通常我們寫英語作文，老師都會讓我們寫成三段論，每段通常第一句是主題句。這種英文八股應(yīng)付各種考試通常都很有效。也許你會質(zhì)疑這種寫作方法的應(yīng)用性。讀了本篇文章，你也許就會和滬江小編一樣發(fā)現(xiàn)，原來這種格式還是挺有效挺實(shí)用的。本文的兩位作者都曾是原副總統(tǒng)戈爾的演講撰稿人，也許他們會對我們英文應(yīng)用文體的寫作有很大的幫助。另外從本文我們也可以發(fā)現(xiàn)總統(tǒng)競選也是有它的套路的，要想成功，是有前人的經(jīng)驗(yàn)可以借鑒的。

雙擊或劃選（點(diǎn)我安裝在線劃詞），即可查看單詞的詳細(xì)解釋，并收錄生詞進(jìn) 生詞本

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an unlikely place to launch a bid to become leader of the free world, but the former Tennessee senator and Law and Order star Fred Thompson isn't the first 2008 presidential candidate to kick off his or her campaign in a non-traditional setting.

誰也想不到《Jay Leno 今夜脫口秀》會成為一個讓人宣布參選要成為自由世界的領(lǐng)袖的地方，但是田納西州前參議員、《法律與秩序》的演員弗雷德·湯普森并不是第一個在非慣例場合宣布參選的08總統(tǒng)候選人。

Rudy Giuliani announced his candidacy on Larry King Live; Mike Huckabee did it on Meet the Press; Hillary Clinton formally threw her hat in the ring via a short web video; and John Edwards made his intentions known with off-the-cuff remarks in the front yard of a devastated house in New Orleans' Ninth Ward.

魯?shù)稀ぶ炖材嵩凇独铩そ瓞F(xiàn)場秀》宣布參選；麥克·哈克比在《會見新聞界》；希拉里·克林頓通過一小段網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻宣布參選，而約翰·愛德華茲則在新奧爾良九區(qū)一個殘破的房屋前的小空地上發(fā)表的即席演說中宣布參選。

But while the medium used to announce candidacies may be changing, the message is about the same as it was the day humans began rejecting clubbing in favor of persuasion as a way to seek positions of leadership. For the most part, it always includes three key points:

但是盡管宣布參選的媒介可能會改變，但從人們放棄棍棒通過說服別人來尋求領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者地位的那天開始，他們所傳遞的信息卻是大體相同的。在大部分的場合，演說的內(nèi)容主要包括以下三點(diǎn)：

1) Here's my story.
2) My story is our nation's story.
3) Here's what I think the next chapter of that story should be.

1）我的故事
2）我的故事是我們國家的故事
3）我想這個故事的下一章應(yīng)該如何書寫

Thompson wasn't subtle in hitting points one and two: "My story is an American story," he began. He then proceeded to chart his life from teenaged father of three and minimum-wage worker to lawyer, Watergate counsel, senator, actor, and now new-father of two small kids. In this, the Tennessee Senator follows a well-worn rhetorical path.

湯普森在演說的第一點(diǎn)和第二點(diǎn)上并沒有花太多心思，他以“我的故事是一個美國的故事”為開頭。然后按照順序闡述了他從十幾歲時成為三個孩子的父親，同時也是低收入的工人到律師、參與水門事件的調(diào)查、參議員、演員，現(xiàn)在是兩個小孩子的新爸爸。這位田納西參議員選擇了一條俗套的路線。

This year, Barack Obama recounted in his announcement speech how he ended up taking a job as a community organizer in inner-city Chicago, and from there went on to the Illinois State Senate, underscoring his outsider credentials and institutional accomplishments. Hillary Clinton re-introduced herself to voters as someone who "grew up in a middle-class family in the middle of America" — not inside the Beltway — and quickly recapped her accomplishments in Arkansas, the White House and the Senate. Mitt Romney — successful businessman, head of the 2002 Olympics and former Massachusetts governor — structured his whole speech around the notion that American needs "innovation and transformation" and explained how "throughout my life, I have pursued innovation and transformation."

今年，巴拉克·奧巴馬在他的演講中詳細(xì)敘述了他如何結(jié)束了在芝加哥的平民地區(qū)得到的社區(qū)組織者的工作，從那到伊利諾斯州的參議員，強(qiáng)調(diào)他的草根和成就。希拉里·克林頓向選民重新介紹了自己，說自己“從美國中部——不在環(huán)線以內(nèi)——的一個中產(chǎn)階級的家庭成長起來”卻迅速的翻身取得成就，從阿肯色州到白宮到參議院。米特·羅姆尼，這個成功的商人也曾是2002年冬奧會的主席、前馬薩諸塞州州長，圍繞著一個概念——美國人需要“改革和變化”，并且闡述他將如何“用我的一生來追求這種改革和變化”來建構(gòu)他的演講稿。

In years past, former New York Knick and New Jersey senator Bill Bradley talked about being a "small-town boy" from Missouri; Gary Hart launched his 1984 bid by describing himself "as the son of dust bowl farm parents who never finished high school"; and in the opening paragraph of his announcement in 1974, Jimmy Carter said "I am a farmer, an engineer, a businessman, a planner, a scientist, a governor and a Christian." In this approach, biography is destiny.

在早些年，前紐約尼克隊員、新澤西參議員比爾·布拉德利談到過自己是一個來自密蘇里的“小城男孩”；1984年蓋瑞·哈特宣布參選時把自己描述成“來自沙塵帶地區(qū)、高中都沒有畢業(yè)的農(nóng)民的兒子?！?974年，吉米·卡特在宣布參選演講的開頭說“我是一個農(nóng)民，一個工程師，一個商人，一個計劃者，一個科學(xué)家，一個州長和一個基督徒?！睆倪@個角度說，傳記不過是命運(yùn)。

After reminding the audience that he was as actually a lawyer and didn't just play one on TV, Thompson demonstrated what seems to be the key reason politicians procreate, so they can ask the question: "What kind of country are our children and grandchildren going to grow up in?" Having small children is also what apparently motivates Chris Dodd to run for President, who announced he's running "not just as a public servant, but as a parent, the father of two young daughters — ages five and 22 months." In this sense, both are lucky to have fathered two small children late in life, because it just doesn't pack the same emotional punch to ask what kind of world we're going to create for my son, the stockbroker, or my daughter, the research chemist. But bringing up children is also a useful and frequently used way to get to point three: what should the next chapter in our nation's history look like.

在提醒觀眾他的確是一名律師并且不只參演了一部電視劇后，湯普森集中在政治家層出不窮的原因上，他們可以問這個問題：“我們的孩子和孩子的孩子將生活在什么樣的國家里？”家有幼子似乎同樣也是克里斯·多德競選總統(tǒng)的動力，他在競選時宣稱他的競選“不只作為公仆、也是兩個小女兒——一個五歲一個22個月的爸爸?！睆倪@個角度說，這兩個人老來得子是很幸運(yùn)的，因?yàn)檫@不僅能夠激情洋溢的提問，我們將要為我們的兒子，一個股票經(jīng)紀(jì)人，或女兒，一個化學(xué)家創(chuàng)造一個怎樣的世界，而且撫養(yǎng)孩子長大也是一個有用的話題可以順理成章的過渡到第三點(diǎn)：我們國家歷史的下一章節(jié)應(yīng)該如何書寫。

It's at this point that candidates face a choice — to go the thematic or programmatic route.

這是一個候選人們要面對選擇的階段——主題路線或者綱領(lǐng)路線

Some candidates choose the latter and embark on a whirlwind tour of the policy world, weighing in on just about every issue and offering specific, programmatic details. It's what John Kerry did in 2004, John McCain and Al Gore did in 2000, and Dick Gephardt did in 1988 — to just name a few. It's not a coincidence that all these candidates were legislators, and none of them won.

一些候選人選擇了后者，從政治世界的漩渦著手，提出每一件事情的特別的綱領(lǐng)式的操作方法。2004年的約翰·克里，2000年的約翰·麥凱恩和阿爾·戈爾和1988年的迪克·蓋哈德都是這么做的——我們只是提幾個名字，所有這些候選人都是立法者，他們都失敗了，這并不是巧合。

Thompson took a different — and generally more successful — tack, delivering an announcement speech that was built on a thematic framework. Mentioning but offering no specifics on the major issues of the day, Thompson instead pledged his fealty to "sound conservative First Principles," and articulated the principles that would guide his campaign: "security, prosperity, and the unity of our country."

湯普森做了不同的通常更成功的選擇，他的演說建立在主題框架上，提及主要問題但不提出具體的方法。湯普森并沒有把保證忠誠作為“保守的首要原則”，而是清晰的提出了引導(dǎo)他的競選的原則“安定團(tuán)結(jié)、繁榮富強(qiáng)?！?

This approach echoes Bill Clinton's announcement speech in 1992, which also was built around three themes: opportunity, responsibility and community. And like Clinton and Ronald Reagan in 1980, Thompson also explicitly offered his views on the proper role of government and his theory of governing. In fact, his may be the only announcement speech this year to offer a view on the wonky topic of federalism.

這其實(shí)是模仿比爾·克林頓在1992年的演講，克林頓也用了三個主題：機(jī)遇、責(zé)任和社會。也像克林頓和1980年的羅納德·里根一樣，湯普森明確提出他對政府職能的看法和管理理論。事實(shí)上，他的演說可能是今年唯一就聯(lián)邦體制的動搖這一話題發(fā)表看法的。

Whether Thompson ultimately makes it to the office those two held is an open question. But what we do know is that no matter how much he, or any other candidate, uses late-night TV or YouTube, there are time-tested templates — like the announcement speech — that will never change.

湯普森最終能否像克林頓和里根一樣入主白宮是一個未知數(shù)。但是我們知道的就是，無論他或者其他候選人如何利用晚間電視節(jié)目或Youtube，都有經(jīng)過時間檢驗(yàn)的樣板存在——就像宣布參選的演說詞一樣——這是永遠(yuǎn)不會改變的。