VOA常速英语2018--美国民众排长队送别参议员约翰·麦凯恩

Here in this country, former POW and Senator John McCain was known as a maverick¹, a politician unafraid to break with his Republican party.

美国人将前战俘、参议员约翰 麦卡恩(John McCain)自由不羁之人，因为作为一位政治家，他不惧与共和党闹翻。

This is a failed policy in Iraq. It’s not going to work. It’s got to be changed.

这个政策在伊拉克行不通，是不会奏效的，应该予以改变。

That ability to put belief over politics is respected by these Americans. They’re from both parties and they stood in line for up to 6 hours to say goodbye.

他将信仰看的比政治重要的能力深得美国人的尊重。这些民众政见不同，但他们都排了长达6小时的长队，等着送麦凯恩最后一程。

I’m sorry that we lost him. I’ll be thinking sorry that he’s gone.

很遗憾，他离我们而去了。以后想起来这件事，我也会深感遗憾。

And he’s a great man. Such a decent man, you know. He shows the best of America.

他很伟大，很正派。他代表了美国一切美好的象征。

The 81 year old former presidential candidate died of brain cancer on August 25th. Senator McCain was given the honor of lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda² before burial.

81岁的麦凯恩曾是前总统候选人，但8月25日，他死于脑癌。身为参议员的他获得了在入土为安前在国会大厦圆形大厅内安息的殊荣。

The past is cast. I’ll be thinking from my freedom.

过去已尘埃落定，今后我将以自由为准则。

McCain was a Navy pilot shot down over Vietnam in 1967, he spoke³ about it in this rare interview with French TV.

1967年，麦凯恩曾担任海军飞行员，但在越南上空被击落。在破天荒地接受法国某电视台采访期间，他谈到了此事。

McCain suffered more than 5 years of torture as a prisoner of war. During that time Khan Vu was growing up in Saigon. He admired McCain’s character.

麦凯恩被俘有5年多之久，期间他饱受折磨。麦凯恩被俘期间正是可汗 维(Khan Vu)在西贡长大的时候。可汗 维很敬仰麦凯恩的品格。

He didn’t hate the leaders of Vietnam, instead he came back to Vietnam, shaking hands with them like family members do, with the intention to build the world together.

麦凯恩并不憎恨越南领袖，相反，他重返越南之时，还与越南人握手，亲密宛如家人。他这样做的目的是希望全世界能团结一心。

After his release, McCain was elected to senator of the state of Arizona. He ran for president in 2000 and again in 2008, when he won the Republican nomination⁴ but lost to Barack Obama.

得到自由身之后，麦凯恩当选为亚利桑那州的参议员。2000年和2008年，他曾两次竞选总统一职。但虽然得到了共和党的提名，他还是输给了巴拉克 奥巴马(Barack Obama)。

Though the highest office eluded⁵ him, he attained⁶ what is far more enduring, the abiding⁷ affection of his fellow citizens and an example for future generations.

虽然没能荣登总统一职，他获得了更不易消弭的东西——人民的不变的喜爱和子孙后代的榜样形象。

Liberty Ladd couldn’t agree more.

利伯蒂 拉德(Liberty Ladd)深以为然。

Polarization whether it’s on the far left or if is on the far right, what we can learn, what my generation can learn from him is working across the aisle⁸.

无论是极左派还极右派，我辈都能从麦凯恩身上学到一点：跨党合作。

In his farewell words released after his death, Senator John McCain wrote ‘we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement.’ A man who even in death is unifying⁹.

麦凯恩死后，他的告别辞问世。他在其中写道，“你我他之间的相似之处远多过不同之处。”即便死后，他也惦念着将众人团结在一起。

1 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

2 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

7 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

8 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

9 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。