Moving on up
《风雨哈佛路》（Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story）是一部经典的励志电影。女主Liz出生在美国的贫民窟里，她的家庭千疮百孔，母亲酗酒还患有精神疾病，父亲进入了收容所，Liz只能靠乞讨来维持生活。Liz慢慢成长，意识到只有读书才能改变自身命运，走出泥潭般的现况。她用最真诚的态度感动了高中的校长，争取到了读书的机会，开始了漫漫的求学路。她一边打工一边上学，仅用两年时间学完了高中四年的课程。最终申请到了《纽约时报》的全额奖学金，进入了哈佛大学。
以下场景为Liz在参加申请奖学金答辩时的场景，以及最终哈佛大学校长Peter宣布Liz最终获奖的场景。
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The world moves, you just suspect (怀疑) it can all happen without you. Situations are not conducive (有助于……的) to what you want for yourself. Someone else’s needs, someone else’s plight, is going to be stronger than yours is. I think people just get frustrated with how harsh life can be. So they spend their time dwelling on that frustration, and calling it anger, keeping their eyes shut to the wholeness of the situation, to all the little tiny things that have come together to make it what it is.
Liz: I was turned so inward by Mom and Dad. I got the chance to see how all the little tiny things come together to make the final product, so I was never inclined to wonder “why this” or “why that”. I knew “why” not that I was happy about it, in fact I was really sad about it, some of the time, but I was very accepting. I was very accepting. I just always knew that I needed to get out.
Peter: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
Liz: I loved my mother. So much, I mean. She was a drug addict. She was an alcoholic. She was legally blind. She was schizophrenic (精神分裂的), but I never forgot that she did love me. Even if she did it, all the time, all the time.
Liz: I hope you will know how much I really need this. I can’t go to college or anything without it.
…
Peter: She earned a 95 average, and finished at the top of her class of 150. She did it while completing four years of high school in two. She did it while homeless, her mother dead, her father a drug addict living in shelters, and any way I describe this can’t do justice to her accomplishments. So I’ll just introduce to you our 6th NYT scholarship winner: Liz Murray.
Liz: Everything’s changed. My life will never be the same and I don’t know what else to say except for “thank you”. Thank you very much.
妙语点津
● plight: 困境。电影中指有人的生活可能会比你的更糟糕。选段中与艰难、困难相关的词还有harsh和frustration, 分别表示“困苦的，严酷的”和“挫折，沮丧”。例如：(1) The nation saw the plight of the farmers, whose crops had died. (2) I could sense his frustration at not being able to help.
● dwell on：老是想着，一直在说（尤指不好或令人不快之事）。电影中想表达人们在面对失败挫折时，有时便会深陷于其中，久久不能释怀。例如：So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.
● be inclined to: 倾向于……的。例句：I am inclined to agree with Alan.
● get out: get out 通常会表示“离开、外出”的意思，电影中指Liz想要摆脱困苦的局面，用乐观的态度对待生活。
● addict: 对……有瘾的人。例如：an online game addict 玩网络游戏成瘾的人，a TV addict 看电视成瘾的人，a golf addict 沉迷于打高尔夫球的人。Addict还可以作动词，表示“沉迷于……，对……上瘾”。例如：(1) She is a TV addict and watches as much as she can. (2) Don’t addict yourself to such foolish things.
● while: 当……的时候 (表示两事同时发生)。哈佛校长Peter用了两个由while连接的句子，想强调Liz取得成功的艰辛，她在两年内完成了四年的课程，还取得了十分优异的成绩，她在无家可归的时候还非常努力，表现得如此出众。
● do justice to: 公平地评价，恰当处理，充分利用。电影中Peter觉得Liz很优秀，难以形容出她有多么好。例如：Most TV sets don’t have the sound quality to do justice to the music.
