如果把人比作各不相同且有生命的“雕塑”，那么，著名人士可謂是最亮麗的“雕塑”。他們所表現(xiàn)出來的卓越風采和氣質(zhì)，在很大程度上離不開技藝精湛的“雕塑家”——他們父母的精心“雕琢”。下面就讓我們來分享一下名人的父母在他們的成長過程中所付出的努力，同時也向天下所有的父母致敬。

Parents are often blamed or credited for the way their adult children behave， the success that they have， and the misfortunes they experience. We often look to the parents to see where someone's values come from and to see who is \"responsible\" for the type of person one becomes.

人們往往認為，子女成年后的行為舉止是否得當在于父母的教育，他們的成功歸功于父母栽培有方，而他們經(jīng)歷的不幸歸咎于父母的失責。要了解一個人的價值觀是如何形成的，要想知道是誰造就了他現(xiàn)在的性格，我們往往可以從這個人的父母身上找到答案。

Parents of Barack Obama

Barack Obama's parents have been the subjects of questions ever since his entrance into the presidential race. He was born on August 4， 1961 to Barack Obama Sr.， a black Kenyan， and Stanley Ann Dunham， a white woman from Wichita， Kansas. According to articles found at Time.com and MSNBC.com， Obama's father left the family when he was 2 years old and then saw him only one time when he was 10 years old.

His mother was apparently a stronger influence in his life. She took Obama with her when she married an Indonesian man， Lolo Soetoro， when Obama was six years old. Soetoro was apparently a loving stepfather， but Obama left Indonesia to return to Hawaii and live with his grandparents when he was 10 years old .

His mother soon returned to Hawaii， to live with Obama and his grandparents， until she left again when he was 14 years old. She is described as a very positive， intelligent person， one who grew in her confidence and outspokeness1) over the years， and consistently approached issues from the perspective of how things could be done versus2) what problems and barriers existed. Barack and his sister both explain that their mother did all she could to keep them in touch with their heritage， and informed of3) issues related to their race， and did not view people based upon stereotypes4).

Parents of Albert Einstein

According to information found at HyperHistory.net and SparkNotes.com， theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14， 1879 to Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein in Ulm5)， Germany. They were a middle class German Jewish family although the parents did not actually practice6) the faith7). His father was a feather bed merchant for a number of years and later moved the family to Munich to join one of Einstein's uncles in an electrical engineering business.

Einstein's mother was a musician. It's interesting to note that neither parent appeared to have any significant knowledge or aptitude8) for science or math. Both of his parents were primarily interested in Einstein's academic progress， and he seemed to enjoy support related to this from the extended family; from financial support to the provision9) of educational materials his schools failed to provide. He was reportedly dyslexic10) and had limited verbal skills for many years. Both he and his parents had to ignore the negative reports from teachers and find different schools in order to succeed.

Parents of Lewis Hamilton

If you're an F1 fan you probably know a good deal about Lewis Hamilton， and also about the support of his father. Lewis was born on January 7， 1985 in Stevenage Hertfordshire (UK) to Carmen and Anthony. His father first worked on the London Underground11)， but his parents separated when he was only 2 years old. He went to live with his father and his stepmother Linda from the age of 10 on. He received his first go-kart12) when he was only six and began racing competitively by age 8.

His father， Anthony， conveyed to Lewis the need to take an \"honest\" and \"positive\" approach to issues. He agreed to support all of Lewis' racing endeavors so long as he worked hard in school. At one point， Anthony is said to have worked as many as three jobs at one time to provide the financial backing that was needed. He also helped to manage Lewis' career and attended every race. Hard work was the way Lewis was taught to achieve his dreams. To this day， Lewis' father can be seen at his F1 events cheering him on.

Parents of Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham was born to Dorothy and Hugh Rodham on October 26， 1947 in Park Ridge Illinois. According to WhiteHouse.gov page， her parents， Republicans， raised her to work hard and urged her to select any career that she wished to pursue. Hillary seemed to strive hard to meet the high expectations of her father.

According to Hillary Clinton， her parents are described as being frugal13)， partiotic14) and religious. Of course， some accounts also describe her father as authoritarian， sarcastic15)， demeaning16)， and verbally abusive17). Hillary's mother was more nurturing18)， and she managed to endure her husband's verbal abuse and stay with him. Dorothy， it is reported， was \"intellectually broadminded\" and even pursued further education and other developmental activities as she became a grandmother.

Parents of Michael Phelps

Anyone who watched the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing saw Michael Phelps' mother watching from the stands. Phelps was born June 30， 1985， near Baltimore， Maryland to Fred and Debbie Phelps.

According to a JockBio article， Fred Phelps was a state trooper19) and a pretty good athlete himself. Debbie Phelps was a well respected middle school teacher and later， a principal20).

Both parents got their children (Michael and his two sisters) involved in swimming at a young age. However， by the time Michael was 9 years old his parents were divorced. After this he lived with his mother and sisters， all of whom were supportive and good role models for hard work. As he got a bit older， he also developed a strong relationship with his coach Bob Bowman， who also played a role in developing his outstanding sportsmanship.

Debbie Phelps described herself as a stern21) mother， but one who also lets her kids take part in making decisions. She never gave up on her son when others voiced concerns about his ability to do well in school due to his attention difficulties.

巴拉克·奧巴馬的父母

自從巴拉克·奧巴馬參加總統(tǒng)競選以來，他的父母一直是人們討論的焦點。奧巴馬出生于1961年8月4日，父親老巴拉克·奧巴馬是肯尼亞黑人，母親斯擔利·安·鄧納姆是出生于堪薩斯州威奇托的白人。據(jù)Time.com和MSNBC.com兩個網(wǎng)站上的文章報道，奧巴馬的父親在他2歲時就離開了家，直到他10歲的時候才又見了一面。

顯然，奧巴馬的母親對他的生活影響更大。她帶著6歲的奧巴馬改嫁給一位印度尼西亞人洛洛·蘇托羅。蘇托羅顯然是一位慈祥的繼父，但奧巴馬還是在10歲時離開了印度尼西亞，回到夏威夷，同自己的外公外婆一起生活。

很快，他的母親也回到了夏威夷，同奧巴馬和他的外公外婆生活在一起， 直到奧巴馬14歲那年，她又再次離開。人們形容奧巴馬的母親是一個非常積極、聰明的人，多年來一直生活得自信而坦率。她總是積極尋找解決問題的方法，而不是哀嘆面臨多少問題和障礙。奧巴馬和他的妹妹都說，他們的母親總是盡可能地讓他們接觸自己的民族傳統(tǒng)，了解那些和他們的種族有關(guān)的事情，而且，她從來不用“條條框框”來看人。

阿爾貝特·愛因斯坦的父母

據(jù)HyperHistory.net和SparkNotes.com上登載的文章報道，理論物理學家阿爾貝特·愛因斯坦1879年3月14日出生于德國的烏爾姆城，他的父親是赫爾曼·愛因斯坦，母親是保利娜·科赫·愛因斯坦。他們是一個德國中產(chǎn)階級猶太家庭，盡管實際上父母并沒有信奉自己民族的教義。他的父親曾從事羽絨床銷售工作多年，后來全家遷居慕尼黑，投奔愛因斯坦的一位從事電機工程業(yè)務(wù)的叔叔。

愛因斯坦的母親是一位音樂家。有趣的是，他的父母中沒有任何一位在科學或數(shù)學方面有淵博的知識或驚人的天賦。他的父母都非常關(guān)心愛因斯坦在學業(yè)上的進步，而愛因斯坦似乎也十分享受整個大家庭對他學習的支持。除了經(jīng)濟上的支持，家人還為他提供了許多學校未能提供的教育材料。據(jù)稱，他曾多年存在誦讀障礙及語言能力障礙。為了成功地克服這些障礙，他和他的父母都不得不無視老師們給出的負面報告，換了一家又一家學校。

劉易斯·漢密爾頓的父母

如果你是一位F1迷，你可能非常熟悉劉易斯·漢密爾頓，而且非常了解他父親對他的支持。劉易斯1985年1月7日出生于英國斯蒂夫尼奇區(qū)赫特福德郡，母親叫卡門，父親叫安東尼。他的父親最初在倫敦地鐵工作，但是他的父母在他2歲時就分開了。從10歲開始，他與父親和繼母琳達一起生活。他6歲時就得到了第一輛卡丁車，并于8歲開始了自己的賽車生涯。

他的父親安東尼教會了劉易斯用“誠實”和“積極”的方式看待問題。他支持劉易斯參加各種賽車活動，但條件是他在學校努力學習。據(jù)說，安東尼曾一度同時打三份工，以從經(jīng)濟上保障兒子比賽的需要。同時，他還幫助兒子打理事業(yè)，并觀看兒子的每一場比賽。他教會劉易斯通過努力工作實現(xiàn)自己的夢想。至今，人們還能在劉易斯參加的F1賽事現(xiàn)場看到他的父親為他吶喊加油。

希拉里·克林頓的父母

希拉里·黛安娜·羅德姆1947年10月26日出生于美國伊利諾伊州帕克里奇城，母親是多蘿西，父親是休·羅德姆。據(jù)WhiteHouse.gov網(wǎng)頁介紹，她的父母都是共和黨人，從小教育她應(yīng)努力工作，并鼓勵她選擇任何她想要從事的事業(yè)。希拉里似乎在為此不斷努力著，以實現(xiàn)父親對自己的殷切期望。

據(jù)希拉里·克林頓自己描述，她的父母非常節(jié)儉、愛國和虔誠。當然，有一些表述也反映了她的父親有些專制、尖酸、不留情面、滿口臟話。希拉里的母親則顯得更有教養(yǎng)，她極力忍受著丈夫的惡言相向，一直陪伴在他身邊。據(jù)報道，多蘿西“智力上涉獵甚廣”，甚至在當了外婆后還繼續(xù)深造并參加其他發(fā)展個人能力的活動。

邁克爾·菲爾普斯的父母

觀看過2008年北京夏季奧林匹克運動會的人，都能看到邁克爾·菲爾普斯的母親在看臺上觀看兒子的比賽。菲爾普斯1985年6月30日出生于美國馬里蘭州巴爾的摩市，父親是弗雷德·菲爾普斯，母親是戴比·菲爾普斯。

據(jù)JockBio.com上的文章報道，弗雷德·菲爾普斯曾經(jīng)是一名州警，也是一名相當出色的運動員。戴比·菲爾普斯曾是一位深受愛戴的中學老師，后來又當上了校長。

菲爾普斯的父母讓孩子們(邁克爾和他的兩個姐姐)很小的時候就開始學習游泳。但是，邁克爾9歲那年，他的父母離婚了。自此，他一直同母親和姐姐們住在一起，她們給予他支持，并為他樹立了艱苦努力的好榜樣。隨著他漸漸長大，他還同自己的教練鮑勃·鮑曼建立了深厚的感情，鮑勃對培養(yǎng)邁克爾杰出的運動才能起到了重要作用。

戴比·菲爾普斯形容自己是一位嚴厲的母親，但她又會堅持讓孩子們參與決策。在其他人因為邁克爾很難集中注意力而懷疑他的學習能力時，她卻從未放棄過對兒子的培養(yǎng)。

Vocabulary

1.outspokenness [7aut5spEukEnnIs] n. 直言，坦率

2.versus [5vE:sEs] prep. 與……相對；與……相比

3.inform of: 使了解，使熟悉

4.stereotype [5stIErIEutaIp] n. 陳規(guī)，老套，刻板模式

5.Ulm [Jlm] n. 烏爾姆[德意志聯(lián)邦共和國南部城市](或譯烏耳姆)

6.practice [5prAktIs] vt. 遵循，信奉

7.faith [feIW] n. 宗教信仰，宗教教義

8.aptitude [5AptItju:d] n. 天資，才能

9.provision [prE5vIVEn] n. 提供，供應(yīng)

10.dyslexic [dIs5leksIk] adj. 【醫(yī)】誦讀困難的

11.underground [5QndE^raund] n. [常作the Underground] <英> 地下鐵道，地鐵(尤指倫敦地下鐵道)

12.go-kart: 高卡車或卡丁車

13.frugal [5fru:^El] adj. 節(jié)儉的，儉省的

14.patriotic [7pAtrI5CtIk， 7peItrI-] adj. 愛國的，有愛國心的

15.sarcastic [sB:5kAstIk] adj. 好挖苦人的，尖刻的

16.demean[dI5mi:n] vt. 降低……的身份；有辱……的人格

17.abusive [E5bju:sIv] adj. 滿口臟話的，惡言謾罵的

18.nurture [5nE:tFE] vt. 教養(yǎng)

19.trooper [5tru:pE(r)] n. <美口>州警(察)

20.principal [5prInsEpEl] n. 中(或小學)的校長；<英>大學校長

21.stern [stE:n] adj. 嚴厲的；苛刻的