TED演讲 凌晨4点(6)

 　　What happens to American presidents at 0400 on inauguration¹ day?  总统就职那天的凌晨4点美国总统到底怎么了？

　　What happened to William Jefferson Clinton? We might not ever know. 威廉·杰斐逊·克林顿到底怎么了？我们也许无从知道。

　　And I noticed, he's not exactly around here today to face any tough questions. 而且我注意到，他今天人没来面对这难以回答的问题。

　　It could get awkward, right?  这不是很奇怪吗？

　　I mean after all, this whole business happened on his watch.  我是说，毕竟，基本所有事儿都归他宏观掌控。

　　But if he were here -- he might remind us, as he does in the wrap-up to his fine autobiography², 但是如果他在这儿，他可能会提醒我们说，就像他在自传中所写的

　　that on this day Bill Clinton began a journey --  从那天起，比尔·克林顿开始了一个新的旅程--

　　a journey that saw him go on to become the first Democrat³ president elected to two consecutive⁴ terms in decades. In generations. 这个旅程使他成为几十年来第一个民主党候选人中连任两届总统的人。也是几代人来的第一个。

　　The first since this man, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,  从富兰克林德拉诺，罗斯福以来第一次。

　　who began his own unprecedented⁵ journey way back at his own first election, 而罗斯福自己史无前例的旅程，从他第一次参选开始，

　　way back in a simpler time, way back in 1932 --  可以追溯到一个简单的时间：1932年--

　　the year Alberto Giacometti made "The Palace at Four in the Morning." 那年，阿尔贝托·贾科梅蒂创造了“凌晨4点的宫殿”。

　　The year, let's remember, that this voice, now departed, first came a-cryin' into this big old crazy world of ours.  那年，让我们记住，这个声音如今已经扩散开来，初次降临到我们这个疯狂的大千世界。

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。