奥巴马:女儿已完全适应白宫生活

President Barack Obama had a big pat on the back for his young daughters on Tuesday, saying they have taken swimmingly to life in the White House.

After more than a year at the US presidential mansion, Malia Obama, 11, and Sasha Obama, 8, have made their dad proud with their ability to balance their private life with life in the public eye, he told NBC television.

"The happiest thing about the past year and a half has been the girls' adjustment. They have just been terrific. They're doing well in school," Obama said.

"They're not as constrained. They can wander around. Their Secret Service protection is a lot more low key," he explained. "So they've got soccer, they've got basketball, they go sleep over at their friend's houses.

"Sometimes I've got 12 little girls screaming on the third floor of the White House. And they made a great adjustment."

The president also admitted he was concerned about how his daughters would cope with his public life as they get a bit older.

"Now I get a little worried about them when they're teenagers because I think that's the time when you're already embarrassed about your parents, and then imagine if your dad's in the newspaper every day and people are calling him an idiot. I feel a little worried about that."

But "on the other hand, Malia and Sasha have just turned out to be unbelievably well adjusted kids," Obama said.

"The thing that's most important to me is that they are so respectful of everybody and haven't gotten on any airs. I attribute that directly to Michelle because she wouldn't put up with any of that stuff."

本周二，美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马（在接受一个采访时）对两个女儿大加赞赏，称她们已经顺利适应了白宫生活。

当天，奥巴马在接受美国国家广播公司采访时表示，在搬入白宫一年多后，11岁的玛丽亚和8岁的萨莎已经知道如何平衡私人生活和公共生活，这令他十分自豪。

奥巴马说：“在过去一年半中，我最高兴的事情就是女儿们已经适应了白宫生活。她们真的很棒，在学校的表现也很好。”

奥巴马解释说：“她们没有受到多少约束，可以到处走动。她们的安保要低调得多。所以她们可以去踢足球，打篮球，或者在朋友家留宿。”

“有时候，在白宫的三层会有12个小女孩一起玩耍嬉闹。她们已经完全适应了。”

奥巴马还坦称自己有点担心女儿们再大一些后将如何应对他的公众生活。

“我有些担心她们步入青春期后的情况，因为我觉得这个时期的孩子已经有了羞耻心，想象一下如何你的爸爸天天都上报纸，而且还被人称作白痴，那会是怎样的感受。我有点担心这个。”

奥巴马说，但“在另一方面，玛丽亚和萨莎已经表现出了非凡的适应能力。”

“对我来说最重要的是，她们对每个人都很尊敬，从不摆架子。我认为这要归功于米歇尔，因为她不会容忍这种行为。”

Vocabulary:

a pat on the back：a word of praise, congratulations, or encouragement（表扬，赞许）

swimmingly：without difficulty; with great success; effortlessly（顺畅地，轻易地）

low key：of reduced intensity; restrained; understated（低调的，不招摇的）

airs：affected or unnatural manner; manifestation of pride or vanity; assumed haughtiness（摆架子，装腔作势）