We can always be greater. We can always aspire to something more. That doesn’t depend on who you elect to office. It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these changes for the better.
The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
“Put something on ice（把某个事物放在冰上）” 的实际意思是 “推迟，搁置某件事情”。它通常被用来谈论一次交易或一项计划 “暂缓”。如果将这个表达中的动词 “put” 换成 “keep”，即 “keep something on ice”，意思就是 “持续搁置某件事情”。
Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.
“Have a face like thunder（有一张雷公脸）” 用来形容某人极度愤怒、火冒三丈的表情；“with a face like thunder” 可以形容某人一脸怒容，在生气地做某事时的样子。
“Hit the right note（击中正确的音符）” 是一个实用的短语，它既可以用来描述某人 “唱歌或演奏时音准动听”，也可以用来表示 “某人的言行举止恰当、得体，对在场的人产生了积极的影响”。
May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American Dream alive for all her children; with the American promise of a more perfect union a reality for all her people; with America’s bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all the world.
《米德尔马契》（英语：Middlemarch）是英国女作家乔治·艾略特的第七部长篇小说。米德尔马契是作者虚构的故事发生地英国省城。书中贯穿两条主线：一为少女多萝西娅的婚姻悲剧与理想的破灭，一为青年医生利德盖特爱情与事业的双重挫折与失败。
“A jam session” 指 “音乐家们进行非正式的演奏”，这类演奏通常是 “没有经过排练的即兴演奏”。这个表达中的动词 “jam” 的意思是 “与他人即兴演奏”。
At the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done. The Scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing. for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Thank you and welcome all you soggy people. Napoleon said, and this is Napoleon Bonaparte, not the Napoleon Dynamite. He said, war is when the government tells you who your enemy is, revolution is when you figure it out for yourself. And we know who our enemy is.
“In unison” 是一个实用的短语，用来形容人们在行动、说话或表演时 “步调一致，十分协调”。比如：可以用 “in unison” 形容两个人或一群人 “同时地” 做某事，或 “和谐地” 演唱或演奏。
For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God’s love is truly boundless.
We believed then and now there are no limits to growth and human progress when men and women are free to follow their dreams. We are creating a nation once again vibrant, robust, and alive. But there are many mountains yet to climb. We will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of freedom, dignity, and opportunity as our birthright.
It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, loomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will all on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.
A dream of brighter days ahead, a faith in things not seen, a belief that here, in this country, we are the authors of our own destiny. That is what Hampton is all about. And it now falls to you, the Class of 2010, to write the next great chapter in America’s story; to meet the tests of your own time; to take up the ongoing work of fulfilling our founding promise.
Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what’s right, if you work harder and dream bigger, if you set an example in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our time, then I’m confident that, together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union.
“Ace a test” 用来表示 “某人在一次测验或考试中取得了很高的分数”。动词 “ace” 源自扑克牌中的 “A 纸牌（the ace card）”。通常情况下，“A 纸牌” 是扑克牌中最大的一张，所以在谈论与考试有关的语境中，动词 “ace” 就用来表示 “考得非常好”。短语 “ace a test” 中的名词 “test（测验）” 可以用考试的具体科目名称替换。比如：to ace an English exam；to ace my Chinese final。
Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our nation, for we know that if we despise our own government, we have no future.
“Come up trumps” 是一个地道的表达，它的意思是 “成功地完成一项任务，结果出乎意料地令人满意”。它由动词短语 “come up（某事意外发生）” 和名词 “trump（卡牌游戏中的王牌）” 构成。这个表达中的 “come up” 可以用 “turn up” 替换，即 “turn up trumps”，意思不变。
