By Charles Scanlon, BBC Journalist, Americas

媒體英語(yǔ)會(huì)帶大家一起學(xué)習(xí)BBC撰稿人在報(bào)道世界大事時(shí)常用到的單詞和短語(yǔ)

Background:美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)林肯多年前寫(xiě)給一名男孩的書(shū)信以6萬(wàn)美元的高價(jià)（41萬(wàn)人民幣）在美國(guó)售出。當(dāng)這名八歲男孩告訴同學(xué)他見(jiàn)到了總統(tǒng)時(shí)，不僅沒(méi)人相信而且他還受到眾人的一陣譏諷。

Abraham Lincoln was facing the biggest crisis in American history. The Southern states had seceded from the Union and civil war was imminent.

But shortly after his inauguration in 1861 he still found time to write to a distressed eight year-old boy. George Patton had met the newly-nominated candidate the year before with his journalist father but he faced howls of disbelief when he told his classmates.

A teacher wrote to the White House and back came the terse four-line reply confirming the meeting.

Abraham Lincoln set the ideal for the presidency that all his successors have aspired to. The brief letter feeds the legend of the man and the austere gentility for which he was renowned.