時事新聞:奧巴馬承認戒菸尚未成功
【英文原文】
摘要：美國總統奧巴馬最近讓菸草商的日子不好過，而他自己仍然時不時地偷偷吞雲吐霧。
US President Barack Obama may have just made life more difficult for cigarette makers, but he is not above sneaking a smoke every now and again.
Obama, who has publicly struggled to quit smoking, said he still hasn't completely kicked the habit even after signing a law this week that will likely set tough new rules for the tobacco industry.
"As a former smoker I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No," Obama said at a news conference.
"I don't do it in front of my kids, I don't do it in front of my family. I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where I mess up," he said.
The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products.
At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90 percent of smokers who took up the habit before their 18th birthday.
"Once you go down this path it's something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed is so important because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place," he said at the news conference.
Nearly 20 percent of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other ailments.
【中文譯文】
美國總統奧巴馬最近讓菸草商的日子不好過，而他自己仍然時不時地偷偷吞雲吐霧。
奧巴馬本週簽署一項法令，可能制定新的更加嚴格的煙業條例，儘管如此，這位公開宣佈努力戒菸的總統稱，自己還沒有完全改掉這個習慣。
奧巴馬在記者招待會上說：“作爲一位前菸民，我一直在努力戒菸，是否有時也會把持不住呢？是的。但是不是天天抽，時時抽呢？當然不是了。”
他說：“我從不在孩子和家人面前吸菸，可以這樣說，在95%的情況下我都不會犯煙癮了，但我煩的時候還是想吸兩口。”
新法令賦予美國食品藥品管理局嚴格限制菸草類產品生產和銷售的權力。
奧巴馬本週一在白宮的法令簽署儀式上稱，他和其他近90%的菸民一樣，在18歲前就養成了這個習慣。
他在記者招待會上說：“一旦你走上這條路，就要不停地與吸菸抗爭了，這也正說明我們簽署的這項法令爲什麼如此重要，因爲首先我們都不想讓孩子們重蹈覆轍。”
近20%的美國人是菸民，每年有44萬美國人死於因吸菸導致的癌症、心臟病、肺氣腫以及其它疾病。
【詞彙講解】
1. emphysema n. 〈醫〉氣腫，肺氣腫
I smoke, I drink, I stay up all night… I was diagnosed as having emphysema in my mid-20s.
我抽菸，喝酒，整夜不眠......我在25歲時就被診斷患有肺氣腫。
2. ailment n. 疾病(尤指慢性病)，不適
His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis.
他患有輕度心臟病和關節炎。
【詞組講解】
1. US President Barack Obama may have just made life more difficult for cigarette makers, but he is not above sneaking a smoke every now and again.
美國總統奧巴馬最近讓菸草商的日子不好過，而他自己仍然時不時地偷偷吞雲吐霧。
above doing 表示“剋制不做某事”，例如：
You should have risen above doing that kind of thing.
你本該達到能剋制自己不做那事的高度了。
now and again 表示“時而，偶爾，有時”
Drop in now and again.
有空過來玩吧。
2. Obama, who has publicly struggled to quit smoking, said he still hasn't completely kicked the habit even after signing a law this week that will likely set tough new rules for the tobacco industry.
奧巴馬本週簽署一項法令，可能制定新的更加嚴格的煙業條例，儘管如此，這位公開宣佈努力戒菸的總統稱，自己還沒有完全改掉這個習慣。
struggle to do sth. 表示“努力做某事”，例如：
I struggle to think of something to say to her, something meaningful and warm.
我盡力想說幾句有意義而又暖心的話
struggle with 表示“與……打架，與……鬥爭”；“在內心與(自己、自己的良心等)進行鬥爭”
The lady struggled with the thief.
這位女士與小偷搏鬥。
After struggling with myself for some days, I decided to accept his proposal.
經過好幾天的思想鬥爭，我決定接受他的求婚。
kick the habit v.〈美俚〉表示“戒掉毒隱，戒除嗜好”，例如：
Doctors shall try to persuade smokers to kick the habit.
醫生應說服吸菸者戒菸。
