# Figure

Source 经济学人

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Obituary: George H.W. Bush died on November 30th

文章来源 经济学人 

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Wherever he went, as America’s president or before it, George Herbert Walker Bush usually carried a felt-tipped pen and a supply of note-cards. On these he wrote letters. Some were thank-yous; others a clumsy, but courteous, attempt to get his views across to other people; yet others just a “good to see you” kind of thing.

When the time came to write his presidential memoirs, to salve some of that desperate hurt after Bill Clinton thrashed him in 1992, he published instead 600-plus pages of correspondence. They ranged from doting letters to new-born grandchildren to his worries, as a young seaman in 1943, that his girlfriend Barbara, “so darn attractive”, would drop him while he was away; from his attempt to explain the Watergate scandal to his four young sons, to his mortified account of throwing up in 1992 on the Japanese prime minister, “the damnedest experience”. He admitted that some of the letters were nutty. But they were also of the moment. As he said, “It’s all about heartbeat.”

His forte, and first love, was foreign policy. He had been ambassador to the UN for Nixon, an envoy to China for Gerald Ford (he and Barbara riding round delightedly on bicycles) and head of the CIA, besides, as vice-president, a follower-of-the-hearse at dozens of state funerals. Instinctively, he thought in terms of global power games; fortuitously, his time as president coincided with the end of the cold war, a heady and fascinating moment.

Summary

1、Obituary: George H.W. Bush died on November 30th.

He is the last of his kind.

讣告：乔治·H·W·布什与11月30日逝世

他是那一代（90年代初，巅峰美国）政治家中最后一人

2、Wherever he went, as America’s president or before it, George Herbert Walker Bush usually carried a felt-tipped pen and a supply of note-cards. On these he wrote letters. Some were thank-yous; others (were) a clumsy, but courteous, attempt to get his views across to other people; yet others just a “good to see you” kind of thing.

不管他去到哪里，无论是以美国总统的身份还是在那之前，乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什身上往往带着一支毡头笔和一叠便签卡片。他用这些写过各种各样的信：有简短的感谢信；也有他试图向别人陈述观点的意见信，辞令不甚圆滑却也谦恭有礼；再有，就是一些问候寒暄的小心意了。

• felt-tipped pen 毡头笔，记号笔

• a supply of sth 一些

  He has an endless supply of jokes.

• On these 利用这些

• thank-you n.谢意；表示感谢的物件

  thank-you letter/gift

• clumsy 言语笨拙的

• courteous /ˈkɜːrtiəs/ 有礼貌的，有教养的

• get sth across to sb 清楚的表达想法和意见…

3、When the time came to write his presidential memoirs, to salve some of that desperate hurt after Bill Clinton thrashed him in 1992, he published instead 600-plus pages of correspondence. They ranged from doting letters to new-born grandchildren to his worries, as a young seaman in 1943, that his girlfriend Barbara, “so darn attractive”, would drop him while he was away; from his attempt to explain the Watergate scandal to his four young sons, to his mortified account of throwing up in 1992 on the Japanese prime minister, “the damnedest experience”. He admitted that some of the letters were nutty. But they were also of the moment. As he said, “It’s all about heartbeat.”

撰写总统回忆录的时机到来之时，他顾及自己 1992 年大败于比尔·克林顿的伤心史，仅出版了 600 多页的个人信件，聊以慰藉。其中，从写给刚出生的孙子孙女的、慈爱满满的信，到他写在 1943 年的一封信，当时他仍是一名年轻的水兵，担心“能迷死个人”的女友芭芭拉趁他服役在外把他甩了；从他试图向四个年轻儿子解释水门事件的信，到他 1992 年不慎吐到日本首相身上的故事——写下“最活见鬼的经历”时，那种羞愧之情跃然纸上。他承认过，有几封信写得有点傻气。但它们也都是一时间真情实感的流露。正如他所说：“这些都是仿佛心跳一般的真性情。”

• memoirs = memory 回忆录

• salve v. 安慰，慰藉，抚平创伤和伤害 n. 涂在皮肤上的药膏

  to salve one’s conscience

• hurt 创伤

• thrash v. 彻底击溃 v.鞭子或者棍子抽打

• correspondence /ˌkɔːrəˈspɑːndəns/ n.信件，书信往来

• range from A to B 某个范围内，从A到B

• worries 担忧，忧愁

• darn = damn

• scandal 丑闻

• throw up 呕吐

• mortified = extremely ashamed 极其羞愧的

• account 故事，描述

• of the moment 顺应当下的，时下流行的，重要的

• heartbeat 真性情

4、His forte, and first love, was foreign policy. He had been ambassador to the UN for Nixon, an envoy to China for Gerald Ford (he and Barbara riding round delightedly on bicycles) and head of the CIA, besides, as vice-president, a follower-of-the-hearse at dozens of state funerals. Instinctively, he thought in terms of global power games; fortuitously, his time as president coincided with the end of the cold war, a heady and fascinating moment.

外交政策是他的强项，也是事业上的“初恋”。他当过尼克松的常驻联合国代表，当过杰拉尔德·福特的的中国特使（他和妻子芭芭拉骑着自行车，神采飞扬），当过中情局长官，还曾在任职副总统期间，当过众多国葬仪式中跟随灵车的头脸人物之一。直觉上，他的思维模式是以全球为格局的权力博弈；机缘在于，他的总统生涯恰逢冷战的尾声——一个时人陶醉、今人神往的时代。

• forte (地道) 专长，强项

• ambassador 大使

• for = under

• envoy 特使

• hearse 灵车

• state funeral 国葬

• fortuitously /fɔːrˈtuːɪtəsli/ adv. 偶然地，巧合地

• A coincide with B A、B同时发生；相符

• Code War 特指二战以后，美苏冷战

• heady adj. 令人振奋的；头脑发热的， 指冲昏头脑的陶醉；

  the heady news of victory

• fascinating = extremely interesting