Classics名篇名人32 . New Oriental EnglishAnd I want to say to you today, graduates, Class of 2009, that despite having achieved a remarkable milestone in your life, despite the fact that you and your families are so rightfully proud, you too cannot rest on your laurels. You can’t rest. For we gather here tonight in times of extraordinary difficulty, for the nation and for the world. For many of you, these challenges are also felt in more personal terms. Perhaps you’re still looking for a job—or struggling to figure out what career path makes sense in this disrupted economy.Now, in the face of these challenges, it may be tempting to fall back on the formulas for success that have been pedaled 1) so frequently in recent years. It goes something like this: You’re taught to chase after all the usual brass rings 2); you try to be on this “who’s who” list or that top 100 list; you chase after the big money and you figure out how big your corner office 3) is; you worry about whether you have a fancy enough title or a fancy enough car. That’s the message that’s sent each and every day, or has been in our culture for far too long—that through material possessions, through a ruthless competition pursued only on your own behalf—that’s how you will measure success.Now, you can take that road—and it may work for some. But at this critical juncture in our nation’s history,今天，我想告诉你们，2009届的毕业生们，虽然你们取得了生命中一个重要的里程碑，虽然你和你们的家人都理所应当为此感到自豪，你们却不能依赖过去的荣誉。你们不能停滞不前。因为今晚我们聚集在这里，面对的是一个困难重重的时期，不管是对美国还是整个世界来说，都是如此。对于你们许多人来说，这些挑战也和你们的切身利益有关。也许你还在找工作，也许你还在苦苦思考在这个经济破败的时期，从事什么职业才比较有意义。现在，面对这些挑战，很容易落入最近几年很是流行的成功秘诀的俗套。这个套路大概是这样的：你受的教育告诉你要追逐一切功名利禄；你想方设法要进入“名人录”或者“100强”；你一门心思要赚大钱，想象着自己的高级办公室该有多大；你担心自己没有一个响亮的头衔，没有一辆炫目的轿车。这就是我们日复一日收到的信息，也是在我们的文化中早已根深蒂固的信息——通过物质财富的占有，通过仅仅为了一己之私而进行的无情竞争——这些就是你衡量成功与否的标准。当然，你可以走这条路——而且对有些人来说也确实可以走通。但是，在国家历史上这个关键时刻，在这个困难时期，我要说，这条路无法带你走到目的地；它只能表明你缺乏进取之心——事实上，重表面而轻实质，重名气而轻品质，重短期利益而轻长远成就，这样的风气正需要你们这一代人去结束。不知从何时开始，闪耀着理想之光的美国梦在人们心中被物化为靓车豪宅、锦衣玉食；也不知从几时起，本应多元化的成功定义被浓缩成了名望地位、权力利益。你是否也曾望着镜中自己年轻的面庞，却看不清自己为生活而奋斗的意义？如果是的，请听一听奥巴马在亚利桑那州立大学2009年毕业典礼上的演讲。希望所有困惑着的年轻人都能够在理想的指引下，追随激情、迎接挑战，帮助他人、改变世界！——奥巴马在亚利桑那州立大学毕业典礼上的演讲

永不放弃梦想 - 奥巴马在亚利桑那州立大学毕业典礼上的演讲