在百度词条里搜索TED，大家就会清楚它是Technology，entertainment和design的首字母缩写，听起来就十分高大上对不！TED演讲都会被上传到网上，让大家不用支付7500美元的门票就可以感受演讲者的智慧。TED演讲者的领域已经从原先的技术、娱乐、设计扩展到了各行各业，被邀请的大咖包括科学家、哲学家、艺术家、探险家、心理学家、语言学家、宗教领袖、慈善家等等。

　　今天我们就来看看，在教育行业投入了半生的一位资深教师，对于教育的独到见解：

　　I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.

　　这句应该是全体新东方老师的心声… 你懂的。

　　Both my parents were educators, my maternal grandparents were educators, and for the past 40 years I've done the same thing.

　　Maternal grandparents就是“姥姥姥爷”，那么“爷爷奶奶”就是paternal grandparents.

　　And so needless to say, over those years, I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives. Some of those reforms have been good, some of them have been not so good. And we know why kids drop out. We know why kids don't learn. It's either poverty, low attendance or negative peer influences.

　　Reform就是“改革”，比如咱们中国的“改革开放”，就是the reform and opening-up policy.

　　Drop out of school是“辍学”，还有一个叫flunk out of school，这个比较强调成绩不行学分不够，于是被劝退了…

　　Peer influences就是来自周围同龄人的影响。我们经常会听到peer pressure，大家可以联想一下“别人家的孩子”…

　　We know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection. Relationships. No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. All learning is understanding relationships. Everyone in this room has been affected by a teacher or an adult. For years, I have watched people teach. I have looked at the best and I've looked at some of the worst. A colleague said to me one time, “They don't pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it. They should learn it. Case closed. Well, I said to her, “You know, kids don't learn from people they don't like.” She said, “That's just a bunch of hooey.” And I said to her, “Well, your year is going to be long and arduous, dear.” Needless to say it was.

　　Case closed. 这个干脆利落的表达有没有很耳熟？嗯，对了，他就是《名侦探柯南》的英文版翻译，可以理解为“结案，事情就是这样。”

　　Hooey这个长得不像单词的词，表示nonsense或者stupid talk。

　　Needless to say直译就OK，表示“不用说”。

　　Some people think that you can either have it in you to build a relationship or you don't. I think Stephen Covey had the right idea. He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand, as opposed to being understood, simple things like apologizing. You ever thought about that? Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock. I taught a lesson once on ratios. I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it. And I got back and looked at that teacher edition. I'd taught the whole lesson wrong. So I came back to the class the next day, and I said, “Look, guys, I need to apologize. I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry.” They said, “That's Okay, Ms. Pierson. You were so excited, we just let you go.”

　　Have it in somebody to do something表示“有能力做某事（to be capable of doing something）”

　　Work on something表示“努力提升或取得某项成就（to try hard to improve or achieve something）”。

　　I have had classes that were so low, so academically deficient that I cried. I wondered, how am I going to take this group in nine months from where they are to where they need to be? And it was difficult. It was awfully hard. How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time? One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, “You were chosen to be in my class because I am the best teacher and you are the best students, they put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it.” One of the students said, “Really?” I said, “Really. We have to show the other classes how to do it, so when we walk down the hall, people will notice us, so you can't make noise. You just have to strut.” And I gave them a saying to say: “I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go.” And they said, “Yeah!” You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.

　　Self-esteem就是自尊心，跟self-worth意思接近。通常的搭配是raise，build或者increase。

　　Come up with我们最常用的搭配是idea，solution或者是answer，不过它也可以跟money连用，表示to find or produce a sum of money，例如：How soon can you come up with the money?

　　Somebody这里面的意思是“大人物”。

　　And so I gave a quiz, 20 questions. A student missed 18. I put a “+2” on his paper and a big smiley face. He said, “Ms. Pierson, is this an F?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Then why'd you put a smiley face?” I said, “Because you're on a roll. You got tow right. You didn't miss them all.” You see, “-18” sucks all the life out of you. “+2” said, “I ain't all bad.”

　　On a roll means to be experiencing a period of success at what you are doing，可以理解为“进展得不错，很成功，势头正猛”。

　　Ain't我们经常听黑人或者歌词里面提到，它等于am not，is not，are not，has not和have not。

　　Years later, after my mom retired, I watched some of those kids come through, and say to her, “You know, Mr. Walker, you made a difference in my life. You made it work for me. You made me feel like I was somebody, when I knew at the bottom, I wasn't. And I want you to just see what I've become.”

　　Make a difference表示have an effect on somebody or something. 同样我们也可以说make no difference or make some difference。最近大家经常挂在嘴边儿的“然并卵”就可以翻译成That makes no difference at all.

　　And when my mama died two years ago at 92, there were so many former students at her funeral, it brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone, but because she left a legacy of relationships that could never disappear.

　　下次再想说something makes me cry的时候，不妨用it brings tears to my eyes. 多形象，多有画面感！

　　Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely.

　　Will you like all your children? Of course, not.

　　Stand to do something means to be in a situation where you are likely to do something. 这个意思书上应该没教过，单独记忆喽。

　　We come to work when we don't feel like it, and we're listening to policy that doesn't make sense, and we teach anyway. We teach anyway, because that's what we do.

　　Feel like something or doing something这个我们之前肯定都学过，表示“想要或者想做某事”，上面的don't feel like it可以当成一个固定用法记忆，当前面提到过需要做某事的时候，就可以用它来表示“不想做”了。

　　Teaching and learning should bring joy. How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh, God, you betcha. But it is not impossible. We can do this. We're educators. We're born to make a difference. Thank you so much.

　　Give up on somebody means to stop hoping or believing that somebody will change, get better. 就是“对某人不抱任何希望”的感觉。

　　Be born to be or do something表示“生来就是做某事的”，命中注定的感觉。

　　如果大家对TED演讲的内容感兴趣，网上有很多中英字幕的视频，每天20分钟，就可以积累很多口语素材！坚持，是练习口语的捷径！加油！

（责任编辑：蔡安）