2020年经济学人 拜登--平平无奇的总统小天才(2)

Instead, he beat him in politics, with words rather than fists. As things turned out, the contrasting styles of his predecessors¹ may have made Mr Biden’s deeply prosaic² register an asset after all.

相反，拜登没有动拳头，而是在政治上用言语击败了特朗普。事实证明，与前任总统们截然不同的风格竟然可能使拜登平淡无奇的语体风格变成难能可贵的财富。

Receiving his party’s nomination³ in 2008, Mr Obama said future generations might remember the occasion as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal”. His high-flown rhetoric⁴ raised expectations to messianic levels. Dashed hopes led many voters to look for someone who sounded as little like a politician as possible. In 2016 that meant a political novice⁵ who eschewed⁶ focus-grouped formulations in favour of provocative⁷, often vulgar tirades⁸. Not only did voters not mind; Mr Trump’s outrageous⁹ style was hugely effective. His vernacular¹⁰ delivery implied that he was a real boss, not a backslapping hack¹¹, with unique skills to get things done. But in office his coarseness turned some voters off, even as it thrilled others.

奥巴马在2008年获得民主党党内提名时表示，我们的子孙后代可能会把这一时刻记为“海洋面上升开始放缓，地球开始恢复的时刻”。他浮夸的言辞让人们抱有很高的期待，期望总统会是弥赛亚那样的人物。然而希望破灭了，许多选民为此想要寻求一个听起来与政客截然不同的总统。也就是2016年大选时的政治新手特朗普，他完全避开了政客焦点组合式的表述，而倾向于挑衅性的、通常是言辞粗鄙的长篇大论。选民们不但不介意特朗普离谱的作风，反而十分受用。他的白话表达意味着他是一个真正的老板，而不是弹冠相庆的政客，他用这些独特的技巧当选了总统。但在执政期间，他的粗俗不堪让一些选民欣喜若狂，也让其他选民望而却步。

All that makes this an ideal time for Average Joe, for whom being able to talk fluidly at all was a hard-won achievement. Mr Biden grew up with a severe stutter, which he overcame as a young man. In one of the most touching¹² scenes of his campaign, he told a boy who stutters, “Don’t let it define you. You are smart as hell.” Mr Biden took the boy’s number and called him with some tips that had helped him; later the boy spoke¹³ to the Democratic National Convention.

种种因素为普通人乔·拜登创造了绝佳的竞选时机。于拜登而言，能够流利地交谈已经是来之不易的成就了。拜登从小就患有严重的口吃，青年时期才得以克服。拜登竞选时曾有一幕最令人动容，他对一个结巴的男孩说，“别让口吃定义你。你非常聪明。”拜登记下了男孩的号码，并打电话跟他分享几个曾经对自己有帮助的小窍门；这个男孩后来在民主党全国代表大会上发表了演讲。

Even careful presidents make gaffes¹⁴ under constant scrutiny¹⁵. In office, Mr Biden will no doubt give comics plenty of material to sharpen their impersonations. But if he gets tongue-tied or says the wrong thing every now and then, well, so do most people. After 12 years of extraordinary political speech, Americans may be ready for a president who sounds like them.

即使是谨慎的总统也会在不断的审视下失态。在任期间，拜登无疑会给喜剧提供大量犀利的模仿素材。如果他现在经常结结巴巴或说错话，没关系，大多数人也会这样失言的。经过12年非凡的政治演讲后，美国人可能已经准备好迎接一位听起来和自己差不多的总统了。

1 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

6 eschewed   

v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I eschewed upbraiding, I curtailed remonstrance. 我避免责备，少作规劝。 来自辞典例句
• Moreover, she has a business plan, an accessory eschewed by cavalier counterparts. 此外，她还有商业计划，这是彬彬有礼的男设计师们回避的一点。 来自互联网

7 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

8 tirades   

激烈的长篇指责或演说( tirade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• What's the matter with Levin today?Why doesn't he launch into one of his tirades? 你所说得话我全记录下来列文今天怎么啦？没有反唇相讥？

9 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

10 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

11 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

12 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 gaffes   

n.失礼，出丑( gaffe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网

15 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。