15 大器晚成的小布什(doc)
14 The Late-Blooming George W.Bush Jr. The late-blooming1 Bush was a failure at 40. But he changed his life and is now the President of the United States. Here's how he did it. 大器晚成的小布什在40歲時還是一個失敗者，但是他改變了他的生活，并且現(xiàn)在是美 國的總統(tǒng)。這里講述他是如何做到的。 (綠色為編者話，因為注釋，所為保留) Since George W. Bush joined the U.S. presidential race officially in June, 1999, he has been drawing large crowds and media coverage. The world certainly knows from whence2. Bush sprang3 biologically4. Few could miss the features of George Sr. in the son's face, and his personality is frequently compared with mother Barbara's. But the trajectory5 of his political career is less familiar. When George Bush Sr. last ran for president in 1992, his eldest son had yet to hold elected office. Seven years later, after only four years as Governor of Texas, George W. is trying to become the first second-generation American president in history. The story about Bush began officially in 1973. In that year, after being rejected by the University of Texas Law School, he applied to Harvard Business School and was accepted. Master's degree in hand, he headed for6 a buddy's7 ranch8 in Tacson and stopped to visit friends in Midland. There he met one old pal9 who was getting into oil. “ It occurred to me that Midland was the place I needed to go,” Bush says. “ There was excitement in the air.” He decided to be an independent oilman.Rich friends of his father backed10 his business ventures11. They also backed him when he decided to run for Congress in 1977 (after only two years in town). However, the decision of Bush to plunge into politics violated12 a basic family tenet13: First make your mark and your fortune, then run for office. Finally, Bush lost, 47％ to 53％ . Bush had also surprised friends by courting and marrying--in just 3 months--a librarian named Laura Welch, who was as reserved14 and knowing15 as he was brash16 and noisy17. 　　After he lost in the election, Bush went back into the oil. He started building his own company, Arbusto (Spanish for Bush). “ The politician was in him,” says his former working partner. “ He was a great promoter18 and money raiser.” Bush also possesses a Clintonian ability to remember names of countless people he was met only briefly. In 1986, Bush was about to turn 40. This year was also the worst of Midland. Oil prices were crashing19. Independent oilmen like Bush were going under every day. Bush's company was also facing the death. He would either have to sell out or shut down20. Bush of that time became very restless and bored. He had other issues as well. Booze21 was one. His wife and friends all tried to persuade him to quit. Soon after, he became clear he couldn't go on like that. So he decided to quit. He said nothing --at first, not even to Laura. It wasn't until they got home that he told her he was to quit. “ He just said, ‘ I'm going to quit,’ and he did it,” Laura remembers.“ We joked about it later, saying he got the bar bill and that's why.” Another reason which prompted him to give it up was that he didn't want to do anything to embarrass his father. George Sr. was then preparing to run for President.His friends and family all said he became less edgy22,less angry. “ George was already disciplined23 in a lot of ways except for drinking,” says Laura, “ And when he was able to stop, that gave him a lot of confidence and made him feel better about himself.” Bush also acknowledges that 1986 was a watershed24 year in his life. “ A year of change, when I look back on it.” He says. Later Bush gave up oil and came to Washington to help his father. 　　In his father's presidential race in 1988, Bush Jr. became his father's aid. This was the first time the two had worked together closely as adults, and Big George came to appreciate his son's political instincts. When George Bush won the election, his eldest son returned to Texas, a move that shocked Washington careerists25. But Junior had something also in mind. He was thinking hard about running for Governor of Texas. Texas is a big media state. Name identification is important. And Bush had got it. But he needed an accomplishment that belonged to his own. He didn't want anyone to say “ he is riding on26 Daddy's name.” So he bought a baseball team titled “ Texas Rangers” . He gave speeches across Texas in support of the team. His down-home27 style was always on display. He hated to ride in limo28, even someone else's, and the Bushes lived in a modest brick house. Their only luxury was private school for their twin daughters, Barbara and Tenna. He dressed as indifferent as ever, in cheap suits and boots emblazoned29 with the flag of Texas. At the Rangers office, he insisted on wearing a pair of shoes with a large hole in them. 　　Someone said that Bush's political base was built on twin platforms30: his Rangers celebrity and the prodigious31 campaigning he had done for his father throughout Texas in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992. In 1992, after his father lost in his presidential re-election, Bush began to run for Governor of Texas. He traveled across the state, applying the lessons he'd learned from his parents: trust your instincts, be down-home, enforce discipline and walked all the way into the state house. And now, he's in the Big House in Washington. He's working harder on his aim. 大器晚成的小布什 自從喬治·W·布什于1999年6月正式參加美國總統(tǒng)競選以來，他便一直吸引著大批民眾 和傳媒的報道。世人當(dāng)然了解小布什的血緣身世。沒有人會看不出老布什留在兒子臉上 的特征。也有人不斷地把他的個性與他母親芭芭拉的相比較。但小布什政治生涯的軌跡 與他父母的就不那么相似了。當(dāng)老喬治·布什在1992年最后一次競選總統(tǒng)時，他的大兒子 還沒有公職哩。7年后，在僅僅當(dāng)了4年得克薩斯州州長之后，喬治·W已在嘗試成為美國 歷史上首位“第二代總統(tǒng)”了。 　　關(guān)于小布什的故事正式開始于1973年。那一年在他申請上得克薩斯大學(xué)法學(xué)院遭到 拒絕后，他又申請了哈佛商學(xué)院，結(jié)果他被錄取了。取得碩士學(xué)位后，他準(zhǔn)備去塔克森 的一個好友的農(nóng)場，中途他去了米德蘭看望朋友。在那兒他遇見了一個正從事石油業(yè)的 老友。布什說：“我突然發(fā)覺米德蘭是我需要去的地方。那兒的空氣充滿了激情。”他決 心成為一個獨立的石油商。他父親的富翁朋友們支持了他的商業(yè)投入。當(dāng)小布什于1977 年(他到該地僅兩年時間)決定競選州議會議員時，他們也支持了他。不過小布什這個進(jìn) 入政壇的決定，卻違背了他們家族的基本信條：先成名立業(yè)，后競選公職。最后小布什 輸了，結(jié)果是47％對53％。布什做的另一件使他的朋友們感到吃驚的事，是他在僅僅3個 月內(nèi)就向一個叫勞拉·韋爾奇的圖書館管理員求婚并結(jié)了婚。與小布什的急脾氣和愛嚷嚷 的性格不同，勞拉則較為矜持而達(dá)理。” 　　競選失敗后，布什又回到了石油業(yè)。他開始成立他自己的公司——阿巴斯圖(西班牙語 “布什”的意思)。他的一位前合作伙伴說：“小布什很有政治家的潛質(zhì)，同時他也是一個 了不起的籌辦者和籌款人?！毙〔际策€具備一種克林頓式的才能——他能記住無數(shù)以前只匆 匆見過面的人的名字。1986年，小布什將滿40歲。這一年也是米德蘭最糟的一年。油價 暴跌，每天都有像布什這樣的獨立石油商破產(chǎn)。布什的公司也面臨著死亡。他要么必須 賣掉公司，要么倒閉。這時的小布什變得很不安和煩悶。他還有其他的問題，酗酒就是 一個。他的妻子和朋友都勸他戒酒。不久之后，他清楚他不能這樣繼續(xù)下去了。他決心 戒掉。開始他什么也沒說，甚至對勞拉也沒有說，直到回家他才告訴她他將戒酒了。勞 拉回憶說：“他只說‘我準(zhǔn)備戒掉了’，而且他做到了。事后我們開玩笑說，他收到了酒吧 帳單，那才是戒酒的真正原因?！贝偈顾渚频牧硪粋€原因是，他不想做任何會使他父親 難堪的事。那時老布什正準(zhǔn)備競選總統(tǒng)。小布什的朋友和家人都說，他變得不像以前那 么急躁和易怒了。勞拉說：“除了喝酒，喬治在其他許多方面已經(jīng)很自律了。當(dāng)他戒掉酒 后，這給了他很多信心，使他對自己感覺良好了。”小布什也承認(rèn)1986年是他生命的一個 分水嶺。他說：“當(dāng)我回頭再看時，那確實是悔改的一年。”后來小布什放棄了石油業(yè)， 來到華盛頓幫他父親競選。 　　1988年在他父親競選總統(tǒng)時，小布什成為父親的助手。這是他們倆人第一次作為成 年人在一起密切合作。于是老布什逐漸欣賞兒子的政治素質(zhì)。當(dāng)老布什在大選中獲勝后 ，他的大兒子卻返回得克薩斯，這一舉動使華盛頓的野心家們感到很吃驚，但小布什已 另有打算了。這時他在認(rèn)真考慮競選得州州長。得州是一個傳媒大州，知名度是很重要 的，而小布什擁有這一點。不過他還需一份屬于自己的成就，他不想別人說“他是靠爸爸 的名氣”。于是他買下了名為“得克薩斯騎警隊”的棒球隊。他到得州各處發(fā)表演說為該球 隊尋求贊助。他不斷表現(xiàn)出純樸的風(fēng)格。他討厭坐豪華轎車，即便是別人的也不坐。布 什一家住在一所樸素的磚房里。他們惟一奢侈的就是讓他們的雙胞胎女兒芭芭拉和坦娜 在一所私立學(xué)校就讀。小布什的穿著還像以前一樣很普通——廉價的西裝和印有得州旗幟 的靴子。在“騎警隊”的辦公室里，他堅持穿著一雙已有一個大洞的鞋子。 　　有人說，小布什的政治基礎(chǔ)是建立在兩個跳板上的：他的“騎警隊”的名氣和他于19 80年、1984年、1988年和1992年在得州為他父親所做的大量競選工作。1992年在他父親 第二次競選總統(tǒng)失敗后，小布什開始競選得州州長。他踏遍得州，運用他從父母那里學(xué) 到的：相信你的素質(zhì)、保持淳樸、加強(qiáng)紀(jì)律，結(jié)果走進(jìn)了得州的州政大廳。 如今他已身處華盛頓的那座“大廈”。他在更加努力地實現(xiàn)他的志向。 1.late-bloomingadj.開竅晚的 2.whence[ηωενσ]pron.(與from連用)何處，該處 3.spring[σπριΝ]vi.出身，發(fā)源 4.biologically[βαιΕ5λΧδ
15 大器晚成的小布什(doc)