PBS高端访谈:奥巴马举行任期内最后一次白宫记者会

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: He has given his final major speech, and now President Obama has also held his final news conference. He spent an hour before the White House press corps¹ today, two days before his presidency² ends.

　　John Yang was there.

　　JOHN YANG: In his 22nd and final time facing reporters in the White House Briefing Room, President Obama today defended his decision to commute³ the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst⁴ convicted of leaking U.S. military and diplomatic secrets.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence. So, the notion that the average person who was thinking about disclosing vital classified information would think that it goes unpunished, I don't think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served.

　　JOHN YANG: Most of the news conference was spent looking ahead to the fate of his own accomplishments⁵ after president-elect Trump⁶ takes office.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: My working assumption is that, having won an election, opposed a number of my initiatives and some aspects of my vision for where the country needs to go, it's appropriate for him to go forward with his vision and his values. And I don't expect that there's going to be, you know, enormous overlap⁷.

　　JOHN YANG: He also shed light on the counsel he's offered Mr. Trump.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This is a job of such magnitude, that you can't do it by yourself. You are enormously reliant on a team, your Cabinet, your senior White House staff, all the way to fairly junior folks in their 20s and 30s, but who are executing on significant responsibilities.

　　That's probably the most useful advice and most constructive⁸ advice that I have been able to give him.

　　JOHN YANG: He said he hoped he could take a pause from politics, but made clear he will speak out when he feels compelled to.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake. I put in that category if I saw systematic⁹ discrimination being ratified¹⁰ in some fashion. Efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and, for all practical purposes, are American kids, and send them someplace else, I think, would be something that would merit me speaking out.

　　JOHN YANG: And he weighed in one last time on an issue that has dogged presidents for generations, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If you do not have two states, then, in some form or fashion, you are extending an occupation. We have believed, consistent with the positions that have been taken with previous U.S. administrations for decades now, that it was important for us to send a signal, a wakeup call, that this moment may be passing.

　　奥巴马举行任期内最后一次白宫记者会

　　JOHN YANG: Mr. Obama also reflected on how America has changed during his presidency, on social issues, like attitudes on LGBTQ rights.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I don't think it is something that will be reversible, because American society has changed. The attitudes of young people in particular have changed. That doesn't mean there aren't going to be some fights that are important, legal issues, issues surrounding transgender persons. There are still going to be some battles that need to take place.

　　JOHN YANG: The president lamented¹¹ what he sees as undue¹² restrictions¹³ on voting rights, which he said was a lingering vestige¹⁴ of slavery and Jim Crow.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This whole notion of election or voting fraud, this is something that has constantly been disproved. This is fake news, the notion that there are a whole bunch of people out there who are going out there and are not eligible¹⁵ to vote and want to vote.

　　We have the opposite problem. We have a whole bunch of people who are eligible to vote who don't vote.

　　JOHN YANG: As Mr. Obama, the nation's first black president, prepares to leave office, after the first female presidential nominee¹⁶ was defeated, he expressed confidence that more barriers will be broken in the future.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If, in fact, we continue to keep opportunity open to everybody, then, yes, we're going to have a woman president, we're going to have a Latino president, we will have a Jewish president, a Hindu president.

　　You know what? Who knows who we're going to have. I suspect we will have a whole bunch of mixed-up presidents at some point that nobody really knows what to call them.

　　JOHN YANG: Once he becomes a former president, Mr. Obama says he is looking forward to writing, being what he called quiet. He said he doesn't want to hear himself talk quite so much in the future, and also being a consumer of news, rather than the subject of news — Judy.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: John, I also thought it was interesting that the president acknowledged the role that economic inequality played in the results of the election.

　　JOHN YANG: That's exactly right.

　　He spoke¹⁷ about that in the context of a question about inclusion and diversity. He said it's important for all Americans to feel a part of the growing economy. He said he thought there were a lot of people who voted for Mr. Trump because they felt forgotten and disenfranchised and looked down upon.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And, John, you had a busy day, because I know, before the president's news conference, you were — you attended a briefing by the Trump transition team, and they were talking about getting ready for the inauguration¹⁸.

　　JOHN YANG: That's right.

　　Sean Spicer, who is going to be the press secretary here at the White House on Friday, starting on Friday, said that Mr. Trump has been rehearsing his inaugural¹⁹ address. He said that he wrote it himself with some input²⁰ from policy adviser²¹ Stephen Miller²², from Kellyanne Conway, from Reince Priebus, who's going to be White House chief of staff, from Steve Bannon, who's going to be White House counsel — counselor²³, rather.

　　He said that it's going to talk about common goals that — and Mr. Trump himself said that the theme is going to be America first. Sean was asked — Sean Spicer was asked if any part of the speech is going to reach out to Americans who didn't vote for Mr. Trump. He said that Mr. Trump doesn't feel he should be judged on his rhetoric²⁴ or symbolism, but wants to be judged on his actions and his successes.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: All really interesting.

　　John Yang, keep holding down the fort for us at the White House and with the Trump transition team. Thank you.

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 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。

7 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

8 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

9 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

10 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

11 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

14 vestige   

n.痕迹，遗迹，残余

参考例句：

• Some upright stones in wild places are the vestige of ancient religions.荒原上一些直立的石块是古老宗教的遗迹。
• Every vestige has been swept away.一切痕迹都被一扫而光。

15 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

16 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。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

19 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

20 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

21 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

22 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

23 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

24 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。