北大校长就读错“鸿鹄”发音致歉：你们的校长并不是一个完美的人
近日，北京大学校长林建华教授在北大120周年校庆致辞时，寄语青年： 要励志，立鸿鹄志，做奋斗者。但把“鸿鹄”念成“鸿hao”，引起网友热议。
对此，林校长发表公开信致歉，回应读错“鸿鹄”发音：你们的校长并不是一个完美的人。
Pronunciation mistake at Peking University’s anniversary ceremony creates controversy in China
A ceremony marking the 120th anniversary of Peking University (PKU), one of the most prominent[1] universities in China, was held at the school's Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium[邱德拔体育馆] on May 4 and was attended by numerous notable figures, including Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University, and Li Yanhong, the CEO of Baidu, China's top search engine website, as well as current school staff and students.
[1]prominent：very well known and important 著名的；重要的
a prominent Democrat
民主党的重要人物
However, the ceremony made the school stay on the front pages of Chinese media much longer than the school expected thanks to a pronunciation mistake the university's president, Professor Lin Jianhua, made during his speech.
Professor Lin Jianhua gained his chemistry PhD in 1986 at Peking University and then taught at the university after graduation and has since undertaken over 800 research projects and published more than 140 academic papers.
During the speech, he mispronounced the word "Hong Hu Zhi" as "Hong Hao Zhi".
In Chinese, "Hong Hu(鸿鹄)" means swans[2] and Zhi means hopes and wishes. The word, Hong Hu Zhi, literally meaning swans' hopes, is used to describe people who have ambitions.
[2]swan：a large, usually white bird with a long neck that lives on rivers and lakes 天鹅
We watched the swans glide by.
我们看到天鹅轻快地飞过。
此外，作为动词，swan有“漫游，游走，闲逛，悠闲地走动”的意思(to travel, move, or behave in a relaxed way for pleasure and without worrying that others may feel annoyed)
She swanned into the room, carrying a glass of wine, taking no notice of the fact that she'd kept us all waiting for hours.
她拿着一杯葡萄酒悠然走进房间，丝毫没有注意到我们已经等了她好几个小时了。
In the afternoon on May 5, one day after the speech, the president posted an apology letter on the Bulletin Board System (BBS) of the university, an internal social media platform, to his students.
In the letter, Professor Lin acknowledged that he had never known the pronunciation of the word until he made the mistake. Then he claimed that he did not have very strong literature knowledge since the basic education he received in primary and secondary school was in the period of the Cultural Revolution. As a result, he didn't understand what the subject in a sentence was until he took his college entrance examination.
“The purpose of the letter is to let you know the real me, instead of defending my ignorance or the mistake,” he wrote, ”Your president is a person with a deficiency who can make mistakes.”
我写这封信，告诉大家这些，并不是想为自己的无知或失误辩护，只是想让你们知道真实的我。你们的校长并不是一个完美的人，也有缺点和不足，也会犯错误。
The letter has since become a matter of open discussion on social media, with people discussing Professor Lin's mistake and the school in general. Judgment about the president, the letter, the school and even how he should apologize varies.
The sincere and the quick response of Lin helped him win support, especially from his students at PKU.
“It is very difficult for some people to face their shortcomings,” Whisper commented, “I give my respect to the president.”
“After reading your letter, I forgave your mistake and imperfections. Your sincerity and courage have taught me a lot,” Dan Xiao De Mian Hua Tang wrote, “We should tolerate our parents, who received their primary education during the Cultural Revolution.”
“Sincerity is more important than perfection,” Ji Feng Cao said.
However, the letter has also created a lot of doubts.
“He really should apologize because the mistake was made in such a serious occasion (the speech at the ceremony),” Shang Shan Ruo Shui said, “To respect the audience, the script should be carefully prepared before the speech is made.”
来源：CGTN