THE STRANGE TRUTH BEHIND 1)PRESIDENTIAL TURKEY 2)PARDONS 总统赦免火鸡趣事

2017-11-10ByDomenicoMontanaro翻译丁一

疯狂英语·新悦读 2017年11期

⊙By Domenico Montanaro ⊙翻译：丁一

THE STRANGE TRUTH BEHIND1)PRESIDENTIAL TURKEY2)PARDONS 总统赦免火鸡趣事

⊙By Domenico Montanaro ⊙翻译：丁一

相信许多同学早就知道了美国感恩节的来历，以及美国人在过节时吃火鸡的传统。可是，你知道吗？在每年感恩节被美国人吃掉的近五千万只火鸡当中，总会有两只特别幸运地受到总统的赦免，逃过被摆上餐桌的厄运。一起来了解一下这背后的趣事吧。

The annual presidential turkeypardoning event at the White House is a3)peculiar one. There’s always lots of laughter for a4)lighthearted moment, but the truth behind the turkey pardons is a strange and sad tale with a long and5)myth-filled history.

1. Where did they find these turkeys?

2015’s birds, named Tom One and Tom Two, are from an industrial turkey farm in Modesto, Calif., Foster Farms. Don’t worry; both of their lives were6)spared—temporarily,anyway. A dozen finalists werechosen out of a7)flock of 50 and the final two were picked in front of a class of fifth-graders.Foster Farms manager Joe Hedden said Tom One was a clear winner because of his personality. “We want to present the president with a8)well-mannered and socially skilled turkey that’s going to act right on the big day,”Hedden said.

2. Do they always get the turkeys from the same place?

No. Here’s the thing: This is an event run by the National Turkey Federation. Yes, even turkeys have9)lobbyists. They have offices four blocks from the White House. The group is so involved in the event that it even paid for the turkeys to take a presidential-style10)motorcade from the farm to the airport,11)flanked by12)fake13)Secret Service agents.

3. Who was the first president to pardon a turkey?

John F. Kennedy appears to have been the first to let a Thanksgiving turkey go. The Los

1) presidential [,prezɪ'denʃəl] adj. 总统的

2) pardon ['pɑːd（ə）n] n. 赦免

3) peculiar [pɪ'kjuːlɪə（r）] adj. 特别的，特殊的

4) lighthearted ['laɪt'hɑːtɪd] adj. 快乐的，心情愉快的

5) myth [mɪθ] n. 虚构的故事

6) spare [speə（r）] v. 饶恕，不杀

7) fl ock [flɒk] n. 畜群

8) well-mannered ['wel'mænəd] adj. 有礼貌的

9) lobbyist ['lɒbɪɪst] n. 说客

10) motorcade ['məʊtəkeɪd] n. 车队

11) fl ank [flæŋk] v. 在……侧面

12) fake [feɪk] adj. 假的，冒充的

13) Secret Service agent 特工人员Angeles Times headlined that 1963 event—in which a sign hung around the turkey’s neck that read, “Good eating, Mr. President”—as a “presidential pardon.” Ronald Reagan in 1987 was technically the first president to use the word “pardon” about a turkey. Two years later, George H. W. Bush14)formalized the turkey pardoning ceremony, giving birth to the modern-day tradition.

4. What happens to the turkey afterward?

This is where the story turns very sad. They are sent to a farm in Virginia, where a former governor raised his own turkeys, but they do not live very long. In fact, every pardoned turkey is dead except for two—“Cheese” pardoned in 2014 and “Courage” in 2009.

14) formalize ['fɔːməlaɪz] v. 使形式化

Here is the thing.

这是口语中很常用的一句话。它通常在对话中起强调作用，没有实际意义，意思是“事情是这样的”。说话者多在希望对方或在场的其他人认真听自己的话时说这句话，以引起大家的注意。说话者接下来的话可能是他人没有留意到的事实，或是自己的观点。这句话的适用情况很广，你可以在谈话时用它来强调自己马上要说的话，可以在表明自己的观点前用它吸引他人的注意力，还可以在演讲时加入这句，让一些可能走神的听众集中精神。在使用时，这句可单独使用，也可以在后面跟具体的事，用with连接。

● Here is the thing. Mom and Dad will not let you major in philosophy.（这事是这样的：爸妈不会让你主修哲学的。）

● Ted, here is the thing with Jenny. She hates the sun so there is no way she would go to sunbath with you at the beach. I’d suggest a movie or a concert.（泰德，关于詹妮有这么一回事：她痛恨阳光，所以她不可能跟你去海边玩日光浴的。我的建议是去看电影或听音乐会吧。）

白宫每年都要举行的总统赦免火鸡仪式是一项奇怪的活动。这个轻松时刻总会伴随着许多笑声，可赦免火鸡背后的真相却是一个令人伤感的奇特故事，而且有着以讹传讹的悠久历史。

1. 他们从哪里找来的这些火鸡？

2015年获赦的火鸡叫汤姆一号和汤姆二号，来自加利福尼亚州莫德斯托一个工业化火鸡农场——福斯特农场。别担心，它们的命保住了——至少暂时是这样。共有12只火鸡从50只入围火鸡中被选出，杀入决赛，然后被带到一班五年级学生面前，让他们从中选出两只优胜者。据福斯特农场的负责人乔·赫登说，汤姆一号因其个性成为显而易见的赢家。“显然我们要给总统送上一只举止得体，有社交技能的火鸡，以确保它在重大日子里有良好的表现，”赫登如是说。

2. 他们总是从同一个地方找来火鸡吗？

不是。事情是这样的：这个活动由美国国家火鸡联合会负责运作。没错，就连火鸡也有游说者，他们的办公室离白宫只有四个街区远。这个组织参与了这项活动的方方面面，甚至支付费用，安排火鸡在从农场到机场的途中像总统一样，享受有车队护送的待遇，在车队两边还有冒牌特工保驾呢。

3. 谁是第一个赦免火鸡的总统呢？

约翰·F. 肯尼迪似乎是第一位放生感恩节火鸡的总统。1963年，《洛杉矶时报》曾以“总统大赦”为题在头版头条的位置报道火鸡放生活动。当时那只火鸡的脖子上挂着一个写有“祝你好胃口，总统先生”字样的牌子。准确来说，1987年，罗纳德·里根是第一位把“赦免”一词用于火鸡的总统。两年后，老布什把火鸡赦免仪式定型下来，从而催生了这项现代传统。