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Barack Obama: African-American
VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语频道向大家介绍美国的总统。
Today we are talking about Barack Obama.
今天我们要谈到的是奥马巴。
He first took office in 2009 and was re-elected in 2012. Because his presidency1 is so recent, this program will not try to offer a historical perspective.
他在2009年首次就职总统并于2012年获得连任。因为他的总统任期就在近期，这期节目将不会试图提供历史视角。
But one part of his legacy2 is already clear. Obama is the United States’ first African-American president. His father was a black man from Kenya; his mother was a white American from the Midwestern state of Kansas.
但是他留下的一部分政治遗产已经非常清楚。奥巴马是美国首任非裔美国人总统。他的父亲是来自肯尼亚的黑人男子，他的母亲来自美国中西部的堪萨斯州的美国白人。
For many Americans, Obama’s presidency was an important symbol in a country that permitted black people to be enslaved.
对大多数美国人来说，奥巴马的总统任期是美国这样一个允许蓄奴的国家里的一项重要标志。
And, even after the U.S. Constitution officially banned slavery in 1865, African-Americans have been extremely under-represented in the U.S. government.
而且，即使是在1865年美国宪法正式禁止奴隶制之后，非裔美国人在美国政府的代表性也不足。
By 2009, only five African-Americans had ever served in the U.S. Senate – and Obama was one of them.
到2009年，只有5名非裔美国人曾经在美国参议院任职，奥巴马就是其中一位。
Even many people who did not vote for Obama said his election to the country’s highest office made them proud or hopeful. A public opinion survey immediately after Election Day found that two-thirds of Americans believed that the country’s racial conflicts could be resolved.
即使没有投票给奥巴马的很多人也表示，他当选美国最高职位让他们感到自豪和充满希望。选举日之后立即进行的一项民意调查发现，2/3的美国人认为该国的种族冲突可以得到解决。
Early life
早年生活
Obama’s parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. His father had won a scholarship to study economics. His mother went on to earn a degree in math there, as well as a graduate degree.
奥巴马的父母在夏威夷大学上学时相遇。他的父亲曾经获得学习经济学的奖学金。他的母亲后来在该校获得了数学学位以及研究生学位。
The two married and had a son, whom they named after his father: Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.
两人结了婚并有了一个儿子，并以他父亲的名字给他取名，也就是巴拉克·侯赛因·奥巴马二世（Barack Hussein Obama，Jr.）。
But the couple soon separated. The older Barack Obama returned to Kenya, where he later died in a car accident.
但是这对夫妇很快离婚了。老奥巴马回到了肯尼亚，后来在一场车祸中丧生。
Barack’s mother went on to marry another man. He was from Indonesia. The family moved to Jakarta, and the couple had a daughter named Maya.
奥巴马的母亲后来跟另一位男子结了婚。他来自印尼。这家人搬到了雅加达，他们还有一个女儿，名字叫玛雅。
When Barack was 10, his mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with her parents. She wanted him to get a good education. Barack finished high school in Hawaii, then went on to Occidental College in Los Angeles.
当奥巴马10岁时，他的母亲将他送回夏威夷，跟她的父母同住。她希望奥巴马能获得良好的教育。奥巴马在夏威夷读完高中，然后进入了洛杉矶的西方学院。
After two years, he transferred to Columbia University in New York. There, he completed a degree in political science.
两年后，他转入纽约哥伦比亚大学，并在该校获得政治学学位。
But Obama said the best education he received was in one of his first jobs. He worked as a community organizer in Chicago. He helped people who lived in public housing put pressure on the city government to improve their conditions.
但是奥巴马表示，他受到的最好的教育是在他第一份工作中。他在芝加哥担任了社区组织者，帮助住在公共住房的人们向市政府施压来改善他们的状况。
Obama later said the work showed him how important it was to understand the legal process. So he entered Harvard Law School.
奥巴马后来表示，这份工作向他展示了了解法律程序的重要性。所以他进入了哈佛法学院。
Over the next years, Obama worked as a lawyer, wrote a book about his experience as a person of mixed race, and married Michelle Robinson, a woman he worked with at a law firm.
在接下来的几年里，奥巴马担任律师，写了一本书谈到他作为混血儿的经历，并和律师事务所的同事米歇尔·罗宾逊（Michelle Robinson）结了婚。
She and Barack Obama settled in Chicago and had two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
米歇尔和奥巴马在芝加哥定居，并生下了两个女人，马丽亚和萨沙。
When he was in his mid-30s, Obama began his political career. He was elected three times to the Illinois state senate. After 10 years there, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate in a landslide4 victory.
奥巴马三十多岁时开启了他的政治生涯。他三次当选为伊利诺伊州参议员。在此十年之后，他以压倒性的胜利当选美国参议员。
That same year, Obama attended the Democratic National Convention – the meeting where the party officially nominates a presidential candidate. Obama was not one of the candidates. But the Democrats5 asked him to make an important speech.
同年，奥巴马出席了民主党全国大会，这是该党正式提名总统候选人的会议。奥巴马并非候选人之一，但是民主党人邀请他发表了一次重要讲话。
In it, Obama famously talked about how his life story was an American story. He said he was confident the U.S. could overcome its divisions and achieve unity3.
在这次讲话中，奥巴马备受关注地谈到了他的人生故事如何成为一个美国故事。他说，他有信心美国能够克服分裂达成一致。
“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America,” he said. “…There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America. There’s a United States of America.”
“世上绝无所谓自由的美国和保守的美国之分，”他说，“......世上没有黑人的美国和白人的美国之分，没有拉丁裔的美国和亚裔的美国之分，世上只有美利坚合众国。”
Only four years later, Obama would be elected its 44th president.
仅仅四年之后，奥巴马就当选了第44任美国总统。
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
Words in This Story
perspective - n. a way of thinking about and understanding something
firm - n. a business organization
liberal - adj. believing that government should be active in supporting social and political change
conservative - adj. believing in the value of established and traditional practices in politics and society
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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landslide
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| n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利 | |
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democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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