名人教英文：改变世界的意念：携手创未来
前美国总统克林顿在《时代》周刊the case for optimism一文提到五个改变世界的意念，我已在本栏谈了三个，余下两个是：提升女权和为未来共同奋斗。
克林顿说："simply put, no society can truly flourish (蓬勃发展) if it stifles (扼杀) the dreams and productivity of half its population."
simply put即「简而言之」，亦可说成to put it simply。克林顿提到的half its population就是女性。提升女性的社会经济地位，不只对她们本身有好处。例如非洲的农业合作社计划提升了当地妇女的收入，令她们能够供子女上学。所以克林顿说："so you can see how this work can change not just an individual life but also the fate (命运) of a family or the course (发展路向) of an entire community."
最后一个令克林顿对将来乐观的理由，是愈来愈多人愿为未来携手合作："many of the world's greatest challenges today are simply modern manifestations (呈现) of our oldest demons. the truth is, the future has never had a big enough constituency - those fighting for present gain almost always win out. but we are now called upon to try to create a whole different mind-set. we are in a pitched battle (激战) between the present array (一系列) of resources and attitudes and the future struggling to be born."
demons（恶魔）比喻有长远恶劣影响的事情。constituency除了解作「选区」，还可解作「拥趸」。当前的冲突和人类的将来互相交战，大部分人只顾目前，遗祸未来，这种思维需要改变。克林顿说，四名来自印度、巴基斯坦、中国内地和台湾的大学生树立了好榜样：他们组队参与国际比赛，探求解决全球问题的方法。对于他们所身处地区之间的政治角力，克林顿形容他们的态度是： "we are so over this." so over something有「厌倦」、「不再在乎」的意思。放下眼前分歧，同舟共济，未来就有希望。
英语单词词汇学习：
constituency……（一批）拥护者
course……发展路向
pitched battle……激战