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看美國大選辯論學英語系列之三

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北京時間10月20日上午,美國大選第三場也是最後一場辯論如期上演。這一場又迴歸到主持人提問,兩人回答並自由辯論的模式,話題涉及移民、經濟、ISIS、美國債務、最高法院大法官的提名以及兩位候選人是否能勝任美國總統。兩人本場的大部分交鋒都有點似曾相識,有些地方甚至還照搬了之前辯論中的原話,讓人頗感無味。最大的亮點大概就是主持人很直白地問特朗普,他是否會接受最終的大選結果。特朗普沒有正面回答,只是說:“I will tell you at the time, I will keep you in suspense.”到時候我再告訴你,先跟你賣個關子。不得不讓人遐想連篇。

看美國大選辯論學英語系列之三

言歸正傳,我們繼續跟着第三場辯論學英語


1. Tremendous

其實,這個詞並不怎麼值得講,但是,特朗普這三場辯論的發言中,這個詞出現的頻率非常高,當然,他自己本身就喜歡一個詞說三遍。所以,不如就拿出來說一說吧。

這個詞多用來表達“極”這個程度,尤指極大的,極好的。換句話說,如果用形容詞的最高級形式還不足以表達你的意思,你就可以試試用tremendous。想看幾個例句學學用法?特朗普給了我們好多呢。

原話摘錄:

“Something happened recently where Justice Ginsburg made some very inappropriate statements toward me and toward a tremendous number of people.
最近有個事兒,金斯伯格大法官針對我和很多很多人發表了一些非常不妥的言論。”

“The justices that I am going to appoint will be pro-life. They will have a conservative bent. They will be protecting the second amendment. They are great scholars in all cases and they're people of tremendous respect.
我要提名的大法官們都將是珍視生命的,他們會傾向於保守,會保護第二修正案。他們是各個領域的偉大學者,是廣受尊敬的人。”

“Let me just tell you before we go any further, in Chicago, which has the toughest gun laws in the United States, probably you could say by far, they have more gun violence than any other city. So we have the toughest laws and you have tremendous gun violence.
在我們繼續討論之前,先讓我說一句。芝加哥的控槍法案是美國最嚴厲的,不過目前爲止,芝加哥的槍支暴力事件比別的城市都要多。所以,我們有最嚴厲的法律,而你們有大量的槍支暴力事件。”

2. Outsmart

兩人聊着聊着移民又扯到俄羅斯和普京的話題上了。希拉里說對美國的網絡入侵是俄羅斯人乾的,而且是高層在背後策劃,目的就是干預美國大選,幫助特朗普當選。特朗普再次表示不認識普京,並且表示,希拉里這麼不喜歡普京是因爲普京在很多事情上做得都比她聰明。Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.

英文的各種前綴、後綴真是擴展詞彙量的好幫手,掌握了一定量的核心詞彙,以及各種前後綴的構詞規律,你的詞彙量立馬就能翻番。拿這裏的這個out來說,作爲前綴一般加在動詞前面,表示“超越”之意,比如:She outlived her husband.(她比她丈夫活得久。)/We are outnumbered in this competition.(在這場競爭中,我們寡不敵衆。)還有去別人家做客時最常用的outstay one’s welcome(在別人家逗留太久而不受歡迎)。

這裏的outsmart則是在形容詞smart前面加了前綴out變身爲動詞使用,與其類似的另外一個詞是outwit,用機智打敗(別人),wit本身是個名詞,加了前綴out以後也變成了動詞,比如:He always manages to outwit his opponents.

跟前綴out意思相近的另外一個前綴是over,一般加在形容詞或者動詞前面表示“過度”之意,比如:overuse of antibiotics(抗生素過度使用/濫用)、overconfident people(過度自信的人)等等。

原話摘錄:

“Clinton: He would rather believe Vladimir Putin than the military and civilian intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect us. I find that just absolutely –
希拉里:他寧願相信普京也不願相信那些發誓要保護我們的軍隊和平民專業情報人員。我覺得這個太…

Trump: She doesn't like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.
特朗普:她不喜歡普京是因爲普京在每件事上都做得比她聰明。

Trump: She has been outsmarted by Putin and all you have to do is look at the Middle East. They’ve taken over. We've spent $6 trillion. They've taken over the Middle East. She has been outsmarted and outplayed worse than anybody I've ever seen in any government whatsoever.
特朗普:她已經完敗給普京了,你們看看中東就知道了。俄羅斯已經全面控制了中東。我們花了6萬億美元,結果中東讓他們給控制了。她是所有政府官員中完敗最徹底的一個。”

3. Debunk

希拉里一直以從政經驗豐富自居,特朗普卻認爲希拉里的經驗都是糟糕的經驗,還指出希拉里主政美國國務院期間有60億美元不翼而飛。希拉里迴應稱那是謠傳,早就被揭穿很多次了。

這個debunk是GRE詞彙,指“破除傳言,揭露真相”,如果在寫作時用了這個詞,當然在用對的情況下,一定會讓書面表達提升一個檔次,比如:A number of so-called scientific discoveries mentioned in his article have been debunked by several scientists.跟debunk意思相近的詞還有disconfirm、refute等,這兩個詞都有“否認真實性”的意思,前者是在confirm前面加了表示否定意思的前綴dis來表示否定之意,比如:Later updates on the news story disconfirmed many details of the initial report(該新聞事件的後續報道證明最初報道中的很多細節都是不對的).後者跟debunk的意思更加接近,指“駁倒或否認(觀點、謠言等)”,比如:This rumor is impossible to refute(這個謠言根本沒法破)。

原話摘錄:

“Trump: I say the one thing you have over me is experience. But it is bad experience because what you've done has turned out badly. For 30 years you've been in a position to help. And if you say that I used steel or I used something else, I- make it impossible for me to do. I wouldn't mind. The problem is, you talk but you don't get anything done, Hillary. You don't. Just like when you ran the State Department, $6 billion was missing. How do you miss $6 billion? You ran the State department. $6 billion was either stolen, they don't know. It’s gone. $6 billion. If you become president, this country is going to be in some mess. Believe me.
特朗普:雖說你唯一比我強的就是經驗,但那些都是糟糕的經驗,因爲你的所作所爲導致的結果都很糟糕。你在真正能提供幫助的位置上待了30年。你說我利用鋼材或者別的什麼,我無話可說。我不介意。問題是,你只是嘴上說說卻從不實踐。希拉里,你從來沒有行動。就像你在國務院的時候,60億美元就那麼不見了。你怎麼會把60億沒有弄丟了呢?你在國務院主政,那60億美元要麼就是被偷了,沒人知道。不見了,60億美元。如果你當上總統,這個國家就會一團糟。相信我。

Clinton: Well, first of all, what he just said about the State Department is not only untrue, it’s been debunked numerous times. But I think it's really an important issue. He raised the 30 years of experience, so let me just talk briefly about that. You know, back in the 1970s, I worked for the children's defense fund and I was taking on discrimination against African-American kids in schools. He was getting sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in his apartment buildings. In the 1980s, I was working to reform the schools in Arkansas. He was borrowing $14 million from his father to start his businesses. In the 1990s, I went to Beijing and I said women's rights are human rights. He insulted a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, and called her an eating machine.
希拉里:首先,他說的國務院那事兒不光不是真的,而且已經被多次證明是謠言。不過,我覺得這的確是個重要的話題。他提起了我30年的經驗,那我就簡要說一說我的經驗。你們知道,在上世紀70年代的時候,我就爲兒童保護基金會工作,而且還在學校裏爲受到歧視的非洲裔兒童奔走抗爭。到了80年代,我在爲阿肯色州的學校改革奔忙時,他向他的父親借了1400萬美元開始創業。90年代,我去了北京,提出女性權益就是人權。他侮辱了一位前環球小姐Alicia Machado,說她是飯桶。

Trump: Give me a break.
特朗普:哎呦喂。

Clinton: And on the day when I was in the situation room monitoring the raid that brought Osama bin laden to justice, he was hosting The Celebrity Apprentice. So I’m happy to compare my 30 years of experience, what I’ve done for this country, trying to help in every way I could, especially kids and families, get ahead and stay ahead, with your thirty years and I'll let the American people make that decision.
希拉里:我坐在指揮室看着本拉登被突襲正法的時候,他在主持《名人學徒》。所以,我很樂意拿我30年的經驗來跟你的30年來做比較,我爲這個國家所做的一切,盡我所能提供幫助,尤其在兒童和家庭方面,事事爲先。美國人民可以自判高下。”

4. Belittle

說到候選人是否能勝任美國總統這一話題時,兩人又因爲之前特朗普侮辱女性的事情吵了起來。特朗普說,最近站出來說他曾經冒犯過自己的女性可能都是希拉里團隊找來的,她們說的話都是假的。希拉里引用了特朗普好幾句貶低女性話來反駁,說貶低女性讓他感覺自己很高大。Belittling women makes him bigger.

Belittle在這裏就是make someone feel little(貶低某人,使某人覺得自己低微)的意思,類似結構的詞還有befool,即make a fool of someone(愚弄/欺騙某人),比如:Don’t try to befool me, I’m not stupid(別想愚弄我,我可不傻).

原話摘錄:

“Clinton: About another woman, he said “that wouldn't be my first choice.” He attacked the woman reporter writing the story, called her disgusting, as he has called a number of women during this campaign. Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self-worth, and I don't think there is a woman anywhere that doesn't know what that feels like.
希拉里:關於另一位女性,他說‘這不會是我的首選。’他攻擊寫了那篇報道的女記者,說她噁心,在競選期間,他這樣說過好多位女性。特朗普認爲貶低女性讓他自己更高大。他攻擊她們的自尊和自我價值,任何一位女性都知道被那樣攻擊的滋味。”

5. Rigged

本場辯論最大亮點就在這個詞出現的時候。主持人問特朗普,你說本屆大選被認爲操控了,但是你的競選夥伴公開表示你們會接受最終的選舉結果,那麼你本人是否願意接受最終的大選結果。特朗普沒有正面回答。

Rig指“陰謀詭計”或者“(用不正當方式)操縱或控制”,體育比賽中結果被人爲干預操縱的比賽就叫rigged game,而這種操縱比賽的行爲就叫game-rigging,或者match-fixing。如果在選舉過程中有人爲干預和操控的行爲,就叫vote-rigging,比如:She accused her opponents of rigging the vote(她指責自己的對手操控選票).

原話摘錄:

“Wallace: Mr. Trump, I want to ask you about one last question in this topic. You've been warning at rallies recently that this election is rigged and that Hillary Clinton is in the process of trying to steal it from you. Your running mate Governor Pence pledged on Sunday that he and you, his words, will absolutely accept the result of this election. Today your daughter Ivanka said the same thing. I want to ask you here on the stage tonight, do you make the same commitment that you'll absolutely accept the result of the election.
主持人:特朗普先生,在這個話題上我想問你最後一個問題。你曾經在競選活動中警告說,本屆大選被人操控,說希拉里正在試圖從你手中偷走選票。你的競選夥伴Pence週日表示,你和他,他的原話,絕對接受最終的大選結果。今天,你的女兒Ivanka也說了同樣的話。今晚,在這裏我想問問你,你是否同意他們的承諾,你會絕對接受最終的大選結果?

Trump: I will look at it at the time. I’m not looking at anything now, I'll look at it at the time. What I've seen, what I’ve seen, is so bad. First of all, the media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile on is so amazing. "The New York Times" actually wrote an article about it, but they don't even care. It is so dishonest, and they have poisoned the minds of the voters. But unfortunately for them, I think the voters are seeing through it.
特朗普:到時候我會考慮這個問題。目前還沒有考慮任何有關事宜,到時候再說。我所見到的情況,非常糟糕。首先,媒體都不誠實,都太腐敗了,他們的腐敗、說謊事件多到令人驚奇。《紐約時報》專門就這個話題寫了篇文章,但是,他們完全不在意。他們太不誠實了,以及毒害了很多選民的大腦。不過,我覺得選民們會看透真相的,這對他們來說不是好消息。

Wallace: But, sir, there is a tradition in this country, in fact, one of the prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power and no matter how hard fought a campaign is that at the end of the campaign, that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying you're necessarily going to be the loser or the winner, but that the loser concedes to the winner and the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying you're not prepared now to commit to that principle?
主持人:但是,特朗普先生,我們國家有一個傳統,也是我們國家引以爲傲的一個傳統,就是政權的平穩過度。無論競選鬥爭多麼激烈,在大選的最後結果出來的時候,失敗的一方會承認當選一方勝出。我不是說你一定會失敗或勝出,但是失敗的一方承認敗選然後整個國家團結一致朝好的方向出發。你是說,你現在還沒有準備好要遵循這個傳統嗎?

Trump: What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense, okay?
特朗普:我說的是,到時候我會告訴你答案,現在先賣個關子,行嗎?”

6. Entitlements

在本場辯論的最後,主持人就美國的債務問題向兩人提問時提到了entitlements這個話題,entitlements其實就是指社保、醫保等國民保障性福利。主持人提到,這些保障性福利佔美國聯邦支出的60%,到本世紀20年代,美國的醫保基金就要沒錢了,到了30年代,社保基金也要空了,屆時,人們的保障性福利就要大幅削減了,兩位打算怎麼辦呢?特朗普說,我要減稅,我要提振經濟。希拉里說,我要對富人多徵稅,多往社保基金裏投錢。

在希拉里發言的時候,特朗普插播了一句“Such a nasty woman.”而在兩人此前有關尊重女性的辯論環節,特朗普剛剛說過:“Nobody has more respect for women than I do.”這樣自己打臉的舉動,想不被人拿出來做文章都不行了。更好笑的是,因爲特朗普的這一句話,Janet Jackson早前的一首歌《Nasty》突然登上熱搜榜,甚至有好事的網友用這首歌配上特朗普在多個場合說“nasty”這個詞的視頻。今年這大選,都快成K歌比賽了。

原話摘錄:

“Wallace: The one last area I want to get into with you in the debate is the fact that the biggest driver of our debt is entitlements, which is 60% of all federal spending. Now the committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has looked at both of your plans and they say neither of you has a serious plan that is going to solve the fact that Medicare is going to run out of money in the 2020s, Social Security is going to run out of money in the 2030s, and at that time, recipients are going to take huge cuts in their benefits. In fact, the final question I want to ask you in this regard is -- and let me start with you, Mr. Trump. Would President Trump make a deal to save Medicare and Social Security that included both tax increases and benefit cuts, in effect a grand bargain on entitlements?
主持人Wallace:最後我想讓你們倆辯論的是,我們國家債務背後最大的推手是保障性福利,佔到聯邦支持的60%。盡責聯邦預算委員會看過的二位的方案,對於本世紀20年代,醫保基金要沒錢和30年代社保基金沒錢這個問題,你們二位都沒有給出實質的解決方案。到那個時候,所有參保人員的保障就要大幅削減了。所以,我想問的最後一個問題是,特朗普先生,你先來吧,你會通過增稅和減福利來拯救醫保和社保,爲保障性福利做出妥協嗎?

Trump: I'm cutting taxes. We're going to grow the economy. It's going to grow in a record rate.
特朗普:我要減稅。我們會發展經濟。經濟會以創紀錄的速度增長。

Wallace: That's not going to help with entitlements.
主持人Wallace:這些都無助於解決保障性福利的問題啊。

……

Clinton: Well, Chris, I am record as saying we need to put more money into Social Security Trust fund. That's part of my commitment to raise taxes on the wealthy. My Social Security payroll contribution will go up as will Donald's assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it, but what we want to do is –
希拉里:Chris,我原來就說過我們需要往社保信託基金裏多投錢。這其實是我說要對富人多徵稅的承諾的一部分。我的計劃中,工資中扣繳的社保比例要提高,而特朗普還在想辦法脫離扣繳社保的系統,我們要做的是……

Trump: Such a nasty woman.
特朗普:真是個惡毒的女人。”

7. Closing statement

在本場辯論的最後,主持人給了兩位候選人每人一分鐘的時間做總結陳詞,告訴美國人民爲什麼自己纔是最適合當總統的人選。其實,這就是給自己公開拉票了。希拉里羅列了自己的優勢,希望美國人民給自己一個機會爲國家和人民服務。特朗普繼續攻擊希拉里,羅列了現任政府的各種問題,然後告訴大家,如果你們選了希拉里,那麼你們得到的將是另外四年奧巴馬式的執政理念。

這裏我們不講語言點,單純跟大家分享兩個人的總結陳詞。

原話摘錄:

“Clinton: Well I would like to say to everyone watching tonight that I'm reaching out to all Americans, Democrats, Republicans and independents, because we need everybody to help make our country what it should be, to grow the economy, to make it fairer, to make it work for everyone. We need your talents, your skills, your commitment, your energy, your ambition. You know, I've been privileged to see the presidency up close, and I know the awesome responsibility of protecting our country and the incredible opportunity of working to try to make life better for all of you. I have made the cause of children and families really my life's work. That's what my mission will be in the presidency. I will stand up for families against powerful interests, against corporations. I will do everything that I can to make sure that you have good jobs with rising incomes, that your kids have good educations from preschool through college. I hope you will give me a chance to serve as your president.
希拉里:我想對今晚觀看這場辯論的每個人說,我想讓全體美國人民都參與進來,民主黨、共和黨還是獨立人士,因爲要讓我們的國家成爲大家期望的樣子、發展經濟、促進公平、爲每個人服務,我們需要每一個人的幫助。我們需要你們的才智、技能、投入、能量還有雄心壯志。你們知道,我有幸能夠近距離看到總統執政,因而也知道這是保護我們國家的偉大職責和努力讓你們的生活更美好的絕佳機會。我已經把兒童和家庭方面的事務當做我畢生的事業。這也將是我在擔任總統期間的主要任務。我會維護家庭免受強權利益集團的欺壓。我會盡我所能保證你們都有好工作,收入能增加,你們的孩子從幼兒園到大學都能得到好的教育。我希望你們能給我個機會成爲總統,爲你們服務。

Trump: She's raising the money from the people she wants to control. Doesn't work that way. But when I started this campaign, I started it very strongly. It's called Make America Great Again. We're going to make America great. We have a depleted military. It has to be helped. It has to be fixed. We have the greatest people on Earth in our military. We don't take care of our veterans. We take care of illegal immigrants, people that come into our country illegally better than we take care of our vets. That can’t happen. Our policemen and women are disrespected. We need law and order, but we need justice too. Our inner cities are a disaster. You get shot walking to the store. They have no education. They have no jobs. I will do more for African-Americans and Latinos that she can do for ten lifetimes. All she's done is talk to the African-Americans and to the Latinos, but they get the vote and then they come back, they say ‘we’ll see you in four years.’ We are going to make America strong again and we are going to make America great again and it has to start now. We cannot take four more years of Barack Obama, and that's what you get when you get her.
特朗普:她正在從她想要控制的那羣人那裏籌錢。那樣行不通的。我開始參與競選的時候,我是很強勢的。我的競選口號是:讓美國再次偉大。我們會讓美國偉大起來。我們的軍隊實力漸衰,需要幫助,需要解決這個問題。我們的軍隊裏有全世界最偉大的人。我們沒有照顧好我們的老兵。我們卻在照顧非法移民,那些非法進入我們國家的人。我們照顧老兵都沒有照顧非法移民那麼好。不應該是這樣的。我們的警察不受尊重。我們需要法律和秩序,我們也需要正義。我們的內城區簡直是災難現場。去商店沒東西都能被槍擊。他們沒有受過教育,沒有工作。我要爲非洲裔美國人和拉丁裔美國人做的事是她十輩子都做不到的。她能做的就只有對這些人說一番空話,得到他們的選票,然後他們會說‘我們四年後再見。’我們要讓美國再次強大起來,再次偉大起來,而且必須從現在就開始。我們不能再等一個奧巴馬式的四年,你們要選她,那就是另一個奧巴馬的四年。”

好了,三期辯論結束,兩位候選人都啥樣兒,我們也看得差不多了。如果你是美國人,你會選誰呢?據說有一半以上的美國年輕人寧願地球毀滅……