Memories came gushing back when I read media reports that former US President Jimmy Carter had died at the age of 100. If memories come gushing back it means many memories come back quickly. I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia in September 2018 to interview Carter for my TVB show. Memories of his wide smile, friendliness, and being with him for about an hour came gushing back. A wide smile is a smile where the mouth is stretched very wide to express pleasure or happiness. Carter was 94 years old when I interviewed him at the Carter Center’s Presidential Conference Room but still had his wits about him.
If you have your wits about you, it means you are ready to think and react quickly. He had a razor-sharp mind even though he was 94. Few people that age have a razor-sharp mind. If you have a razor-sharp mind, it means you think quickly and clearly. He gave quick and clear answers to my questions about US-China relations and Donald Trump, who was president at the time. The world remembers Richard Nixon as the American president who went to China to meet Chairman Mao Zedong and to discuss starting US-China diplomatic relations.
But it was Carter who established formal diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Carter, who was elected president in 1976, served only one term after numerous negative political events cast a shadow over his presidency. To cast a shadow over something means to make people feel less hopeful or happy about something. After losing reelection, Carter spent decades promoting human rights and democracy, fighting poverty, and building homes for the poor globally. He won respect as America’s greatest ex-president.
當我讀到傳媒報道指，前美國總統占美‧卡特逝世，享年一百歲時，回憶頓時湧現（gushing back）。若回憶 come gushing back，它的意思是許多回憶突然湧回來。我於二零一八年九月，飛往喬治亞洲的亞特蘭大，為我的無綫節目訪問卡特。那一個小時跟他在一起，他燦爛的笑容（wide smile）、他的友善親切，這些回憶統統湧現（gushing back）。A wide smile就是咧嘴而笑，以表達愉悅或快樂。我在卡特中心的總統會議室訪問他的時候，他年屆九十四歲，但依然頭腦清晰（had his wits about him）。
若你 have your wits about you，意即你頭腦冷靜，能隨機應變。他雖已九十四歲，但頭腦敏銳（a razor-sharp mind）。那個歲數的人很少會有那麼銳利的頭腦（a razor-sharp mind）。若你有a razor-sharp mind，意即你能快速和清晰地思考。我問到美中關係以及時任總統唐納德‧特朗普，他都能給予快速而清楚的回應。世界都記得李察‧尼克遜訪華，會見國家主席毛澤東去談美中建交。
然而，是卡特於一九七九年跟中國建立正式的外交關係。卡特於一九七六年當選為總統，在許多負面的政治事件為其任期蒙上陰影（cast a shadow）之後，只做了一個任期。 To cast a shadow over something是指去令人對某事情不那麼感到希望或愉快，蒙上了一層陰影。競逐連任失敗以後，卡特花了幾十年去促進人權與民主、打擊貧窮，以及為全球窮困的人建立居所。他贏得了尊重，成為美國最偉大的前總統。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
