拜登宣布赦免其子

近日，美国总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）宣布赦免他的儿子亨特·拜登。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. What is the primary controversy surrounding President Joe Biden's pardon of his son?

A) It contradicts Biden's previous public statements.

B) It was part of a broader presidential amnesty initiative.

C) It targeted judicial reform within the US justice system.

D) It was issued after Donald Trump criticized the justice system.

无注释原文：

What has Joe Biden said in the past about pardoning his son?

From: BBC

Since Hunter Biden's conviction on federal felony gun and tax charges over the summer, the White House has insisted that President Joe Biden had no intention of pardoning his son.

But on Sunday, the president issued a controversial sweeping pardon, saying his son had been subject to attacks from his rivals.

Republicans have been quick to denounce the move - citing Biden's previous pledges not to intervene on Hunter's behalf. The move has also cast a renewed spotlight on the role of presidential pardons and the independence of the US justice system.

President-elect Donald Trump called the intervention an “abuse”, while House Oversight Committee chair James Comer accused President Biden of seeking to “avoid accountability”.

Did Biden rule out a pardon?

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in two separate trials over the summer - one on federal tax charges and one of lying about his drug use on a form when buying a handgun.

In the aftermath of his conviction, the White House immediately made it clear that he could not expect a presidential pardon from his father.

In an interview with ABC in June, when asked whether he had “ruled out a pardon” for his son, Biden replied: “Yes.”

Biden also told reporters at a G7 summit in June: "I said I'd abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”

As recently as 7 November - just two days after Donald Trump clinched his return to the White House - Biden administration officials were still insisting that the president had no intention of pardoning his son.

When asked in a news conference if President Biden would be tempted to help Hunter, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “We've been asked that question multiple times, our answer stands, which is no.”

Biden also emphasised in June that he was “satisfied” that his son had received a fair trial - in contrast to his comments on Sunday where he said Hunter had been the subject of “a miscarriage of justice”.

What has Biden said about Trump's past pardons

Biden has been outspoken in attacking some of the pardons his predecessor issued during his first term in office.

In 2019, Biden attacked Trump for pardoning two US army officers - one of whom had been convicted and one who was set to stand trial - for war crimes in Afghanistan.

Biden said the then-president had betrayed “the rule of law, the values that make our country exceptional and the men and women who wear the uniform honourably”.

Later, in 2020, when Trump commuted the sentence of his informal adviser Roger Stone, Biden called his rival “the most corrupt president in modern American history”.

More broadly, during his 2020 campaign, Biden accused Trump of undermining the office of the attorney general and politicising the office.

"The attorney general is not the president's lawyer. It's the people's lawyer,” Biden said. “We never saw anything like the prostitution of that office like we see it today.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为BBC官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

What has Joe Biden said in the past about pardoning his son? 关于特赦儿子，拜登过去说过什么？

From: BBC

Since Hunter Biden's conviction on federal felony gun and tax charges over the summer, the White House has insisted that President Joe Biden had no intention of pardoning his son.

自亨特·拜登（Hunter Biden）因非法持枪和逃税相关指控在夏季被定罪以来，白宫一直坚称总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）无意特赦他的儿子。

conviction /kənˈvɪk.ʃən/ 1）表示“坚定的看法；坚定的信念；坚定的信仰”，英文解释为“a strong opinion or belief”如：a deep/strong/lifelong conviction 深深的/坚定的/终生的信仰。

2）表示“定罪，判罪”，英文解释为“the fact of officially being found to be guilty of a particular crime, or the act of officially finding someone guilty”举个🌰：Since it was her first conviction for stealing, she was given a less severe sentence. 由于她是初次犯盗窃罪，对她的量刑不是很重。

🎬电影《玉子》（Okja）中的台词提到：I admire your conviction, Silver, 我敬佩你的决心。

felony /ˈfel.ə.ni/ 表示“重罪”，英文解释为“In countries where the legal system distinguishes between very serious crimes and less serious ones, a felony is a very serious crime such as armed robbery.”举个🌰：He pleaded guilty to two felonies. 他承认犯了两项重罪。

📍felon /ˈfel.ən/ 表示“重罪犯”，英文解释为“a person who is guilty of a serious crime”

pardon /ˈpɑː.dən/ 可以作动词也可以作名词，表示“赦免”，英文解释为“If someone who has committed a crime is pardoned, that person is officially forgiven and their punishment is stopped.”，举个🌰：He had actively sought a pardon from the president. 他积极寻求总统的赦免。

📍没错，这个pardon就是口语中常听到的pardon?“什么？你再说一遍”。

But on Sunday, the president issued a controversial sweeping pardon, saying his son had been subject to attacks from his rivals.

然而在上周日，拜登称他的儿子受到对手的攻击，发出一项具有争议性的全面特赦。

sweeping /ˈswiː.pɪŋ/ 作形容词，1）表示“影响广泛的；大范围的；根本性的；意义深远的”，英文解释为“having an important effect on a large part of sth”如：sweeping changes 彻底变化，举个🌰：They were given sweeping powers to search homes. 他们授予入户搜查的极大权力。

🎬电影《沉默》（Silence）中的台词提到：He wrote those words during the most sweeping persecution of all. 他写下这些话时 正经历着最为残酷的迫害。

2）sweeping statement/generalization 表示“泛泛之谈；一概而论的说法；过于笼统的概括”，英文解释为“something that you say or write that is too general and that has not been carefully thought about”举个🌰：Sweeping generalizations about this complex and difficult situation are not helpful. 对这种复杂困难的情形作泛泛之谈是没有用的。

📍sweep作动词，可以表示“风行，风靡，迅速蔓延，迅速传播；席卷；横扫”，英文解释为“to quickly spread through and influence an area”举个🌰：A flu epidemic is sweeping through Moscow. 一场流感正在莫斯科迅速传播。

📺电视剧《王冠》（The Crown）中的台词提到：Independence is sweeping across the continent. 席卷这片大陆。

📺动画片《辛普森一家》（The Simpsons）中的台词提到：A plague is sweeping through Springfield. 一场瘟疫正席卷斯普林菲尔德。

Republicans have been quick to denounce the move - citing Biden's previous pledges not to intervene on Hunter's behalf. The move has also cast a renewed spotlight on the role of presidential pardons and the independence of the US justice system.

共和党人迅速谴责这一行动，指出拜登此前承诺不会干预亨特的案件。此举同时也重新引发了人们对总统赦免权以及美国司法系统独立性的关注。

denounce /dɪˈnaʊns/ 表示“谴责；指责；斥责”，英文解释为“to strongly criticize sb/sth that you think is wrong, illegal, etc.”举个🌰：The project was denounced as a scandalous waste of public money. 这项工程被斥责为挥霍公款，令人愤慨。

📍名词：denouncement /di'naunsmənt/，表示“谴责；指责；告发；痛骂；公开抨击”，英文解释为“a public act of denouncing；A charging of someone with a misdeed”；

⚠️区分：denouement /deɪˈnuːmɒn/ 表示“（戏剧、小说等的）结局，收场；（事情的）结果”（the end of a play, book, etc., in which everything is explained or settled; the end result of a situation）

📺英剧《唐顿庄园》（Downton Abbey）中的台词提到：But if you tell Granny I said so, I'll denounce you as a liar. 但你要是敢把我的话告诉奶奶 我就说你撒谎。

pledge /pledʒ/ 1）作动词，表示“承诺，保证（做某事）；保证给予（某物）”，英文解释为“When someone pledges to do something, they promise in a serious way to do it. When they pledge something, they promise to give it.”举个🌰：He pledges support and offers to help in any way that he can. 他承诺给予支持并提供力所能及的帮助。

2）表示“抵押”，英文解释为“If you pledge something such as a valuable possession or a sum of money, you leave it with someone as a guarantee that you will repay money that you have borrowed.”举个🌰：He asked her to pledge the house as security for a loan. 他要她抵押房子作为贷款担保。

3）作名词，表示“誓言；诺言；保证”，英文解释为“When someone makes a pledge, they make a serious promise that they will do something.”举个🌰：The meeting ended with a pledge to step up cooperation between the states of the region. 会议以加快该地区州之间合作的承诺结束。

intervene /ˌɪn.təˈviːn/ 1）表示“干预，介入”，英文解释为“If you intervene in a situation, you become involved in it and try to change it.”举个🌰：She might have been killed if the neighbours hadn't intervened. 要不是邻居介入，她可能会没命了。

2）表示“插话”，英文解释为“If you intervene, you interrupt a conversation in order to add something to it.”举个🌰：He intervened and told me to stop it. 他插话，不让我再说下去。

3）表示“干扰”，英文解释为“If an event intervenes, it happens suddenly in a way that stops, delays, or prevents something from happening.”举个🌰：The boat arrived on Friday mornings unless bad weather intervened. 除非受到恶劣天气的干扰，船于星期五上午到达。

President-elect Donald Trump called the intervention an “abuse”, while House Oversight Committee chair James Comer accused President Biden of seeking to “avoid accountability”.

当选总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）称这次干预是“滥用职权”，而众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默（James Comer）指责拜登总统试图“逃避责任”。

accountability /əˌkaʊn.təˈbɪl.ə.ti/ 表示“问责制；有义务，有责任；可说明性”，英文解释为“the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable”

Did Biden rule out a pardon? 拜登是否排除了赦免的可能？

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in two separate trials over the summer - one on federal tax charges and one of lying about his drug use on a form when buying a handgun.

亨特·拜登在夏季的两场审判中，分别就联邦税务指控，以及购买手枪时在表格上谎报其吸毒情况的指控认罪。

rule sth/sb out 1）表示“把…排除在外；拒绝考虑”，英文解释为“to decide or say officially that something is impossible or will not happen, or that something or someone is not suitable”举个🌰：The police haven't yet ruled out murder. 警察尚未排除谋杀的可能性。

2）表示“使…成为不可能，使…不可能发生；防止”，英文解释为“to prevent something from happening”举个🌰：This recent wave of terrorism has ruled out any chance of peace talks. 最近的这一波恐怖行动已经使得任何和谈的机会都化为泡影。

trial /traɪəl/ 可以作动词，也可以作名词，1）表示“审讯，审理，审判”，英文解释为“A trial is a formal meeting in a law court, at which a judge and jury listen to evidence and decide whether a person is guilty of a crime.”举个🌰：I have the right to a trial with a jury of my peers. 我有权要求由和我一样的平民组成的陪审团参加审判。

2）表示“（对能力、质量、性能等的）试验，试用”，英文解释为“the process of testing the ability, quality or performance of sb/sth, especially before you make a final decision about them”。

区分：

📍trail作名词则表示“小路，小径”，如：a forest/mountain trail 林间/山间小道，以及“臭迹；踪迹；痕迹；蛛丝马迹，线索”等意思（the smell or series of marks left by a person, animal, or thing as it moves along；various pieces of information that together show where someone you are searching for has gone）举个🌰：The dogs are trained to follow the trail left by the fox. 这些狗经过特别的训练，能够追踪狐狸留下的气味。

In the aftermath of his conviction, the White House immediately made it clear that he could not expect a presidential pardon from his father.

他被定罪后，白宫立即明确表示，他不能指望获得父亲的总统赦免。

表示“（战争、事故、不快事情的）后果，创伤；（不快事件）结束后的一个时期”，英文解释为“The aftermath of an important event, especially a harmful one, is the situation that results from it.”举个🌰：A lot of rebuilding took place in the aftermath of the war. 战后进行了大量的重建工作。

In an interview with ABC in June, when asked whether he had “ruled out a pardon” for his son, Biden replied: “Yes.”

在今年6月接受ABC采访时，当被问及是否“排除赦免儿子的可能性”时，拜登回答：“是。”

Biden also told reporters at a G7 summit in June: "I said I'd abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”

拜登还在6月于七国集团（G7）峰会期间对记者表示：“我说过我会遵守陪审团的裁决，我会做到这一点。我不会赦免他。”

表示“遵守，遵循（协议、决定或规章）”，英文解释为“If you abide by a law, agreement, or decision, you do what it says you should do.”举个🌰：They have got to abide by the rules. 他们必须要遵守规定。

🎬电影《逃离地球》（Escape from Planet Earth）中的台词提到：You should abide by the following basic etiquette. 与他们互动时须遵守以下基本礼节。

jury /ˈdʒʊə.ri/ 1）奥运会裁判是怎么选出来的？文中出现表示“（竞赛的）裁判团，评判委员会”，英文解释为“a group of people chosen to decide the winner of a competition”

2）表示“陪审团”，英文解释为“a group of people who have been chosen to listen to all the facts in a trial in a law court and to decide if a person is guilty or not guilty, or if a claim has been proved”如：members of the jury 陪审团成员。

As recently as 7 November - just two days after Donald Trump clinched his return to the White House - Biden administration officials were still insisting that the president had no intention of pardoning his son.

直到11月7日——仅仅在唐纳德·特朗普重新当选总统的两天后，拜登政府官员仍在坚称总统无意赦免他的儿子。

clinch /klɪntʃ/ 表示“获得；最终赢得；达成”，英文解释为“to finally get or win something”举个🌰：I hear he finally clinched the deal to buy the land he wanted. 我听说他最终做成了这笔交易，买到了他想要的地。

When asked in a news conference if President Biden would be tempted to help Hunter, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “We've been asked that question multiple times, our answer stands, which is no.”

在一场新闻发布会上，当被问及拜登总统是否会帮助亨特时，白宫新闻秘书卡琳·让-皮埃尔（Karine Jean-Pierre）表示：“我们已经多次被问到这个问题，我们的答案没有改变，那就是'不’。”

be tempted 表示“想要（某物）；想做（某事）”，英文解释为“to want something or to want to do something”举个🌰：I was sorely (= very) tempted to resign after my boss screamed at me for the second time. 老板第二次对我大喊大叫了以后，我很想辞职。

tempt /tempt/ 作动词，表示“引诱，诱惑”，英文解释为“to make someone want to have or do something, especially something that is unnecessary or wrong”举个🌰：They tempted him to join the company by offering him a huge salary and a company car. 他们许诺给他优厚的薪水和一辆公司汽车，以吸引他加入该公司。

Biden also emphasised in June that he was “satisfied” that his son had received a fair trial - in contrast to his comments on Sunday where he said Hunter had been the subject of “a miscarriage of justice”.

拜登在6月时还强调，他对儿子获得了公正审判感到“满意”，但这与他在周日时声称亨特是“司法不公”受害者的言论有出入。

miscarriage of justice /mɪsˌkær.ɪdʒ əv ˈdʒʌs.tɪs/ 表示“审判不公；误判”，英文解释为“a situation in which someone is punished by the law courts for a crime that they have not committed”

What has Biden said about Trump's past pardons 拜登对特朗普过去的赦免有何评论？

Biden has been outspoken in attacking some of the pardons his predecessor issued during his first term in office.

拜登在批评其前任任期内颁布的一些赦免时，表现得直言不讳。

predecessor /ˈpriː.dɪˌses.ər/ 表示“前任，前辈；原有事物，前身”，英文解释为“someone who had a job or a position before someone else, or something that comes before another thing in time or in a series”

📍successor表示“继任者，接替者；继承人；接替的事物”，英文解释为“someone or something that comes after another person or thing”举个🌰：This range of computers is very fast, but their successors will be even faster. 这个系列的电脑速度很快，但它的换代产品速度会更快。

In 2019, Biden attacked Trump for pardoning two US army officers - one of whom had been convicted and one who was set to stand trial - for war crimes in Afghanistan.

2019年，拜登批评特朗普赦免了两名美国军官——其中一人已被定罪，另一人即将接受审判——这两人被指控在阿富汗犯下战争罪行。

convict /kənˈvɪkt/ 表示“证明…有罪；定罪；宣判…有罪”，英文解释为“If someone is convicted of a crime, they are found guilty of that crime in a court of law.”举个🌰：There was insufficient evidence to convict him. 没有足够的证据证明他有罪。

Biden said the then-president had betrayed “the rule of law, the values that make our country exceptional and the men and women who wear the uniform honourably”.

拜登表示，时任总统背叛了“法治、使我们国家与众不同的价值观，以及光荣履行职责的军人”。

Later, in 2020, when Trump commuted the sentence of his informal adviser Roger Stone, Biden called his rival “the most corrupt president in modern American history”.

后来在2020年，当特朗普减免了其非正式顾问罗杰·斯通（Roger Stone）的刑期时，拜登称特朗普是“现代美国历史上最腐败的总统”。

rival /ˈraɪ.vəl/ 作名词，表示“竞争对手；敌手”，英文解释为“a person, group, etc. competing with others for the same thing or in the same area”

作动词，表示“可与…相媲美，比得上”，英文解释为“to be as good, clever, beautiful, etc. as someone or something else”举个🌰：No computer can rival a human brain for/in complexity. 没有任何计算机比得上人脑复杂。

More broadly, during his 2020 campaign, Biden accused Trump of undermining the office of the attorney general and politicising the office.

更广泛地说，在2020年的竞选期间，拜登指责特朗普削弱了司法部长的职责，并将该职位政治化。

undermine /ˌʌn.dəˈmaɪn/ 表示“（常指逐渐地）削弱信心、权威等，损害”，英文解释为“to make someone less confident, less powerful, or less likely to succeed, or to make something weaker, often gradually”举个🌰：Criticism just undermines their confidence. 批评只是削弱了他们的信心。

"The attorney general is not the president's lawyer. It's the people's lawyer,” Biden said. “We never saw anything like the prostitution of that office like we see it today.”.

“司法部长不是总统的律师，而是人民的律师，”拜登表示，“我们从未见过这个职位像今天这样被彻底玷污。”

prostitution表示“卖淫”，英文解释为“the work of a prostitute”。prostitute表示“卖淫者；娼妓；妓女；男妓”，英文解释为“a person who has sex for money”。

📍2021年“弹琴须音准，做人别跑调”文中，除了用prostitute表示，还用了相对更委婉的说法 sex worker 性工作者。

📍prostitution也有另一种幽默的说法，叫：the oldest profession (in the world).

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