节选自影片《西线无战事》(All Quiet On The Western Front)最开头教授的战争鼓吹。第一次世界大站即将爆发，德国某个中学，窗外是即将开赴前线的雄赳赳进军的士兵，教室里是极力鼓动孩子们去充当炮灰的慷慨激昂作着演讲的教授。

Now, my beloved class, this is what we must do: Strike with all our power. Give every ounce of strength to win victory before the end of the year. It is reluctance¹ that I bring this subject up again. You are the life of the fatherland, you boys. You are the iron men of Germany. You are the heroes who will repulse² the enemy when you are called upon to do so ……

Perhaps some will say that you should not be allowed to go yet, that you are too youg, that you have homes, mothers, fathers, that you should not be torn away.

Are your father so forgetful of their fatherland that they would let it perish rather than you? Are your mother so weak that they cannot send a son to defend the land which gave them birth? And after all, is a little experience such a bad thing for a boy? Is the honor of wearing a uniform something from which we should run?

重点讲解

　　先给戴上高帽：你们是祖国的生力军，你们是德意志的铁人，你们会是击退敌人的英雄。Repulse，击退，打败。

　　接着，估计了几种可能出现的反对理由。然后在第三段中，使用了四个连续的反问排比句，极具煽动性。记不记得Partrick Herry那个“不自由勿宁死”的著名演讲？里面也有个类似的反问句：“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery?”（生命是如此珍贵、和平是如此甜蜜，以致可以用忍受奴役、镣铐加身作为交换么？）生活用语中很少用到这样的句式，但在饱含激情的讲演或文章中是经常能够看到的。

　　教授是在驳斥反对参军的理由：父亲会如此忘恩负义以致让祖国先于他的儿子毁灭？母亲会如此软弱以致不能让她的儿子去保卫哺育他的国家？穿上军装这么光荣的事会让我们避之惟恐不及？这一点点的砺炼难道对一个男孩子来说是坏事？

　　在年轻学生心中，远离现实的幻想最容易挑起激情。这些还没有经过世事沧桑的满腔热情也最容易被误导。当影片的男主角Paul牺牲前最后一次返回家乡，听到教授对着教授对着教室里的孩子鼓吹着同样的话，他再没有出征前的意气风发，因为他已经亲身体验到了战争的残酷。可孩子们宁愿相信教授，他们认为Paul是胆小的懦夫。有句话不是说么，“很多事情，当我们年轻的时候不懂得，当我们懂得的时候已不再年轻”。