一个长期的中国通曾经告诉我，在中国任何时候都是一个有趣的时候。不过，我会提示你今年，虎年，很可能是美中外交关系30年历史中最重要的。这不是因为最近关于售台武器或总统与达赖喇嘛会面的紧张局势。我们在过去30年已经有过并管理过这些分歧，并同时能够发展一个广泛而富有成效的关系。相反，使今年如此关键的是，它是我们必须采取行动并就经济复苏、核扩散和气候变化等紧迫的全球性挑战取得真正进展的一年。我们今年一起做的事情将帮助确定我们如何应对这十年摆在我们面前的挑战。
These are challenges no one country alone can solve. That’s why Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg was here just a couple of weeks ago and emphasized that on all these matters we need to look forward, not backward, be creative and talk, talk, talk. Leaders in both China and the United States recognize that as two of the world’s three largest economies, two of the world’s largest populations, two of the world’s largest militaries, and the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of carbon emissions(消耗量和排放量第一的地道说法，请注意！), we share a responsibility to work together to find creative solutions to today’s problems. Together we can ping the rest of the international community along with us and make real progress on these issues. Together we can build the kind of positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship our two presidents envision(设想，展望).
这些是没有一个国家能够单独解决的挑战。这就是为什么副国务部长吉姆·斯坦伯格只几周前在这里，并强调在所有这些问题上，我们要往前而不是往后看，具有创造性，并谈，谈，谈。中国和美国的领导人都认识到，作为世界上三个最大经济体中的两个，世界上人口最多的国家中的两个，世界上最大军力中的两个，以及世界上最大的能源消费者和碳排放生产者，我们共担一个责任来共同努力，找到今天问题的创造性解决方案。我们能够一起使国际社会其他成员一道与我们在这些问题上取得真正进展。我们能够共同建设我们两国元首所构想的一种积极、合作和全面的关系。
I’m naturally an optimist. But I’m also someone who’s been interested and involved in the U.S.-China relationship for the past 30 years. I’ve seen enough ups and downs to know that the recent turbulence we’ve experienced is part of a natural cycle.（非常diplomatic的说法，也很profession, 收集, 背诵！） Of course, I’d also like us to find ways out of this cyclicality（cyclical unemployment 周期性失业。=cyclic）, but our relationship is mature and stable enough to weather our differences(渡过危机，weather crisis ). I am convinced that blue skies are already on the horizon. I expect we’ll be well on our way to regaining the high cruising altitude（比high level更深刻） we achieved in the relationship last year by the opening of the Shanghai Expo in May. And I’m confident we’ll see real progress on the global challenges we face when we come together again for the next round of the S&ED before summer and when President Hu visits the U.S. this year, as he told President Obama he would.
我是一个天生乐观主义者。但我也是一个在过去30年一直感兴趣于并参与了美中关系的人。我已看过足够多的起伏，以至于知道我们所经历的最近的动荡是自然循环的一部分。当然，我还希望我们能够找到方法走出这种周期性。我们的关系足够成熟和稳定以经得起我们的分歧。我确信湛蓝的天空已经在地平线上。我期望在5月份上海世博会开幕之前，我们将重新达到我们关系在去年所取得的高的巡航高度。而且我相信当我们为夏季之前的下一轮战略与经济对话再次聚首，及当胡锦涛主席今年访问美国时，正如他告诉欧巴马总统那样，我们会看到在我们所面临的的全球性挑战方面的真正进展。
Reason for Optimism
乐观的原因
One of the reasons I’m optimistic is because I’ve seen where we’ve been and how far we’ve come.(客套句型) Thirty years ago, the United States faced stagflation（这是个合成词：stagnation停滞+inflation通胀=滞涨，经济术语）, high unemployment and declining standards of living. Confidence in the American economic model had been undermined(或者也可以说erode, 信心受挫), and the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War had shaken confidence in the American political model. So great were anxieties about the future that President Carter gave a speech in July 1979 entitled “America’s Crisis of Confidence,” in which he called for renewed faith in the American system. Everywhere you looked, people were saying that America was in decline and would soon lose its leading role in the international system.But then an interesting thing happened. On the political front, we regained our confidence by holding fast to(千万别勿翻! =hold firmly) the values that have made our nation a source of inspiration for people around the world. And on the economic front, we bounced back (=rebound)stronger than ever, thanks to innovation and new technologies. Bill Gates came out of nowhere (个人认为翻译成“白手起家的Bill Gates”更好)and co-founded Microsoft. Steve Jobs came out of nowhere and co-founded Apple. The Internet revolutionized the way we get information and the way we communicate. Innovations like these laid the foundation for the next 30 years of economic growth in the United States. And innovations we can’t even imagine – but perhaps tied to health care, clean energy and biotechnologies – will make us even stronger in the future. We are committed to sharing these strengths and innovations with the global community.
（责任编辑:admin）
