Al Gore has been launching his new book, "The Assault on Reason," and you could have predicted the buzz: Is he about to jump into the race What you probably wouldn't have predicted is the counter-buzz that Gore is just too ostentatiously smart to be elected president.
高爾正在強打他的新書《攻擊理性》，你可以預見，到時又會有各種流言蜚語：他是否即將投入選戰？但你可能無法預見反面流言，就是高爾太鋒芒外露，他一定選不上總統。
In the book, Gore betrays familiarity with history, economics, even science. And in public appearances he doesn't even try to disguise his erudition. These supposedly are glaring shortcomings that should keep Gore on the sidelines, rereading Gibbon and exchanging ideas about the structure of the cosmos with Stephen Hawking.
在這本新書中，高爾不經意流露，他嫻熟歷史、經濟，甚至科學。在公開露面的場合，他也不刻意隱瞞他的博學多聞。他重讀吉朋的著作，並和霍金就宇宙結構交換意見，凡此種種應該是致命傷，勢必判高爾出局。
Leave aside the question of whether Gore is even thinking about another presidential run, or how he would stack up against the other candidates. I'm making a more general point: One thing that should be clear to anyone who's been paying attention these past few years is that we need to go out and get ourselves the smartest president we can find. We need a brainiac president, a regular Mister or Miss Smarty-Pants. We need to elect the kid you hated in high school, the teacher's pet with perfect grades.
姑不論高爾是否考慮再次出馬角逐總統，或他和其他候選人如何一較高下。我要提出一個更概括性的重點：過去這幾年一直在關注這件事的人都很清楚一件事，那就是我們應該幫自己找出一位最聰明睿智的總統。我們需要一位聰明而勤奮的總統，一位平凡的男人或自以為萬事通的女人，我們必須選出你上高中時痛恨的那個小鬼，那個總是考滿分的老師的寶貝。
When I look at what the next president will have to deal with, I don't see much that can be solved with just a winning smile, a firm handshake and a ton of resolve. I see conundrums, dilemmas, quandaries, impasses, gnarly thickets of fateful possibility with no obvious way out. Iraq is the obvious place he or she will have to start; I want a president smart enough to figure out how to minimize the damage.
當我盱衡下一位總統必須處理的問題時，我並不認為，只靠一個勝選的微笑，堅定有力的握手及無比的意志力，就可以解決太多問題。眼看問題經緯萬端，進退兩難、陷入困境，死路一條，盤根錯節的命定可能性，但找不到明顯的出路。他或她，首先顯然要先解決伊拉克問題，我希望新總統夠聰明，可以想辦法將傷害減到最低。
I want a president who reads newspapers, who reads books other than those that confirm his worldview, who bones up on Persian history before deciding how to deal with Iran's ambitious dreams of glory. I want a president who understands the relationship between energy policy at home and U.S. interests in the Middle East -- and who's smart enough to form his or her own opinions, not just rely on what old friends in the oil business say.
我要選一位總統，他看報，博覽群籍，而不只是那些可以印證他世界觀的書；他在決定如何因應伊朗野心勃勃的光榮夢想前，能熟習波斯歷史。我要一位總統，他了解本土能源政策和美國在中東利益之間的關係；而且他要夠聰明，可以形成他（她）自己的決策，而不光是聽石油業老友的意見。
Actually, I want a president smart enough to know a good deal about science. He or she doesn't have to be able to do the math, but I want a president who knows that the great theories underpinning our understanding of the universe -- general relativity and quantum mechanics -- have stood for nearly a century and proved stunningly accurate, even though they describe a world that is more shimmer than substance. I want him or her to know that there's a lot we still don't know.
事實上，我要的總統要夠聰明，對科學多所涉獵。他（她）不一定要能解數學難題，但我要我們的總統知道，支撐我們了解宇宙架構的偉大理論，包括廣義相對論和量子力學，已成立近一世紀，而且證明正確無誤，雖然他們所形容的世界比較浮光掠影而非實體。我要他（她）知道，還有很多未知的事。
I want the next president to be intellectually curious -- and also intellectually honest. I want him or her to understand the details, not just the big picture. I won't complain if the next president occasionally uses a word I have to look up.
我希望下任總統求知若渴，同時「知之為知之，不知為不知」。我希望他（她）不只看大格局，也要了解細節。如果下任總統偶爾用一個我必須去查的字，我也毫無怨言。
The conventional wisdom says that voters are turned off when candidates put on showy displays of highfalutin brilliance. I hope that's wrong. I hope people understand how complicated and difficult the next president's job will be, and how much of a difference some real candlepower would make.
一般認為，當候選人賣弄才華，表現出聰明過人時，往往會嚇跑選民，我希望這是錯誤的，我希望選民了解，下任總統的工作有多複雜艱鉅，而真正的光芒會造成多大的不同。
I don't want the candidates to pretend to be average people, because why would we choose an ordinary person for such an extraordinary job I want to see what they've got -- how much they know, how readily they absorb new information, how effectively they analyze problems and evaluate solutions. If the next president is almost always the smartest person in the room, I won't mind a bit. After all, we're not in high school anymore.
我也不希望候選人假裝他們只是凡夫俗子，因為我們為什麼要選一位庸才出任艱鉅？我要看看，他們有什麼料，他們知道多少，他們多麼願意吸收新知，他們分析問題及評估解決方案多有效率。如果下任總統幾乎總是房間裡最聰明的人，我也不介意，畢竟我們已不再是高中生了。（摘譯自華盛頓郵報Eugene Robinson專欄）
《詞解》
Egghead 知識分子（多半禿頂）
Assault 攻擊
buzz 流言蜚語
ostentatiously smart 鋒芒外露
betrays 不經意流露
erudition 博學多聞
glaring shortcomings 致命傷
on the sidelines 判出局
stack up against 較量，分出高下
brainiac 聰明勤奮的人
Smarty-Pants 自以為萬事通的人
conundrum 經緯萬端
dilemma 進退兩難
quandaries 陷入困境
impasse 死路一條
minimize 減到最低
bones up on 熟習
underpinning 支撐
general relativity 廣義相對論
quantum mechanics 量子力學
big picture 大格局
conventional wisdom 一般認為
highfalutin brilliance 聰明過人