【导语】“暴躁肥佬”通过精心收集，向本站投稿了5篇TED英语演讲稿：才华可以人人都有，但机会不是，以下是小编整理后的TED英语演讲稿：才华可以人人都有，但机会不是，希望你喜欢，也可以帮助到您，欢迎分享！
- 目录
篇1：TED英语演讲稿：才华可以人人都有，但机会不是
TED英语演讲稿：才华可以人人都有，但机会不是
How many of you are tired of seeingcelebrities adopting kids from the African continent?
你们之中有多少人已经对那些从非洲领养小孩的明星而感到厌倦了?
Well, it's not all that bad. I was adopted.I grew up in rural Uganda, lost both my parents when I was very, very young.And when my parents passed, I experienced all the negative effects of poverty,from homelessness, eating out of trash piles, you name it.
嗯，那也不全是坏事。我就是被其中领养的一员。我在乌干达的郊区长大，在我很小的时候，我的父母就去世了。在我父母离世之后，我经历了所有贫困带来的困难，从无家可归，到捡食路边的垃圾，所有你能想得到的。
But my life changed when I got acceptedinto an orphanage. Through one of those sponsor-an-orphan programs, I wassponsored and given an opportunity to acquire an education. I started off inUganda. I went through school, and the way this particular program worked, youfinished high school and after high school, you go learn a trade -- to become acarpenter, a mechanic or something along those lines.
但自从我被一家孤儿院收养 我的生活就发生了巨变。通过孤儿院的一个补助项目，我获得了接受教育的机会，以及相应的资助。一开始是在乌干达。我去了学校念书，而根据这个项目的运作流程，他们会在你读完高中以后，送你去学一门手艺，比如木匠，或者机修工或者其他的一些专业技术。
My case was a little different. The sponsorfamily that was sending these 25 dollars a month to this orphanage to sponsorme, which -- I had never met them -- said, “Well ... we would like to sendyou to college instead.” Oh -- it gets better.
而我的情况却有所不同。每个月我会在孤儿院收到25美元补助。这钱来自资助我的家庭，我从未见过他们他们说，“我们希望资助你去上大学” 哦，那再好不过了。
And they said, “If you get thepaperwork, we'll send you to school in America instead.” So with theirhelp, I went to the embassy and applied for the visa. I got the visa.
他们还说：“如果你能通过申请 我们会把你送到美国的大学读书。“ 所以，在他们的帮助下，我去大使馆申请了签证。并且通过了签证。
I remember this day like it was yesterday.I walked out of the embassy with this piece of paper in my hand, a hop in mystep, smile on my face, knowing that my life is about to change. I went homethat night, and I slept with my passport, because I was afraid that someonemight steal it.
那一天对我来说就像昨天一样。我拿着手里的文件走出大使馆，一路蹦跳，难掩笑意，我明白我的生活将不复从前。那天晚上我回到家里，抱着我的护照睡着了，因为我担心有人会把它偷走。
I couldn't fall asleep. I kept feeling it.I had a good idea for security. I was like, “OK, I'm going to put it in aplastic bag, and take it outside and dig a hole, and put it in there.” Idid that, went back in the house. I could not fall asleep. I was like,“Maybe someone saw me.” I went back --
而我辗转反侧。那念头依然挥之不去。我突然想到了一个万全的主意。我说：”好吧，我可以把它放进一个塑料袋里然后在外面地上挖一个洞，把袋子放进去。” 我真的做了，然后又回到屋子里。但我依然无眠，我想，“也许有人看到我了。” 我又回去了
I pulled it out, and I put it with me theentire night -- all to say that it was an anxiety-filled night.
我把袋子拿出来，然后抓着它度过了一宿 我只想说那真是焦虑的一晚。
Going to the US was, just like anotherspeaker said, was my first time to see a plane, be on one, let alone sit on itto fly to another country. December 15, 20xx. 7:08pm. I sat in seat 7A. FlyEmirates. One of the most gorgeous, beautiful women I've ever seen walked up,red little hat with a white veil. I'm looking terrified, I have no idea whatI'm doing. She hands me this warm towel -- warm, steamy, snow white. I'mlooking at this warm towel; I don't know what to do with my life, let alonewith this damn towel --
来到美国的感受，和其他初来乍到的'人一样 那是我第一次坐飞机，坐在座位上，飞向另一个国家。20xx年12月15日 晚上7点08分 我坐在7A座位上。乘坐阿联酋航班。一个我有生以来见过的最美的女人朝我走来，她戴着红色的帽子和白色的口罩。我真的吓坏了，我简直手足无措。她递给我一张温热的纸巾 温暖，湿润，白净如雪。我盯着这张温暖的纸巾; 我都不知道我该拿我的生活怎么办，更别说这张纸巾了
I did one of the -- you know, anythinganyone could do in that situation: look around, see what everyone else isdoing. I did the same. Mind you, I drove about seven hours from my village tothe airport that day. So I grab this warm towel, wipe my face just likeeveryone else is doing, I look at it -- damn.
我做了一件――你懂的，任何人都会做的事：我环顾四周，看其他人的举动。然后我也跟着他们做。顺便一提，从村子到机场，那一天我开了7个小时的车。所以我拿起那张温暖的纸，效仿着别人擦拭了自己的脸，我看了看纸巾――该死。
It was all dirt brown.I remember being so embarrassed that whenshe came by to pick it up, I didn't give mine.I still have it.
已经变成屎黄色了。我记得我是那么的尴尬，以至于当她来回收纸巾的时候，我没好意思给她。我现在都还带着它。
Going to America opened doors for me tolive up to my full God-given potential. I remember when I arrived, the sponsorfamily embraced me, and they literally had to teach me everything from scratch:this is a microwave, that's a refrigerator -- things I'd never seen before. Andit was also the first time I got immersed into a new and different culture.These strangers showed me true love. These strangers showed me that I mattered,that my dreams mattered.Thank you.
美国向我敞开了大门让我能够发挥自己最大的潜力。我记得我刚到的时候，我的资助家庭迎接了我，然后他们就把一切从头开始教给我：这是一个微波炉，那是一个冰箱――那些都是我以前闻所未闻的东西。那也是我第一次 被放置在全新的文化环境当中。这些陌生人向我展示了真正的关爱。这些陌生人让我明白，我很重要 我的梦想很重要。谢谢。
These individuals had two of their ownbiological children. And when I came in, I had needs. They had to teach meEnglish, teach me literally everything, which resulted in them spending a lotof time with me. And that created a little bit of jealousy with their children.So, if you're a parent in this room, and you have those teenager children whodon't want anything to do with your love and affection -- in fact, they find itrepulsive -- I got a solution: adopt a child.
他们有两个亲生孩子。当我走进他们家庭的时候，我急需帮助。他们要教我英文，教我几乎所有的事情，这导致他们要在我的身上 花费很多的精力。而这致使他们的亲生孩子对我产生了一丝妒忌。所以，如果你们有人是家长，而你又有这样一群青少年小孩 他们对你们的爱和关心置若罔闻 事实上，还对你们很冷淡 我有一个办法： 领养一个孩子。
It will solve the problem.
问题就会迎刃而解。
I went on to acquire two engineeringdegrees from one of the best institutions in the world. I've got to tell you:talent is universal, but opportunities are not. And I credit this to theindividuals who embrace multiculturalism, love, empathy and compassion forothers. We live in a world filled with hate: building walls, Brexit, xenophobiahere on the African continent. Multiculturalism can be an answer to many ofthese worst human qualities.
在一所世界一流学府中 我习得了两个工程师学位。我必须要说： 天赋人人都有，但机会一缘难求。我想要赞美 那些拥抱多元文化的人，那些关爱，理解并且同情他人的人。我们生活在一个充满憎恨的世界上：高筑围墙，英国脱欧，非洲大陆的仇外心理。而这些人类最负面的东西 都可以被多元文化海涵。
Today, I challenge you to help a youngchild experience multiculturalism. I guarantee you that will enrich their life,and in turn, it will enrich yours. And as a bonus, one of them may even give aTED Talk.
今天，我挑战你们在座的观众们 去帮助一个年轻的孩子 感受多元文化的魅力。我保证那会充实他的生活，作为回报，你们的生活也会得到升华。而作为奖励，他们其中之一也许还会在TED演讲。
We may not be able to solve the bigotry andthe racism of this world today, but certainly we can raise children to create apositive, inclusive, connected world full of empathy, love and compassion.
我们也许无力解决 当今社会的种族歧视与偏见，但我们完全可以引导我们的孩子 去创建一个积极的，包容的，紧密相连的世界。那里将充满理解，关爱，同情。
Love wins.Thank you.
真爱无敌。谢谢
篇2：TED英语演讲稿：大人可以跟孩子学什么？
TED英语演讲稿：大人可以跟孩子学什么？
邹奇奇背景资料
美国华盛顿州西雅图市华裔女童邹奇奇(英文名Adora Svitak)，被美国媒体誉为“世界上最聪明的孩子”，她比凤姐牛多了，3岁时就开始阅读各种书籍，从4岁起写下了400多篇故事和诗歌，8岁时出版的故事集《飞扬的手指》轰动美国，其中包含的300多篇故事大多以中世纪为背景，从古埃及写到了文艺复兴，文中透露的政治、宗教和教育见解，思想深刻，文思严谨，邹奇奇也被 誉为“美国文坛小巨人”。
邹奇奇的母亲邹灿(Joyce)是中国重庆人，1988年到美国后，学习法语专业的她又获得了英语文学硕士学位，现在是美国一家电话语音翻译公司的.中英文翻译员。奇奇的父亲约翰John Svitak是一名捷克裔美国人物理学博士，现任职于微软公司。除了奇奇外，他们还有另一个名叫希希的10岁女儿，姐妹俩的名字合起来就是“希奇”。全家生活在美国华盛顿州西雅图市。尽管邹奇奇的外表和其他同龄孩子没啥两样，但她的知识和成就却远非同龄孩子可比。
Now, I want to start with a question: When was the last time you were called childish? For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish, which really bothers me. After all, take a look at these events: Imperialism and colonization, world wars, George W. Bush. Ask yourself: Who's responsible? Adults.
Now, what have kids done? Well, Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful account of the Holocaust, Ruby Bridges helped end segregation in the United States, and, most recently, Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti on his little bike. So, as you can see evidenced by such examples, age has absolutely nothing to do with it. The traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking. (Applause)
Thank you. Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself, thinking: That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking, like my wish that no one went hungry or that everything were free kind of utopia. How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities? Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free, that the food stocks would become depleted, and scarce and lead to chaos. On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection. And that's a good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.
In many ways, our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility. For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, my home state -- yoohoo Washington -- (Applause) has a program called Kids Design Glass, and kids draw their own ideas for glass art. Now, the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas through the program because kids don't think about the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes. They just think of good ideas. Now, when you think of glass, you might think of colorful Chihuly designs or maybe Italian vases, but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision. (Laughter)
Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insiders' knowledge. Kids already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. I think that adults should start learning from kids. Now, I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd, teachers and students, and I like this analogy. It shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do this, do that. The students should teach their teachers. Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right. If I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest I established on her last loan, I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she pays it back. (Laughter) True story, by the way. Now, adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every “don't do that,” “don't do this” in the school handbook, to restrictions on school internet use. As history points out, regimes become oppressive when they're fearful about keeping control. And, although adults may not be quite at the level of totalitarian regimes, kids have no, or very little, say in making the rules, when really the attitude should be reciprocal, meaning that the adult population should learn and take into account the wishes of the younger population.
篇3：请相信你可以进步TED英语演讲稿
请相信你可以进步TED英语演讲稿
The power of yet.
专注过程，而不是结果。
I heard about a highschool in Chicago where students had to pass a certain number of courses tograduate, and if they didn't pass a course, they got the grade “NotYet.” And I thought that was fantastic, because if you get a failinggrade, you think, I'm nothing, I'm nowhere. But if you get the grade “NotYet” you understand that you're on a learning curve. It gives you a pathinto the future.
我听说，在芝加哥有一所高中，那儿的学生毕业前要通过一系列课程，如果某一门课没有通过，成绩就是「暂未通过」。我想，这真是个绝妙的做法，因为，如果你某门课的成绩不及格，你会想，我什么都不是，我什么都没有学到。但如果你的成绩是「暂未通过」，你会明白，学习的步伐并没有停下，你还需逐步向前，争取未来。
“Not Yet”also gave me insight into a critical event early in my career, a real turningpoint. I wanted to see how children coped with challenge and difficulty, so Igave 10-year-olds problems that were slightly too hard for them. Some of them reactedin a shockingly positive way. They said things like, “I love achallenge,” or, “You know, I was hoping this would beinformative.”
「暂未通过」也让我联想起一件尤为重要的、发生在我职业生涯初期的事情，这件事对我而言是一个转折点。当时，我想探究孩子是如何应对挑战和困难的，因此，我让一些10岁大的孩子尝试解决一些对于他们而言稍稍偏难的问题。一些孩子积极应对的方式让我感到震惊。他们会这样说，「我喜欢挑战，」或说，「你知道的，我希望能有所获。」
They understood that their abilities could be developed.They had what I call a growth mindset. But other students felt it was tragic,catastrophic. From their more fixed mindset perspective, their intelligence hadbeen up for judgment and they failed. Instead of luxuriating in the power ofyet, they were gripped in the tyranny of now.
这些孩子明白，他们的能力是可以提升的。他们有我所说的成长型思维模式。但另一些孩子觉得面对这些难题是不幸，宛如面对一场灾难。从他们的固定型思维角度来看，他们的才智受到了评判，而他们失败了。他们不懂得享受学习的过程，而只盯住眼前的成与败。
So what do they donext? I'll tell you what they do next. In one study, they told us they wouldprobably cheat the next time instead of studying more if they failed a test. Inanother study, after a failure, they looked for someone who did worse than theydid so they could feel really good about themselves. And in study after study,they have run from difficulty.
这些孩子们后面表现如何?让我告诉你他们的表现。在一项研究中，他们告诉我们，如果他们某次考试未通过，他们很可能会在下次考试中作弊，而不是更加努力地学习。在另一项研究中，他们挂了一门后，他们会找到那些考得还不如他们高的孩子，以寻求自我安慰。后续的研究陆续表明，他们会逃避困难。
Scientists measured the electrical activity fromthe brain as students confronted an error. On the left, you see the fixedmindset students. There's hardly any activity. They run from the error. Theydon't engage with it. But on the right, you have the students with the growthmindset, the idea that abilities can be developed. They engage deeply. Theirbrain is on fire with yet. They engage deeply. They process the error. Theylearn from it and they correct it.
科学家们监测了学生们面对错误时的脑电活动图像。在左侧，是固定型思维模式的学生，几乎没有什么活动。他们在错误面前选择了逃避。他们没有积极地投入。但请看右侧，这是成长型思维模式的学生，这些学生相信能力会通过锻炼得以提升。他们积极地应对错误。他们的大脑在高速运转，他们积极地投入，他们剖析错误，从中学习，最终订正。
How are we raising ourchildren? Are we raising them for now instead of yet? Are we raising kids whoare obsessed with getting A's? Are we raising kids who don't know how to dreambig dreams? Their biggest goal is getting the next A or the next test score?
如今我们是如何教育孩子的呢?是教育他们专注眼前，而不是注重过程吗?我们培育了一些迷恋刷A的孩子们吗?我们培育了没有远大理想的孩子们吗?他们最远大的目标就是再拿一个A，心里所想的就是下一次考试吗?
And are they carrying this need for constant validation with them into theirfuture lives? Maybe, because employers are coming to me and saying, we havealready raised a generation of young workers who can't get through the daywithout an award.
他们在今后的生活中，都以分数的高低来评判自己吗?或许是的，因为企业雇主们跑来找我，说我们养育的这新一代走上工作岗位的人，如果不给他们奖励，他们一天都过不下去。
So what can we do? Howcan we build that bridge to yet?
我们该怎么做呢?如何让孩子注重过程而不是结果呢?
Here are some things wecan do. First of all, we can praise wisely, not praising intelligence ortalent. That has failed. Don't do that anymore. But praising the process thatkids engage in: their effort, their strategies, their focus, theirperseverance, their improvement. This process praise creates kids who are hardyand resilient.
我们可以做这样几件事。首先，我们可以有技巧地去表扬：不去表扬天分或才智，这行不通。不要再这样做了。而是要对孩子积极投入的过程进行表扬：他们的努力与策略，他们的专注、坚持与进步。对过程的表扬，会塑造孩子的韧性。
There are other ways toreward yet. We recently teamed up with game scientists from the University ofWashington to create a new online math game that rewarded yet. In this game,students were rewarded for effort, strategy and progress. The usual math gamerewards you for getting answers right right now, but this game rewardedprocess. And we got more effort, more strategies, more engagement over longerperiods of time, and more perseverance when they hit really, really hardproblems.
还有其他的办法来奖励过程。最近，我们与来自华盛顿大学的游戏研究者合作，制作了一款奖励过程的数学游戏。在这个游戏中，学生们因他们的努力、策略与进步而受到奖励。通常的数学游戏中，玩家只有在解得正确答案后才能得到奖励，但这个游戏奖励过程。随着游戏的深入，孩子们更加努力，想出更多的.策略，身心更加投入，当遇到尤为困难的问题时，他们也展现了更为持久的韧劲。
Just the words“yet” or “not yet,” we're finding, give kids greaterconfidence, give them a path into the future that creates greater persistence.And we can actually change students' mindsets. In one study, we taught themthat every time they push out of their comfort zone to learn something new anddifficult, the neurons in their brain can form new, stronger connections, andover time they can get smarter.
我们发现，注重过程的思维模式，会赋予孩子们更多自信，指引他们不断向前，越发坚持不懈。事实上，我们能够改变学生的思维模式。在一项研究中，我们告诉学生们，每当他们迫使自己走出舒适区，学习新知识，迎接新挑战，大脑中的神经元会形成新的、更强的连接，他们会逐渐变得越来越聪明。
Look what happened: inthis study, students who were not taught this growth mindset continued to showdeclining grades over this difficult school transition, but those who weretaught this lesson showed a sharp rebound in their grades. We have shown thisnow, this kind of improvement, with thousands and thousands of kids, especiallystruggling students.
看看后面发生了什么吧：在这项研究中，没有接受成长型思维模式训练的学生，在这一困难的过渡阶段，成绩持续下滑，但那些受过该训练的学生，成绩强势反弹，卓有起色。如今，我们已证实这一结论，通过成千上万个孩子的实例，尤其是那些在学业上挣扎的孩子。
So let's talk aboutequality. In our country, there are groups of students who chronically underperform,for example, children in inner cities, or children on Native Americanreservations. And they've done so poorly for so long that many people thinkit's inevitable. But when educators create growth mindset classrooms steeped inyet, equality happens.
那我们就来谈谈教育平等吧。在我们国家，有些特定区域的孩子总是在学业上处于下游，比如，内城区的孩子，或印第安人居留地里的孩子。长期以来这里的孩子都没什么起色， 以致于很多人认为没的救了。但是当教育家们将孩子的思维转变为成长型思维模式时，教育平等实现了。
And here are just a few examples. In one year, akindergarten class in Harlem, New York scored in the 95th percentile on theNational Achievement Test. Many of those kids could not hold a pencil when theyarrived at school. In one year, fourth grade students in the South Bronx, waybehind, became the number one fourth grade class in the state of New York onthe state math test. In a year to a year and a half, Native American studentsin a school on a reservation went from the bottom of their district to the top,and that district included affluent sections of Seattle. So the native kidsoutdid the Microsoft kids.
举几个例子吧。纽约哈莱姆区的一所幼儿园的学生在一年的时间内，国家水平测试(NationalAchievement Test) 成绩飞跃到前百分之五。这些孩子中有很多在入学时甚至还不会握笔。一年之内，远远落后的南布朗克斯区的四年级学生，其标准数学测试成绩攀升到纽约州所有四年级学生的第一名。在一年到一年半的时间内， 某印第安人居留地的一所学校里的学生成绩从全区垫底到名列前茅，而这个区包括了西雅图市的富饶地段。印第安孩子战胜了「微软」孩子。
This happened becausethe meaning of effort and difficulty were transformed. Before, effort anddifficulty made them feel dumb, made them feel like giving up, but now, effortand difficulty, that's when their neurons are making new connections, strongerconnections. That's when they're getting smarter.
这得以实现的原因，是努力与困难的意义在孩子心目中发生了改变。在此之前，努力与困难让他们感觉自己很笨，让他们想放弃，但如今，正是努力与困难让他们大脑中的神经元得以形成新的连接，更强的连接。正是在这个过程中，他们变得越来越聪明。
I received a letterrecently from a 13-year-old boy. He said, “Dear Professor Dweck, Iappreciate that your writing is based on solid scientific research, and that'swhy I decided to put it into practice. I put more effort into my schoolwork,into my relationship with my family, and into my relationship with kids atschool, and I experienced great improvement in all of those areas. I nowrealize I've wasted most of my life.”
最近，我收到一个13岁男孩的来信。他说，「亲爱的德韦克教授，我欣赏你的著作，因为它们都基于可靠的科学试验，因此，我决定将你的方法付诸实践。我更用功地学习，更用心地处好与家人的关系，与同学的关系，而在这些方面我都有了长足的进步。现在我才意识到，过去浪费了太多生命。」
Let's not waste anymore lives, because once we know that abilities are capable of such growth, itbecomes a basic human right for children, all children, to live in places thatcreate that growth, to live in places filled with yet.
让我们不再浪费生命， 因为，既然我们知道 能力可以增长，那么，生活在一个能激发进步并让这一切变得可能的地方就是每个孩子的权利。
Thank you.(Applause)
谢谢。(掌声)
篇4：TED英语演讲稿：不幸也许是个机会
TED英语演讲稿：不幸也许是个机会
简介：残奥会短跑冠军Aimee Mullins天生没有腓骨，从小就要学习靠义肢走路和奔跑，如今，她不仅是短跑选手、演员、模特，还是一位稳健的'演讲者。她不喜欢字典中 “disabled”这个词，因为负面词汇足以毁掉一个人。但是，坦然面对不幸，你会发现等待你的是更多的机会。
I'd like to share with you a discovery that I made a few months ago while writing an article for Italian Wired. I always keep my thesaurus handy whenever I'm writing anything, but I'd already finished editing the piece, and I realized that I had never once in my life looked up the word “disabled” to see what I'd find.
Let me read you the entry. “Disabled, adjective: crippled, helpless, useless, wrecked, stalled, maimed, wounded, mangled, lame, mutilated, run-down, worn-out, weakened, impotent, castrated, paralyzed, handicapped, senile, decrepit, laid-up, done-up, done-for, done-in cracked-up, counted-out; see also hurt, useless and weak. Antonyms, healthy, strong, capable.” I was reading this list out loud to a friend and at first was laughing, it was so ludicrous, but I'd just gotten past “mangled,” and my voice broke, and I had to stop and collect myself from the emotional shock and impact that the assault from these words unleashed.
You know, of course, this is my raggedy old thesaurus so I'm thinking this must be an ancient print date, right? But, in fact, the print date was the early 1980s, when I would have been starting primary school and forming an understanding of myself outside the family unit and as related to the other kids and the world around me. And, needless to say, thank God I wasn't using a thesaurus back then. I mean, from this entry, it would seem that I was born into a world that perceived someone like me to have nothing positive whatsoever going for them, when in fact, today I'm celebrated for the opportunities and adventures my life has procured.
So, I immediately went to look up the 2009 online edition, expecting to find a revision worth noting. Here's the updated version of this entry. Unfortunately, it's not much better. I find the last two words under “Near Antonyms,” particularly unsettling: “whole” and “wholesome.”
So, it's not just about the words. It's what we believe about people when we name them with these words. It's about the values behind the words, and how we construct those values. Our language affects our thinking and how we view the world and how we view other people. In fact, many ancient societies, including the Greeks and the Romans, believed that to utter a curse verbally was so powerful, because to say the thing out loud brought it into existence. So, what reality do we want to call into existence: a person who is limited, or a person who's empowered? By casually doing something as simple as naming a person, a child, we might be putting lids and casting shadows on their power. Wouldn't we want to open doors for them instead?
One such person who opened doors for me was my childhood doctor at the A.I. duPont Institute in Wilmington, Delaware. His name was Dr. Pizzutillo, an Italian American, whose name, apparently, was too difficult for most Americans to pronounce, so he went by Dr. P. And Dr. P always wore really colorful bow ties and had the very perfect disposition to work with children.
I loved almost everything about my time spent at this hospital, with the exception of my physical therapy sessions. I had to do what seemed like innumerable repetitions of exercises with these thick, elastic bands -- different colors, you know -- to help build up my leg muscles, and I hated these bands more than anything -- I hated them, had names for them. I hated them. And, you know, I was already bargaining, as a five year-old child, with Dr. P to try to get out of doing these exercises, unsuccessfully, of course. And, one day, he came in to my session -- exhaustive and unforgiving, these sessions -- and he said to me, “Wow. Aimee, you are such a strong and powerful little girl, I think you're going to break one of those bands. When you do break it, I'm going to give you a hundred bucks.”
Now, of course, this was a simple ploy on Dr. P's part to get me to do the exercises I didn't want to do before the prospect of being the richest five-year-old in the second floor ward, but what he effectively did for me was reshape an awful daily occurrence into a new and promising experience for me. And I have to wonder today to what extent his vision and his declaration of me as a strong and powerful little girl shaped my own view of myself as an inherently strong, powerful and athletic person well into the future.
This is an example of how adults in positions of power can ignite the power of a child. But, in the previous instances of those thesaurus entries, our language isn't allowing us to evolve into the reality that we would all want, the possibility of an individual to see themselves as capable. Our language hasn't caught up with the changes in our society, many of which have been brought about by technology. Certainly, from a medical standpoint, my legs, laser surgery for vision impairment, titanium knees and hip replacements for aging bodies that are allowing people to more fully engage with their abilities, and move beyond the limits that nature has imposed on them -- not to mention social networking platforms allow people to self-identify, to claim their own descriptions of themselves, so they can go align with global groups of their own choosing. So, perhaps technology is revealing more clearly to us now what has always been a truth: that everyone has something rare and powerful to offer our society, and that the human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.
篇5：TED英语演讲稿：What fear can teach us恐惧可以教
TED英语演讲稿：What fear can teach us恐惧可以教会我们什么
one day in 1819, 3,000 miles off the coast of chile, in one of the most remote regions of the pacific ocean, 20 american sailors watched their ship flood with seawater.
1819年的某一天， 在距离智利海岸3000英里的地方， 有一个太平洋上的最偏远的水域， 20名美国船员目睹了他们的船只进水的场面。
they'd been struck by a sperm whale, which had ripped a catastrophic hole in the ship's hull. as their ship began to sink beneath the swells, the men huddled together in three small whaleboats.
他们和一头抹香鲸相撞，给船体撞了 一个毁灭性的大洞。 当船在巨浪中开始沉没时， 人们在三条救生小艇中抱作一团。
these men were 10,000 miles from home, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest scrap of land. in their small boats, they carried only rudimentary navigational equipment and limited supplies of food and water.
这些人在离家10000万英里的地方， 离最近的陆地也超过1000英里。 在他们的小艇中，他们只带了 落后的导航设备 和有限的食物和饮水。
these were the men of the whaleship essex, whose story would later inspire parts of “moby dick.”
他们就是捕鲸船essex上的人们， 后来的他们的故事成为《白鲸记》的一部分。
even in today's world, their situation would be really dire, but think about how much worse it would have been then.
即使在当今的世界，碰上这种情况也够杯具的，更不用说在当时的情况有多糟糕。
no one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong. no search party was coming to look for these men. so most of us have never experienced a situation as frightening as the one in which these sailors found themselves, but we all know what it's like to be afraid.
岸上的人根本就还没意识到出了什么问题。 没有任何人来搜寻他们。 我们当中大部分人没有经历过 这些船员所处的可怕情景， 但我们都知道害怕是什么感觉。
we know how fear feels, but i'm not sure we spend enough time thinking about what our fears mean.
我们知道恐惧的感觉， 但是我不能肯定我们会花很多时间想过 我们的恐惧到底意味着什么。
as we grow up, we're often encouraged to think of fear as a weakness, just another childish thing to discard like baby teeth or roller skates.
我们长大以后，我们总是会被鼓励把恐惧 视为软弱，需要像乳牙或轮滑鞋一样 扔掉的幼稚的东西。
and i think it's no accident that we think this way. neuroscientists have actually shown that human beings are hard-wired to be optimists.
我想意外事故并非我们所想的那样。 神经系统科学家已经知道人类 生来就是乐观主义者。
so maybe that's why we think of fear, sometimes, as a danger in and of itself. “don't worry,” we like to say to one another. “don't panic.” in english, fear is something we conquer. it's something we fight.
这也许就是为什么我们认为有时候恐惧， 本身就是一种危险或带来危险。 “不要愁。”我们总是对别人说。“不要慌”。 英语中，恐惧是我们需要征服的东西。 是我们必须对抗的东西，是我们必须克服的东西。
it's something we overcome. but what if we looked at fear in a fresh way? what if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself?
但是我们如果换个视角看恐惧会如何呢? 如果我们把恐惧当做是想象力的一个惊人成果， 是和我们讲故事一样 精妙而有见地的东西，又会如何呢?
it's easiest to see this link between fear and the imagination in young children, whose fears are often extraordinarily vivid.
在小孩子当中，我们最容易看到恐惧与想象之间的联系， 他们的恐惧经常是超级生动的。
when i was a child, i lived in california, which is, you know, mostly a very nice place to live, but for me as a child, california could also be a little scary.
我小时候住在加利福尼亚， 你们都知道，是非常适合居住的位置， 但是对一个小孩来说，加利福尼亚也会有点吓人。
i remember how frightening it was to see the chandelier that hung above our dining table swing back and forth during every minor earthquake, and i sometimes couldn't sleep at night, terrified that the big one might strike while we were sleeping.
我记得每次小地震的时候 当我看到我们餐桌上的吊灯 晃来晃去的时候是多么的吓人， 我经常会彻夜难眠，担心大地震 会在我们睡觉的时候突然袭来。
and what we say about kids who have fears like that is that they have a vivid imagination. but at a certain point, most of us learn to leave these kinds of visions behind and grow up.
我们说小孩子感受到这种恐惧 是因为他们有生动的想象力。 但是在某个时候，我们大多数学会了 抛弃这种想法而变得成熟。
we learn that there are no monsters hiding under the bed, and not every earthquake brings buildings down. but maybe it's no coincidence that some of our most creative minds fail to leave these kinds of fears behind as adults.
我们都知道床下没有魔鬼， 也不是每个地震都会震垮房子。但是我们当中最有想象力的人们 并没有因为成年而抛弃这种恐惧，这也许并不是巧合。
the same incredible imaginations that produced “the origin of species,” “jane eyre” and “the remembrance of things past,” also generated intense worries that haunted the adult lives of charles darwin, charlotte bront and marcel proust. so the question is, what can the rest of us learn about fear from visionaries and young children?
同样不可思议的想象力创造了《物种起源》， 《简・爱》和《追忆似水年华》， 也就是这种与生俱来的深深的担忧一直缠绕着成年的 查尔斯・达尔文， 夏洛特・勃朗特和马塞尔・普罗斯特。 问题就来了， 我们其他人如何能从这些 梦想家和小孩子身上学会恐惧?
well let's return to the year 1819 for a moment, to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship essex. let's take a look at the fears that their imaginations were generating as they drifted in the middle of the pacific.
让我们暂时回到1819年， 回到essex捕鲸船的水手们面对的情况。 让我们看看他们漂流在太平洋中央时 他们的想象力给他们带来的恐惧感觉。
twenty-four hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship. the time had come for the men to make a plan, but they had very few options.
船倾覆后已经过了24个小时。 这时人们制定了一个计划， 但是其实他们没什么太多的选择。
in his fascinating account of the disaster, nathaniel philbrick wrote that these men were just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on earth.
在纳撒尼尔・菲尔布里克(nathaniel philbrick)描述这场灾难的 动人文章中，他写到“这些人离陆地如此之远， 似乎永远都不可能到达地球上的任何一块陆地。”
the men knew that the nearest islands they could reach were the marquesas islands, 1,200 miles away. but they'd heard some frightening rumors.
这些人知道离他们最近的岛 是1200英里以外的马克萨斯群岛(marquesas islands)。 但是他们听到了让人恐怖的谣言。
they'd been told that these islands, and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals. so the men ///picing ashore only to be murdered and eaten for dinner. another possible destination was hawaii, but given the season, the captain was afraid they'd be struck by severe storms.
他们听说这些群岛， 以及附近的一些岛屿上都住着食人族。 所以他们脑中都是上岸以后就会被杀掉 被人当做盘中餐的画面。 另一个可行的目的.地是夏威夷， 但是船长担心 他们会被困在风暴当中。
now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult: to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching a certain band of winds that could eventually push them toward the coast of south america.
所以最后的选择是到最远，也是最艰险的地方： 往南走1500英里希望某股风 能最终把他们 吹到南美洲的海岸。
but they knew that the sheer length of this journey would stretch their supplies of food and water. to be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms, to starve to death before reaching land.
但是他们知道这个行程中一旦偏航 将会耗尽他们食物和饮水的供给。 被食人族吃掉，被风暴掀翻， 在登陆前饿死。
these were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men, and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to would govern whether they lived or died.
这就是萦绕在这群可怜的人想象中的恐惧， 事实证明，他们选择听从的恐惧 将决定他们的生死。
now we might just as easily call these fears by a different name. what if instead of calling them fears, we called them stories?
也许我们可以很容易的用别的名称来称呼这些恐惧。 我们不称之为恐惧， 而是称它们为故事如何?
because that's really what fear is, if you think about it. it's a kind of unintentional storytelling that we are all born knowing how to do. and fears and storytelling have the same components.
如果你仔细想想，这是恐惧真正的意义。 这是一种与生俱来的， 无意识的讲故事的能力。 恐惧和讲故事有着同样的构成。
they have the same architecture. like all stories, fears have characters. in our fears, the characters are us. fears also have plots. they have beginnings and middles and ends. you board the plane.
他们有同样的结构。 如同所有的故事，恐惧中有角色。 在恐惧中，角色就是我们自己。 恐惧也有情节。他们有开头，有中间，有结尾。 你登上飞机。
the plane takes off. the engine fails. our fears also tend to contain imagery that can be every bit as vivid as what you might find in the pages of a novel. picture a cannibal, human teeth sinking into human skin, human flesh roasting over a fire.
飞机起飞。结果引擎故障。 我们的恐惧会包括各种生动的想象， 不比你看到的任何一个小说逊色。 想象食人族，人类牙齿 咬在人类皮肤上， 人肉在火上烤。
fears also have suspense. if i've done my job as a storyteller today, you should be wondering what happened to the men of the whaleship essex. our fears provoke in us a very similar form of suspense.
恐惧中也有悬念。 如果我今天像讲故事一样，留个悬念不说了， 你们也许会很想知道 essex捕鲸船上，人们到底怎么样了。 我们的恐惧用悬念一样的方式刺激我们。
just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature: what will happen next?
就像一个很好的故事，我们的恐惧也如同一部好的文学作品一样， 将我们的注意力集中在对我们生命至关重要的问题上： 后来发生了什么?
in other words, our fears make us think about the future. and humans, by the way, are the only creatures capable of thinking about the future in this way, of projecting ourselves forward in time, and this mental time travel is just one more thing that fears have in common with storytelling.
换而言之，我们的恐惧让我们想到未来。 另外，人来是唯一有能力 通过这种方式想到未来的生物， 就是预测时间推移后我们的状况， 这种精神上的时间旅行是恐惧 与讲故事的另一个共同点。
as a writer, i can tell you that a big part of writing fiction is learning to predict how one event in a story will affect all the other events, and fear works in that same way.
我是一个作家，我要告诉你们写小说一个很重要的部分 就是学会预测故事中一件 事情如何影响另一件事情， 恐惧也是同样这么做的。
in fear, just like in fiction, one thing always leads to another. when i was writing my first novel, “the age of miracles,” i spent months trying to figure out what would happen if the rotation of the earth suddenly began to slow down. what would happen to our days?
恐惧中，如同小说一样，一件事情总是导致另一件事情。 我写我的第一部小说《奇迹时代》的时候， 我花了数月的时间想象如果地球旋转突然变慢了之后 会发生什么。 我们的一天变得如何?
what would happen to our crops? what would happen to our minds? and then it was only later that i realized how very similar these questions were to the ones i used to ask myself as a child frightened in the night.
我们身体会怎样? 我们的思想会有什么变化? 也就是在那之后，我意识到 我过去总是问自己的那些些问题 和孩子们在夜里害怕是多么的相像。
if an earthquake strikes tonight, i used to worry, what will happen to our house? what will happen to my family? and the answer to those questions always took the form of a story.
要是在过去，如果今晚发生地震，我会很担心， 我的房子会怎么样啊?家里人会怎样啊? 这类问题的答案通常都会和故事一样。
so if we think of our fears as more than just fears but as stories, we should think of ourselves as the authors of those stories. but just as importantly, we need to think of ourselves as the readers of our fears, and how we choose to read our fears can have a profound effect on our lives.
所以我们认为我们的恐惧不仅仅是恐惧 还是故事，我们应该把自己当作 这些故事的作者。 但是同样重要的是，我们需要想象我们自己 是我们恐惧的解读者，我们选择如何 去解读这些恐惧会对我们的生活产生深远的影响。
now, some of us naturally read our fears more closely than others. i read about a study recently of successful entrepreneurs, and the author found that these people shared a habit that he called “productive paranoia,” which meant that these people, instead of dismissing their fears, these people read them closely, they studied them, and then they translated that fear into preparation and action.
现在，我们中有些人比其他人更自然的解读自己的恐惧。 最近我看过一个关于成功的企业家的研究， 作者发现这些人都有个习惯 叫做“未雨绸缪“， 意思是，这些人，不回避自己的恐惧， 而是认真解读并研究恐惧， 然后把恐惧转换成准备和行动。
so that way, if their worst fears came true, their businesses were ready.
这样，如果最坏的事情发生了， 他们的企业也有所准备。
and sometimes, of course, our worst fears do come true. that's one of the things that is so extraordinary about fear. once in a while, our fears can predict the future.
当然，很多时候，最坏的事情确实发生了。 这是恐惧非凡的一面。 曾几何时，我们的恐惧预测将来。
but we can't possibly prepare for all of the fears that our imaginations concoct. so how can we tell the difference between the fears worth listening to and all the others? i think the end of the story of the whaleship essex offers an illuminating, if tragic, example.
但是我们不可能为我们想象力构建的所有 恐惧来做准备。 所以，如何区分值得听从的恐惧 和不值得的呢? 我想捕鲸船essex的故事结局 提供了一个有启发性，同时又悲惨的例子。
after much deliberation, the men finally made a decision. terrified of cannibals, they decided to forgo the closest islands and instead embarked on the longer and much more difficult route to south america.
经过数次权衡，他们最终做出了决定。 由于害怕食人族，他们决定放弃最近的群岛 而是开始更长 更艰难的南美洲之旅。
after more than two months at sea, the men ran out of food as they knew they might, and they were still quite far from land. when the last of the survivors were finally picked up by two passing ships, less than half of the men were left alive, and some of them had resorted to their own form of cannibalism.
在海上呆了两个多月后，他们 的食物如预料之中消耗殆尽， 而且他们仍然离陆地那么远。 当最后的幸存者最终被过往船只救起时， 只有一小半的人还活着， 实际上他们中的一些人自己变成了食人族。
herman melville, who used this story as research for “moby dick,” wrote years later, and from dry land, quote, “all the sufferings of these miserable men of the essex might in all human probability have been avoided had they, immediately after leaving the wreck, steered straight for tahiti.
赫尔曼・梅尔维尔(herman melville)将这个故事作为 《白鲸记》的素材，在数年后写到： essex船上遇难者的悲惨结局 或许是可以通过人为的努力避免的， 如果他们当机立断地离开沉船， 直奔塔西提群岛。
but,” as melville put it, “they dreaded cannibals.” so the question is, why did these men dread cannibals so much more than the extreme likelihood of starvation?
“但是”，梅尔维尔说道：“他们害怕食人族” 问题是，为什么这些人对于食人族的恐惧 超过了更有可能的饥饿威胁呢?
why were they swayed by one story so much more than the other? looked at from this angle, theirs becomes a story about reading. the novelist vladimir nabokov said that the best reader has a combination of two very different temperaments, the artistic and the scientific.
为什么他们会被一个故事 影响如此之大呢? 从另一个角度来看， 这是一个关于解读的故事。 小说家弗拉基米尔・纳博科夫(vladimir nabokov)说 最好的读者能把两种截然不同的性格结合起来， 一个是艺术气质，一个是科学精神。
a good reader has an artist's passion, a willingness to get caught up in the story, but just as importantly, the readers also needs the coolness of judgment of a scientist, which acts to temper and complicate the reader's intuitive reactions to the story. as we've seen, the men of the essex had no trouble with the artistic part.
好的读者有艺术家的热情， 愿意融入故事当中， 但是同样重要的是，这些读者还要 有科学家的冷静判断， 这能帮助他们稳定情绪并分析 其对故事的直觉反应。 我们可以看出来，essex上的人在艺术部分一点问题都没有。
they dreamed up a variety of horrifying scenarios. the problem was that they listened to the wrong story. of all the narratives their fears wrote, they responded only to the most lurid, the most vivid, the one that was easiest for their imaginations to picture: cannibals.
他们梦想到一系列恐怖的场景。 问题在于他们听从了一个错误的故事。 所有他们恐惧中 他们只对其中最耸人听闻，最生动的故事， 也是他们想象中最早出现的场景： 食人族。
but perhaps if they'd been able to read their fears more like a scientist, with more coolness of judgment, they would have listened instead to the less violent but the more likely tale, the story of starvation, and headed for tahiti, just as melville's sad commentary suggests.
也许，如果他们能像科学家那样 稍微冷静一点解读这个故事， 如果他们能听从不太惊悚但是更可能发生的 半路饿死的故事，他们可能就会直奔塔西提群岛， 如梅尔维尔充满惋惜的评论所建议的那样。
and maybe if we all tried to read our fears, we too would be less often swayed by the most salacious among them.
也许如果我们都试着解读自己的恐惧， 我们就能少被 其中的一些幻象所迷惑。
maybe then we'd spend less time worrying about serial killers and plane crashes, and more time concerned with the subtler and slower disasters we face: the silent buildup of plaque in our arteries, the gradual changes in our climate.
我们也就能少花一点时间在 为系列杀手或者飞机失事方面的担忧， 而是更多的关心那些悄然而至 的灾难： 动脉血小板的逐渐堆积， 气候的逐渐变迁。
just as the most nuanced stories in literature are often the richest, so too might our subtlest fears be the truest. read in the right way, our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination, a kind of everyday clairvoyance, a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there's still time to influence how that future will play out.
如同文学中最精妙的故事通常是最丰富的故事， 我们最细微的恐惧才是最真实的恐惧。 用正确的方法的解读，我们的恐惧就是我们想象力 赐给我们的礼物，借此一双慧眼， 让我们能管窥未来 甚至影响未来。
properly read, our fears can offer us something as precious as our favorite works of literature: a little wisdom, a bit of insight and a version of that most elusive thing -- the truth. thank you.
如果能得到正确的解读，我们的恐惧能 和我们最喜欢的文学作品一样给我们珍贵的东西： 一点点智慧，一点点洞悉 以及对最玄妙东西―― 真相的诠释。 谢谢。
(applause)
(掌声)
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