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When President Obama took the stage here Wednesday to address a community — and a nation — traumatized by Saturday’s shootings rampage in Tucson, Arizona, it invited comparisons to President George W. Bush’s speech to the nation after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the memorial service President Bill Clinton led after the bombing of a federal office building killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in 1995.
點評：拋開生詞，這個很長的句子的結構其實不難，很容易看出就是一個簡單的“主-謂-賓(S-V-O)”結構，難在這個句子的賓語部分的從句，如“and the memorial service（President Bill Clinton led）after the bombing （of a federal office building）killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in 1995. ”。要在考場內神情緊張的狀態理清從句的成分，對考生而言，難度不小！
But Obama’s appearance presented a deeper challenge, reflecting the tenor of his times. Unlike those tragedies---which, at least initially, united a mournful country and quieted partisan divisions---this one has, in the days since the killings, had the opposite effect, inflaming the divide.
點評：這段話有較多的獨立狀語，翻譯的時候可以先把句子的主體結構（主謂賓）搞順，再添加相應的狀語信息，如“Unlike those tragedies---which, at least initially, united a mournful country and quieted partisan divisions---this one has, in the days since the killings, had the opposite effect, inflaming the divide”這句話按常規寫法理順之后可以這樣排列（供參考）“In the days since the killings，this one (tragedy) has had the opposite effect, (i.e.)inflaming the divide--unlike those tragedies which united a mournful country and quieted partisan divisions at least initially。”
It was a political reality Mr. Obama seemed to recognize the moment he took the stage. He directly confronted the political debate that erupted after the rampage, asking people of all beliefs not to use the tragedy to turn on one another. He called for an end to partisan recriminations, and for a unity that has seemed increasingly elusive as each day has brought more harsh condemnations from the left and the right. It was one of the more powerful addresses that Mr. Obama has delivered as president, harnessing the emotion generated by the shock and loss from Saturday’s shootings to urge Americans “to remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together”.
點評：這一大段依葫蘆畫瓢——重點還是理清句子的結構。
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