哈佛大學校園英語情景對話29：父子總統(tǒng)

Han Meimei comes across John on her way to the library.

H: Hi, John, did you go to the library?

H:嗨，約翰，你去圖書館了?

J: Yes, I've just come out.

J:是的，我剛出來。

H ： What books did you borrow?

H:你都借了什么書?

J： All about the Bush family.

J:都是關(guān)于布什家族的。

H: Are you interested in Bush? Isn't he a bad President?

H:你對布什感興趣?他總統(tǒng)不是當?shù)貌缓脝?

J： Do you mean Bush Jr.? Even so, he has a lot of virtues from which we can leam. Moreover, the Bush family is very strong and has a lot of stories.

J:你是說小布什?即便如此，他也有很多優(yōu)點值得我們學習。況且，布什家族非常 強大，也有很多故事。

H: Yes, the family is indeed unique. Both father and son were Presidents.

H:是的，這個家族確實很獨特，父子倆都當過總統(tǒng)。

J： This father and son is not unique, although it’s rare for a father and son to be US Presidents. They are the second father-son Presidents.

J:這對父子并不是獨一無二的，雖然說很少見父子二人都當美國總統(tǒng)。他們是第二 對父子總統(tǒng)了。

H ：Really? Who are the first?

H:真的?誰是第一對?

J: It’s the Adames. John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams.

J:是亞當斯父子。約翰?亞當斯和兒子約翰?昆西?亞當斯。

H: Which terms of US presidents did they serve?

H:他們是第幾任美國總統(tǒng)?

J： The father was the second US President and the son was the sixth. And guess what?

J:父親是第二任美國總統(tǒng)，兒子是第六任。知道嗎?

H: What?

H:知道什么?

J： Both were Harvard alumni.

J：他們兩個都是哈佛畢業(yè)生。

H: That’s.. .that’s incredible.

H:太..太不可思議了。

J： Now there is a Adams House at Harvard, which is named after Adams father and son. The House is often regarded as Harvard’s most historic House. Now, it’s 78 years old.

J:現(xiàn)在哈佛有個亞當斯學舍，就是以亞當斯父子命名的，它被認為是哈佛最具歷史 意義的學舍，至今有78年歷史了。

H: The Adams family must be an eminent at that time.

H:亞當斯家族在當時肯定很顯赫。

J: But John Adams was born to a modest family. His father even could only afford to send one of his three sons to college and finally he chose his eldest boy, John.

J:但約翰?亞當斯出生于一個并不富裕的家庭，他父親甚至只能供三個兒子中的一 個上大學，最后他選擇了大兒子約翰。

H: John is indeed a very common name. He must feel very happy and work hard at college.

H:約翰還真是個很普通的名字。他肯定感到很高興，幷在大學努力學習。

J： At first, he，like other applicants, experienced similar sensations. In his own words, he was so “terrified at the thought of introducing myself to such great Men as the President and fellows of a college that I was at first resolved to return home.”

J:剛開始的時候，像其他人學申請者一樣，他也很激動。用他的話說，“一想到要 在校長和其他校董這樣的大人物面前介紹自己就感到很害伯,想到過回家。”

H: So, great men are not mysterious. They’re the same as ordinary people at first.

H:所以，大人物也不神秘。剛開始的時候他們和普通人是一樣的。

J: You can say that. But great men often make far more great efforts than us. Soon after entering the school, Adams fell in love with learning, to the point where he might today be considered not quite well-rounded.

J：你可以這么說。但大人物經(jīng)常付出的努力要比我們多得多。亞當斯一進入學校就 愛上了學習，其對學習熱愛的程度讓他成為在今天看來可能不是全面發(fā)展的人。

H: Why?

H:為什么?

J： His fondness of study even dissipated all his inclination for sports and social activities.

J:對學習的喜愛甚至讓他喪失了對體育和社會活動的興趣。?

H: He must do well in the subjects.

H:他功課一定很好。

J: Yes, he did well in study. Unfortunately, before 1773，the graduates of Harvard were arranged in a hierarchy not of merit but according to the dignity of birth, or to the rank of their parents. By this rather imdemocratic standard，Adams graduated 14th in a class of24.

J:是的，他學習很好。可惜的是，1773年以前的哈佛畢業(yè)生是按出身尊貴或父母 的地位，而不是按資質(zhì)排列名次的。按照這種極其不民主的標準，亞當斯畢業(yè)時 在全班24名同學中排第14名。

H: Did he become a politician after graduation?

H:他畢業(yè)后當政客了?

J: No, his father expected him to become a minister, but he had doubts. After much reflection, he decided to become a lawyer. Guess what? His son was a lawyer too.

J:設(shè)有，他父親想讓他當牧師，但他有疑慮。深思熟慮之后，他決定當律師。知道 嗎,他兒子也是律師。

H: Like father, like son. Did Quincy Adams study as hard as his father at Harvard?

H:有其父必有其子。昆西?亞當斯在哈佛也像他父親一樣努力學習嗎?

J: He graduated second in a class of 51, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. It is said that Adams Jr is the only major figure in American history who knew both the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln.

J:畢業(yè)時，他在51人的班里排第二名，是美國大學優(yōu)等生之榮譽學會的成員。據(jù) 說小亞當斯是美國歷史上唯一認識建國之父和林肯的重要人物。

H: What does that mean?

H:什么意思?

J: In the U.S., Lincoln, who liberated the slaves and reunited the country, was like a “Founding Father” of a new country.

J:在美國，林肯解放了奴隸并統(tǒng)一了國家，就像新國家的"建國之父”一樣。

J： I got it. This father and son is really unique.

H:我明白了。這對父子真的很獨特。