Joe Biden: Oldest 乔·拜登：最年长的

Joe Biden: Oldest

乔·拜登：最年长的

【听力音频】

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　　By Caty Weaver

　　13 January 2024

　　VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.

　　Today we are talking about Joe Biden. He took office in 2021, becoming America's 46th President. A member of the Democratic Party, Biden had been in national politics for a long time before he got to the White House.

　　He served 36 years in the United States Senate representing Delaware. After that, he held two terms as the nation's vice president, serving under President Barack Obama.

　　Because Biden's presidency is so recent, this report will not discuss his time in office. Instead, it will discuss his earlier life.

　　Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born in 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Delaware when he was 10 years old.

　　The Bidens were Roman Catholics of Irish ancestry. Joe was educated in private Roman Catholic schools as a youth. Later, he attended the University of Delaware. He received a degree in political science and history in 1965.

　　He also fell in love at Delaware with fellow student Neilia Hunter. The two married the following year. Over the next few years, the couple had three children. Joe Biden also received his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law in New York.

　　In 1972, at age 29, Joe Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate, representing Delaware. A few weeks later, Biden faced tragedy. Neilia and their children were in a car accident. She and daughter Naomi were killed in the crash. Sons Beau and Hunter were injured.

　　Biden was suddenly a single father. He briefly considered leaving his Senate seat. But he decided to stay in office. Unlike most lawmakers, however, he did not move to Washington. He did not want to uproot his little boys. Instead, he traveled daily to and from Washington, D.C. on the train so he could be home with his sons every night. The senator continued this custom for 36 years.

　　Also during that time, Biden met Jill Jacobs, an English teacher. They fell in love and married in 1977. Daughter Ashley was born in 1981.

　　Biden was a candidate for president in 1987 and 2007. After Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential candidate, he asked Biden to join the campaign as his running mate. They won election and Biden began serving as vice president. Four years later, Obama and Biden were re-elected for a second term.

　　Most political experts say Biden was an especially powerful vice president. He and Obama worked closely together and Biden was influential in policy decisions. The president sought Biden's help in establishing a national economic stimulus program, for example. Biden also traveled the world as vice president and led diplomatic missions in troubled regions. He is widely considered one of the most successful vice presidents in American history.

　　During his second term as vice president, Joe Biden faced another family tragedy. His adult son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015.

　　Joe Biden had considered running for president in 2016. But after Beau died, the Vice President decided against it. The death of his son was too recent and the grief was too great to spend time on a campaign.

　　Biden announced his candidacy for president in April of 2019. At 77, he was among the oldest presidential candidates ever. His age became an issue of debate during the campaign. But his main competitor, President Donald Trump, was just three years younger.

　　Joe Biden called the presidential race "a battle for the soul of America." He won that battle when Americans went to voting stations on November 3, 2020.

　　U.S. election officials announced later that week that Joe Biden and his vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris, had defeated President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

　　Biden received 81 million votes in all --- more than any other American presidential candidate in history. Trump won about 74 million. However, Trump rejected the official vote count as incorrect and dishonest, calling the election "stolen." Many of Trump's supporters took the same position, causing severe division in the country.

　　On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States. In a speech that followed, he called on the American people to seek unity with one another. He described unity as one of the most "elusive" qualities in a democracy.

　　I'm Caty Weaver.

　　Caty Weaver wrote this story for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Caty Weaver

　　2024年1月13日

　　VOA学英语为您介绍美国总统。

　　今天我们要谈论的是乔·拜登。他于2021年上任，成为美国的第46任总统。作为民主党的一员，拜登在进入白宫之前已经在国家政治舞台上活动了很长时间。

　　他在美国参议院代表特拉华州任职了36年。之后，他在贝拉克·奥巴马总统的领导下担任了两届副总统。

　　由于拜登的总统任期非常近，这篇报道将不会讨论他在任期间的情况。相反，它将讨论他早年的生活。

　　约瑟夫·罗宾内特·拜登，Jr. 于1942年在宾夕法尼亚州的斯克兰顿出生。他10岁时，他的家人搬到了特拉华州。

　　拜登家族是爱尔兰血统的罗马天主教徒。乔在年轻时在私立罗马天主教学校接受教育。后来，他进入特拉华大学。他在1965年获得了政治科学和历史学位。

　　他在特拉华大学与同学尼莉亚·亨特相爱。两人在次年结婚。在接下来的几年里，这对夫妇有了三个孩子。乔·拜登也从纽约的雪城大学法学院获得了法学学位。

　　1972年，29岁的乔·拜登代表特拉华州当选为美国参议员。几周后，拜登遭遇了悲剧。尼莉亚和他们的孩子们发生了车祸。她和女儿诺米在车祸中丧生。儿子博和亨特受伤。

　　拜登突然成为了单身父亲。他曾短暂考虑过放弃他的参议员职位。但他决定留任。然而，与大多数立法者不同，他并没有搬到华盛顿。他不想让他的小男孩们离开他们的家。因此，他每天乘火车往返于华盛顿，以便每晚都能和儿子们在一起。这位参议员坚持了这个习惯长达36年。

　　在那段时间里，拜登遇到了英语教师吉尔·雅各布斯。他们相爱并在1977年结婚。女儿阿什利在1981年出生。

　　拜登在1987年和2007年都曾参选总统。当贝拉克·奥巴马被提名为2008年民主党的总统候选人时，他邀请拜登作为他的竞选搭档加入竞选。他们赢得了选举，拜登开始担任副总统。四年后，奥巴马和拜登再次连任。

　　大多数政治专家都认为拜登是一位特别有影响力的副总统。他和奥巴马紧密合作，对政策决策有很大影响。例如，总统寻求拜登的帮助，建立了一个国家经济刺激计划。拜登作为副总统还走访了世界各地，领导了在困扰地区的外交任务。他被广泛认为是美国历史上最成功的副总统之一。

　　在担任副总统的第二个任期期间，乔·拜登再次面临家庭悲剧。他的成年儿子博于2015年死于脑癌。

　　乔·拜登曾考虑在2016年竞选总统。但在博去世后，副总统决定不参选。他的儿子去世的时间太近，悲痛之情太重，无法花时间进行竞选活动。

　　拜登在2019年4月宣布参选总统。他当时77岁，是历史上最年长的总统候选人之一。他的年龄在竞选期间成为了争论的焦点。但他的主要竞争对手，当时的总统唐纳德·特朗普，只比他小三岁。

　　乔·拜登称这次总统竞选是"美国灵魂的战斗"。他在2020年11月3日美国人民投票时赢得了这场战斗。

　　美国选举官员在那周晚些时候宣布，乔·拜登和他的副总统竞选搭档卡马拉·哈里斯击败了总统唐纳德·特朗普和副总统迈克·彭斯。

　　拜登总共获得了8100万张选票——这是美国历史上任何总统候选人所获得的最多的选票。特朗普获得了大约7400万张选票。然而，特朗普拒绝接受官方的投票计数，称其为不正确和不诚实，并称选举被"窃取"。许多特朗普的支持者也持同样的立场，导致国家严重分裂。

　　2021年1月20日，乔·拜登宣誓就任美国总统。在随后的演讲中，他呼吁美国人民寻求团结。他将团结描述为民主中最"难以捉摸"的品质之一。

　　我是凯蒂·韦弗。

　　凯蒂·韦弗为VOA学英语撰写了这篇报道。

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　　故事中的词汇

　　stimulus - n. 激发或激励行动的事物

　　mission - n. 一项任务、工作或目标

　　region - n. 广大的地理区域

　　elusive - adj. 难以找到或捕获