最近文章“含霉量”有点高，因为泰勒实在是太受瞩目了。这不，为了能够得到更多的支持，连拜登都开始打她的主意了。一起来看来自《每日电讯报》的文章。
01
原文
Joe Biden is attempting to recruit Taylor Swift as an influencer for his presidential campaign to boost his ailing poll ratings before the upcoming US election.
The president’s campaign believes the pop star, 34, could restore his support among young voters and is pushing her to endorse him on social media.
Swift, who was named Time’s Person of the Year and Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023, is enjoying unrivalled press coverage in the United States with her sell-out Eras tour and new relationship with Travis Kelce, a prominent American football player.
The singer endorsed Mr Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 and is believed to be a Democrat, publicly supporting LGBTQ rights and access to abortion. In 2018, she supported Democratic candidates in the congressional race in Tennessee, where she lived as a teenager.
02
精读
Joe Biden is attempting to recruit Taylor Swift as an influencer for his presidential campaign to boost his ailing poll ratings before the upcoming US election.
乔·拜登（Joe Biden）正尝试动员泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）作为其总统竞选活动的代言人，以在即将到来的美国大选前提高其低迷的民调支持率。
influencer 泛指“有影响力的人”，网红、大V、代言人，都可以用这个词表示。
campaign 表示一种“运动、活动”，比如
launch a campaign against the culture of overtime 
展开一场反对加班文化的活动。
再比如，花西子事件后，国货品牌纷纷掀起了一场宣传活动，可以说：
Domestic brands have launched a wave of promotional campaigns.
文中 presidential campaign 就是“总统竞选活动”的意思。
表示“活动、运动”的词有很多，比如 battle、struggle、drive、war、fight，这几个词均指为达到某目的或为阻止某事而作出的努力，区别在于：
1）campaign 指为社会、商业或政治目的而进行的一系列有计划的活动或运动，比如：
the campaign for parliamentary reform 
要求议会改革的运动
an anti-smoking campaign 
反对吸烟的运动。
2）battle 指个人或集体为赢得权力或控制权而进行的较量、争论或斗争，如：
She finally won the legal battle for compensation.
她终于赢得了这场要求赔偿的法律斗争。
the endless battle between man and nature
人与大自然永无休止的斗争
3）struggle 也是指个人或集体为赢得权力或控制权而进行的较量、争论或斗争，和 battle 不同的是，struggle 总是用于似乎绝对必要的斗争，如关乎生死、自由等；battle 还可用于并非绝对必要的斗争，比如仅仅是想得到或者为了获得胜利的满足感，看几个搭配：
the battle/struggle between good and evil
正邪之争
a legal struggle for compensation
a struggle of wills/wits
4）drive 指团体为达到目的而作出的有组织的努力，如：
the drive for greater efficiency
为提高效率而作出的努力
a drive to reduce energy consumption
为减少能源消耗而发起的运动
drive 和 campaign 很像，但 campaign 通常为发动别人参加的运动，drive 可指让自己作出努力；而且 campaign 所指的运动可能比 drive 规模更大、更有组织。
5）war 和 fight 都指为制止或防止坏事物或为达到好目的而进行的斗争，如：
Workers won their fight to stop compulsory redundancies.
工人赢得了阻止强制裁员的斗争。
不同的是，war 用于制止人人摒弃的事物（如毒品和犯罪）而进行的斗争；fight 可用于为自己伸张正义而进行的斗争。


回到文中来：boost his ailing poll ratings
poll 指民意调查，ratings 表示“率”，poll ratings 就是“民意调查率”。
ailing 这个词很好，它原本形容人身体 ill / sick，如：
She looked after her ailing father.
她照顾她有病的父亲。
在实际使用中可形容政府、企业、行业、经济，表示“出问题的”，如：
the ailing economy
经济不景气
the ailing car industry
不景气的汽车工业
文中 ailing poll ratings 可以理解成“支持率低迷”。
有没有可能 ailing 也在映射拜登的身体？[旺柴]
the upcoming US election 指“即将到来的美国大选”。
upcoming 表示 happening soon，类似含义的词有很多，如：
1）be coming up
With Christmas coming up, we didn’t have much spare money.
圣诞节即将到来，我们没有多少闲钱。
2）be in sight
A solution to the problem now seems in sight.
现在，解决方案似乎指日可待。
3）be around the corner
In life, you never quite know what’s around the corner.
生活中，你不知道接下来会发生什么。
4）be in the offing
According to the company, these deals had been in the offing for some time.
据该公司称，这些交易酝酿已久。
5）imminent
Soon it became clear to everyone that war was imminent.
很快，所有人都明白，战争迫在眉睫。
6）forthcoming
The matter will be discussed at the forthcoming general meeting.
此事将在即将召开的大会上讨论。


The president’s campaign believes the pop star, 34, could restore his support among young voters and is pushing her to endorse him on social media.
拜登的竞选团队相信这位 34 岁的流行歌星可以恢复他在年轻选民中的支持率，他们在敦促泰勒在社交媒体上为拜登背书。
restore his support 是对上文 boost his ailing poll ratings 的同义替换。
push 在这里由“推”衍生出“敦促、说服”的意思，类似的说法还有 urge, encourage, impel, persuade, press 等。最近，欧洲多国农民在欧盟峰会会场外举行抗议，路透社在报道中就用了 press sb to do 这个表达：

Farmers threw eggs and stones at the European Parliament on Thursday, starting fires near the building and setting off fireworks amid protests to press a summit of European Union leaders to do more to help them with taxes and rising costs.
周四，农民向欧洲议会投掷鸡蛋和石块，在大楼附近放火并燃放烟花，这场抗议活动旨在迫使欧盟领导人峰会采取更多措施，帮助他们解决税收和成本上升问题。
endorse 本义是 to say publicly that you support a person “赞同，支持”，在广告活动中可以翻译成“宣传，代言，背书”。看一个《纸牌屋》里的例句：

I proudly endorse his candidacy for president.
我能支持他竞选总统，深感骄傲。（one's candidacy for...某人竞选...）
同一集还出现了它的名词形式 endorsement：

I'm... I'm humbled by your endorsement.
你们的支持让我受宠若惊。
《独立报》在报道这篇新闻时也用了它的名词形式：
As the 2024 presidential approaches, President Joe Biden is hoping to clinch a very high-profile endorsement: Taylor Swift.
随着 2024 年总统大选临近，美国总统乔·拜登希望得到一个十分高调的背书，那就是：泰勒·斯威夫特。
在写作中，我们可以用 endorse 一词表达自己肯定的观点，来看一个雅思写作例句：
From my perspective, there is no way I can endorse the opinion that rich countries should cease the spending on armament and channel these funds towards supporting residents in impoverished countries.
在我看来，我无法支持那种主张富裕国家停止军备开支，将这些资金用于支持贫困国家居民的观点。


Swift, who was named Time’s Person of the Year and Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023, is enjoying unrivalled press coverage in the United States with her sell-out Eras tour and new relationship with Travis Kelce, a prominent American football player.
斯威夫特被评为《时代》杂志“年度风云人物”和《公告牌》杂志的“2023年最伟大的流行巨星”，如今她在美国享有空前的媒体关注度，她的“Eras”巡回演唱会门票销售一空，与美国知名橄榄球运动员特拉维斯·凯尔斯（Travis Kelce）的新恋情也成为热议话题。

这句话的主干是：Swift is enjoying unrivalled press coverage in the United States
这里的 press 是名词，指 reports in newspapers and on radio and television “新闻报道、舆论”，看两个例句：
The band has received good press coverage.
那个乐队获得了报界的好评。
To judge from the press, the concert was a great success.
从新闻报道来看，这次音乐会取得了巨大成功。
unrivalled 是由动词 rival 变化而来的形容词，rival 表示“与...媲美，与...匹敌”，如：
The college's facilities rival those of Harvard and Yale.
这所学院的设施比得上哈佛和耶鲁。
前面加上否定前缀“un-”，后面双写l加上形容词后缀“-ed”，则表示“无与伦比的；无可匹敌的；无双的”。看一个《经济学人》里的例句：
Google is inaccessible in China. That leaves Baidu as the unrivalled leader in Chinese search. Slowing advertising revenues, however, are now taking it down a different road.
谷歌在中国无法访问，这使百度成为中国搜索领域无与伦比的领导者。然而，广告收入的下降正在使它走上一条不同的道路。 
文中主干 Swift is enjoying unrivalled press coverage in the United States 的意思是：斯威夫特在美国享有空前的媒体关注。
句中主语 Swift 后面跟了个定语从句，介绍 Swift 的成就：who was named Time’s Person of the Year and Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023
name 在这里是动词，“提名”的意思。
Time’s Person of the Year 和 Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023 分别是两个杂志的奖项。
主干后面跟了个with结构，解释了 unrivalled press coverage 的原因：with her sell-out Eras tour and new relationship with Travis Kelce, a prominent American football player
sell-out 是名词，意思是 a play, concert, etc. for which all the tickets have been sold “满座的演出(或比赛等)”，如：
Next week's final looks like being a sell-out. 
看来下周的决赛将是个满场。 
a sell-out tour 
场场爆满的巡回演出 
Eras tour 是去年泰勒·斯威夫特巡回演唱会的名称，中文翻译为“时代巡演”。



The singer endorsed Mr Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 and is believed to be a Democrat, publicly supporting LGBTQ rights and access to abortion. In 2018, she supported Democratic candidates in the congressional race in Tennessee, where she lived as a teenager.
这位歌手在 2020 年支持拜登和卡马拉·哈里斯，据信她是民主党人，公开支持 LGBTQ 权利和堕胎权。2018 年，她在田纳西州的国会竞选中支持民主党候选人，她十几岁时曾住在那里。
最后一句很不难，简单讲几个地方：
LGBTQ 指女同性恋者（lesbian）、男同性恋者（gay）、双性向者（bisexual）、跨性别者（transgender）与酷儿（queer）。queer 原本指“古怪的，不同寻常的”，所有的同性恋、双性恋以及其他不愿被某种标签固定性别的人群，都可以称自己为酷儿。
access to abortion 指“堕胎权”。
表示“竞选”，这里用了个新词：race，此外也可以用 campaign、election。
从政治立场角度说，共和党（Republicans）是“右派”，民主党（Democrats）是“左派”。关于“右派”和“左派”的概念，起源于1791法国大革命后的制宪会议。当时主张温和改良的坐在右边，主张激进革命的坐在左边。就有了“左派”和“右派”的说法。
换句话说，右派是“园丁思维”，主张对现有事物进行修修剪剪，保留事物的原貌；而左派是“木匠思维”，把树砍了，哐哧哐哧一顿凿，做出了个柜子，你完全看不出它之前的样子。所以右派比较温和，左派比较激进。
美国共和党作为“右派”，代表美国最核心、最原始的面貌（美国建国前就来到北美的人，第一批定居者），即资产阶层、精英群体、宗教组织以及白人、特别是男性白人。而民主党作为“左派”，代表中下阶层、社会边缘化群体，如移民、少数族群、同性恋团体，改变了美国最初的颜色。
简单说，共和党比较单一，代表白人，民主党更多元，代表少数族群。


最后，我们把这几段再整体地看一遍：
Joe Biden is attempting to recruit Taylor Swift as an influencer for his presidential campaign to boost his ailing poll ratings before the upcoming US election.
The president’s campaign believes the pop star, 34, could restore his support among young voters and is pushing her to endorse him on social media.
Swift, who was named Time’s Person of the Year and Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023, is enjoying unrivalled press coverage in the United States with her sell-out Eras tour and new relationship with Travis Kelce, a prominent American football player.
The singer endorsed Mr Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 and is believed to be a Democrat, publicly supporting LGBTQ rights and access to abortion. In 2018, she supported Democratic candidates in the congressional race in Tennessee, where she lived as a teenager.