特朗普夫人抄了米歇尔·奥巴马的演讲吗？

AS IT IS 2016-07-20 Did Melania Trump¹ Copy Michelle Obama's Words? 特朗普夫人抄了米歇尔·奥巴马的演讲吗？

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Melania Trump is the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee² Donald Trump. On Monday night, she gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

It is a tradition for the partner of party nominees³ to speak at the convention. Her 14-minute speech earned loud cheers. She talked about her experience as a Slovenian immigrant in America, and praised her husband, calling him “intensely loyal.”

Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Monday night, “It was truly an honor to introduce my wife, Melania. Her speech and demeanor⁴ were absolutely incredible. Very proud!”

But, not long after Melania Trump’s speech ended, an unemployed⁵ journalist named Jarrett Hill noticed similarities between her speech and the one given by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Her husband, Barack Obama, officially became the Democratic presidential nominee at that convention.

Hill wrote on Twitter: “Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle's speech”?

A one-minute part of Melania Trump’s speech included words and phrases that almost exactly mirrored Michelle Obama’s speech.

In 2008, Michelle Obama said:

“Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

On Monday, Melania Trump said:

“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

People on social media quickly accused Melania Trump and the Trump campaign of plagiarizing⁶ Michelle Obama’s earlier speech. Plagiarism⁷ is the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person.

In the United States, plagiarism is a serious offense⁸ for writers, students and, yes, politicians. It can damage a political campaign.

In 1988, for example, current Vice⁹ President Joe Biden dropped out of the Democratic presidential race after he was accused of plagiarism in his speeches. Some of Biden’s speeches closely resembled the words of former British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.

But, the Trump campaign said Tuesday the issues with Melania’s speech are being “totally blown out of proportion.”

The campaign’s chairman, Paul Manafort, told the Associated Press that “There were a few words on it, but they’re not unique words.” He also said of Melania’s speech “99 percent of the speech talked about her being an immigrant and love of country…”

It is likely that Melania Trump herself did not write most of the speech. Some political observers say that Trump’s speechwriter -- or speechwriters -- should be fired.

But, CNN reported Tuesday that the Trump campaign does not plan to fire anyone involved in the speech-writing process.

Words in This Story

presumptive - adj. based on probability ?

demeanor - n. a person's appearance and behavior : the way someone seems to be to other people

mirror - v. to be very similar to (something)

plagiarize¹⁰ - v. to use the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas?

resemble - v. to look or be like (someone or something)

blow out of proportion expression. to make something seem more important or serious than it actually is

unique - adj. very special or unusual?

fire - v. to dismiss (someone) from a job

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 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 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 plagiarizing   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was accused of plagiarizing his colleague's results. 他被指控剽窃同事的成果。
• Moderates are plagiarizing his ideas in hopes of wooing voters. 温和派为讨好选民在盗用他的观点。 来自辞典例句

7 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

8 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 plagiarize   

v.剽窃，抄袭（别人学说、著作）

参考例句：

• Never plagiarize your paper.课程论文千万不要抄袭。
• It's not a viable option to plagiarize someone else's work.剽窃他人作品的行为是不可取的。