Barack Obama lit the National Christmas Tree at the White House for the eighth and final time as president on last Thursday night.
上周四晚上，巴拉克·奧巴馬第8次在白宮點亮美國國家圣誕樹，這也是他作為總統(tǒng)最后一次點亮這棵圣誕樹了。

Obama was joined by wife Michelle and their younger daughter Sasha, 15, for the 94th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse, the public park located south of the White House fence.
奧巴馬由妻子米歇爾以及他們15歲的小女兒薩沙陪伴，在華盛頓總統(tǒng)公園南區(qū)參加了第94屆年度美國國家圣誕樹點亮儀式。

The First Family was notably missing older daughter Malia, who is currently taking a gap year before starting Harvard next fall. The 18-year-old also skipped out on her father's final turkey pardoning ceremony.?
奧巴馬一家十分想念正在“間隔年”大女兒的瑪利亞，她將在明年秋天進入哈佛大學學習。因為在“間隔年”，她也錯過了父親奧巴馬最后一次的赦免火雞儀式。

Clarkson kicked off the event with 'Please Come Home For Christmas', a holiday song dedicated to Americans fighting overseas.?
克拉克森以一首節(jié)日歌曲《圣誕節(jié)，請回家》拉開帷幕，獻給在海外戰(zhàn)斗的士兵們。

Obama, Michelle and Sasha took the stage after a performance by Kelly Clarkson, counting down from five with the enthusiastic crowd before pressing a button that lit up the tree with twinkling red, white and blue lights.
凱麗·克拉克森表演過后，奧巴馬、米歇爾和薩莎與熱情的美國人民共同倒計時五秒，按下點亮開關后，圣誕樹開始閃爍紅色、白色和藍色的光芒。

'To everybody who’s here tonight and everybody watching at home, it is now officially the time to light this tree!' Obama told the crowd.
“今晚在現場的每個人和在家里觀看的美國人民，我們現在正式點亮這棵圣誕樹”，奧巴馬宣布說。

Obama has seen the National Christmas Tree change three times during his two-term presidency.
奧巴馬在他的兩屆任期內見證了國家圣誕樹的三次變化。

A tree that had been used in the ceremony for three decades was knocked down during bad weather. Its replacement was lit in 2011 before dying just months later from transplant shock.
一次惡劣的天氣使得之前已經服役過三十年的圣誕樹被推倒。隨后換上的圣誕樹只在2011年被點亮，因為移植后的幾個月這棵樹也枯萎了。

On Thursday the First Family lit the Colorado blue spruce tree, which has been used in the annual ceremony since it was planted on the Ellipse in 2012.
上周四，總統(tǒng)一家點亮科羅拉多藍色云杉樹。這棵自2012年就種植在華盛頓總統(tǒng)公園南區(qū)云杉樹至今一直是國家圣誕樹。

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