奧巴馬攜妻女暢遊西部 學釣魚玩漂流
President Barack Obama put his political worries to one side and followed the traditional American call to "Go West" as he and his wife and daughters visited the Grand Canyon.
With wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia and his White House retinue in tow, Mr Obama struck out into the wilderness on the third day of a four-day tour through western mountain states aimed at defending his health care reform bid.
Mr Obama's work-hard, play-hard tour mixes trips to some of America's most majestic beauty spots with the serious business of thwarting Republican attacks on his health care plan. He held two town hall meetings on the issue in Montana and Colorado on Friday and Saturday.
Mr Obama, the first city slicker president in decades, has spent his adult life in New York, Boston, Chicago and, now, Washington. Basketball, golf, and bodysurfing comprise his athletic activities. Indoor daily gym workouts are the norm. Fishing and hunting are not part of his typical repertoire.
But late on Friday, the president tried his hand at fly fishing, fulfilling an often-stated goal from the campaign trail.
"Every time we'd been to Montana… he said, 'I'm going to come back here and learn how to fly fish,'" said Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama's spokesman.
"He was dying to do that and finally got a chance… though he was a bit frustrated he didn't get to hold one of the fish," Mr Gibbs admitted.
Michelle Obama and his two daughters, meanwhile, spent Saturday whitewater rafting in the shadow of Montana's craggy peaks "in the rain, and I'm told, in the hail", said Mr Gibbs. Despite the inclement weather, "they had a blast", he added.
近日，美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬總統將他的政治煩惱拋在一邊，響應美國傳統的“西行”號召，和妻子女兒一同遊歷了大峽谷。
奧巴馬此次西部山區之旅爲期四天，主要目的是爲他的醫療改革方案進行辯護。在整個行程的第三天，奧巴馬和妻子米歇爾，女兒薩莎和瑪麗婭以及他的白宮隨從人員忙裏偷閒，遊覽了西部荒野。
奧巴馬此行既要努力工作，也要開心遊玩。他遊覽了一些美國最壯麗的景點，同時要處理重要政務，抵制共和黨人對其醫療改革計劃的攻擊。他於上週五和週六分別在蒙大拿州和科羅拉多州針對該問題舉行了兩次市政廳會議。
奧巴馬是幾十年來首位“城市總統”，他成年後先後在紐約、波士頓、芝加哥以及現在所在的華盛頓度過。他鐘愛的體育運動包括籃球、高爾夫和徒手衝浪。他通常在體育館內進行日常鍛鍊。而釣魚和打獵並不是他的拿手項目。
但在上週五晚些時候，總統先生則嘗試了飛蠅釣魚，實現了其在總統競選期間的承諾。
奧巴馬的發言人羅伯特•吉布斯說：“每次我們去蒙大拿州，他都會說，‘我還要再回來，學習飛釣’。”
吉布斯坦稱：“他非常期待學習釣魚，現在終於如願以償……不過沒能釣到魚讓他有些沮喪。”
據吉布斯介紹，週六當天，米歇爾•奧巴馬則和兩個女兒在蒙大拿州陡峭山崖之間乘木筏漂流，“當時下了雨，但據她們所說，則是下了冰雹。他說，儘管天氣惡劣，但“她們玩得很盡興”。
Vocabulary:
in tow:as a companion or follower（在一起）
city slicker:a person with the sophisticated manner and dress traditionally associated by rural people with city dwellers（ 時髦或世故的城市人）
inclement:stormy（嚴酷的；險惡的）
blast:a highly exciting or pleasurable experience or event（令人極興奮或愉快的經歷）
