听美文故事记6级单词02-01

9-Year—Old Politician 9岁小政客

The battle over Social Security has been joined by an unusual lobbyist, a 9-year-old boy from Texas (George Bush’s hometown), who has agreed to travel around supporting President Bush’s proposal.

　The boy, Noah McCullough, made a splash with his encyclopedic command of presidential history, earning five appearances on the “Tonight” show and some unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year. He beat Howard Dean in a trivia contest at the Democratic National Convention and wrote for his local newspaper about his trip to see the inauguration 2.

　“He’s very patriotic 3 and very Republican,” said to the media Noah’s mother, Donna McCullough, a former teacher and self-described Democrat 1. “It’s the way he was born.”

　In a sign of how far groups go to carry their message on Social Security, Progress for America has signed up Noah, a fourth grader, as a volunteer spokesman. He starts on spring break from James Williams Elementary School in Katy, Tex.

　Progress for America, which spent almost $45 million backing Mr. Bush last year, plans to lay out $20 million on Social Security this year. It has spent $1 million on television commercials and is working to send experts around the country. Among them are Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund; Rosario Marin, a former United States treasurer 4; and one really, really young Republican. Noah will not be eligible 5 to collect Social Security for nearly 60 years.

　Noah will travel to a handful of states ahead of visits by the president and will go on radio programs, answer trivia questions and say a few words about Social Security. Though he is obviously not an expert (and not really a lobbyist, either), officials say the effort is a lighthearted way to underline Mr. Bush’s message.

　“What I want to tell people about Social Security is to not be afraid of the new plan,” Noah said. “It may be a change, but it’s a good change.”

　The trip was a brainchild of Stuart Roy, a former aide to Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, who recently joined the DCI Group, a political consultancy here with ties to the Republican Party and Mr. Bush.

　Noah became interested in presidents as a 5-year-old after a mock election in kind-ergarten. Today, he has more than 3,000 books on presidential history. He campaigned for Mr. Bush, speaking to Republican groups. After 27 trips to the first President Bush’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station, he scored a meeting with the former president.

　Noah plans to run for the White House in 2032 — and he wants Social Security addressed before then.

　　布什竭力推行的社会保障制度改革多了一个不寻常的说客，一名来自布什老家得克萨斯州的九岁小男孩，应总统的邀请为社保改革进行全国巡回演讲。

　　这个名叫诺亚·马克库拉夫的　小男孩在美国知名度颇高，被称为“美国总统历史的百科全书”，美国著名的脱口秀节目“今夜”曾经五次邀请诺亚上节目，去年诺亚因为帮助布什竞选总统而为自己更增添了不平凡的经历。他曾在民主党大会上的一次小辩论中击败霍华德·迪安，还为当地报纸写过关于他所看到的就职典礼。

　　诺亚的妈妈唐娜·马克库拉夫，曾经当过老师并自称是民主党，她说：“诺亚非常爱国，而且他是个不折不扣的共和党人，他生下来就是这样。”

在一次关于如何进行社保改革的团体签名活动中，美国国会通过签名同意诺亚，一位四年级的小学生，成为志愿工作者。初春他就要暂时告别位于德克萨斯州凯蒂镇的詹姆士·威廉斯小学了。

　　去年，国会为支持布什推行社保改革花费了4,500万美元，今年国会将拨款减少到2,000万，其中100万用来进行电视宣传和聘请全国各地的专家开展工作，这些专家包括社会保障信托基金主管托马斯·斯文、前国家财务主管罗萨里奥·玛林等等，而其中还有一个很年轻很年轻的共和党人，那就是诺亚了，而小诺亚至少要在60年以后才有资格享受社会保障制度。

　　诺亚将作为开路先锋在布什访问之前先到达那些州，他将到电台接受听众咨询，或者谈谈有关社会保障制度的话题。尽管诺亚并不是专家，也不是真正的政客，但是布什政府充分相信诺亚对改革的推行有帮助。

　　诺亚说：“我想告诉人们的是，不要害怕新的社会保障制度，它是一种改变，而且它会朝对民众有利的方向改变。”

　　这次行程是斯图尔特·罗伊的想法，他是德克萨斯州共和党人代表汤姆·迪莱的前任助手，最近加入了DCI集团，是一名依附于共和党和布什先生的政治顾问。

　　诺亚5岁的时候，幼儿园进行了一次模仿美国总统选举的游戏，从那时开始诺亚就对总统产生了兴趣。到现在，诺亚拥有的关于美国总统历史的书籍超过了 3,000本。在共和党聚集大会上他发表演说支持布什，跟随布什游历了27个州，在得克萨斯州的总统博物馆里他还见到了老布什。

　　诺亚的目标是在2032年入主白宫——他希望到那个时候社会保障制度早就已经很完善了。