VOA标准英语2012--Obama, Kimmel Keep White House Correspondents Dinner Full of Laughs

Obama, Kimmel Keep White House Correspondents Dinner Full of Laughs

Hollywood celebrities¹, journalists and government officials came together in Washington Saturday for a night of laughs at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

President Barack Obama addressed the group in the Washington Hilton hotel, taking a moment to joke about his similarities with the presumed Republican presidential nominee², Mitt³ Romney.

"We both think of our wives as our better halves, and the polls show to an alarmingly insulting extent that the American people agree," he said. "We also both have degrees from Harvard. I have one, he has two. What a snob⁴." This year's featured comedian⁵ was Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC television's late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kimmel took several hard jabs. He made light of the president's approval rating this election year.

"There's a term for President Obama, probably not two terms."

He even used actress Sofía Vergara to joke about the Secret Service prostitution scandal plaguing Washington.

"Sofía is from Colombia," he said. "This is how women look like in Colombia, what do you expect the Secret Service to do?"

Hollywood celebrities attending the event included George Clooney, Kim Kardashian and Steven Spielberg.

Proceeds from the dinner go toward scholarships for aspiring⁶ journalists and awards for excellence⁷ in the profession.

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 snob   

n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人

参考例句：

• Going to a private school had made her a snob.上私立学校后，她变得很势利。
• If you think that way, you are a snob already.如果你那样想的话，你已经是势利小人了。

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

7 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。