Graduation speeches are a bit like wedding toasts. A few are memorable. The

游客2023-11-14  20

问题     Graduation speeches are a bit like wedding toasts. A few are memorable. The rest tend to trigger such thoughts as, "Why did I wear such uncomfortable shoes?"
    But graduation speeches are less about the message than the messenger. Every year a few colleges and universities in the US attract attention because they’ve managed to book high-profile speakers. And, every year, the media report some of these speakers’ wise remarks.
    Last month, the following words of wisdom were spread:
    "You really haven’t completed the circle of success unless you can help somebody, else move forward. "(Oprah Winfrey, Duke University).
    "There is no way to stop change; change will come. Go out and give us a future worthy of the world we all wish to create together. " (Hillary Clinton, New York University).
    "This really is your moment. History is yours to bend. " (Joe Biden, Wake Forest University).
    Of course, the real "get" of the graduation season was first lady Michelle Obama’s appearance at the University of California, Merced. " Remember that your are blessed," She told the class of 2009, "Remember that in exchange for those blessings, you must give something back... As advocate and activist Marian Wright Edelman says, ’ Service is the rent we pay for living.... it is the true measure, the only measure of success’."
    Calls to service have a long, rich tradition in these speeches. However, it is possible for a graduation speech to go beyond clich6 and say something truly compelling. The late writer David Foster Wallace’s 2005 graduation speech at Kenyon College in Ohio talked about how to truly care about other people. It gained something of a cult after it was widely circulated on the Internet. Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs’ address at Stanford University that year, in which he talked about death, is also considered one of the best in recent memory.
    But when you’re sitting in the hot sun, fidgety and freaked out, do you really want to be lectured about the big stuff? Isn’t that like trying to maintain a smile at your wedding reception while some relative gives a toast that amounts to "marriage is hard work" ? You know he’s right; you just don’t want to think about it at that particular moment. In fact, as is the case in many major life moments, you can’t really manage to think beyond the blisters your new shoes are causing.
    That may seem anticlimactic. But it also gets to the heart of on of life’s greatest, saddest truths; that our most "memorable" occasions may elicit the fewest memories. It’s probably not something most graduation speakers would say, but it’s one of the first lessons of growing up.

选项 A、great
B、trivial
C、unforgettable
D、unimaginative

答案 B

解析 细节题。文章第一段第二句话指出只有一小部分毕业演讲是令人难忘的(A few are memorable.);而在下一句话中,作者提到大部分的毕业演讲(the rest)只能让人想到一些琐碎的事情,如“我当时怎么穿了一双不合适的鞋?”(The rest tend to trigger such thoughts as,“Why did I wear such uncomfortable shoes?”)。故答案为B,大多数毕业演讲只让人会想到一些琐碎的小事(trivial memories).
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