準第一夫人：照顧好女兒是首要任務
'Mom-in-chief' role and more for Michelle Obama
Elegant, passionate, a strong career woman and a devoted mom, Michelle Obama has already become a role model with an army of fans as she prepares to become the nation's first lady.
Three days after celebrating her 45th birthday, she will take her place by her husband's side on Jan 20 as Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's first African-American president.
Obama will be one of the nation's youngest first ladies after the graceful Jackie Kennedy, who was just 31 when John F. Kennedy took office.
And while she has insisted that her main job will be "mom-in-chief" to her two daughters, Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7, her role may well evolve in the months ahead as the first family settles into the White House.
Officially Michelle Obama has said she has no political ambitions of her own, and this week resigned from her job as vice-president at the University of Chicago medical center, where she worked for 7 years.
"Even as first lady, my number one job would still be mom," she told reporters just before the Nov 4 elections. "My first priority will always be to ensure that our daughters stay grounded and healthy, with normal childhoods - including homework, dance and soccer."
"One of the great challenges for Michelle Obama is she is going to have to juggle many balls, wear many hats," historian Robert Watson said.
"She's going to have to be a wife, a mother, but also the first lady. And this is a woman who is used to having a very successful, high-powered career and it's an enormous challenge."
He added: "My sense is that Michelle Obama probably comes better prepared to handle these challenges than any first lady in history. The reason is that she has sort of been super woman."
"First lady" is an unofficial title bestowed on the hostess of the White House. Helped by a staff of around 100, she has many largely ceremonial duties and accompanies the president to state functions and on trips.
她優雅大方、充滿熱情，她是成功的職業女性，是位稱職的母親，在即將成爲美國第一夫人之時，米歇爾•奧巴馬已經有了一大批“粉絲”。
在過完45歲生日三天後，米歇爾將於本月20日正式成爲美國第一夫人，這一天她的丈夫巴拉克•奧巴馬將就任成爲美國首位非裔總統。
米歇爾將成爲繼端莊優雅的前第一夫人傑奎琳•肯尼迪之後美國曆史上最年輕的第一夫人，肯尼迪就任美國總統時，傑奎琳年僅31歲。
儘管米歇爾一直表示她將做個“全職媽媽”，照顧好兩個女兒——10歲的瑪利亞和7歲的薩沙，但當這個第一家庭入主白宮後，她的角色在今後的幾個月將不可避免地發生變化。
米歇爾曾公開表示自己沒有什麼政治抱負。她已於本週辭去芝加哥大學醫學中心副主任一職，她在那裏工作已有七年之久。
米歇爾在去年11月4日大選日前夕接受記者採訪時說：“即使成爲第一夫人，我的首要任務仍將是做個稱職的媽媽，讓我們的女兒健康快樂地成長，過一個正常的童年——讓她們（和其他孩子一樣）每天也做家庭作業，也去跳舞，踢足球。”
歷史學家羅伯特•沃特森說：“米歇爾面臨的最大挑戰之一就是如何處理好各種角色。”
“她既是妻子、母親，又是第一夫人。她曾是一位成功的職業女性，‘第一夫人’對於她來說是個不小的挑戰。”
他說：“與歷屆第一夫人相比，我感覺米歇爾可能會是面對這些挑戰時準備最充分的一位。因爲她有點女強人的感覺。”
“第一夫人”是對白宮女主人的一個非官方的稱呼。在約100名員工的協助下，第一夫人要處理很多儀式性的事務，還要陪同總統出席各種國事活動和出訪外國。
Vocabulary:
ceremonial duty:儀式性工作
