Trump Joins ‘Laurel’ vs. ‘Yanny’ Debate

 

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The great internet debate over “Laurel” versus¹ “Yanny” continues.

Now United States government officials are commenting on the audio recording² that is dividing people on social media.

Late Thursday, a White House-produced video appeared on the social media service Twitter. In it, President Donald Trump⁴ and members of his administration are asked whether they heard the name Laurel or Yanny.

“So clearly Laurel” said Ivanka Trump, both an advisor⁵ to the president and his daughter. But Mercedes Schlapp, a communication director, disagreed. “Yanny’s the winner; Laurel’s the loser,” she said.

White House advisor Kellyanne Conway first used the term “alternative facts” to explain differing opinions about crowd size at Trump’s swearing in ceremony. When asked about what she heard in the audio, Conway said, “It’s Laurel. But I could deflect⁶ and divert to Yanny if you need me to.”

When asked about the social media debate, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckerbee Sanders joked about the news media. Sanders said reports of her saying “Laurel” were “fake news”. “All I hear is ‘Yanny,’” she added.

U.S. Vice³ President Mike Pence did not seem to be following the debate. “Who’s Yanny?” he asked.

But President Trump had the last word. The video ends with him saying, “I hear covfefe.”

Last May, Trump sent out a tweet about “constant negative press covfefe.” His statement was retweeted and liked hundreds of thousands of times before it was removed without explanation.

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Words in This Story

versus - prep. used to indicate two people, teams, groups, etc. that are fighting or competing against each other

alternative - adj. offering or expressing a choice

deflect - v. to cause something to change direction

divert - v. to change direction

fake - adj. not tru or real

constant - adj. happening all the time

negative - adj. expressing dislike or disapproval

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 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。

4 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。

5 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

6 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。