白宫椭圆形办公室渐成奥巴马风格

The decorative china plates are long gone. Historic metal gadgets and Native American pottery now stand in their stead. Resting on a bookshelf is a framed program from the 1963 March on Washington, where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech.

President Barack Obama gradually has made the Oval Office his own.

To varying degrees, each president puts his own imprint on this celebrated workspace. Even the smallest change - Obama's penholder, for example - is closely watched for symbolism.

While recent presidents have each done a big overhaul upon taking office, Obama decided against major redecorating. It would have struck a sour note in a time of economic distress. But over his first year in the White House, the office has come to reflect his tastes.

The table behind Obama's desk is full of family photos - a wedding picture, shots of his girls as toddlers, a picture from the day he announced for president and more - photos that he says remind him "why I'm doing what I'm doing." Out the window, the president can watch daughters Sasha and Malia climb on the playscape erected for them last spring.

There's now a bust of King in the Oval Office, in addition to the March on Washington program that previously hung on Obama's "wall of heroes" in his Senate office.

"This office, I think, reminds you of what's at stake, how many hopes and dreams are placed in what goes on here at the White House," Obama said in a recent television interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Perhaps no room in the White House is more closely associated with the presidency.

It is where Obama signs letters to the families of fallen soldiers. Where he told his war council of his decision to ship thousands more troops to Afghanistan. Where he receives daily briefings on the security threats facing the nation and on the state of the economy.

As Obama on updating the look of the Oval Office, in came four pieces of pottery by contemporary Native American artists, all on loan from the National Museum of the American Indian. Also new to the Obama bookshelves are three mechanical devices on loan from the National Museum of American History's patent collection: models for Samuel Morse's 1849 telegraph register, John Peer's 1874 gear-cutting machine and Henry Williams' 1877 feathering paddlewheel for steamboats.

White House curator William Allman said the patent models fit Obama's personality - his "interest in American history, his interest in technology and his interest in the creative spirit."

瓷盘装饰品早就不见踪影，取而代之的是具有历史纪念意义的金属器件和印第安陶器。书架上摆放着1963年“华盛顿游行”活动计划的相框，就在这次活动中，民权运动领袖马丁．路德．金发表了著名的演讲《我有一个梦想》。

这是白宫椭圆形办公室目前的内部摆设，美国总统贝拉克．奥巴马逐渐将其改造成了自己的风格。

美国历任总统在这个著名办公地点都不同程度地留下了自己的印记。甚至是奥巴马的笔筒这种最不起眼的变化，都被视为某种象征而受到密切关注。

尽管最近几任总统在就职后都对办公室进行了大规模改造，但奥巴马则不打算这样做。在经济困难时期，这样做可能会招致不满，但奥巴马入主白宫一年以来，椭圆办公室越来越具有他的风格。

奥巴马办公桌后面的桌子上摆满了家庭照片，包括他与米歇尔的结婚照、两个女儿年幼时的照片以及宣誓就职的照片等等。奥巴马称这些照片提醒他“为什么要做现在正在做的事情”。透过窗户，奥巴马可以看到女儿萨莎和玛丽亚在去年春天为她们搭建的游乐器械上玩耍。

除了“华盛顿游行”的活动计划外，椭圆形办公室里还摆放了马丁．路德．金的半身像。“华盛顿游行”计划相框之前挂在奥巴马参议院办公室的“英雄墙”上。

近日，奥巴马在接受脱口秀电视节目主持人奥普拉．温芙瑞的采访时说：“我觉得这个办公室可以提醒你什么是利害攸关的，有多少希望和梦想被寄托在这里。”

也许椭圆办公室是白宫最具“总统味”的地方。

在这里，奥巴马签署发给阵亡士兵家属的信件，向战争委员会宣布向阿富汗增兵数万的决定，参阅安全威胁和经济状况每日简报。

当奥巴马重新打造自己的椭圆办公室时，由当代印第安艺术家打造的四件陶器进驻白宫，这些工艺品均借自美国印第安人国家博物馆。此外，书架上还增添了从美国历史博物馆借来的三件机械专利藏品，分别是1849年萨缪尔．摩尔斯发明的电报机模型，1874年约翰．皮尔发明的齿轮加工机床模型，以及1877年亨利．威廉姆斯发明的汽船活叶明轮模型。

白宫馆长威廉．埃尔曼称，这些专利模型很符合奥巴马的个性，符合他“对美国历史、科技和创新精神的兴趣”。

Vocabulary:

strike a sour note：to signify something unpleasant（使情绪不好，引起反感）

shot：a photograph（照片）

toddler：a young child learning to walk（初学走路的孩子）

bust：a sculpture representing a person's head, shoulders, and upper chest（半身像）