1937年5月15日她出生在布拉格一个犹太家庭。1939年3月，在希特勒到达布拉格不久，她的父亲约瑟夫·戈倍尔，一位捷克外交官，与妻子和两岁的女儿逃到伦敦一间地下公寓。这座城市不久就处于纳粹的空袭之下。“我一生中很大的一部分是在防空洞中度过的，并常会吟唱起挂在墙上的一百个绿瓶子，” 奥尔布赖特说。
Soon the family moved to WaltononThames， where “they had just invented some kind of steel table” Albright says. “If your house was bombed and you were under the table， you would survive. We ate on the table， slept under the table and played around the table.”
不久全家又搬到泰晤士河边的瓦尔顿，奥尔布赖特说：“就是在那里他们发明了一种钢铁桌子，如果你的房子遭到了轰炸而你正呆在桌子下，你就有救了。我们在桌子上吃饭，在桌子下睡觉，在桌子旁玩耍。
While her father worked against Hitler in Czechoslovakia，s governmentinexile， sixyearold Madeleine went to school. A 1943 report card described her as a “quick and lively” student who “learns easily and remembers well.” Her grades were solid - except for one surprisingly low grade in geography.
当玛德琳父亲为捷克斯洛伐克的流亡政府做反希特勒的工作时，六岁的她上了学。1943年的一份纪录卡描述她是“敏捷而活泼”的学生，“接受力强且记忆力好。”她的成绩很好——除了地理成绩低得令人惊讶。
Albright was baptized and raised a Roman Catholic. She insists she was unaware of her Jewish background until recently， when Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs disclosed the truth of her heritage. Albright learned that her grandparents and several other relatives had perished in the Holocaust.
奥尔布赖特受过洗礼并成了天主教徒。她一直坚持说自己不晓得她犹太人的背景，直到最近《华盛顿邮报》的记者麦克尔·多布斯发现了她家族的真实情况。奥尔赖特得知她的祖父母和其他几个亲属在大屠杀时丧了生。
How could she not have known？ “Perhaps， when the truth about her family began to appear，” wrote Philip Taubman in the New York Times， “Albright thought it too late and too painful to dismantle the world her parents had constructed and she had preserved for herself and her children.”
她怎么会不知道呢？《纽约时报》的菲利普·陶博曼写道：“可能，当有关她家庭的事实行将显现时，奥运会尔布赖特觉得将她父母给她构筑的这个世界公之于众为时已晚且不堪回首，她已将此留在自己和孩子们的心中。”
Now she has to expand NATO， walk the tight line of engagement with China and persuade American taxpayers that keeping the world safe does not come cheap. That，s a tall order， but Madeleine Albright has made an auspicious start.
现在她必须要扩展北约组织，在与中国的抗衡中走钢丝以及说服美国纳税人维持世界安全不会只需区区数文钱。这并非轻而易举，但玛德琳已开了个好头。
My American Journey：Colin Powell
我的美国之旅：鲍威尔
Nevertheless， I do not unequivocally rule out a political future. If I ever do decide to enter politics， however， it will not be because of high popularity ratings， but because I have a vision for this country. Frankly， the present atmosphere does not make entering public service especially attractive. I find that civility is being driven from our political discourse. For all the present sensitivity over correctness， we seem to have lost our sense of shame as a society.
然而，我并非决定以后绝不再从政。如果我一旦决定踏足政界，那并不是因为在民意测验中选民对我极为垂青，而是因为我对这个国家还怀有一个梦想。坦率地说，在目前的形势下，担任公职并不是很有吸引力。我觉得在我们的政治言论中礼貌修养正在消逝。尽管目前人们对是非曲直很敏感，但作为一个社会整体，我们似乎已丧失了羞耻感。
We say we are appalled by the rise of sexually transmitted disease， by the wave of teenage pregnancies， by violent crime. Yet we drench ourselves in depictions of explicit sex and crime on television， in the movies and in pop music. How do we find our way again？ How do we reestablish moral standards？ How do we end the ethnic fragmentation that is making us an increasingly hyphenated people？ How do we restore a sense of family to our national life？ On a speech circuit， I tell a story that goes to the heart of America，s longing. The ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson was interviewing a young AfricanAmerican soldier in a tank platoon on the eve of battle in Desert Storm. Donaldson asked， “How do you think the battle will go？ Are you afraid？”
我们总是说，我们对性病的上升、少女怀孕现象的激增以及暴力罪行感到震惊，然而，我们仍沉浸于电视、电影和流行音乐对性和暴行赤裸裸的描写之中。我们怎样才能找到一条出路呢？怎样重建道德标准？怎样结束那使我们逐步成为归化民族的种族复杂状态呢？怎样使家庭的感觉回到民众的生活中？在一次巡回演讲中，我讲了一个触及到美国人渴望心理的故事。美国广播公司记者山姆·唐纳逊于“沙漠风暴”战役的前夕在某坦克排采访了一位非裔美国士兵。唐纳逊问他：“你觉得这场战争的结果会怎样？你害怕吗？”
“We，ll do okay. We，re well trained. And I，m not afraid，” the GI answered， gesturing toward his buddies around him. “I，m not afraid because I，m with my family.”
“我们会打好的，我们训练有素，我不害怕。”这位美国士兵回答，他边说边指着他身边的伙伴们。“我不害怕是因为我和家人在一起。”
The other soldiers shouted： “Tell him again. He didn，t hear you.”
其他士兵高喊道：“再给他说一遍。他没听见。”
The soldier repeated： “This is my family and we，ll take care of each other.”
士兵又说了一遍：“这是我的家人，我们互相关照。”
That story never fails to touch me or the audience. It is a metaphor for what we have to do as a nation. We have to start thinking of America as a family. We have to stop screeching at each other， stop hurting each other， and instead start caring for， sacrificing for， and sharing with each other. We have to stop continually criticizing， which is the cry of the ideologue， and instead get back to the cando attitude that made America. We have to keep trying， and risk failing， in order to solve this country，s problems. We cannot move forward if cynics and critics swoop down and pick apart anything that goes wrong to a point where we lose sight of what is right， decent， and uniquely good about America.
这个故事一直打动着我和听众。作为一个民族，我们应该按这个比喻所说的去做。我们必须把美国看作一个大家庭，必须停止相互间的恶言恶语，停止相互伤害。相反，我们应该互相关心，互相做出牺牲，同舟共济。我们应停止不断地指责他人，那只是理论家的发泄方式罢了，相反，应重新恢复不怕困难的精神，正是这种精神造就了美国。我们要不断尝试，敢于失败，以求能解决这个国家的问题。如果听任那些愤世嫉俗者和吹毛求疵的人不分青红皂白，不论事情大小都大做文章，那么我们就看不出美国正确、大气和独有的长处。这样的话，我们就不会前进。
Jefferson once wrote， “There is a debt of service due from every man to his country， proportioned to the bounties which nature and fortune have measured to him.” As one who has received so much from his country， I feel that debt heavily， and I can never be entirely free of it. My responsibility， our responsibility as lucky Americans， is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given to us， as we continue our American journey together.
杰弗逊曾经写道：“每个人都有为国效劳的义务，这一义务与自然和命运给他的馈赠成正比。”作为一个受国家恩赐很多的人，我感到义务重大，这笔债永远无法还清。作为一名幸运的美国人，在共同继续我们的美国之旅的过程中，应尽力报答这个国家的恩情，这是我的责任，也是我们的责任。