WASHINGTON — President Obama will strike an optimistic tone in his farewell address to the nation on Tuesday, calling on the American people to work together as citizens as he prepares to rejoin their ranks.
華盛頓——下周二，歐巴馬總統將在告別國家演講中展現出積極的態度，呼籲美國人民作為公民一同努力，而他自己也將「告老還鄉」成為他們中的一員。
"The running thread through my career has been the notion that when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together in collective effort, things change for the better," Obama said in a Saturday radio address previewing the speech on Tuesday in Chicago.
周六，歐巴馬在廣播演講上預演了下周二在芝加哥的演講：「貫穿我職業生涯的一直是這樣一個理念，當普通人參與其中併集體努力時，一切會變得更好。」
"It’s easy to lose sight of that truth in the day-to-day back-and-forth of Washington and our minute-to-minute news cycles. But remember that America is a story told over a longer time horizon, in fits and starts, punctuated at times by hardship, but ultimately written by generations of citizens who』ve somehow worked together, without fanfare, to form a more perfect union."
「在日夜交替的華盛頓和生生不息的新聞界，很容易忽視那一事實。但是你們要記住，美國是一個時好時壞的、悠久的故事，有時被困難打斷，但是最終被那些默默無聞一起努力地世世代代所書寫，形成一個更加完美的聯盟。」
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Friday that Obama would talk about his accomplishments, but the farewell address would be mostly "forward-looking."
周五，白宮新聞秘書厄尼思特稱，歐巴馬將談談自己的成就，但是卸任演講主要是「向前看」。
Every president since George Washington has delivered a farewell address, usually in Washington. Obama’s will be unusual in that he』ll return to his hometown of Chicago, addressing supporters at the McCormick Place convention center just a few miles from Grant Park, where he celebrated his election victory in 2008. First lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Biden will also attend.
自喬治華盛頓以來，每個總統通常都會在白宮發表卸任演講。歐巴馬的演講不太尋常，因為他將返回自己的家鄉芝加哥，在距離格蘭特公園僅幾英裡的麥考密克會議中心向支持者發表演說，2008年時，他在這裡慶祝選舉勝利。第一夫人米歇爾·歐巴馬和副總統拜登也將出席。
In an interview with Chicago’s WBBM television on Thursday, Obama said he was returning to Chicago because it was where he first discovered his public service mission.
在周四接受芝加哥WBBM電視臺的採訪時，歐巴馬說，他之所以回到芝加哥，是因為那是他第一次發現自己服務公眾這一使命的地方。
"Everything that I have done subsequently — all the way through my presidency — was a direct outgrowth of what I learned in Chicago. I always say Chicago’s got challenges, but it really is really a microcosm of the country. There is no city is some ways that is more representative of both the difficulties, but more importantly, the promise of America," he said.
他說：「那之後我所做的一切——在我擔任總統期間——是我在芝加哥所學的直接成果。我常常說，芝加哥充滿挑戰，但它真的是這個國家的縮影。沒有任何一座城市，能以某些更好的方式同時代表挑戰，還有更重要的——美國的未來。」
Alluding to one of his favored metaphors for the presidency — a relay race — Obama said he was now ready to hand over the baton. "We』ve run our leg in our long journey of progress, knowing that our work is and will always be unfinished," he said.
對於擔任總統，他順便提到了自己喜歡的隱喻之一——一場接力賽——歐巴馬說，自己如今已經準備好交出接力棒。他說：「我們在自己漫長的進步之旅中奔跑，明白我們的工作現在沒有、將來也不會終結。」
（編輯：何瑩瑩）