①In one letter he happened to mention a childhood rebuke from his mother: “Now, George, don’t walk ahead.” ②He took her words to heart, staying, for most of his political career, loyally behind and modestly to one side. ③As chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1974, he stuck by Richard Nixon until it became more urgent to save the party; at which point, he publicly asked him to resign. ④He felt afterwards as though someone had died. ⑤In his eight years as Ronald Reagan’s vice-president, though they had sparred bitterly in the 1980 primaries over Reagan’s “voodoo economics” and his callow Hollywood sparkle, he never criticised or upstaged him. ⑥During the Irancontra affair of the 1980s, though present at many salient meetings, he declared himself out of the loop, and it was hard to prove otherwise.
段落大意
第一句话是过渡段，即承接了上一段老布什喜欢写信的事，又通过一封信引出了老布什性格上非常显著的一个特点——不做出头鸟，整段围绕这点展开。
他忠于并支持查德·尼克松，只到拯救共和党迫在眉睫，他才公开要求尼克松辞职。在那之后，他就像有人过世了一样那么难受。
他担任副总统并辅佐了罗纳德·里根的8年，虽然在1980年大选之初，他们有过争论，但他从来没有批评或抨击过里根总统。在“伊朗门事件”期间，他虽然出席了很多重要会议，但他声称自己不在权利圈中。
学点表达
①In one letter he happened to mention a childhood rebuke from his mother
a rebuke from sb. …作出的指责
招来指责的搭配为earn
例句：His opposition earned him bitter rebukes from secessionists.（Washington TimesDec 6, 2018）
②He took her words to heart, staying, for most of his political career, loyally behind and modestly to one side.
take sth. to heart 把...放在心上，走心了：
如果说某个人很敏感，批评对他影响很大可以这样说
Brian is a very sensitive kind of person and he takes criticism very much to heart.
在Goodbye Mr. Chips中校长的话对Chips产生了影响，是这样说的。
Ralston's straight words had, in some ways, had an effect.
③As chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1974, he stuck by Richard Nixon until it became more urgent to save the party
Republican National Committee 共和党全国委员会
美国两大党派：共和党 vs 民主党
Republican vs Democrat
stick原义是粘贴，这里的stick by 是支持、忠于
She'd stuck by Bob through thick and thin.
她和鲍勃患难与共。
类似的表达还有be loyal to、adhere、stand by ，口语中常用的表达是back sb. up
例句：Very difficult to do , unless other people are going to back you up .
④He felt afterwards as though someone had died.
afterwards 在某个事情或者时间点之后
James was taken to hospital but died soon afterwards
詹姆斯被送往医院，但随后不久就死了。
A Man Spent An Entire Year Walking Across China -- This Is What He Looked Like Afterwards.
afterwards
⑥During the Irancontra affair of the 1980s, though present at many salient meetings, he declared himself out of the loop
be in the loop/ out of the loop 圈内人、圈外人，在圈外而无法获取信息
out of the loop
I've been out of the loop since I changed jobs. I didn't realize Wendy and Bob had got engaged.
so sad
①The vision thing
②People often supposed him out of the loop in other ways, too: a boy born to privilege, called “Poppy” by his parents, a product of Phillips Academy and Phi Beta Kappa at Yale, who was (falsely) rumoured in the 1992 campaign never to have passed a quart of milk through a supermarket scanner. ③He was a Yankee aristocrat who could have followed his Daddy on to Wall Street but instead became a Texas oil man (the only Texan, growled Speaker Jim Wright, who ate lobster with his chilli), and went on to represent the toniest bit of Houston in Congress.④ All this, as well as the tennis-playing summers in Kennebunkport, seemed to set him firmly apart from the average Joe, though he let it be known as president that his favourite food was pork rinds, and banned from the White House the broccoli his mother had made him eat.
段落大意
The vision thing 是跟随老布什一生的标签，详见George H.W. Bush and “the vision thing”
。
the vision thing
1987年《时代》杂志刊登了一篇“Where Is the Real George Bush?”
使"The vision thing" 成为一个臭名昭著的引语，任何政治家或者公众人物没有远见都可以这样描述。
“the vision thing” went on to become a metonym, i.e., a shorthand figure of speech. It is now used as a description “for any politician’s failure to incorporate a greater vision in a campaign, and has often been applied in the media to other politicians or public figures.”
后面的段落围绕这个点展开。
第三段第一句又是过渡，用了上一段同样的一个表达out of the loop，特别形象的总结了老布什与常人不同的一生。
在其他方面，他也不是我等凡人这个圈子里的：含着金钥匙出生，被父母唤作Poppy（父母用外公的名字George Herbert Walker为他取名），上的都是名校，是个高材生，1992年总统竞选时曾有谣传，他从来没去超市买过牛奶。他本可以跟着爸爸去华尔街，他却去德克萨斯州搞石油，休斯顿最时尚的国会议员。夏天在肯纳邦克波特镇打网球，最喜欢的食物时炸猪皮，入住白宫后就再也不用被妈妈逼着吃西兰花了，所有这些，让他与众不同。
学点表达
③He went on to represent the toniest bit of Houston in Congress
go on to represent the toniest bit of
bit of 一组事物中的一个
Not one single bit of work has been started towards the repair of this road.
这条路的修缮工作一丁点儿都还没开始。
④ All this, as well as the tennis-playing summers in Kennebunkport, seemed to set him firmly apart from the average Joe
average Joe 普通人，跟中文中的张三李四是不是很像？类似的表达还有man in the street、Mr. Nobody
average Joe 一般指男性，女性对应average Jane、plain Jane
average Joe && plain Jane
Daniel： Betty seems to be a plain Jane.
（Betty 看起來似乎是个普通的女生。）
Justin： I don’t think so. I think she’s really charming, and she’s always been very friendly to others.
（我不这么认为。我觉得她真的很迷人，而且她一直对人很友善。）
ban from 禁止…
He has been banned from driving for a year. 他被禁止开车一年
On Course Smoking Ban
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