美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump, The Golfer In Chief

 

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

And are you looking for the president?

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

SETH MEYERS: Donald Trump¹ has spent a lot of time as president golfing and tweeting.

RANDI KAYE: The president teed it up with professional golfer Rory McIlroy at Trump International.

JEANNE MOOS: Golf Digest called him the golfer in chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: President Trump for the birdie.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Those hands can hit a golf ball 285 yards.

NEARY: This week on Out of Bounds, the commander in chief on the links. President Trump is very much at home on a golf course. After all, his name is on 17 of them. Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE²: Whatever historians ultimately write on his presidential scorecard, Donald Trump may be the best golfer ever to occupy the Oval Office.

JAIME DIAZ: He's won club championships. Of course, they've all been at his club which, you know, is sometimes fodder³ for jokes.

HORSLEY: Jaime Diaz is a senior writer at Golf Digest who's played with Trump on a couple of occasions. He says the president golfs the way he governs, largely by instinct. But his swing is not as reckless as it might appear.

DIAZ: He has this sort of bombastic⁴ image obviously, well-earned. And you'd expect someone who probably has kind of a show-offy (ph), ego-driven kind of game. But in fact, it's a game of control, I would say.

HORSLEY: At age 70, Trump typically shoots in the 70s or low 80s. John F. Kennedy was probably the second-best golfing president, though he didn't play much in public. Kennedy tried to distance himself from his golf-crazy predecessor⁵ Dwight Eisenhower. Historian Mike Trostel of the U.S. Golf Association says the first time Kennedy walked into the Oval Office, he was surprised to find cleat marks on the battered⁶ hardwood floor.

MIKE TROSTEL: President Eisenhower would pace back and forth⁷ with his golf spikes⁸ on before he went out to the putting green to chip and putt a little bit in the morning.

HORSLEY: Nowadays, that hardwood floor is covered. And that's not the only way modern presidents try to sweep their golfing habits under the rug. While Trump spends hours at his own golf courses, aides rarely reveal who he's playing with or even confirm that he's playing at all. Trump often criticized former President Obama's time on the links, though he recently told a group of lawmakers that's because Obama didn't use the time transactionally.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: Well, I always said about President Obama - it's great to play golf, but play golf with heads of countries and, by the way, people like yourself when you're looking for votes. Don't play with your friends that you play with every week.

HORSLEY: Trump recently bonded⁹ with Japan's prime minister over a round of golf, and he tried to sell an Obamacare replacement¹⁰ bill between holes to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAND PAUL: We had a great day with the president today. We did talk about some health care reform. I think the sides are getting closer and closer together.

HORSLEY: Lyndon Johnson also used the golf course as one more venue¹¹ for arm-twisting, whereas Obama rarely talked politics during a round - except maybe that one time he played with former House Speaker John Boehner. Historian Trostel says for more than a century, nearly all presidents have spent time on the golf course, each with his own style. George H.W. Bush raced around the course in less than two hours. A round with Bill Clinton could drag on half the day. By far the most prolific¹² presidential golfer was Woodrow Wilson, who played nearly every day but Sunday, some 1,600 rounds in all, including all through World War I.

TROSTEL: In the wintertime, he had the Secret Service agents paint golf balls red so he could practice in the snow.

HORSLEY: For today's presidents, the golf course is loaded with political sand traps - accusations¹³ that they're slacking off or isolating¹⁴ themselves in a ritzy country club. But Golf Digest Jaime Diaz suspects there are real payoffs, too - an opportunity to relax and clear one's head and, for Trump, a chance to hit the pause button on the constant self-promotion.

DIAZ: I didn't sense he needed to tell you how good he was when he played golf. I think he was confident about it, and he just let his actions speak for themselves. So in some ways, that might be his best self out on the golf course.

HORSLEY: Plaques¹⁵ at his golf clubs say Trump has even hit a couple of holes in one, and that's not counting his longshot drive for the White House. Scott Horsley, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

4 bombastic   

adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的

参考例句：

• The candidate spoke in a bombastic way of all that he would do if elected.候选人大肆吹嘘，一旦他当选将要如何如何。
• The orator spoke in a bombastic manner.这位演说家的讲话言过其实。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

12 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

15 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。