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Barack Obama has urged an audience of young people to "reject pessimism and cynicism" at a town hall-style event in London.

在倫敦一場市民大會形式的活動中，歐巴馬敦促青年聽眾，「拒斥悲觀與犬儒主義」。

In his speech in Westminster, the US President argued that cynics who suggest it is not possible to change the world should be ignored.

這位美國總統在西敏寺的演說中強調，那些認為一切都不可能改變的犬儒者應予以漠視。

"My primary message is going to be to reject pessimism and cynicism, know that progress is possible and that problems can be solved," Mr Obama said.

歐巴馬說，「我想傳達的主要訊息是，『拒斥悲觀與犬儒主義』，進步是可能的，問題總會解決。」

"Progress is not inevitable and it requires struggle, perseverance and discipline, and faith.

「進步並非必然，有賴人們的奮鬥、毅力與紀律，還有信念。」

"But that’s the story of how we won voting rights, and women’s rights, and worker’s rights, and civil rights, and immigration rights, and gay rights, because of those who came before us often risked their lives to give us the chance to know something better."

「然而，這便是我們如何爭取投票權、女性權益、勞動者人權、公民權、移民權以及同性戀權益的故事，因為前人甘冒生命危險，讓我們有機會進一步了解某些事物。」

"We see new calls for isolationism or xenophobia," Obama said. "We see those who would call for rolling back the rights of people…"

「我們看到新的要求孤立主義或仇外的聲浪，」歐巴馬說，「我們看到有人呼籲限縮人權…」

"I think we can understand they are reactions to changing times. But, when I speak to young people, I implore them, and I implore you, to reject those calls to fall back."

「我認為，我們可以理解這是對時代變遷的反應。不過，當我與年輕人交談時，我懇求他們，在此我也懇請你們，拒絕那些要求倒退的呼聲。」

新聞辭典

perseverance：名詞，毅力、持之以恆。例句："Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."（毅力就是失敗19次，第20次成功。）

town hall-style event：名詞，市民大會，指當權者與市民平席而坐，民主的發源形式之一。例句：Republican presidential candidate John Kasich will hold a town hall-style event Tuesday in Noblesville.（共和黨總統參選人凱希克週二將在諾伯斯維爾與市民面對面。）

require：動詞，有賴…，要求。例句：San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require six weeks of paid leave for new parents.（舊金山成為全美國第一個要求給予新手父母6週全薪產假的城市。）