These are the voices that will tell you - not just what you can’t do - but what you won’t do. Americans won’t come together - our allegiance doesn’t go beyond our political party，region，or congregation. Young Americans won’t serve their country - they’re too selfish，or too lazy. This is the soft sell of the status quo，the voice that tells you to settle because settling isn’t that bad.
Let me ask you to stop and consider this meeting that we’re having. You go to the first school in the United States west of the Mississippi to grant women the same rights and privileges as men. You go to a school that resolved in 1870 that race would not be a factor in admission. These may be small changes on the vast canvas of history，but the America we live in is the sum total of that kind of courage，that spirit of progress. If it weren’t for that kind of change，it wouldn’t be possible for someone like me to stand here today to talk to you about the future of this country. You and I are at a place where somebody，at some point，decided that loving their community and their country meant doing something to change it.
Renewing that spirit starts with service. Make no mistake: our destiny as Americans is tied up with one another. If we are less respected in the world，then you will be less safe. If we keep paying dictators to fill up our gas tanks，then those oceans are going to rise. If we can’t give our kids a world-class education，then our economy is going to fall behind.
And that’s how it should be. It is time to recapture that sense of a common purpose: I am my brother’s keeper，I am my sister’s keeper. I’m tired of hearing about how America is on the wrong track - I want us to come together to put it on the right track. I’m tired of hearing about red America and blue America - I want to lead a United States of America. I’m tired of talking about what we can’t do，or won’t do，or won’t even try - I want all of us to stand up and to start reaching for what is possible.
That’s what history calls us to do. Because loving your country shouldn’t just mean watching fireworks on the 4th of July；loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. And if you do stand up，I promise you that your life will be richer，and our country will be stronger.
We need your service，right now，in this moment - our moment - in history. I’m not going to tell you what your role should be；that’s for you to discover. But I am going to ask you to play your part；ask you to stand up；ask you to put your foot firmly into the current of history. I am asking you to change history’s course. And if I have the fortune to be your President，decades from now - when the memory of this or that policy has faded，and when the words that we will speak in the next few years are long forgotten - I hope you remember this as a moment when your own story and the American story came together，and history bent once more in the direction of justice.
……我父亲从几千里外的肯尼亚而来，在我出生后又回到了那里。我度过了风雨飘摇的童年，然后在夏威夷和印尼长大。我和单身一人的母亲，以及来自堪萨斯的外祖父母一同生活。在成长过程中，我不太确定自己是谁，以及要往哪里去。
之后，当我长到像你们这么大的年纪时，我决定成为一位社区组织者。我写信寄给国内所有我能想到的机构。有好一阵子，我完全没有收到任何回应。最后，芝加哥南面的一个小型教会组织回信给我，说可以提供一份工作，任务是帮助因钢铁厂关闭而使当地经济遭受重创的社区。当时我的母亲和外祖父母希望我念法学院，而我的朋友则在华尔街找工作。在芝加哥我谁也不认识，这份工作的年薪约12，000美元，我又花了2，000美元买了一部破旧的老爷车。
我仍然记得在我离开前和一位老先生的对话。他看着我说：“巴拉克，我要给你一个建议。别管这份社区组织者的差事，去做些能让你赚大钱的工作。你无法改变世界，就算你努力也没人感激。你现在听到的可是忠告。你应该做的事是投身电视台，我告诉你，你一定前途无量。”
现在看来，他对电视台的看法可能说对了。还有，坦白说，当时我并没有想清楚我要做什么。我想要走入历史的洪流中，帮助别人实现他们的梦想，但那时我还不知道自己能发挥什么样的作用。哈里斯等人在民权运动中的作为激励了我，但当我去芝加哥时，那里已经没有游行，也没有慷慨激昂的演说了。在空荡荡的钢铁厂的阴影下，只剩下一群老百姓在奋斗。每天，我听到拒绝的次数远远超过应许；我看到我们组织的那些会场上，有许多椅子空落落的没有人坐。
但我发现，尽管你无法让历史朝你的意愿发展，你仍可以奉献一己心力，用金博士的话来说，就是看到它“归于正义”①。我们在教会地下室、在餐桌旁边，奔走一个又一个街区，让整个社区团结起来，让新的投票人完成登记，为新的工作机会奋战，帮助人们在某种程度的尊严中活下去。
而我也开始意识到，我不仅仅是在帮助别人。通过服务，我找到了一个热情接纳我的社区，一座让我有归属感的教堂，一种有意义的公民职责，以及我一直在找寻的方向。通过服务，我看到了我特殊的个人经历如何更好地融合在更广义的美国经历中。
背景介绍
几乎从建国以来，志愿精神就一直是美国文化一项不可或缺的要素。美国前总统肯尼迪在其1961年的就职演说中曾号召：“不要问你的国家能为你做什么，要问你自己能为国家做什么。”奥巴马在提案“为国家服务”中指出，美国的志愿服务体制需要做出重大改进，以加强公民参与，并要充分利用美国青年和退休人员所能贡献的各种技能，他还呼吁各个年龄层的美国公民都来为国家服务。
单词注解
pivotal [5pivEtEl] adj. 作为支点的；中枢的，关键的
responsibility [ris7pCnsE5biliti] n. 责任；责任感，可信赖性
notion [5nEuFEn] n. 概念，观念，看法；意图
conversation [7kCnvE5seiFEn] n.谈话，会谈，商讨；结交，交往
appreciate [E5pri:Fieit] vt.感激，感谢；赏识，重视
have a point 所言极是，有道理
fit into v.适合，融合
retire [ri5taiE] vi.退下；离开；【军】撤退；引退，退隐[休，职，役]
grass roots 基层，草根。草根的说法产生于十九世纪美国寻金热流行期间，盛传有些山脉土壤表层、草根生长的地方就蕴藏黄金。
精华句型& 翻译
I have no doubt that in the face of impossible odds people who love their country can change it.
If we are less respected in the world，then you will be less safe.
演讲技巧揭密
That’s what history calls us to do. Because loving your country shouldn’t just mean watching fireworks on the 4th of July；loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. And if you do stand up，I promise you that your life will be richer，and our country will be stronger.
演讲语言规范，条理清晰
语言规范是思想规范的体现，要讲究语言的条理性，依靠语言的逻辑力量来征服听众。语言越规范，说明演讲者思维越清晰。好的演讲，不但内容丰富，思想深刻，充满热情，而且语言规范，逻辑清晰。本文中，奥巴马借用肯尼迪的名句“不要问国家为你做了什么，问问你为国家做了什么”号召人们发扬自愿精神，承担起时代赋予的责任。