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Biden 'doing fine' after stumbling once, twice, thrice on steps of Air Force One White House spokesperson blames windy weather after Biden loses his footing three times boarding presidential plane David Smith in Washington Fri 19 Mar 2021 历经“空军一号”舷梯台阶三连摔的拜登“很健康” 拜登在登总统专机时连摔三次，白宫发言人将此归咎于天气刮风 戴维·史密斯 于华盛顿 2021年3月19日周五
Supporters of Joe Biden were tempting fate when they claimed he had not put a foot wrong during his first two months in office. 乔·拜登的支持者表示，拜登上任头两个月没出什么差错。只是，他们想得太好了。 The US president managed to fall not once, not twice but three times on his way up a staircase to the Air Force One presidential aircraft on Friday. 周五，美国总统在从登机舷梯进入总统专机“空军一号”时摔倒了，还不是摔了一两次，而是连摔三次。 A White House spokesperson blamed windy weather. 白宫发言人将此归咎于天气刮风。 The triple stumble came as Biden, at 78 the oldest person ever elected US president, was departing for Atlanta from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 拜登78岁时成了美国迄今年龄最大的当选总统。近日，他从马里兰州安德鲁斯联合军事基地登机前往亚特兰大时连摔三跤。 About halfway up the red carpet ed stairs, Biden could be seen losing his footing before stumbling three times, eventually ending up on his left knee while still holding the railing with his right hand. 人们看到，拜登走到红地毯舷梯一半时似乎没站稳，接着便连摔三跤，最后他左膝跪地，同时右手握着扶栏。
The president got back up, gave his left knee a rub and ascended the rest of the staircase before turning and saluting US marines who had flown him by helicopter to the airport from the White House. 总统起身拍拍左膝盖，在走完剩下的舷梯后，转身向美国海军陆战队士兵敬礼。此前，士兵开着直升机把总统从白宫送到了该机场。 Officials insisted there was no damage done. Karine Jean-Pierre, the deputy White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One: “It’s very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He is doing 100% fine.” 事后，官员们坚称，总统身体无恙。白宫新闻副秘书卡琳·让-皮埃尔（Karine Jean-Pierre）在“空军一号”上向记者表示：“今天风很大，我登机时也差点摔倒。总统身体100%健康。” Asked if the president was checked by a doctor, Jean-Pierre said only: “I just – all I know is – I can tell you is he’s doing fine. He’s doing great.” 在问及医生是否给总统检查过身体时，让-皮埃尔却只说了这么一句：“我能告诉你的是，据我了解，总统很健康，身体倍儿棒。” The incident recalled concerns last November when Biden fractured his foot after slipping while playing with his pet dog, a German shepherd called Major. 此事让人们想起去年11月份引发关切的一件事：拜登在和自己的宠物狗德国牧羊犬“梅杰”（Major）玩耍时不慎滑倒，造成脚部骨裂。
His notorious verbal gaffes – this week he accidentally referred to vice-president Kamala Harris as “President Harris” – have also been seized on by conservatives as evidence of age-related decline. 拜登犯口误的毛病可谓人尽皆知。本周，他不慎将副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯说成“总统卡玛拉”，这被保守派当作是老年衰退的证据。 Donald Trump Jr, the son of the former president, tweeted sarcastically about Biden’s fall: “Pay no attention to the fact that the President of the United States is so frail that he got knocked over repeatedly by a gust of wind. Nothing at all to see here, folks!” 前总统儿子小唐纳德·特朗普在推特上就拜登摔倒一事进行了讽刺：“美国总统太虚弱了，被一阵风吹倒几次，不要关注这件事。压根儿就不要关注它，伙计们！” Trump Jr also tweeted a spoof video in which his father strikes a golf ball which flies through the air and hits Biden on the head, knocking him over. “It wasn’t the wind folks,” he added. 小特朗普还在推特上发了一个恶搞视频，视频中，他父亲挥杆一击，一下将高尔夫球击中了拜登的脑袋，然后拜登就摔倒了。小特朗普还加了一句：“这可不是风吹的，伙计们。”
But Biden is hardly alone in suffering the perils of having TV cameras watch his every move. Mike Pence, the former vice-president, stumbled while climbing the stairs to Air Force Two last June. 让电视摄像机监视自己的一举一动，这对拜登来说不是好事，不过遭此不幸的人也不止他一个。去年六月，前副总统迈克·彭斯在从专机舷梯进入“空军一号”时也摔了一跤，同样也被摄像机录了下来。 That same month Donald Trump gingerly walked down a ramp at the US Military Academy at West Point, later explaining that he knew a fall would be exploited by watching media. 去年六月，唐纳德·特朗普在美国西点军事学院坡道上走路时非常小心。事后，他解释说，他知道，一旦跌倒，就会被监视他的媒体炒作。 Jeffrey Wright, an actor and activist, tweeted: “I don’t care if Joe Biden trips on the Air Force One stairs stone drunk after an all-nighter, so long as he keeps pounding Covid with this vaccine rollout .” 演员杰弗里·怀特是一名激进分子，他发推文称：“只要乔·拜登可以保持抗击新冠疫情的状态，不断推出疫苗产品，我才不关心他是否因通宵工作而晕头转向地被'空军一号’舷梯上的石块绊倒。”
重点词汇及短语 1. stumble --- ~ (over/on sth) to hit your foot against sth while you are walking or running and almost fall 绊脚 2.thrice = (旧式用法) three times 三次；三倍 3.tempt fate/providence = to do sth too confidently in a way that might mean that your good luck will come to an end 玩命；冒险；鲁莽 4.put a foot wrong 犯错；做错事 5.lose one’s footing 未站稳；踩空；失足；不慎跌倒 6.give sth a rub 揉/搓/擦… 7.fracture = to break or crack; to make sth break or crack （使）断裂，折断，破裂 8.gaffe = a mistake that a person makes in public or in a social situation, especially sth embarrassing 失礼；失态；失言 9.seize on/upon sth --- to suddenly show a lot of interest in sth, especially because you can use it to your advantage 突然大为关注，抓住（可利用的事物） 10.sarcastically 讽刺地；挖苦地 11.frail = (尤指老人) physically weak and thin 瘦弱的 12.peril --- ~ (of sth) the fact of sth being dangerous or harmful 祸害；险情（常用复数） 13.gingerly = in a careful way, because you are afraid of being hurt, of making a noise, etc. 谨慎地；小心翼翼地；轻手轻脚地 14.ramp = a slope that joins two parts of a road, path, building, etc. when one is higher than the other 斜坡；坡道 15.all-nighter = an activity or event that continues throughout the night 通宵达旦的事件或活动 16.pound --- ~ sth (to/into sth) to hit sth many times in order to break it into smaller pieces 捣碎；击碎 17.trip on/over sth 绊;绊倒 trip sb up 使…跌倒;将…绊倒 ————————————————————— 编辑：Dennis 翻译：Dennis 校对：Dennis 声 明 本文英文文本摘选自《The Guardian》，译文为本人原创，仅供学习交流使用。 |
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