各位嘉宾，各位毕业生同学，各位同事， Honorable Guests, Graduates, and Colleagues, 今天是北方大学第十八届学位颁授典礼的喜庆日子。盛典当前，我感到既高兴又自豪。我之所以高兴，是因为北方大学再度庆祝她最丰硕而珍贵的成果，这就是4000多位同学已学有所成，毕业在即。此刻满堂欢乐，我可以感觉到你们内心的喜悦。同时，我也可以感觉到今天莅临观礼的家长和贵宾们内心的喜悦。在这里，让我向大家致以热烈的欢迎和祝贺。 Standing here before you at North University’s 18th Commencement, I feel happy and proud.I am happy because North University is once again celebrating her most bountiful and precious harvest, the graduation of more than 4000 students.This is a joyous occasion and I can feel the happine in your hearts.I can also feel the happine of the parents and other special guests who are present here.Let me extend a warm welcome to all of you and offer you my congratulations.
本校是一所年轻的大学，自创校以来一直向上发展；而正如我们学校在各方面发生着急剧的变化，整个世界也同样以日益急速的步伐不断变化。
As a new university, we have worked our way up since the establishment.Just as things have changed rapidly at our university, the whole world has been changing at an accelerating pace. 大约10000年前，以耕种和饲养家畜为主的农业生活在世界的一些地方初次出现。这便是人类文明的开始。
About 10000years ago, agricultural life in terms of plant and animal domestication began to evolve in some parts of the world.This was the beginning of human civilization.大约1000年前，好几个文明已相当成熟，达到颇高的水平。可是，整个欧洲却没有人知道美洲或澳洲的存在。事实上，约500年前，一般人都相信地球是平的。
About 1000years ago, several civilizations reached a fairly high level of sophistication.Yet no one in Europe had any knowledge of the Americans or Australia.In fact, people generally believed the earth was flat until about 500 years ago.约100年前，汽船、电报、铁路已普及起来，受过教育的人大多对世界各州各国都略有认识。其后不久，电话、汽车、电影、飞机在很多的地方渐渐流行起来。而约50年前，电视和电脑开始在现代人的生活中起了重要的作用。
About 100 years ago, the steamship, telegraph and railway became commonplace and most educated people had some knowledge about the various continents and countries in the world.Shortly after that, the telephone, automobile, motion picture and airplane became popular in many parts of the world.About 50 years ago, television and computers began to play an important part in modern life. 本校于二十年前创校时，移动电话和互联网都还没有诞生，而有机会使用传真机或个人电脑的人也不多。时至今日，在座各位几乎每个人都拥有移动电话，可以跟远在地球另一方的人即时通话。世界各地的人们都可以在互联网上看到某国总统选举每分钟发布的投票结果。在这个意义下，世界各地早已连成一体。而这对各位毕业同学，以至对我们所有人，又具有什么意义呢？
When our university was founded 20 years ago, the mobile phone and the World Wide Web did not yet exist; nor did many people have acce to fax machines and personal computers.Today, almost all of us here have a mobile phone which we can reach another person in another part of the world instantly.People all over the world may watch on the Internet the minute-by-minute returns of the presidential election of a certain country.In this sense, the world has become one.What does this mean to you, the graduates, and to all of us? 首先这意味着你们一定要能够适应急剧的改变，以应付现代生活。可话说来奥妙，要做到这点，唯一的窍门却在于切实掌握一些改变不大的基本知识 和原则。《易经》中有一句格言：“天行健，君子以自强不息”，2500年来，数以千计的中国读书人受益匪浅，至今这句话依然适用。宇宙恒动，万物变异不居。各位毕业同学，要在这个不断变化的世界中生活和有所成就，你们一方面要对世界的本质特性有扎实的认识。另一方面更要努力不懈，自强不息。 First，it means you must be able to adapt to rapid changes in order to cope with modern life.The only way to be able to do so, paradoxically, is to have a firm hold on the fundamentals which do not change much.The adage from the Book of Change that “The celestial bodies are regular in their motion, so should the superior man labor unceasingly to strengthen his own character” has benefited millions of Chinese scholars in the past 2,500 years and it is still very applicable and useful today.The universe is in perceptual motion and things never cease to change.Graduates, to live and succeed in an ever changing world, you must seek to have a firm knowledge of the fundamental nature of the world and never cease to improve yourself.
其次，深处在这个复杂而资讯繁多的世界里，我们必须懂得怎样去筛除不相干的资讯，求取真实的知识，以帮助我们作出稳妥的判断。当今世界充斥着各种各样的信息，很容易令人不但没有增加见闻反而眼花缭乱，无所适从。我们对英国皇室的生活略有了解，知道他们的生活方式与平民百姓有天壤之别；可是，我们当中有几人对东帝汶人民的生活方式有所了解？我们都关心环境破坏对健康造成的危害，但我们对大气上层臭氧的损耗、使用移动电话时电磁波产生的辐射和吸烟者三者对健康造成的危害程度，能否理性的作出比较？上个月，英国有名病人接收了一项手术，体内移植了一个恒流泵，以代替他衰竭的心脏，我们知道，在正常情况下，心脏使血液在体内有脉动的运行。现在他已活下来了，还在工作，却没有脉搏。这对生命的重要表征和人们心头悸动的体验有说明了什么呢？
Second, in this complex world with so much information, it is eential that we learn to discard irrelevant information and acquire genuine knowledge that can help us make sound decisions.There is so much news in and about the world now, but any person can easily be dazzled by this abundance of news rather than be enriched by it.We all know the way people live in East Timor? We are all concerned about environmental hazards to health.But can we rationally compare the magnitude of the hazards of ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere, exposure to electromagnetic waves from using mobile phones and cigarette smoking? Last month, a patient in the U.K.had surgery to implant a constant-flow pump to replace his failing heart.He now lives and works but has no pulse.What does this say about vital signs of life and about heart-throbbing experiences? 这里，让我再次勉励你们多学点物理学、化学、生物学、地理、历史等的基本知识，而尤其基本的，多学点语言和数学的知识。你们必须有扎实的知识基础，才能吸收新的知识，才能够在新的情况下做出恰当的判断。在这一方面，我们正可以学习《中庸》所训导的：“博学、审问、慎思、明辨”。
Once again, I would advise you to learn more about the fundamentals of physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history and, of course, the most fundamental of them all, languages and mathematics.Only when you have a good knowledge base can you absorb new knowledge and learn how to make good decisions in a new situation.In this regard, we can learn from the teaching in The Doctrine of the mean, “Make extensive study of what is good, inquire accurately, reflect carefully upon it and make a sound decision.”
各位毕业生同学，让我祝你们所有人在未来多姿多彩、充满挑战的岁月里，都过着惬意幸福的生活。无论你们决定怎样去充实和改善自己，只要记着“博学、审问、慎思、明辨”，你们将会毕生受用不尽。
Graduates, let me wish you all a succeful and happy life in the exciting and challenging years ahead.Whatever you choose to do to improve yourself, you will benefit enormously if you remember, “Make extensive study of what is good, inquire accurately, reflect carefully upon it and make a sound decision.”
祝你们成功！Good luck and thank you!
