My Say!﹕聽演說 學英文
觀看美國兩黨全國代表大會的電視直播，深感演說的威力。講者固然抑揚頓挫，全情投入，演辭捉刀人的用字遣辭也極見心思，令聽眾叫好，牢記sound-bite(精句、雋語)，有助吸納游離票。演辭提供學習有效
運用
英語的好機會，下列是一些例子：
People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. 前總統克林頓巧妙運用 example 與power 兩字，不覑痕舻地諷刺布殊總統窮兵黷武的政策，一針見血並且令人發出會心微笑。
There are some people who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. 共和黨副總統候選人佩林利用 change 與career 兩字，不點名批評對手奢談改變，純為競選前途，不及麥凱恩終身以變革為事業，暗貶
奧巴馬。
The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. 佩林隱晦地批評奧巴馬沒有經驗。
He would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. 麥凱恩在國會支持增兵伊拉克，被對手批評。佩林有力地為麥反擊，突顯麥以國家利益為重，個人利益為輕的高尚情操。
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. But for a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds. 奧巴馬口才了得，麥凱恩非其對手。佩林輕描淡寫地為其伯樂反擊，暗諷奧在競選時口舌便給，不及麥的終身實幹。
Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges and the same joy. 佩林被麥凱恩邀請為副總統候選人後，負面消息接踵而來，包括其長女未婚懷孕。她在接受黨代表大會提名時，簡單率直地回應，訴諸大眾的同理心，不但化解了負面消息，更贏得諒解與同情。
希拉里出席黨代表大會，必須顯示風度力撐奧巴馬。她一開始便表明立場，表達手法層次鮮明，鏗鏘有力，先聲奪人： I'm here tonight as a proud mother. As a proud Democrat. As a proud senator from New York. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.
克林頓是演說高手，當晚甫開始即談三件事：民主黨的初選、稱讚其妻之前一晚出色的演說、為奧巴馬背書。風趣有力，全場掌聲雷動：
What a year we Democrats have had. The primary began with an all-star line-up. And it came down to two remarkable Americans locked in a hard-fought contest right to the very end. That campaign generated so much heat, it increased global warming.
Now, I am not so grateful for the chance to speak in the wake of Hillary's magnificent speech last night. But I'll do the best I can.
Last night, Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually, that makes 18 million of us. Because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.
政客演說，鮮用深字，反而愛用對比、短句來加悤效果。文字短小精悍，容易深入民心，下面是一些例子：
奧巴馬： Americans are working harder for less. Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. Our position has been weakened by too much unilateralism (單方面政策) and too little cooperation.
希拉里： Job lost, house gone, falling wages, rising prices. More economic stagnation (不景氣) and less affordable health care. More war and less diplomacy. More jobs getting shipped overseas and fewer jobs created here at home. 在感謝助選團時，她說： Thank you because you never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history.
克林頓稱讚奧巴馬時說： As president, he will work for an America with more partners and fewer adversaries.
麥凱恩在結束演辭時說： We never hide from history. We make history.
克林頓與奧巴馬在呼籲國民摒棄共和黨時都採用很有力的sound-bite：
克林頓：They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Now let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America, a simple message: Thanks, but no thanks.
奧巴馬：Eight is enough.
讀者如有興趣，可上CNN 網頁 (
http://www.cnnpolitics.com) 瀏覽美國兩黨全國代表大會的演辭。
文：考評局前秘書長蔡熾昌
