奥巴马的家庭背景介绍(中英文对照) 时间:2009-12-10 18:00 作者:Slang Freak 点击:
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The Obamas are the first African American family to move into the White House.President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are well aware of the historic significance of his election and what it means to many Americans.In her campaign stump speech, Mrs.Obama often mentioned a 10-year-old girl she met in a South Carolina beauty shop who told her that if Barack Obama were elected president, “it means that I can imagine anything for myself.”
“She could have been me,” Mrs.Obama told Newsweek magazine.“Because the truth is, I’m not supposed to be here, standing here.I’m a statistical oddity.Black girl, brought up on the South Side of Chicago.Was I supposed to go to Princeton? No.„ They said maybe Harvard Law was too much for me to reach for.But I went, I did fine.And I’m certainly not supposed to be standing here.”
The first lady was born Michelle Robinson and raised in a working-cla family in Chicago, Illinois.Her father worked at the municipal water department and was a Democratic precinct captain, while her mother was a stay-at-home mom who took care of her and her older brother, Craig.Michelle Robinson worked hard in school and landed a spot in the Princeton University cla of 1985.After earning an undergraduate degree in sociology with a minor in African-American studies, she attended Harvard Law School.
Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson met in 1989 when she, then an aociate at the Chicago, Illinois, law firm Sidley & Austin, was aigned to mentor Obama, who was a summer intern.
The future president asked her to attend one of his community organizing seions in Chicago.She accepted and attended a meeting, where she told Newsweek that he spoke to participants about closing the gap between “the world as it is, and the world as it should be.” Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama continued to date, and the couple married in 1992.The Obamas share a paion for public service and have devoted much of their adult lives to careers in the public sector.After leaving the corporate law practice where they met, Mrs.Obama held several positions in Chicago government, and she was founding executive director of Public Allies — Chicago, an organization that encourages young people to pursue public service jobs.Most recently, she served as vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.“She certainly seems to be someone who would take advantage of the podium the White House affords her,” said Dr.Myra Gutin, historian and profeor of communications at Rider University in New Jersey.“She is bright, she is articulate, and she has profeional experiences in management.”
The Obamas hope that their enthusiasm for public service and their extensive profeional experience and achievements will help them deal with the challenges ahead.Behind Barack Obama’s desire to be president and have a positive impact on the world are his young daughters, Malia, born in 1998, and Sasha (short for Natasha), born in 2001.The girls are the youngest inhabitants of the White House since Amy Carter, who was nine years old when her father, Jimmy Carter, was elected president in 1976.“My life revolves around my two girls,” then Senator Obama said in a Father’s Day speech at a Chicago church.“And what I think about is what kind of world I’m leaving them.What I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unle you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children — all of our children — a better world.That is our ultimate responsibility as fathers and parents.”
奥巴马一家是入主白宫的第一个非洲裔美国人家庭。
奥巴马总统与他妻子米歇尔十分清楚奥巴马当选的意义以及这对许多美国人意味着什么。奥巴马夫人在竞选期间发表的讲话中，常常提到她在南卡罗来纳州一家美容院里遇到的一个10岁女孩。这个女孩对她说，如果奥巴马当选总统，\"那就意味着我可以向往自己想做的一切。\" 奥巴马夫人向《新闻周刊》(Newsweek)表示：\"这个女孩原本可以是我。因为事实上我本不应该在这里、不应该站在这里。我是统计学上的一个例外：一个黑人女孩，生长在芝加哥南区。我会去普林斯顿(Princeton)上大学吗？不可能„„人们认为哈佛大学法学院可能是我望尘莫及的地方。但我都上了，学得不错。肯定没有人料到我会站在这里。\" 米歇尔·鲁宾逊(Michelle Robinson)生长在伊利诺伊州一个工薪阶层家庭。父亲在市政府水利局工作，是当地民主党的区负责人。母亲是一位相夫教子的家庭主妇，抚育了米歇尔她的哥哥克雷格(Craig)。
米歇尔在学校学习用功，并于1985年进入普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)。在取得社会学主修课、非洲裔美国人研究(African-American studies)副修课的本科生学士学位后，她进入哈佛大学法学院学习。
奥巴马与米歇尔·鲁宾逊在1989年相遇。当时米歇尔在伊利诺伊州芝加哥的西德利与奥斯汀(Sidley & Austin)法律事务所工作，她被指派负责辅导暑期实习生奥巴马。
这位未来的奥巴马总统请鲁宾逊参加他在芝加哥展开的组织社区的活动。她接受邀请并出席了其中一次会议。她对《新闻周刊》说，奥巴马对与会人员谈到要缩小在\"世界现状与世界应有状态\"之间的差距。
两人继续约会，并于1992年结婚。奥巴马夫妇都热衷于公共服务，将成年生活中的大量时间奉献给了公益事业。
在离开使他们两人相遇的法律事务所以后，奥巴马夫人在芝加哥政府内担任过几个职务。她是一个鼓励年轻人进入政府工作的\"芝加哥公众联盟\"(Public Allies-Chicago)的首任执行主任。后来她一直担任芝加哥大学医疗中心社区与对外事务部副主任。
新泽西州赖德大学(Rider University)历史学家、传播学教授古廷(Myra Gutin)博士说：\"看来她是一位会运用白宫讲坛的人。她聪明、善于表达，具有管理方面的专业经验。\" 奥巴马夫妇希望他们为公众服务的热情及大量的专业经历会有助于他们面对未来的挑战。但对于奥巴马来说，促使他希望担任总统并对世界产生积极影响的动力来自两个年幼的女儿──10岁的马莉娅(Malia)和7岁的萨夏(Sasha，Natasha[娜塔莎]的昵称)。马莉娅和萨夏是自埃米·卡特(Amy Carter)以来白宫最年轻的小主人。埃米的父亲吉米·卡特(Jimmy Carter)在1976年当选总统时，埃米9岁。
奥巴马在一个芝加哥教堂就父亲节发表讲话时说：\"我的生活围绕着我的两个女儿。我所思考的是，我要留给她们一个什么样的世界。我认识到：如果不愿意为给我们的孩子──给我们所有的儿童──留下一个更好的世界而尽自己的一份微薄之力，生活就没有意义。这就是我们作为父亲和家长的最终责任。 \"
