TED学院

用微信扫码二维码

分享至好友和朋友圈

英语专业八级考试(TEM-8)的选材主要来自英美报刊杂志、广播电台或网站。其中一个包括：TED演讲，2018和2016年专八听力讲座(Mini-lecture)就来自TED演讲。建议大家平时多看多听TED演讲。

演说题目：我是如何从难民儿童变成国际知名模特的？

This is me at age seven. And this is also me.

这是我七岁的时候，这也是我。

To be standing here in Kakuma refugee camp feels so surreal, and I'm overcome with so much emotion. These very grounds are where I was born and spent the first seven years of my life.

能够站在卡库马难民营做演讲，感觉是那么的不真实，我的内心不禁感慨良多。我出生在卡库马这片土地，也在这里度过了我人生的第一个七年，

I think many people are surprised to hear that I had a great upbringing here at Kakuma. But I was happy, I was smart, I had friends and above all, I had hope for a brighter future.

我想很多人听到我能在卡库马受到良好的教育都很惊讶， (在这片土地)我很开心，我很聪明，还交了许多朋友，最重要的是，我相信我的未来是光明的。

That's not to say that we didn't have our obstacles. I mean, boy were there struggles. I would sometimes get sick with malaria and didn't always know where our next meal would come from. But the sense of community that is here in Kakuma and the pride that everyone here possesses is simply unparalleled. When I was younger, I remember conflicts breaking out. That tends to happen when people come from different backgrounds and don't speak the same language. Eventually, Swahili -- the main language here -- became our common ground.

那不是说我们没有任何障碍了，我的意思是， 生存在这儿本身就是困难的。有时候我会感染疟疾，而且总是吃了上顿不知道还有没有下顿，但是在卡库玛，大家对这个社区有着很强的归属感，还为身为这个社区的一份子感到自豪，这些感情都是无可比拟的。早些年的时候，我记得冲突时常爆发，主要是因为大家有着不同的背景，说着不同的语言。最终，斯瓦希里——这里的主要语言——成为了我们共同的根基。

I made friends with the kids at the camp and even started embracing some of their cultures, celebrating holidays like Christmas even though I was raised Muslim. The other kids would embrace my culture as well, sometimes even praying right alongside me. It was easy, as children, to come together, blend all of our beliefs to form our own unique, multicultural environment.

我和难民营的孩子们成为了朋友，甚至开始接受他们中一些人的文化，比如庆祝像圣诞节一样的节日，即便我生长在穆斯林的家庭，其他的孩子们也同样会接受我的文化，有时候他们甚至会在我身旁一起做祷告。孩子们总是很容易就打成一片，将我们的信仰融合在一起，形成一个独一无二的多元文化环境。

My name is Halima Aden and I'm a black, Muslim, Somali-American from Kenya.

我的名字是哈利玛·亚登，我是一个黑人，信奉伊斯兰教，我还是索马里裔的美国人，来自肯尼亚。

Some have called me a trailblazer -- I was the first Muslim homecoming queen at my high school, the first Somali student senator at my college and the first hijab-wearing woman in many places, like the Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant, the runways of Milan and New York Fashion Weeks and even on the historic cover of British "Vogue." As you can see, I'm not afraid to be the first, to step out on my own, to take risks and seek change, because that's what being a minority is about. It's about using yourself as a vessel to create change and being a human representation for the power of diversity. And now I use my platform to spread an important message of acceptance.

有些人称我为先锋——我是我高中返校日舞会上第一个获得皇后桂冠的穆斯林，我是我大学里第一个索马里裔的议员，还是第一个在许多场合带希贾布头巾的女性，如明尼苏达州举办的美国小姐选拔赛，米兰和纽约时装周的舞台上，甚至我还破天荒的登上了英国《时尚》杂志的封面。正如大家所看到的，我不惧怕成为一名先锋，踏出自己的舒服区，去冒险，去寻求改变，因为成为少数群体的意义所在，就是要将自己当成创造改变的媒体，成为展现多元力量的人类大使，现在我在利用自己的平台，传递包容开放的重要信息。

But it hasn't always been easy. When we first arrived to the United States and made St. Louis, Missouri home, I remember asking my mom, "Is this really America?" There were things that were sadly familiar, like hearing gunshots at night and the streets looking impoverished. But there were things that were also very different. Like when I started first grade, I noticed how the kids played in groups. In America, we call them "cliques." Back here, we all played together.

但这并非易事。在我初次抵达美国，在圣路易斯密苏里州安家后，我记得我问我的母亲，“这真的是美国吗?”因为有一些事让我觉得熟悉的悲哀，像在半夜听到枪声，街道看起来那么的穷困，但也有一些非常不同的地方。比如在我上一年级的时候，我注意到孩子们都是分小团体玩耍的，在美国，我们称之为“小圈子”而在卡库玛，我们是大家一起玩的。

Gender didn't matter, and race most certainly never mattered. I remember asking myself, "Why don't they understand Swahili? Swahili is the language that brings people together." To make matters worse, the school I was enrolled in didn't have an English immersion program. So everyday I would get up, go to school, sit in my desk and never learn a thing. This is when I started losing hope, and I wanted nothing more than return to Kakuma, a refugee camp.

性别无关紧要，种族更加不是问题。我记得我问自己，为什么他们听不懂斯瓦希里语呢？斯瓦希里语可以让人团结在一起。更糟糕的是，我上的那所学校不提供全英文培训课程，虽然(和其他同学一样) 我每天起床，上学，坐在课桌前，但我却什么都没学到。我开始失去希望，一心只想回到卡库玛，一个难民营。

Soon, my mother learned that many Somalis found refuge in a small town in Minnesota. So when I was eight, we moved to Minnesota. My life changed as I met other students who spoke Somali, attended a school that had an English immersion program and found teachers that would go above and beyond, staying there after school hours and lunch breaks, dedicated to helping me find success in the classroom. Being a child refugee has taught me that one could be stripped of everything: food, shelter, clean drinking water, even friendship, but the one thing that no one could ever take away from you is your education. So I made studying my top priority and soon started flourishing within the classroom.

很快，我母亲得知许多索马里人在明尼苏达州的一个小镇上找到了一处容身之所，所以在我八岁的时候，我们就搬去了明尼苏达州。我的生活在就此完全改变了，我遇到了其他同样说索马里语的学生，参加了全英文培训课程，还遇到了一些不辞劳苦， 真心付出的老师，愿意在放学后或者午餐时间留下来，帮助我在学业上重新取得成功。身为一个难民营的孩子，我知道我们随时会失去一切：食物，住所，干净的饮用水，甚至友谊，唯有一样不会被夺走的东西，那就是教育。所以我把教育摆在了优先的位置，很快我就在教室里崭露头角。

As I grew older, I became more aware of others and how they viewed my race and background. Specifically, when I started wearing the head scarf known as a hijab. When I first started wearing it, I was excited. I remember admiring my mother's, and I wanted to emulate her beauty. But when I started middle school, the students teased me about not having hair, so to prove them wrong, I started showing them my hair -- something that goes against my beliefs, but something I felt pressured to do. I wanted so badly to fit in at the time.

随着年龄的增长，我更懂得了人情世故，以及其他人如何看待我的种族和背景。尤其是，在我开始戴上头巾，即希贾布的时候。第一次戴头巾的时候，我很兴奋，我记得我很喜欢我母亲的头巾，我想像她戴上头巾时一样美丽，但在我上中学时，我的同学们嘲笑我，说我没有头发，为了证明他们错了，我开始给他们展示我的头发，虽然这与我的信仰相悖，但却是我不得不做的，因为那个时候我太想融入他们的群体。

When I reflect on the issues of race, religion, identity, a lot of painful memories come to mind. It would be easy for me to blame those of another culture for making me feel the pain I felt, but when I think deeper, I also recognize that the most impactful, positive, life-changing events that have happened to me are thanks to those people who are different than me.

当我回想起关于种族，信仰和身份这些问题时，许多痛苦的回忆涌上心头。也许指责那些因为不同文化背景而给我带来痛苦的人会让我好受得多，但想深一层，我意识到曾经发生在我身上，影响我最深，最积极，彻底改变我命运的事件，都是多亏于那些与我不同的人。

It was at this moment that I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and compete in a pageant wearing a hijab and burkini. I saw it as an opportunity to be a voice for women who, like myself, had felt underrepresented. And although I didn't capture the crown, that experience opened so many doors for me. I was receiving emails and messages from women all over the world, telling me that I've inspired them by simply staying true to myself.

而正是那一刻，我决定我要踏出我的舒服区，戴上希贾布头巾和穿上博基尼泳衣参加选美比赛。我将这个比赛看作一次为女性发声的机会，尤其是像我自己这样的女性，因为没有人为我们代言。尽管我没有夺得桂冠，但那段经历为我开启了许多大门。我收到了许多来自世界各地的女性发给我的邮件和信息，告诉我，是我坚持做自己的精神激励了她们。

The other "firsts" kept coming. I was invited to New York City by fashion icon Carine Roitfeld to shoot my very first editorial. It was around this time that I became the first hijab-wearing model, and in my first year, I graced the covers of nine fashion magazines. It was a whirlwind, to say the least. But with all the overnight success, there was one thing that remained constant -- the thought that this could be what brings me back here to Kakuma, the place that I call home.

因此许许多多的“第一次”接踵而来，我受到了时尚偶像卡琳·洛菲德的邀请前往纽约拍摄我的第一组时尚写真。而正是那时候，我成为了第一个戴希贾布头巾的模特，在(我工作的)第一年里，我登上了九本时尚杂志的封面，毫不夸张的说，这一切就像一场旋风一样。但即使我一夜成名，有一点始终不变的是，让我也许会重返这里，重返卡库玛的想法，这片我称为家的土地。

And just a few months ago, something incredible happened to me. I was in New York City, on a photo shoot, when I met South Sudanese model Adut Akech, who also happened to be born right here in Kakuma. That experience in itself is the definition of hope. I mean, just imagine: two girls born in the same refugee camp, reunited for the first time on the cover of British "Vogue."

几个月之前，一件不可思议的事发生在我身上了，当时我在纽约拍摄一组照片，就在那我遇到了一个来自南苏丹的模特阿度特·艾凯奇(Adut Akech)，她恰巧也出生在这儿，卡库玛。那段经历向我们诠释了什么叫希望，我的意思是，想象一下，两个来自同一个难民营的女孩，因为拍摄英国《时尚》杂志，而首次团聚了。

I was given the distinct pleasure of partnering up with UNICEF, knowing firsthand the work that they do for children in need. And I want you to remember that although the children here may be refugees, they are children. They deserve every opportunity to flourish, to hope, to dream -- to be successful.

我受到了莫大的殊荣，能够和联合国儿童基金会合作，直接了解到他们为需要帮助的儿童所做的一切。我希望大家可以记住，卡库玛里的孩子也许是难民，但他们依然是孩子。他们同样应该享有发展，抱有希望，拥有梦想——取得成功的机会。

My story began right here in Kakuma refugee camp, a place of hope.

因为我的故事，不就发生在卡库玛难民营里吗？这片充满希望的土地。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

【 特别 声明 】 本公众平台除特别注明原创或授权转载外，其他文章均为转载，版权 归原作者或平台所有，出于传递信息之目的，并没有任何商业目的。 本公号尊重知识产权，如无意中侵犯了您的权益，请及时联系后台，本公号将及时删除。

TED学院合集

1

2

3

4

5

6

特别声明：以上内容(如有图片或视频亦包括在内)为自媒体平台“网易号”用户上传并发布，本平台仅提供信息存储服务。

Notice: The content above (including the pictures and videos if any) is uploaded and posted by a user of NetEase Hao, which is a social media platform and only provides information storage services.