2013年末南非前总统纳尔逊曼德拉的去世让世人沉浸在哀痛之中。作为反种族歧视的运动代表、杰出的政治家，曼德拉用一生的时间向世人证明了他对他的祖国和理想的忠贞。在他的带领下，南非和平迎来多种族民主议会制，改革后的新南非正展翅欲飞。这样一位卓越的政治领导人给我们在政治、精神和人生上有着许多启示。GRE和托福的作文考试中有许多关于政治领导人的话题，曼德拉的事迹可以为许多这样的话题做出有力的论证。本文从美国总统奥巴马为曼德拉的致辞中摘取了佳词佳句，为大家在作文中的措辞提供参考，并且将和曼德拉事迹有关的GRE作文题目也举例列出，相信曼德拉的事迹可以为更多的GRE、托福提供素材，这就需要大家的brainstorming啦!
2013年12月5日，南非总统祖尔向世界宣布了一个无比沉痛的消息，南非前总统，毕生致力于消除种族歧视的伟大先驱纳尔逊曼德拉于凌晨去世。虽然曼德拉此前已多次入院治疗，但是他去世的消息仍然令南非和世界各地的人民感到意外和震惊。纳尔逊曼德拉的逝去是人类历史上的一个巨大损失，但他所留下的精神财富会永远鼓励人们为他的理想而奋斗。
曼德拉生平
纳尔逊罗利赫拉赫拉曼德拉1918年7月18日出生于南非的一个部落里。先后获南非大学文学士和威特沃特斯兰德大学律师资格。曾任非国大青年联盟全国书记、主席。于1994年至1999年间任南非总统，是首位黑人总统，被尊称为南非国父。
当曼德拉9岁的时候，他父亲死于肺结核。因为父亲的地位，他被指定为王朝的继任者。1944年参加主张非暴力斗争的南非非洲人国民大会。1961年，他领导罢工运动，抗议和抵制白人种族主义者成立的南非共和国此后转入地下武装斗争。曼德拉创建了非国大军事组织：民族之矛并任总司令。1962年8月，曼德拉被南非种族隔离政权逮捕入狱，当时政府以煽动罪和非法越境罪判处曼德拉5年监禁，自此，曼德拉开始了他长达27年的监狱生涯。1964年6月，南非政府以企图以暴力推翻政府罪判处正在服刑的曼德拉终生监禁，当年他被转移到罗本岛上。1990年2月11日，在监狱中度过了27年的曼德拉终于重获自由。1993年，诺贝尔和平奖被授予为曼德拉和宣布他无罪释放的前南非总统德克勒克曼德拉，以鼓励他们为南非和平民主过渡做出努力。1994年曼德拉在南非首次的多种族大选中获胜，成为南非历史上首位黑人总统。1997年12月，曼德拉辞去非国大主席一职，并表示不再参加1999年6月的总统竞选。曼德拉在推动多元族群民主的过渡期挺身领导南非。自种族隔离制度终结以来，曼德拉受到了来自各界的赞许，包括从前的反对者。
作文延展
曼德拉是一位不朽的伟人，他的一生充满了让世人沉思的时刻，他为消除种族隔离所做出的努力和牺牲激励了很多人为改变现状而行动起来。在GRE托福雅思作文中，有不少题目与leadership或者是个人面对的选择相关，曼德拉的一生向世人证明了一个人为梦想可以付出的，一位领袖应该是怎样的。编者从中外媒体的报道中摘取了适合同学们学习佳词佳句的段落。应当注意的是，我们需仅仅从中学习词语和句子结构，文本雷同在托福和GRE作文考试中是一大禁忌。
奥巴马对于纳尔逊曼德拉充满钦佩之情，他称曼德拉为时代的巨人，也曾说我是千千万万从纳尔逊曼德拉的一生汇总得到启示的人之一。跟其他人一样，我无法想象如果没有曼德拉作为榜样我的一生会怎样
让我们来通过奥巴马对纳尔逊曼德拉的回忆，了解曼德拉对世人的影响：
To so many of us, he was more than just a man he was a symbol of the struggle for justice, equality, and dignity in South Africa and around the globe. His sacrifice was so great that it called upon people everywhere to do what they could on behalf of human progress.
对于我们很多人来说，他不仅是一个人，更是南非及世界寻求正义、平等和尊严的化身。他的牺牲号召了世界各地的人们行动起来推动人类进程。
A prisoner became a free man; a liberation figure became a passionate voice for reconciliation; a party leader became a president who advanced democracy and development. Out of formal office, Mandela continued to work for equality, opportunity and human dignity. He has done so much to change his country, and the world, that it is hard to imagine the history of the last several decades without him.
一个囚犯变成一个自由的人;一个被解放的人变成了一个积极寻求和解的人物;一个党派领袖成为了推动民主和发展的国家总统。在政治生涯之外，曼德拉继续为平等、机遇和人类尊严而奋斗。他所做的一切改变了他的国家，改变了世界，我难以想象最近几十年的历史如果没有他会变成怎样。
The story told by Mandelas life is not one of infallible human beings and inevitable triumph. It is the story of a man who was willing to risk his own life for what he believed in, and who worked hard to lead the kind of life that would make the world a better place.
曼德拉的一生并不是完美无瑕或者是水到渠成的。他冒着生命危险追求信仰，并且为让世界变得更加美好而奋斗了终生。
In the end, that is Mandelas message to each of us. All of us face days when it can seem like change is hard days when our opposition and our own imperfections may tempt us to take an easier path that avoids our responsibilities to one another. Mandela faced those days as well. But even when little sunlight shined into that Robben Island cell, he could see a better future one worthy of sacrifice. Even when faced with the temptation to seek revenge, he saw the need for reconciliation, and the triumph of principle over mere power. Even when he had earned his rest, he still sought to inspire his fellow men and women to service.
最后，曼德拉给我们的启示是。我们所有的人都在面对着改变的艰难，面对着我们的对手和我们自己的缺陷诱使我们推卸自己的责任。曼德拉也有过这样的考验。但是只要有一丝阳光射入罗恩岛的监狱中，他就能够看到一个更好的明天一个值得牺牲的明天。即使当他面对复仇的诱惑，他仍然能看到和解的需要，看到原则战胜权力的胜利。即使在他可以颐享天年的时候，他仍然孜孜不倦地引导他的人民贡献出自己的力量。
【GRE作文话题连接】
1. Some people believe that in order to be effective, political leaders must yield to public opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise. Others believe that the most essential quality of an effective leader is the ability to remain consistently committed to particular principles and objectives.
2. Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little.
3. Some people argue that successful leaders in government, industry, or other fields must be highly competitive. Other people claim that in order to be successful, a leader must be willing and able to cooperate with others.
4. The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare.
资料：从1990年曼德拉从监狱中获释，到在南非第一次多种族民主大选中获选总统，以及曼德拉当选总统期间，国内民众以及不同党派的呼求莫衷一是。他所代表的非国大与国内另一党派有着几十年的新仇旧恨，但是面对国内黑人种族和党内要求报复的声音，曼德拉选择了以自己从牢狱生涯中领悟到的宽容和和解来对待对手党，并且成功地与前南非白人总统德克勒克化干戈为玉帛一起携手民主过渡时期为南非避免了一场内战。这是一个政治家坚持自己的原则和信仰，不与其他不同意见折衷自己的理想并最终为自己的祖国赢得了宝贵的和平的事例，同时也证明了在政治上的合作对一国的命运有决定性的作用。
编者从12月10日奥巴马在曼德拉葬礼上的悼念词中摘录了一些感人的片段：
Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement -- a movement that at its start had little prospect for success. Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed and the moral necessity of racial justice. He would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev, and reached the final days of the Cold War. Emerging from prison, without the force of arms, he would -- like Abraham Lincoln -- hold his country together when it threatened to break apart. And like Americas Founding Fathers, he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations -- a commitment to democracy and rule of law ratified not only by his election, but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term.
像甘地一样，他领导了一场抵抗运动一场在开始时期希望渺茫的运动。像马丁路德金一样，他为被压迫者呐喊，为种族正义诉求。他经历了严酷的监押，从肯尼迪和赫鲁晓夫时期，一直到冷战的最后一刻。从监狱中崛起，无需武力，像林肯一样，曼德拉将他的国家在濒临溃散之际团结到了一起。像美国的建国之父一样，他起草的宪章将自由的权利延续到了下一代。他对民主和法律的投入不仅体现在他的当选，也体现在他仅任总统一届后自愿从权利高位上退下。
【GRE作文话题连接】
1.Claim: In any fieldbusiness, politics, education, governmentthose in power should step down after five years.
Reason: The surest path to success for any enterprise is revitalization through new leadership.
2. Leaders are created by the demands that are placed on them.
资料：曼德拉在当选一任总统后毅然卸任，表示不会参加下任总统的选举。他还总是对公众宣传下一任总统姆贝基，称他比我这老头子强。
Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you dont agree with. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a snipers bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and his passion, but also because of his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his.
曼德拉教会我们行动的力量，同时他也教会我们思想的力量、理智和论点的重要性、不仅是向和你意见一致的人学习，还有向和你意见不同的人学习的必要性。他明白监狱无法束缚住思想，狙击手的枪子无法枪毙思想。他在监狱里用数十载的时间磨练他的辩论，同时向其他同胞传播对知识的渴求。他学习压迫者的语言和文化，以便于将来一天他能更好地向压迫者们传达为何他们的自由是以他的自由为基础的。
【GRE作文话题连接】Claim: We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from those whose views contradict our own.
Reason: Disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning.
But as he showed in painstaking negotiations to transfer power and draft new laws, he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skillful politician, the Constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy, true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights, and the precious freedoms of every South African.
但是当他进行艰难的权力过渡协商和起草新法令时，他并没有惧怕为更宏大的目标做出忍让。因为他不仅是一个运动领袖，更是一名杰出的政治家，新起草的宪章遵循了多种族民主和他对法律的看法，即法律既要保护少数人民的权力，也要保护多数人民的权力，以及每个南非人民的珍贵的自由。
And finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa -- Ubuntu -- a word that captures Mandelas greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.
最后，曼德拉理解连接人类精神的枢纽。南非有一个词最能描绘出曼德拉的天赋Ubuntu，意思是他能认识到我们所有人以肉眼看不到的方式关联在一起的能力，能认识到人性的统一，能认识到我们通过和他人分享和互相关爱成就我们自己。
For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around the globe, Madibas passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate a heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or our circumstance, we must ask: How well have I applied his lessons in my own life?
对于南非人民来说，对于全球各地受曼德拉启发的人们来说，他的逝去让我们哀悼，让我们铭记他英勇的一生。但是我相信他的逝去更会督促我们每一个人进行自省。不论我们的地位和境况，我们诚实地问自己：我怎样将从曼德拉身上所学到的运用到我自己的生活中?
The questions we face today -- how to promote equality and justice; how to uphold freedom and human rights; how to end conflict and sectarian war -- these things do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child born in World War I. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows that is true. South Africa shows we can change, that we can choose a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.
今天我们面对的问题如何促进平等和正义;如何才能促进自由和人权;如何结束摩擦和宗派斗争。这些问题并没有简单的答案。但是在那个一战中出生的孩子面前也没有简单的答案。纳尔逊曼德拉提醒我们一场事业在没有完成之前总是看起来不可能的。南非的进程说明了这一点。南非证明了我们可以改变世界，这个世界里我们的不同不再重要，重要的是我们分享同一个希望;这个世界里不再充满摩擦，而是充满和平、正义和机遇。
when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, when our best-laid plans seem beyond our reach, let us think of Madiba and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of his cell: It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
当夜色弥漫，当不公重压在我们心头，当我们的计划被全盘打乱，让我们想起曼德拉和那些曾经给他在监牢四壁中带来安抚的话：大门多么紧闭并不重要，刑罚多么严苛也不重要，重要的是我是我命运的主宰，我是我灵魂的主人。
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