劳拉带你参观白宫是如何准备过圣诞的？

Harry¹: Let's see what the White House has in store for the holiday this year. CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante is inside with a very special tour guide, First Lady Laura Bush, good morning.

Bill: Harry, good morning to you, good morning to all, and First Lady Laura Bush, welcome as always.

Laura: Thank you for having me.

Bill: Christmas decorations at the White House?

Laura: That's right. It's the most favorite time of the year and we've just, last night, all the decorators who've come from around the country to decorate left and I will set up today to show it off.

Bill: I have to, I have to tell ya, I'm used to seeing something much more elaborate in this East Room.

Laura: That's right. This is a simpler...ur...year, really is, we, ur, you have the theme: all things bright and beautiful and what I really wanted to use were fresh, all fresh things, so we have real roses on the tree, aren't they beautiful?

Bill: Real flowers on the tree in. . .

Laura: Some pieces're, that are (with those) up high, with those so we don't have to change those as so often.

Bill: In water, in little vials of water.

Laura: In water, that's right, in little vials of water. And then we are using a lot of fruit, we have the beautiful color of pears on the center pieces for the East Room, this is the, a table that will be set up during receptions here in the East Room, there will be one here and then one in the dinning² room, of course.

Bill: Wait a minute, where's the food?

Laura: The food will be here. You are gonna get it this afternoon oh~ this morning. Um, in fact that will be our new chef that would, this would be her debut³ to the press. Cris Comerford, our new White House chef, the first woman chef.

Bill: First woman chef, right.

Laura: Chef and she will, about 10:30, will be serving all of the press, ur /, the big buffet⁴ that we will be having at our parties.

Bill: Well, now you got the White House Christmas card of course right here.

Laura: The White House Christmas card is in the mail, and it's done by Jamie Wyeth this year, the, um, very renowned⁵ American artist Jamie Wyeth, the son of Andrew Wyeth, grandson of NC Wyeth. And it's the beautiful south portico⁶ of the White House. And we have Barney and Beazley and Kitty down there in the snow. Of course, we had to put them in the card. And then, if you come to visit the White House during the Christmas, you get the~um~Christmas brochure, all the guests that come, / including all the tours, so we should, we expect about 45, 000 people and, on White House tours over the Christmas holidays and every year we've asked a children's book illustrator to illustrate⁷ the decorations of the White House. And this year the illustrator is Donna Green. And I think she did a really beautiful job of showing how pretty the White House is when it's decorated for Christmas.

Bill: It's always pretty, but it's very different this year. What're these different things to see?

Laura: It's very different. It's much simpler and everything is fresh and real, I think it's really, really pretty and, especially, I think this sort of decoration shows off how elegant the White House is.

Bill: Let me ask you this. Your husband today is giving a major speech (That's right. ) about Iraq (Uh uhm), to prove that he has a plan(uhm) because he has been so criticized(uhm) by many people, (uh-em) because the war keeps dragging on,(uhm) because that means that there are troops (Sure. Can harm somewhat. ) away from Christmas.(yeah) Does it, first of all, does it bother you when he is criticized the way he has been?

Laura: Well, sure, absolutely, you know, no one likes to see anyone they love criticized, but on the other hand when you look at what really has happened. It's only been three years. Iraq has come a very, very long way. They've ratified⁸ a constitution. This month, they will elect their leaders for the next four years. More and more Iraqi troops have been trained. As more Iraqi troops are trained, more of our troops will be able to stand down. It's really a quite amazing transformation⁹ in the heart of the Middle East, and all of the other things that happened as well, Lebanon, with Syria leaving Lebanon.

Bill: This is quite a year.

Laura: Libya. You know, what really is amazing and I know we're impatient and I know it's difficult, it's very, very difficult to watch those images from Iraq, to see and to be so fearful for our American troops that are there all the time, which I know all Americans are - not just the families that have been deployed¹⁰, but all Americans have a very difficult time watching our troops over there and worrying about our troops over there. But at the same time. . .

Bill: Especially I think at the holiday season.

Laura: Sure. At the holiday season it's always the hardest when you think about the families who have an empty place at the table, either because they lost their loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan, or because their loved one is deployed. Um, it's the most difficult time, a holiday season. And so it's especially a time for Americans to reach out to our military families around the world.

Bill: One quick question on another topic. Are you disappointed your husband didn't pick a woman for the Supreme¹¹ Court?

Laura: Well, he did pick one (Well, yeah), but now I mean I think Samuel Alito will be terrific, I'm very very excited about him and his highly qualified¹² so. . .

Bill: We are so happy you could be with us (Thank you very much Bill. ), thank you so much First Lady Laura Bush. Harry.

Harry: Hi, Bill, Mrs. Bush, thank you so much show. Love the tour, love the scenes at the White House this time of year. You can check out even more decorations by heading to the website at the White House, that's whitehouse.gov.

All right.

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 dinning   

vt.喧闹（din的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• The cries of his tormentors were still dinning in his ears. 使他痛苦的人们的叫嚣仍然在他的耳际震响。 来自辞典例句
• The meals in the artistic little dinning-room were pleasant. 在雅致的小餐厅里吃饭是一种享受。 来自辞典例句

3 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

4 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

5 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

6 portico   

n.柱廊，门廊

参考例句：

• A large portico provides a suitably impressive entrance to the chapel.小教堂入口处宽敞的柱廊相当壮观。
• The gateway and its portico had openings all around.门洞两旁与廊子的周围都有窗棂。

7 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

8 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

9 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

10 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。