八卦约翰-爱德华兹，学 cool as a cucumber

曾经春风得志的约翰 爱德华兹

ON AUGUST 8th, as the Olympics ceremonies were being broadcast and Russian tanks were rolling into South Ossetia, John Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, admitted  to having a short affair in 2006 with a filmmaker named Rielle Hunter,44 years old now, who was hired that year to produce short videos for his political action committee.
8月8日，正当奥运开幕式在全世界隆重播放、俄罗斯坦克隆隆开进南奥塞提亚时，美国两届民主党总统竞选人之一约翰·爱德华兹也公开承认在2006年筹备竞选总统期间，竟背着妻子和竞选阵营中的一名女电影制片人现年44岁的丽尔·亨特发生了私情。 她为爱德华兹拍摄了一系列的短宣传纪录片，上传到他的竞选网站上。


爱德华兹的小三：丽尔·亨特

In the Hunter video titled "Plane Truths," Edwards is relaxing on his plane, telling the director:" I actually want the country to see who I am, who I really am... I'd rather be successful or unsuccessful based on who I really am, not based on some plastic Ken doll that you put up in front of audiences."
在亨特拍的名为“飞机真情告白录”一视频中，爱德华兹坐在飞机上，在镜头前轻松相告：“毋庸置疑，我要全国知道我是谁，真正的我是个什么样的人...我成功还是不成功，关键在于真实的我，而不在于像那些你摆在众人面前的塑料玩具。”


Ken Doll

爱德华兹总是以温和形象示人。他的名气主要来自于媒体给他起的绰号“金色男孩”以及《人物》杂志对他的评价“最性感的政治家”。爱德华兹的妻子伊丽莎白在1977年与爱德华兹结婚，55%的美国女性选民都认为爱德华兹夫妇拥有相当美满幸福的婚姻。然而2004年，伊丽莎白却被诊断出患有乳腺癌，本以为经过治疗后可以根治疾病，可去年3月，伊丽莎白的癌症又卷土重来，her breast cance had spread to her bone and could not be cured. 已经无法治愈，但仍一门心思帮助丈夫竞选。  


年轻时的伊丽莎白和现在的伊丽莎白

爱德华兹说：“在过去30年中，我只爱过同一个女人，任何熟悉我们的人都知道，她是一个优秀的女人，她热情、可爱、美丽、性感，是我生平遇到过的最好的人之一。”I've been in love with the same woman for 30-plus years and as anybody who's been around us knows, she's an extraordinary human being, warm, loving, beautiful, sexy and as good a person as I have ever known.

悲哀的是，驰骋政治沙场的一代豪杰爱德华兹难敌‘人肉炸弹’，堕入温柔坑，倒在亨特的石榴裙下。用古话说是：英雄难过美人关。用现代通俗的说法就是：大头管不住小头。

更悲哀的是伊丽莎白，拖着癌症病体，一心扑在老公的竞选上之外，还要照顾调教孩子。请看全美国被震动时，伊丽莎白的反应。

When he reached her the day after John Edwards admitted publicly to the affair, Jay Anania, Edwards' brother,  said Elizabeth asked him to call later because she was reading with Jack, their 8-year-old son.

"Jack reads to  her an hour a day as part of his home-schooling," Anania  told People.

"The world is whizzing around her and she's cool as a cucumher, saying, 'Jack just started, can I call you back?'"

（以上内容摘自各新闻网站，翻译有错，请指正，谢谢－－whatsthis）

看看about.com网站上对cool as a cucumber 的解释。



Definition:  

Very calm and relaxed even in a difficult situation; cold and distant
非常的冷静，即使在艰难的环境中也能处事不惊，泰然自若，冷静沉着，镇静勇敢

Explanation:

Used when speaking about people who do not show much emotion. Often used in a negative context.
用于反面情况，讲人遇事镇定异常，控制情绪，

Examples:

He had very bad news last night, but he came to the office as cool as a cucumber this morning as if nothing had happened.

昨晚他遇到很糟的事情，但今早他来上班却特镇静，就像什么也没发生似的。


She was cool as a cucumber even right after she was fired.
她处世不惊，即使就是刚被炒鱿鱼也如此。

大家还可参考下面VOA讲座来了解cool as a cucumber ，加深印象。

美国习惯用语第173讲
　
美国人喜欢吃沙拉，而黄瓜是沙拉不可缺少的成份。中国人到了夏天都喜欢吃拌黄瓜，实际上也是沙拉的一种类型。黄瓜给人一种清爽凉快的感觉。美国的俗语里有这么一个说法：to be cool as a cucumber.
　　
Cucumber就是黄瓜。To be cool as a cucumber从字面上来解释就是：像黄瓜一样凉爽。但是，要从俗语的角度来解释，它的意思就不同了。To be cool as a cucumber就是当一个人碰到困难和麻烦时很冷静、很放松。这是美国人经常用的一个习惯用语。我们来举个例子吧! 这是一个儿子在说他的爸爸：
　
例句-3: Last week Dad was in this auto accident and the other driver was so mad he was yelling and screaming. But Dad stayed cool as a cucumber and got the other guy cooled off too, once he saw there wasn't any real damage to either car.
这个儿子说：“上星期，我爸爸出了车祸。对方那个开车的人非常冒火，他大声嚷嚷，大声喊叫。但是，我爸爸却非常冷静，而且在那个人看到双方的汽车都没有受到很严重损伤后还设法使他冷静了下来。”
　　
不管出什么样的车祸都是很不幸的。出严重的车祸涉及到人命，有的人为此成为终身残废。即便出小车祸，担负责任的一方要承担经济损失，同时也使对方感到惊吓，带来修车、看病等许多麻烦。
　　
我们再给大家举一个关于to be cool as a cucumber的例子。这是一个人在说他和他的朋友去饭店吃饭的时候发生的事：
　　
例句-4: While Mike and I were waiting for our food, this clumsy waiter spilled a bowl of piping hot soup on Mike's back. I was furious, but Mike was as cool as a cucumber. He even told the waiter not to worry about it.
这个人说：“我和麦克正在等我们的饭菜，那个笨手笨脚的服务员不小心把一碗滚烫的汤倒在麦克的背上。我真是生气极了，可是麦克却非常冷静。他甚至还叫那个服务员不要担心。”