哈佛大学校园英语情景对话29：父子总统

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

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

H:嗨，约翰，你去图书馆了?

J: Yes, I've just come out.

J:是的，我刚出来。

H ： What books did you borrow?

H:你都借了什么书?

J： All about the Bush family.

J:都是关于布什家族的。

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

H:你对布什感兴趣?他总统不是当得不好吗?

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:你是说小布什?即便如此，他也有很多优点值得我们学习。况且，布什家族非常 强大，也有很多故事。

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

H:是的，这个家族确实很独特，父子俩都当过总统。

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:这对父子并不是独一无二的，虽然说很少见父子二人都当美国总统。他们是第二 对父子总统了。

H ：Really? Who are the first?

H:真的?谁是第一对?

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

J:是亚当斯父子。约翰?亚当斯和儿子约翰?昆西?亚当斯。

H: Which terms of US presidents did they serve?

H:他们是第几任美国总统?

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

J:父亲是第二任美国总统，儿子是第六任。知道吗?

H: What?

H:知道什么?

J： Both were Harvard alumni.

J：他们两个都是哈佛毕业生。

H: That’s.. .that’s incredible.

H:太..太不可思议了。

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:现在哈佛有个亚当斯学舍，就是以亚当斯父子命名的，它被认为是哈佛最具历史 意义的学舍，至今有78年历史了。

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

H:亚当斯家族在当时肯定很显赫。

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:但约翰?亚当斯出生于一个并不富裕的家庭，他父亲甚至只能供三个儿子中的一 个上大学，最后他选择了大儿子约翰。

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

H:约翰还真是个很普通的名字。他肯定感到很高兴，幷在大学努力学习。

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:刚开始的时候，像其他人学申请者一样，他也很激动。用他的话说，“一想到要 在校长和其他校董这样的大人物面前介绍自己就感到很害伯,想到过回家。”

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。刚开始的时候他们和普通人是一样的。

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：你可以这么说。但大人物经常付出的努力要比我们多得多。亚当斯一进入学校就 爱上了学习，其对学习热爱的程度让他成为在今天看来可能不是全面发展的人。

H: Why?

H:为什么?

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

J:对学习的喜爱甚至让他丧失了对体育和社会活动的兴趣。?

H: He must do well in the subjects.

H:他功课一定很好。

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，他学习很好。可惜的是，1773年以前的哈佛毕业生是按出身尊贵或父母 的地位，而不是按资质排列名次的。按照这种极其不民主的标准，亚当斯毕业时 在全班24名同学中排第14名。

H: Did he become a politician after graduation?

H:他毕业后当政客了?

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:设有，他父亲想让他当牧师，但他有疑虑。深思熟虑之后，他决定当律师。知道 吗,他儿子也是律师。

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?亚当斯在哈佛也像他父亲一样努力学习吗?

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:毕业时，他在51人的班里排第二名，是美国大学优等生之荣誉学会的成员。据 说小亚当斯是美国历史上唯一认识建国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:在美国，林肯解放了奴隶并统一了国家，就像新国家的"建国之父”一样。

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

H:我明白了。这对父子真的很独特。