大学英语四六级晨读经典365夏日激情篇107

　　107 A 9-Year-Old American Politician 美国政坛的9岁神童

　　The battle over Social Security has been joined by an unusual lobbyist, a 9-year-old boy from Texas , who has agreed to travel around supporting President Bushs proposal.

　　布什竭力推行的社会保障制度改革多了一个不寻常的说客，一名来自布什老家得克萨斯州的九岁小男孩，应总统的邀请为社保改革进行全国巡回演讲。

　　The boy, Noah McCullough, made a splash with his encyclopedic command of presidential history, earning five appearances on the Tonight show and some unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year. He beat Howard Dean in a trivia contest at the Democratic National Convention and wrote for his local newspaper about his trip to see the inauguration.

　　这个名叫诺亚-马克库拉夫的小男孩在美国知名度颇高，被称为美国总统历史的百科全书，美国著名的脱口秀节目今夜曾经五次邀请诺亚上节目，去年诺亚因为帮助布什竞选总统而为自己更增添了不平凡的经历。他曾在民主党大会上的一次小辩论中击败霍华德迪安，还为当地报纸写过关于他所看到的就职典礼的文章。

　　Progress for America, which spent almost $45 million backing Mr. Bush last year, plans to lay out $20 million on Social Security this year. It has spent $1 million on television commercials and is working to send experts around the country. Among them are Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund; Rosario Marin, a former United States treasurer; and one really, really young Republican. Noah will not be eligible to collect Social Security for nearly 60 years.

　　去年，国会为支持布什推行社保改革花费了4,500万美元，今年国会将拨款减少到2,000万，其中100万用来进行电视宣传和聘请全国各地的专家开展工作，这些专家包括社会保障信托基金主管托马斯-斯文、前国家财务主管罗萨里奥-玛林等等，而其中还有一个很年轻很年轻的共和党人，那就是诺亚了，而小诺亚至少要在60年以后才有资格享受社会保障制度。

　　Noah will travel to a handful of states ahead of visits by the president and will go on radio programs, answer trivia questions and say a few words about Social Security. Though he is obviously not an expert , officials say the effort is a lighthearted way to underline Mr. Bushs message.

　　诺亚将作为开路先锋在布什访问之前先到达那些州，他将到电台接受听众咨询，或者谈谈有关社会保障制度的话题。尽管诺亚并不是专家，也不是真正的政客，但是布什政府充分相信诺亚对改革的推行有帮助。

　　The trip was a brainchild of Stuart Roy, a former aide to Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, who recently joined the DCI Group, a political consultancy here with ties to the Republican Party and Mr. Bush.

　　这次行程是斯图尔特-罗伊的想法，他是德克萨斯州共和党人代表汤姆迪莱的前任助手，最近加入了DCI集团，是一名依附于共和党和布什先生的政治顾问。

　　Noah became interested in presidents as a 5-year-old after a mock election in kind-ergarten. Today, he has more than 3,000 books on presidential history. He campaigned for Mr. Bush, speaking to Republican groups. After 27 trips to the first President Bushs presidential library at Texas AM University in College Station, he scored a meeting with the former president.

　　诺亚5岁的时候，幼儿园进行了一次模仿美国总统选举的游戏，从那时开始诺亚就对总统产生了兴趣。到现在，诺亚拥有的关于美国总统历史的书籍超过了3,000本。在共和党聚集大会上他发表演说支持布什，跟随布什游历了27个州，在得克萨斯州的总统博物馆里他还见到了老布什。

　　Noah plans to run for the White House in 2032 and he wants Social Security addressed before then.

　　诺亚的目标是在2032年入主白宫他希望到那个时候社会保障制度早就已经很完善了。

　　英语词汇注释

　　lobbyist n. 说客

　　make a splash adj. 引起轰动

　　encyclopedic adj. 广博的，百洋斗全书式的

　　trivia n. 琐事，无关紧要的事情

　　inauguration n. 就职典礼

　　trustee n. 受托人

　　be eligible to be 有资格做

　　lighthearted adj. 心情愉快的

　　consultancy n. 顾问工作，咨询服务

　　mock adj. 模仿的，假的