A photo slips out of John’s book when he is arranging his books. Han Meimei picks it up.
H: John, where did you take the photo? There’re lots of people in the background.
H：约翰，这张照片是在哪照的？背景里怎么有那么多人。
J: Oh, it’s taken against the background of a commencement. It's the picture I took when I attended the Harvard Commencement in 2009.
L:哦，背景是一个毕业典礼，照片是我 09年参加哈佛的毕业典礼的时候照的。
H: Why did you go there?
H:你怎么去那儿了？
J: My big brother graduated from Harvard last summer. It’s a big day for him. My parents and I were so proud of him. It’s out of question that we should go to witness the great moment.
J：我哥去年从哈佛毕业。对他来说是个重大的日子，我和父母都为他感到骄傲，当 然要去见证那个伟大时刻了。
H: Is a commencement such a big event in America? I’ve never seen such a scene in China. My cousin told me that her university even didn’ t hold a commencement. They had to rent bachelor gowns to take pictures.
H:毕业典礼在美国这么重要啊？我在中国从没见过这种情形。我表姐告诉我她们学 校甚至连毕业典礼都没有，他们还得自己租学士服照相。
J: That’s awful. Commencement is such a holy day. It demonstrates that all your four years’ hard work finally pay off and that you’ ll have a brand new life from that day on.
J：那太糟糕了。毕业典礼是多么神圣的一天啊，说明你四年的努力设有白费，从那 天开始你就要开始全新的人生了。
H： Tell me about it. It must be interesting. I want to get an idea about how Harvard staff and students celebrate graduation. Can anyone attend Commencement?
H:给我讲讲吧，肯定很有意思，我想了解哈佛人是怎么庆祝毕业的。任何人都可以 参加毕业典礼吗？
J: No, you must get a ticket first. The tickets to Commencement are limited. Not everybody can go there. We got up early in the morning and arrived at Harvard at seven.
J:不是，你必须得先搞到票。毕业典礼的票数是有限的，不是每个人都可以去。我 们早上起得很早，七点就到哈佛了。
H: Why did you go there so early? Did the ceremony start so early?
H:为什么要去那么早？典礼那么早就开始了吗？
J： Because seating capacity is limited, and seats are on a first-come basis and cannot be reserved. If we got there late, we had to stand.
J：因为座位有限，先到先坐，不能预定。如果去晚了，就得站着了。
H: Did the campus look different?
H:校园看起来是不是和平时不一样？
J： Yes. It looked great. Flowers were everywhere. And parents were thrilled to see their sons and daughters, and were incredibly proud to be here.
J:是的，看起来棒极了，到处是鲜花，家长们见到儿女们很激动，也为自己能到那儿而感到极其骄傲。
H: To be honest, I don’ t understand. Why should parents feel so happy? When I saw the movie The Graduate, I couldn’ t understand why everybody was happy to celebrate Benjamin’s graduation from college. He even didn’ t get a job or something. I don’ t believe Chinese parents will feel the same way.
H:老实说，我不理解。为什么家长们这么高兴？我看《毕业生》这部电影的时候就 很不理解为什么每个人都这么高兴地庆祝本杰明从大学毕业？他甚至都没找到工 作什么的。我相信中国的父母不会这样的。
J: It’s hard to tell. We have different cultures.
J:文化不同，很难说清楚。
H： What else did you see and hear?
H:你的其他见闻呢？
J： On that day, I met with two centenarians. One was the oldest alumnus to take part in the ceremony and one was the oldest Radcliffe graduate to attend. They brought me back to the Harvard of the 1920 s, and told me the crucial turning points in Harvard history.
j：那天，我遇见了两个百岁老人。一个是来参加典礼的最老的校友，一个是来参加 典礼的最老的拉德克利夬院毕业生。他们把我带回到 20世纪 20年代，给我讲了哈佛历史上重要的转折点。
H: Were there a lot of alumni? In China alumni only come back to celebrate significant anniversaries instead of animal Commencement, You did learn a lot from those alumni, right?
有很多校友参加？在中国校友只回来参加重大的周年校庆而不是每年的毕业典 礼。你确实从那些毕业生那里学到了很多，是吧？
J: My brain was stuffed, so was my stomach. At noon, Harvard put on what may have been the world’s largest picnic, feeding countless graduates, families, and alumni in venues across the University with about 35 different menus. It’s said that planning for Commencement meals began nearly three months ago.
我的脑袋充实了，胃也被塞满了。中午的时候，哈佛呈上了可能是世上有史以来最大的野餐，在各个场地为无数的毕业生、家人和校友提供大约 35种不同的菜肴。据说大概提前 3个月就开始准备了。
H: My mouth is watering.
我都流口水了。
J: After lunch, we listened to speech given by the u. s. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. In 2008, the speaker was J. K. Rowling. That day, she received her honorary doctoral degree from Harvard.
午饭后，我们听了一场美国能源部长朱棣文做的演讲。 2008年的演讲者是 J. K. 罗琳。那天她还被授予哈佛荣誉博士学位。
H: Does Harvard invite famous people to give a speech on Commencement each year?
哈佛每年都邀请名人在毕业典礼上演讲吗？
J: Yes, the speaker in 2010 will be David Souter, a Harvard alumnus who served nearly two decades on the U. S. Supreme Court before stepping down in June 2009.
是的， 2010的演讲者是前最高法院法官大卫?苏特，他在最高法院干了将近 20年， 2009年 6月刚退休。
H: Harvard Commencement is a like a visual and hearing feast, and is a real feast.
H:哈佛毕业典礼就像_场视觉和听觉盛宴，也是一场真正的盛宴。
