2021年英語演講：Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate

1、精編word文檔 下載可編輯ronald reagan: remarks at the brandenburg gatethank you. thank you, very much.chancellor kohl, governing mayor diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: twenty four years ago, president john f. kennedy visited berlin, and speaking to the people of this city and the world at the city hall. well si

2、nce then two other presidents have come, each in his turn to berlin. and today, i, myself, make my second visit to your city.we come to berlin, we american presidents, because its our duty to speak in this place of freedom. but i must confess, were drawn here by other things as well; by the feeling

3、of history in this city - more than 5 years older than our own nation; by the beauty of the grunewald and the teirgarten; most of all, by your courage and determination. perhaps the composer, paul linke, understood something about american presidents. you see, like so many presidents before me, i co

4、me here today because wherever i go, whatever i do: ich hab noch einen hoffer in berlin i still have a suitcase in berlin.our gathering today is being broadcast throughout western europe and north america. i understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the east. to those listening throughou

5、t eastern europe, i extend my warmest greetings and the good will of the american people. to those listening in east berlin, a special word: although i cannot be with you, i address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. for i join you, as i join your fellow countrymen

6、 in the west, in this firm, this unalterable belief: es gibt nur ein berlin. there is only one berlin.behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of europe. from the baltic south. those barriers cut across

7、germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall. but there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same - still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will

8、 of a totalitarian state.yet, it is here in berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world.standing before the brandenburg gate, every man is a ge

9、rman separated from his fellow men.every man is a berliner, forced to look upon a scar.president von weizsacker has said, the german question is open as long as the brandenburg gate is closed. well today - today i say: as long as the gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to sta

10、nd, it is not the german question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind.yet, i do not come here to lament. for i find in berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.in this season of spring in 1945, the people of berlin emerged from

11、their air-raid shelters to find devastation. thousands of miles away, the people of the united states reached out to help. and in 1947 secretary of state - as youve been told -george marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the marshall plan. speaking precisely 4 years ago this

12、month, he said: our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.in the reichstag a few moments ago, i saw a display commemorating this 4th anniversary of the marshall plan. i was struck by the sign on a burnt-out, gutted structure that

13、was being rebuilt. i understand that berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western sectors of the city. the sign read simply: the marshall plan is helping here to strengthen the free world. a strong, free world in the west, that dream became real. jap

14、an rose from ruin to become an economic giant. italy, france, belgium - virtually every nation in western europe saw political and economic rebirth; the european community was founded.in west germany and here in berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the wirtschaftswunder. adenauer, erhard, r

15、euter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty - that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. the german leaders - the german leaders reduced tar

16、iffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. from 195 to 196 alone, the standard of living in west germany and berlin doubled.where four decades ago there was rubble, today in west berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in germany - busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, pro

17、ud avenues, and the spreading lawns of parkland. where a citys culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and museums. where there was want, today theres abundance - food, clothing, automobiles - the wonderful goods of

18、the kudamm. from devastation, from utter ruin, you berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth. the soviets may have had other plans. but my friends, there were a few things the soviets didnt count on - berliner herz, berliner humor, ja, und berli

19、ner schnauze. berliner heart, berliner humor, yes, and a berliner schnauze.*in the 195s - in the 195s khrushchev predicted: we will bury you.but in the west today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. in the communist world, w

20、e see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, *even want of the most basic kind - too little food. even today, the soviet union still cannot feed itself. after these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: freedom lea

21、ds to prosperity. freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. freedom is the victor.*and now - now the soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. we hear much from moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. so

22、me political prisoners have been released. certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.*are these the beginnings of profound changes in the soviet state or are they token gestures, intend

23、ed to raise false hopes in the west, *or to strengthen the soviet system without changing it we welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty - the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.there is on

24、e sign the soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.general secretary gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the soviet union and eastern europe, if you seek liberalization: come here to this gate.mr. gorbachev, ope

25、n this gate.mr. gorbachev - mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall!i understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent, and i pledge to you my countrys efforts to help overcome these burdens. to be sure, we in the west must resist soviet expansion. so, we must maintain defe

26、nses of unassailable strength. yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.beginning 1 years ago, the soviets challenged the western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly ss-2 nuclear missiles capable of striking every capital in europe. the western

27、alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment (unless the soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution) - namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides. for many months, the soviets refused to bargain in earnestness. as the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with it

28、s counter-deployment, there were difficult days, days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city; and the soviets later walked away from the table.but through it all, the alliance held firm. and i invite those who protested then - i invite those who protest today - to mark this fact: b

29、ecause we remained strong, the soviets came back to the table. because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.as i speak, nato min

30、isters are meeting in iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons. at the talks in geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons. and the western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and t

31、o place a total ban on chemical weapons.while we pursue these arms reductions, i pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur. and in cooperation with many of our allies, the united states is pursuing the strategic defense initiativ

32、e - research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend; on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them. by these means we seek to increase the safety of europe and all the world. but we must remember a crucial fact: east

33、 and west do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. and our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. when president kennedy spoke at the city hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled; berlin was under siege. and today, despite all

34、 the pressures upon this city, berlin stands secure in its liberty. and freedom itself is transforming the globe.in the philippines, in south and central america, democracy has been given a rebirth. throughout the pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth. in the ind

35、ustrialized nations, a technological revolution is taking place, a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications.in europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom. yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information

36、and innovation, the soviet union faces a choice: it must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.today thus represents a moment of hope. we in the west stand ready to cooperate with the east to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer

37、world. and surely there is no better place than berlin, the meeting place of east and west, to make a start.free people of berlin: today, as in the past, the united states stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the four power agreement of 197 let us use this occasio

38、n, the 75th anniversary of this city, to usher in a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the berlin of the future. together, let us maintain and develop the ties between the federal republic and the western sectors of berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.and i invite mr. gorb

39、achev: let us work to bring the eastern and western parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.to open berlin still further to all europe, east and west, let us expand the vital air a

40、ccess to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical. we look to the day when west berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all central europe.with - with our french and british partners, the united states is pr

41、epared to help bring international meetings to berlin. it would be only fitting for berlin to serve as the site of united nations meetings, or world conferences on human rights and arms control or other issues that call for international cooperation.there is no better way to establish hope for the f

42、uture than to enlighten young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for young berliners from the east. our french and british friends, im certain, will do the same. and its my hope that an authority can be found in east berlin to sponso

43、r visits from young people of the western sectors.one final proposal, one close to my heart: sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement, and you may have noted that the republic of korea - south korea - has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 olympics to take place in the north.

44、 international sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city. and what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the olympic games here in berlin, east and west.in these four decades, as i have said, you

45、berliners have built a great city. youve done so in spite of threats - the soviet attempts to impose the east-mark, the blockade. today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall. what keeps you here certainly theres a great deal to be said for your fortit

46、ude, for your defiant courage. but i believe theres something deeper, something that involves berlins whole look and feel and way of life - not mere sentiment. no one could live long in berlin without being completely disabused of illusions. something, instead, that has seen the difficulties of life

47、 in berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence, that refuses to release human energies or aspirations, something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. in a word, i would submit that what keeps you in berlin is love.love both profound and abiding.perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between eas