是最基本、最重要的人。
Host: How about perseverance?
主持人：那么堅(jiān)忍呢?
Herbert Bush: To achieve, you’re going to have to persevere. And by that I mean that you can’t let a roadblock turn you around. You can’t expect life’s path to be totally smooth. You’re going to have to overcome adversity. Perseverance means having the strength to prevail, to achieve your objective. I think if I were a high-achieving high school kid，privileged to attend meetings like the one I’m attending now in Williamsburg, Virginia, I would say，“You've come a long way. You’re better than your peers，but you're just beginning.” If you really want to make a difference，whether it’s in helping other people, or whether it’s in fighting for your country, or whether it’s in the political arena, or journalism, or physics, you’ve got to persevere. You've got to understand that there are going to be some enormous bumps in the road. They can be personal. You can get hurt badly. You can lose a friend, or a child, or a wife, or a husband. But you’ve got to persevere, you've got to be guided by certain principles and stay the course. If you quit, if you run away when the going gets tough, you won’t really understand what a full life is all about.
赫伯特.布什：要想成功，必須堅(jiān)忍。 我這么說(shuō)的意思是你不能讓遇到的障礙 阻擋你前進(jìn)。你不能讓生活一馬平川， 你必須克服那些困難。堅(jiān)忍就有了戰(zhàn)勝 困難的力量，實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)的力量。我認(rèn)為 如果我在高中時(shí)成績(jī)很好，有權(quán)力像現(xiàn) 在的好學(xué)生這樣參加如威廉斯堡和弗吉 尼亞的會(huì)議，我就會(huì)說(shuō)，“你已經(jīng)走了 很遠(yuǎn)。你比你的同輩們做得更好，但是 你才剛開始。”如果你想要與眾不同， 不管是要幫助他人，不管是保衛(wèi)國(guó)家，不管是馳騁政界，做記者，還是研究物 理，你都要堅(jiān)忍。你都要明白你的人生 路上還有很多大的困難需要你克服。這 些困難可能是個(gè)人的。你可能會(huì)受重 傷。你可能失去朋友、孩子或者妻子、 丈夫。但是你必須堅(jiān)忍，你要在一些原 則的指引下走下去。如果你退出，如果 你遇困難就逃避，你就不能真正明白完 整生活的意義。
Host: What was the proudest moment of your career?
主持人：你事業(yè)上最驕傲的是什么時(shí) 候?
Herbert Bush: This may sound like a cliche, but I’ll put it this way. The proudest thing in my life is that my children come home. The proudest moment of my Presidency, domestically, was when I signed a piece of civil rights legislation known as the ADA, doing something for the disabled. A massive piece of civil rights legislation that put disabled people, 50 million of them，into the mainstream, or at least removed legal obstacles to their being in the mainstream. The proudest moment internationally was when we prevailed over a brutal dictator. Formed a coalition that overcame public opinion in this country, cynicism in the press, reluctance in the Congress to do what was right, to say that a country — in this instance Iraq—with the fourth largest army in the world was not going to brutalize its neighbor, take over its neighbor by force. It was proud for me because I was privileged to be the Commander in Chief，but I’m not quite egotistical enough to feel that it was anything but a team effort. A classic victory of young soldiers working together, of sound diplomats doing their best. And of a country coming together to make a profound moral statement: aggression will not stand.
赫伯特?布什：聽起來(lái)可能是老調(diào)重談 了，這么說(shuō)吧。我生命中最驕傲的時(shí)刻 是我的孩子們回家。我當(dāng)總統(tǒng)的時(shí)候， 在國(guó)內(nèi)的問題上，我最驕傲的時(shí)刻是簽 署叫做ADA的民權(quán)法案，是致力于幫 助殘疾人的法案。這個(gè)法案的簽署使得 5000萬(wàn)殘疾人重回正常人生活，或者 說(shuō)，至少是為他們回歸正常人的生活掃除了法律上的障礙。國(guó)際問題上來(lái)說(shuō)， 最驕傲的時(shí)刻是我們戰(zhàn)勝了殘暴的統(tǒng)治 者。我們克服了這個(gè) 國(guó)家的社會(huì)輿論、媒 體諷刺和國(guó)會(huì)的不情 愿，形成了聯(lián)盟，做 正確的事情。以伊拉克為例，我們派遣世界上第四大軍隊(duì)迫使 他們停止侵略鄰國(guó)， 或者通過武力占領(lǐng)鄰 國(guó)。我驕傲因?yàn)槲矣?權(quán)成為國(guó)家的總指揮 官，但是我不會(huì)自負(fù) 到認(rèn)為那是我的勝 利，那是我們團(tuán)隊(duì)的勝利。是年輕士兵們團(tuán)結(jié)合作，外交人 員出色發(fā)揮的一場(chǎng)經(jīng)典勝利。那是一個(gè) 國(guó)家團(tuán)結(jié)一心，作出的一個(gè)深刻的道德 聲明：侵略不會(huì)長(zhǎng)久。
Host: What were the biggest disappointments in your career?
主持人：那你事業(yè)上最失望的是什么時(shí)候?
Herbert Bush: Nobody likes to lose. I used to call home when I was a 14 year-old soccer player away at school and tell my mother, “I got three goals today.” And she’d shake me off over the long distance phone and say, “It doesn’t matter, how did the team do?” When I lost a race for the United States Senate, I thought the world was going to end for me politically, and 18 years later I was elected President of the United States. The biggest disappointment was that I wasn’t able to communicate properly to the American people — with the proper conviction and the proper ability — where the country really stood. The pessimists, the naysayers, the change-wan ters overwhelmed me, and I wasn’t good enough. I wasn't articulate enough to have the country understand that we weren’t in a recession, that we were in a rather booming economy in the last half of my Presidency. That was a personal shortcoming, a failure on my path. My predecessor could handle it pretty well, Ronald Reagan. Let me say this, and I don’t want to put a bitter note on the press, but there’s an unaccountability. The charge that got me the most was against my character. It was alleged that I went to Paris to meet with Iranians in 1988，to talk them into holding Americans hostage until after the Presidential election. I fought for my country. The fact that this charge could be given credence by the press got right to my soul. The fact that it caused the Congress to spend $2 million running down this outrageous charge against my very soul really, really affected me. It still does, and it will till the day I die. I fought for my country, and to suggest that I would make an insidious deal like that with the Iranians so that Ronald Reagan and I could win an election was horrible. I fault the press for that. I fault them for unaccountable charges that were subsequently shown to be totally false. I fought the Congress from pursuing this outrageous allegation against my character. Good friends on the Democratic side, insisted on the hearing. In a sense, I’m glad they did, because there was total vindication and these charges were shown to be totally erroneous, but it hurt，because it transcended politics for me. It got to what I am. Would I do that? I went to a Missing in Action POW meeting just before the election. Some idiot got up and started yelling at me that I knew there were live Americans in Vietnam, and I was unwilling to bring them home. That had nothing to do with Vietnam prisoners. What it had to do with was character. Would an American President, would I，who fought for my country and did my level best, leave an American incarcerated, knowing that we could do something about it? And the answer was, no. It’s the attack on character, it’s the attack on your very fiber，your being, that hurts. And who’s guilty? Well, I think to some degree the press is much more unaccountable and ferociously adversarial. And I think there’s some that have accepted the view that, well, this might well be true, the man doesn’t have the character. And I did. I made mistakes, screwed things up real bad on a lot of things. Couldn’t get things done the way I wanted, but it wasn’t because I was a couple of quarts low on character.
赫伯特.布什：沒有人喜歡失敗。當(dāng)我 14歲時(shí)，我是校足球隊(duì)的隊(duì)員，我常打 電話告訴媽媽，“我今天進(jìn)了 3個(gè)球。” 媽媽隔著千里電話線打擊我說(shuō)，“那無(wú) 關(guān)緊要，你們隊(duì)怎么樣?”當(dāng)我在美國(guó) 議院競(jìng)選中失敗時(shí)，我當(dāng)時(shí)覺得我的政 治生涯結(jié)束了，但是18年后，我當(dāng)選 了美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。我最失望的是我沒有能夠 和美國(guó)人民合理地溝通，沒有用堅(jiān)定的 信念和適當(dāng)?shù)呐?lái)使國(guó)家真正地站起 來(lái)。悲觀的人、沉默的人和妄想改變的 人戰(zhàn)勝了我，我不夠好。我的□才不夠 好，沒有讓這個(gè)國(guó)家明白我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)沒 有衰退，我任期的后半段，經(jīng)濟(jì)其實(shí)是 在上升的。那是我個(gè)人的缺點(diǎn)，也是我 人生路上的失敗。我的前任里根總統(tǒng)做 得就很好。我這么說(shuō)吧，我不想挖苦媒 體，但是媒體有不可信的東西。傷害我 最深的就是媒體指責(zé)我的人格。他們控 告我1988年去巴黎會(huì)見伊朗人，和他 們討論美國(guó)人質(zhì)事件，人質(zhì)劫持要一直 持續(xù)到總統(tǒng)選舉結(jié)束。我為我的國(guó)家而 戰(zhàn)。事實(shí)是媒體的指控直接刺向我的靈 魂。事實(shí)上國(guó)會(huì)花200萬(wàn)美元來(lái)操作的 這場(chǎng)令人憤怒的指控真的影響了我。現(xiàn) 在還是痛苦，或許會(huì)一直持續(xù)到我死。 我為我的國(guó)家而戰(zhàn)，他們卻暗示我是為 了讓里根和我臝得大選而作出的骯臟的 交易。我認(rèn)為是媒體的錯(cuò)。我指責(zé)他們 這些不可信的控告，這些控告后來(lái)被證實(shí)完全錯(cuò)了。我為國(guó)會(huì)相信這個(gè)侮辱我 人格的指控而憤怒。民主黨的朋友們， 堅(jiān)持聽我解釋。從這個(gè)意義上說(shuō)，我很 高興他們聽了，因?yàn)槲矣谐浞值淖C據(jù)證 實(shí)這些指控完全錯(cuò)了。但是這確實(shí)傷害 了我，因?yàn)橹缚爻隽苏畏懂?，直?我的人格。我會(huì)那樣做嗎?我在大選前 參加了一個(gè)戰(zhàn)俘失蹤會(huì)議。某個(gè)笨蛋站 起來(lái)開始沖我大叫，說(shuō)我知道越南有活 著的美國(guó)人，但是我卻不愿意把他們帶 回國(guó)。這和越南犯人完全無(wú)關(guān)。這是和 人格有關(guān)的。作為一個(gè)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，作為 全力為國(guó)家而戰(zhàn)的我來(lái)說(shuō)，會(huì)在知道能 做些什么的時(shí)候，任由美國(guó)人被扣留嗎?答案是不會(huì)。這是對(duì)人格的攻擊， 這是對(duì)你的品質(zhì)，你這個(gè)人的攻擊。很 傷人。那么誰(shuí)的錯(cuò)?我認(rèn)為從某種程度 上說(shuō)，媒體更不可信，是更加殘忍的敵 人。我想有一些人接受這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)，這也 可能，這個(gè)人沒有那種品行。但是我 是。我犯過 錯(cuò)，把很多事 情搞砸過，不 能讓事情按照 我想要的方向 發(fā)展，但是這 不是因?yàn)槲移?行不端。
Host: All public figures are subject to criticism attacks. How do you respond to attacks?
主持人：所有 的公眾人物都會(huì)受到批評(píng)攻擊。你怎么回應(yīng)這些攻擊?
Herbert Bush: If you're attacked personally you have | to basically ignore it. You’ve got to go back in history and recognize that there’s nothing new here. It’s more vindictive, more outrageous，more unaccountable. The | way that Franklin Roosevelt was treated in the Presidency by the press is entirely different than the way President Clinton, or me, or President Reagan were treated. There’s been an evolution of incivility. But that isn’t to say that there weren’t, in our history, ferociously nasty editorials and charges and counter-charges that weren’t true. You have to have a really thick skin, you’ve got to turn the other cheek. You’ve got to try to do what your little kids i in high schools do, make friends, and go the extra mile to see that the critic knows where you’re coming from. But it can be ugly. There’s a pack mentality today. And one hound gets out in front and the rest of the pack are i baying at the heels of whoever it is that’s being pursued, i That’s not a good thing. And so, what do you do when you’re under fire? Try to tell the truth. Try to give it your best shot. Don't take it too personally, and get on with your life.
赫伯特?布什：如果是攻擊個(gè)人，就基本上忽略。翻開歷史看，就會(huì)看到那些批評(píng)都是濫調(diào)陳詞。只不過更加沒有依據(jù)，更加讓你憤怒，更加不可信。富蘭 克林?羅斯福當(dāng)總統(tǒng)的時(shí)候，媒體對(duì) 待他的方式和現(xiàn)在對(duì)待克林頓或者我或 者里根的方式是不一樣的。不文明是逐 漸演變而來(lái)的。但是這并不是說(shuō)，歷史 中他們沒有過下流的社論或者假指控。 必須得厚臉皮，還得伸出你另一半臉 (當(dāng)別人打你右臉時(shí)你要也把另一半臉 伸出讓人打——出自《圣經(jīng)》譯者注)。 必須努力做你的孩子在高中時(shí)做的事， 交朋友，多做些事讓那些批評(píng)家知道你 不是好惹的。但是這也可能很丑陋。今 天是群起而攻之的時(shí)代。一只狗在出現(xiàn) 在前面，其他狗就會(huì)朝著正被追的狗狂 吠，甭管是誰(shuí)。這不是好事。所以，你 惹火上身的時(shí)候該怎么辦呢?盡量說(shuō)實(shí) 話。盡量拿出自己的本事。不要太把它 當(dāng)作針對(duì)你個(gè)人的指責(zé)，要繼續(xù)自己的 生活。
Host: It helps if you believe in this vision?
主持人：如果你相信這個(gè)遠(yuǎn)見就會(huì)有用 嗎?
Herbert Bush: I think it helps. I don’t want to be called a senior citizen, I feel like a spring colt. I don’t want to | be called a has-been, because there’s things I want to do in life. But, I’ve been there and I’d say, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” And they don’t anymore, I don’t | talk to them anymore, so they don’t get me down. I’ve got my family, and I’ve got so many blessings that I don’t think I’ve earned, that I’m a very happy man. I can’t wait | for the next day.
赫伯特.布什：我認(rèn)為有用。我不想被 稱為老人，我感覺自己就像春天的小馬 駒一樣。我不想被說(shuō)做曾經(jīng)怎樣，因?yàn)?我生命中還有想要做的事情。但是作為 過來(lái)人，我會(huì)說(shuō)“別為混蛋生氣。”我不 再為他們生氣，我再也不會(huì)跟他們說(shuō)話 了，所以他們也就不會(huì)讓我生氣。我有 我的家人，我得到了這么多的祝福，我 認(rèn)為我都不能相信我得到了，我是幸福 的。我對(duì)明天充滿信心。
四六級(jí)英語(yǔ)欄目