ADoubleMisunderstanding.doc

演讲稿/比赛演讲稿 a double misunderstanding once before the iranian revolution, the then president of the united states jimmy carter visited iran. he held a formal talk with the shah, pahlevi. as the shah had an excellent command of english, no interpreters were needed for the occasion. however, the shah spoke english with an accent which led to a misunderstanding on a major question, but interestingly enough, carter, being a southerner, also had his accent and so the misundeerstanding turned into a double one. this is how it all happened. during their talk carter mentioned a certain african organization and asked the shah to give an overall appraisal of it. the shah didnt have a very high opinion of the said organization as he found it beset with many internal problems, so he used the word impotent to describe it. the trouble was in pronouncing the word he put the stress on the second syllable and the word sounded like important to carter. as it happened carter himself thought the organization was a very important one and he felt most pleased that their opinions should coincide, yes, i agree that the organization is indeed very important, he repeated to the shah. now in his southern accent, the word important souded very much like the word impotent, and the shah too felt most pleased that the president should agree with him. now of all the people present on the occasion, only the then us ambassador to iran, mr. sullivan, realised that it was a double misunderstanding as he knew the presidents and the shahs different opinions on that african organization and he was also familiar with both mens peculiar accents. naturally he didnt see it fit for him to put them wise on the matter so he kept his mouth shut. he cast a glance around the room to see if anyone else was enjoying the room to see if anyone else was enjoying the joke with him and so the matter was allowed to pass.伊朗革命前，当时的美国总统吉米卡特在访问伊朗时曾与巴列维国王举行过一次正式会谈。伊朗国王的英语水平是相当高的。因此，他与卡特总统的会谈无需经过翻译。但巴列维国王讲英文时有的音发不准。这曾导致双方就一个重大问题产生了误会。有趣的是，卡特总统的英语也带有南方口音，所以导致了双重误会。事情的经过是这样的：会谈中，卡特总统提到某一非洲组织的问题。他请巴列维国王对它作一概括的评价。国王认为这个组织是软弱无力的。不过，在表达时，国王把软弱无力的(impotent)一词的重音读错，放在了第二个音节，结果，卡特总统听起来，软弱无力的变成了重要的(important)。而总统心目中的这一组织正好是重要的，于是，他认为双方对此问题的看法一致。总统很高兴，便重复了一句说，是的，这个组织的确是重要的。碰巧的是，卡特总统用美国南方口音，重复重要的一词时，听起来很像是软弱无力的一词。这样，国王也以为双方的观点是一致的。在场的，只有当时