奥巴马就职演说 · 中英双语精注版 Barack Obama — First Inaugural Address, 20 January 2009

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbledadj. /ˈhʌmbəld/ 谦卑的，敬畏的 by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowedv. /bɪˈstoʊd/ 授予，给予, mindfuladj. /ˈmaɪndfl/ 铭记的，留心的 of the sacrificesn. /ˈsækrɪfaɪsɪz/ 牺牲 bornev. /bɔːrn/ 承受（bear 的过去分词） by our ancestorsn. /ˈænsestərz/ 祖先. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosityn. /ˌdʒenəˈrɑːsəti/ 慷慨 and cooperation he has shown throughout this transitionn. /trænˈzɪʃn/ 过渡，交接.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oathn. /oʊθ/ 誓言. The words have been spoken during rising tidesn. /ˈraɪzɪŋ taɪdz/ 上涨的潮水 of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidstprep. /əˈmɪdst/ 在……之中 gathering clouds and ragingadj. /ˈreɪdʒɪŋ/ 狂暴的，汹涌的 storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearersn. /ˈfɔːrberərz/ 先辈, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reachingadj. /ˌfɑːrˈriːtʃɪŋ/ 影响深远的，广泛的 network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakenedadj. /ˈwiːkənd/ 被削弱的, a consequencen. /ˈkɑːnsəkwens/ 后果 of greedn. /ɡriːd/ 贪婪 and irresponsibilityn. /ˌɪrɪspɑːnsəˈbɪləti/ 不负责任 on the part of some, but also our collectiveadj. /kəˈlektɪv/ 集体的 failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shutteredv. /ˈʃʌtərd/ 关闭，停业. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversariesn. /ˈædvərseriz/ 对手，敌手 and threatenv. /ˈθretn/ 威胁 our planet.

These are the indicatorsn. /ˈɪndɪkeɪtərz/ 指标，征象 of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profoundadj. /prəˈfaʊnd/ 深刻的 is a sappingn. /ˈsæpɪŋ/ 消磨，侵蚀 of confidence across our land — a naggingadj. /ˈnæɡɪŋ/ 萦绕不去的 fear that America's declinen. /dɪˈklaɪn/ 衰落 is inevitableadj. /ɪnˈevɪtəbl/ 不可避免的, and that the next generation must lower its sightsphr. 降低期望，放低目标.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short spann. /spæn/ 一段时间，跨度 of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discordn. /ˈdɪskɔːrd/ 不和，纷争.

On this day, we come to proclaimv. /prəˈkleɪm/ 宣告，宣布 an end to the pettyadj. /ˈpeti/ 琐碎的，小气的 grievancesn. /ˈɡriːvənsɪz/ 不满，积怨 and false promises, the recriminationsn. /rɪˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃnz/ 相互指责 and worn out dogmasn. /ˈdɔːɡməz/ 教条, that for far too long have strangledv. /ˈstræŋɡld/ 扼杀，窒息 our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripturen. /ˈskrɪptʃər/ 圣经，经文, the time has come to set asidephr. 放下，搁置 childish things. The time has come to reaffirmv. /ˌriːəˈfɜːrm/ 重申，再确认 our enduringadj. /ɪnˈdʊrɪŋ/ 持久的，不朽的 spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursuev. /pərˈsuː/ 追求 their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a givenn. /ˈɡɪvn/ 既定之物，理所当然的事. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cutsn. /ˈʃɔːrtkʌts/ 捷径 or settling forphr. 将就，退而求其次 less. It has not been the path for the faint-heartedadj. /ˌfeɪntˈhɑːrtɪd/ 怯懦的 — for those who prefer leisuren. /ˈliːʒər/ 安逸，闲暇 over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscureadj. /əbˈskjʊr/ 默默无闻的 in their labor, who have carried us up the long, ruggedadj. /ˈrʌɡɪd/ 崎岖的 path towards prosperityn. /prɑːˈsperəti/ 繁荣 and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessionsphr. 世俗财物，身外之物 and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiledv. /tɔɪld/ 辛苦劳作 in sweatshopsn. /ˈswetʃɑːps/ 血汗工厂 and settled the West; enduredv. /ɪnˈdʊrd/ 忍受 the lashn. /læʃ/ 鞭打 of the whip and plowedv. /plaʊd/ 耕犁 the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and againphr. 一次又一次 these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were rawadj. /rɔː/ 磨破的，生疼的 so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitionsn. /æmˈbɪʃnz/ 抱负，野心; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or factionn. /ˈfækʃn/ 派系.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperousadj. /ˈprɑːspərəs/ 繁荣的, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventiveadj. /ɪnˈventɪv/ 有创造力的, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminishedadj. /ˌʌndɪˈmɪnɪʃt/ 未减弱的. But our time of standing patphr. 固守原地，安于现状, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remakingv. /ˌriːˈmeɪkɪŋ/ 重塑，改造 America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundationn. /faʊnˈdeɪʃn/ 基础，地基 for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric gridsn. /ɡrɪdz/ 电网，网格 and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restorev. /rɪˈstɔːr/ 使回归，恢复 science to its rightfuladj. /ˈraɪtfl/ 应有的，正当的 place, and wieldv. /wiːld/ 运用，施展 technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harnessv. /ˈhɑːrnɪs/ 利用（自然力） the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transformv. /trænsˈfɔːrm/ 改造，变革 our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scalen. /skeɪl/ 规模，尺度 of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot toleratev. /ˈtɑːləreɪt/ 容忍，承受 too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imaginationn. /ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃn/ 想象力 is joined to common purpose, and necessityn. /nəˈsesəti/ 必然，必要性 to courage.

What the cynicsn. /ˈsɪnɪks/ 愤世嫉俗者，怀疑论者 fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the staleadj. /steɪl/ 陈腐的，过时的 political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decentadj. /ˈdiːsnt/ 体面的，像样的 wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignifiedadj. /ˈdɪɡnɪfaɪd/ 有尊严的. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to accountphr. 被问责，被追究 — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vitaladj. /ˈvaɪtl/ 至关重要的 trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatchedadj. /ʌnˈmætʃt/ 无可匹敌的, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchfuladj. /ˈwɑːtʃfl/ 警觉的，密切注意的 eye, the market can spin out of controlphr. 失控 — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charityn. /ˈtʃærəti/ 施舍，慈善, but because it is the surest route to our common goodphr. 共同利益.

As for our common defensephr. 共同防务, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perilsn. /ˈperəlz/ 危险，险境 we can scarcelyadv. /ˈskersli/ 几乎不 imagine, drafted a chartern. /ˈtʃɑːrtər/ 宪章，章程 to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expediencen. /ɪkˈspiːdiəns/ 权宜之计's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignityn. /ˈdɪɡnəti/ 尊严, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced downphr. 直面并挫败 fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdyadj. /ˈstɜːrdi/ 坚固的，强健的 alliances and enduring convictionsn. /kənˈvɪkʃnz/ 信念. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitlev. /ɪnˈtaɪtl/ 使有资格，赋予权利 us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudentadj. /ˈpruːdnt/ 审慎的，稳健的 use; our security emanatesv. /ˈeməneɪts/ 源自，发源于 from the justnessn. /ˈdʒʌstnəs/ 正义，正当 of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humilityn. /hjuːˈmɪləti/ 谦逊 and restraintn. /rɪˈstreɪnt/ 克制，节制.

We are the keepers of this legacyn. /ˈleɡəsi/ 遗产，传承. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forgev. /fɔːrdʒ/ 锻造，缔造 a hard-earnedadj. /ˌhɑːrdˈɜːrnd/ 来之不易的 peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foesn. /foʊz/ 敌人，对手, we'll work tirelessly to lessenv. /ˈlesn/ 减少，减轻 the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectern. /ˈspektər/ 幽灵，阴霾 of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waverv. /ˈweɪvər/ 动摇，摇摆 in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducingv. /ɪnˈduːsɪŋ/ 引发，诱使 terror and slaughteringv. /ˈslɔːtərɪŋ/ 屠杀 innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlastv. /ˌaʊtˈlæst/ 比……持久 us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchworkn. /ˈpætʃwɜːrk/ 拼布，拼缀物 heritagen. /ˈherɪtɪdʒ/ 传统，遗产 is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believersn. /ˌnɑːnbɪˈliːvərz/ 无信仰者. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swilln. /swɪl/ 泔水，苦汁 of civil war and segregationn. /ˌseɡrɪˈɡeɪʃn/ 种族隔离, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolvev. /dɪˈzɑːlv/ 消融，消散; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering inphr. 开启，迎来 a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutualadj. /ˈmjuːtʃuəl/ 相互的，共同的 interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sowv. /soʊ/ 播种，挑起 conflict, or blame their society's illsn. /ɪlz/ 弊病，苦难 on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who clingv. /klɪŋ/ 紧紧抓住 to power through corruptionn. /kəˈrʌpʃn/ 腐败 and deceitn. /dɪˈsiːt/ 欺骗 and the silencing of dissentn. /dɪˈsent/ 异议，不同政见, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclenchv. /ˌʌnˈklentʃ/ 松开，放开 your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledgev. /pledʒ/ 承诺，保证 to work alongside you to make your farms flourishv. /ˈflɜːrɪʃ/ 繁盛，兴旺 and let clean waters flow; to nourishv. /ˈnɜːrɪʃ/ 滋养 starvedadj. /stɑːrvd/ 饥饿的 bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifferencen. /ɪnˈdɪfrəns/ 漠不关心 to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard tophr. 不顾，无视 effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfoldsv. /ʌnˈfoʊldz/ 展开，呈现 before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrolv. /pəˈtroʊl/ 巡逻 far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardiansn. /ˈɡɑːrdiənz/ 守护者 of our liberty, but because they embodyv. /ɪmˈbɑːdi/ 体现，化身 the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabitv. /ɪnˈhæbɪt/ 栖居于，存在于 us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimatelyadv. /ˈʌltɪmətli/ 最终，归根到底 the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the leveesn. /ˈleviz/ 堤坝 break, the selflessnessn. /ˈselfləsnəs/ 无私 of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurturev. /ˈnɜːrtʃər/ 养育，培育 a child, that finally decides our faten. /feɪt/ 命运.

Our challenges may be new. The instrumentsn. /ˈɪnstrəmənts/ 工具，手段 with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerancen. /ˈtɑːlərəns/ 宽容 and curiosityn. /ˌkjʊriˈɑːsəti/ 好奇心, loyalty and patriotismn. /ˈpeɪtriətɪzəm/ 爱国主义 — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudginglyadv. /ˈɡrʌdʒɪŋli/ 勉强地，不情愿地 accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenshipn. /ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/ 公民身份.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destinyn. /ˈdestəni/ 命运，天命.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creedn. /kriːd/ 信条，信念 — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificentadj. /mæɡˈnɪfɪsnt/ 壮丽的 mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacredadj. /ˈseɪkrɪd/ 神圣的 oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrancen. /rɪˈmembrəns/ 纪念，追忆, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddledv. /ˈhʌdld/ 挤聚，蜷缩 by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stainedv. /steɪnd/ 沾染，染污 with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: "Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtuen. /ˈvɜːrtʃuː/ 美德，德行 could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timelessadj. /ˈtaɪmləs/ 永恒的，不朽的 words. With hope and virtue, let us bravev. /breɪv/ 勇敢面对 once more the icy currents, and endurev. /ɪnˈdʊr/ 忍受，坚持 what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falterv. /ˈfɔːltər/ 动摇，踉跄; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's gracen. /ɡreɪs/ 恩典 upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.