奧巴馬最愛口頭禪：“我要說清楚”
For all his flourish, President Barack Obama sure falls back on a few familiar phrases.
Make no mistake. Change isn't easy. It won't happen overnight. There will be setbacks and false starts.
Those who routinely listen to the president have come to expect some of those expressions to pop up in almost every speech.
Yet in the portfolio of presidential phrases, none is more pervasive than Obama's four-word favorite: Let me be clear.
It is his emphatic windup for, well, everything.
"Let me be clear," he said in describing his surprise at winning the Nobel Peace Prize(speech). "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
"Let me be clear," he said in one of his dozens of pitches for a health insurance overhaul. "If you like your doctor or health care provider, you can keep them."
Presidents talk so much in public that it is not surprising to find rhetorical patterns. Although Obama is known for aflair with the written and spoken word, his hardest mission is often to make complicated matters relevant to the masses.
So clarity, it seems, is of the highest order.
Terrorists? "Now let me be clear: We are indeed at war with Al-Qaida and its affiliates."
Student testing? "Let me be clear: Success should be judged by results, and data is a powerful tool to determine results."
Iran? "Let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies."
Auto bailouts? "Let me be clear: The United States government has no interest in running GM."
儘管美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬在發表演講時總是風光無限，不過不管說些什麼，他總離不開他那幾句口頭禪。
如，“不要犯錯”、“變革並非易事”、“這不會在一夜之間發生”以及“挫折和失敗難以避免”等。
常聽總統演講的人幾乎在他的每一次演講中都能聽到其中的一些表達。
不過，在總統的衆多口頭禪中，使用頻率最高的莫過於他最愛的四字表達：我要說明（Let me be clear.）。
無論講話的內容是什麼，奧巴馬在最後想表示強調時，都會用到這句話。
奧巴馬在發表諾貝爾獎獲獎感言時是這樣表達自己的驚訝之情的：“我要說明，我不認爲這個獎項是對我個人成就的認可，而是對美國爲實現各國人民願望所發揮的領導作用的一種肯定。”
在醫療改革問題的一次遊說中，奧巴馬說：“我要說明，如果你喜歡你的醫生或保健服務提供者，你可以繼續留着他們。”
奧巴馬所發表的公共演講不計其數，所以在其中發現一些相同的用語也不足爲奇。儘管奧巴馬能說會寫，但他最艱鉅的任務常常是要把複雜的事情向大衆說清。
因此，清楚明白似乎就成了頭等要事。
恐怖分子？“現在讓我把話說明白：我們確實是在和‘基地’組織及其同黨作戰。”
學生測驗？“我要說明：成功應該通過成績來衡量，而數據則是決定成績的強有力的工具。”
伊朗？“讓我把話說明白：伊朗的核武器和導彈活動確實是一個實質性的威脅，這不僅對於美國而言如此，對於伊朗的鄰國和我們的盟國都是如此。”
汽車業救助？“我要說清楚：美國政府對於經營‘通用’沒有興趣。”
Vocabulary:
fall back on:to resort to; to rely on 求助於；依靠（have nothing to fall back on 無可依靠）
false start:a misguided or unsuccessful attempt to begin something 不成功的開始
windup:a concluding part; a conclusion 結束
flair: a natural talent or aptitude（才能；本領）
bailout:a rescue from financial difficulties （援助）
