奧巴馬鍛鍊過猛"瘦成竹竿"?
He is a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders but President Barack Obama appears to be shedding pounds in other areas.
A photograph of Mr Obama emerging from a gym in Fort McNair, Washington showed him looking slimmer than usual.
The Drudge Report website, which published the picture, captioned it "Barack 'N Bones" and said "rigorous workouts and high-stress basketball games" were responsible for the president's apparent weight loss.
Mr Obama has been teased by political opponents in the past about his physique.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California governor, once joked that he had "scrawny arms" and that he would make Mr Obama "do some squats". By contrast, Michelle Obama's gym-toned arms have been widely admired.
The couple are vocal supporters of healthy living and Mr Obama goes regularly to the gym.
As he came out of the gym in Fort McNair, he was wearing a large jacket which may have contributed to his skinny look.
A Washington insider told the Drudge Report that the president was not chain-smoking - his one vice - but does occasionally skip meals because he is "working non-stop for the country". A week ago, Mr Obama talked about his physique as he hit back at critics in a speech in Miami.
He said: "Just 'cause I'm skinny doesn't mean I'm not tough. I don't rattle.
"I'm not going to shrink back, because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done but haven't been done for decades."
美國總統巴拉克·奧巴馬肩負了整個世界的重量，但他似乎正從其他地方減重。
日前，奧巴馬從位於華盛頓的福特•麥克奈爾體育館出來時被媒體拍到，照片上的奧巴馬看起來比以往瘦了很多。
發佈該照片的“德拉吉報道”網站對這張圖片的說明是“巴拉克瘦成皮包骨頭”，並稱“嚴格的體能訓練和高強度的籃球運動”是導致奧巴馬明顯變瘦的原因。
奧巴馬之前就因體格問題遭到政敵們的嘲笑。
加州州長阿諾德•施瓦辛格就曾開玩笑說奧巴馬的“胳膊細得像竹竿”，並稱他應該讓奧巴馬“做一些蹲舉運動”。而相比之下，米歇爾•奧巴馬健美的手臂卻廣受讚賞。
奧巴馬伕婦大力倡導健康生活方式，奧巴馬還定期去健身房鍛鍊。
從照片上可以看到，奧巴馬從福特•麥克奈爾體育館出來時，身穿一件寬大的夾克，這可能也是讓他顯得很瘦的原因。
華盛頓的一名知情人士告訴“德拉吉報道”網站稱，總統已經不像原來那樣不停地抽菸，但是偶爾會顧不上吃飯，因爲他正在“爲國家賣命工作”。一週前，奧巴馬在邁阿密的一次演講中反擊批評言論時談及了自己的體格問題。
他說：“我瘦並不意味着我不強硬。我強壯得很。“
“我不會退縮，因爲現在正是繼續推進那些我們應該做但多年來卻還沒有做的事情的時候。”
Vocabulary:
workout: the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit 訓練
scrawny: gaunt and bony 骨瘦如柴的
rattle: to shake with such a sound 發出咯咯聲（The window rattled in the wind. 窗戶在風中嘎嘎作響。）奧巴馬的意思是說他雖然骨瘦如柴，但是很強壯（字面意思是“骨頭不會嘎吱作響”）。
shrink back: pull away from a source of disgust or fear 退縮
vice:a slight personal failing; a foible（惡習；缺點）
