2017考研英语拓展阅读：奥巴马最后一次颁发总统自由勋章

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    　　2017考研英语拓展阅读：奥巴马最后一次颁发总统自由勋章
    WASHINGTON (NYTimes) - President Barack Obama gave the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, to 21 artists, sports figures,
scientists and philanthropists on Tuesday (Nov 22) in a bravura performance that
had the East Wing, stuffed to capacity, laughing.
    华盛顿(纽约时报电)——星期二(11月22日)，在白宫东翼举办的一场座无虚席、充满欢声笑语的精彩宴会中，美国总统奥巴马向21名艺术家、体坛明星、科学家和慈善家颁发了总统自由勋章——这是美国最高公民奖。
    "Everyone on this stage has touched me in a powerful personal way," Mr
Obama said at the ceremony’s end. "These are folks who have helped make me who I
am and think about my presidency."
    在典礼结束致辞时，奥巴马说，“每个人都以独特的方式感动了我。正是这些人成就了我，让我认真的对待总统职位。”
    Mr Obama has given more Presidential Medals of Freedom than any previous
president.
    奥巴马总统所授出的总统自由勋章超出了以往任何一届总统。
    Among the honourees were Robert Redford, Bill and Melinda Gates, Tom Hanks
and Diana Ross. When he put the medal around the neck of Michael Jordan, Mr
Obama, an avid basketball fan, beamed like a 10-year-old.
    获奖者包括罗伯特.雷德福,比尔.盖茨夫妇，汤姆.汉克斯和黛安娜.罗斯等人。当奥巴马总统将勋章挂到迈克尔.乔丹脖子上时，这位超级篮球粉丝，开心的像个10岁小孩。
    "Not because of our differences, but because in our differences we find
something in common to share. And what a glorious gift that is."
    他说，“并非是我们的不同，而是正因我们的不同，我们才有共同点来分享。这是一件熠熠生辉的礼物。”
    The president’s opening speech was poignant, revealing and at times
hilarious. In a tribute to Ellen DeGeneres, for instance, he spoke with emotion
about the courage DeGeneres had needed to tell a national audience that she was
gay.
    奥巴马总统的开幕词深刻、真情流露，有时还非常诙谐。比如在对艾伦.德杰尼勒斯的致词中，他深情的提到艾伦的巨大勇气——她曾告诉全国观众，自己是一名同性恋者。
    "But it’s like Ellen says, ’We all want a tortilla chip to support the
weight of guacamole’," Mr Obama said, seemingly out of nowhere, as DeGeneres
nodded behind him and the audience laughed. "Which really makes no sense to me.
But I wanted to break the mood, because I was getting choked up."
    “但正如艾伦所说，‘我们都想要墨西哥玉米饼来配鳄梨沙拉酱’”，奥巴马总统说——听起来像是没头没脑的，艾伦则直点头赞同，观众都大笑起来。“这其实对我没有任何意义。不过我还是想破坏一下气氛——因为我喉头哽咽。”
    He took a dig at Jordan, the basketball star, by calling him "the guy from
Space Jam", a 1996 film with Bugs Bunny.
    他还调侃篮球明星乔丹，说他是《太空大灌篮》里的家伙，这是一部1996年和卡通人物兔八哥合演的电影。
    A tall man, Mr Obama had such trouble reaching up to put the award around
the towering Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s neck that the basketball great leaned back to
help.
    另一位高个篮球巨星阿卜杜勒.贾巴尔也获奖了，然而奥巴马却难以够到他的脖子为其戴上勋章，于是这个大个子弯下身子来。
    And Mr Obama began his awardees with the world’s richest couple, Mr and Mrs
Gates.
    奥巴马还将勋章颁给了世界最富有的夫妇：比尔盖茨夫妇。
    "First, we came close to missing out on Bill and Melinda Gates’ incredible
partnership," he said, deadpan. "Because apparently Bill’s opening line was, ’Do
you want to go out two weeks from this coming Saturday?’
    “首先，我们差一点错过了比尔夫妇难以置信的伙伴关系”，奥巴马面无表情的说，“因为很显然比尔的开场白是，‘你是否愿意从本周六开始出去两周?’”
    "I mean, he’s good with computers, you know?" he said to laughter.
"Fortunately, Melinda believes in second chances, and the world is better for
it."
    “我的意思是说，他太喜欢钻研电脑了!明白吗?”他向大笑的观众说，“幸运的是，比尔太太相信了他。这个世界因而变得更美好。”
    Mr Gates has donated nearly US$40 billion to charity . The couple have also
invested in and shared some of the Obama administration’s most important
priorities, including its education and climate initiatives.
    盖茨先生向慈善机构捐赠了约400亿美元，这对夫妇还投资和共享了奥巴马政府的一些最重要紧急的事项，包括教育和环境项目。
    来源：海峡时报