家人们，美国总统大选这瓜🍉是越来越热闹。
先有特朗普"80岁，在宾州拍到了人生照片"
今天拜登又传出新冠阳性。
在两位候选人"斗法"的热闹下，主页菌翻到了一则旧闻：拜登曾在2017年给一位中国商业伙伴的儿子，向布朗大学校长写过推荐信。
一起来看看这封"美国总统的推荐信"长什么样。
February 16, 2017
Dr. Christina Paxson
Office of the President
Brown University
1 Prospect Street
Box 1860
Providence, RI 02912
Dear Christy,
I have so many fond memories of your magnificent state, Rhode Island. My old friend Lincoln Chafee used to take me on the Newport Dinner Train, or the "Ice Cream Train," as they used to call it when I came on board. They had these beautiful old Pullman rail cars, just chugging along, and we would look out at Narragansett Bay and one time we saw this giant osprey. This thing was so big, literally the size of a grown man in terms of wingspan. And Senator Chafee—excuse me, he was governor at the time—Governor Chafee, he was a Republican who became a Democrat. Can you believe that?
亲爱的克里斯蒂：
我对你们美丽的罗德岛有很多美好的回忆。我的老朋友林肯 · 查菲(Lincoln Chafee)过去常常带我乘坐纽波特晚餐列车，或者"冰淇淋列车"——当我上车时，他们常常这样称呼它。乘着这些美丽的老普尔曼火车车厢隆隆前进，就能看到纳拉甘西特湾，有一次我们甚至看到了一只巨大的鱼鹰。这东西太大了，它展开双翼简直有一个成年人那么大。还有查菲参议员——不好意思，他当时还是州长——查菲州长，他是共和党人，后来变成了民主党人。你能相信吗？
So this osprey would swoop down into the bay—plow!—and snatch a fish right out of the water. Man, that thing could hunt. And he tells me, the governor, he says that ospreys have this special talon that rotates up to 360 degrees. I wish I could demonstrate in person, but it's a trait that evolved to help them hold on to these fish. Anyone who's ever tried to grab hold of one knows how slippery they can get. Of course, our fingers aren't as advanced. We developed tools to help us hunt, and then we invented farming and so on. By the time trains came around, that's what really built this great country, took us all the way to California.
这只鱼鹰会俯冲到海湾里，啪得一声从水里抓起一条鱼。伙计，那东西可真会打猎。查菲州长告诉我说，鱼鹰有一种可以旋转360度的特殊的爪子。我多希望能亲自示范，但这是一种为了帮助它们抓鱼而进化出来的特性。只要尝试过抓鱼的人都知道它有多滑。当然，我们的手指没那么先进。我们发明了帮助我们打猎的工具，然后有了农业。当火车出现的时候，才是真正建立这个伟大国家，把我们一路带到了加利福尼亚。
That reminds me. There was a guy who ran steel out to Ohio, so I decided to ride out with him and see what it was like. And I was driving, going through Shiloh, in Richland County. His handle was "Big 10," and all the truck stops were under blockade at the time. Remember? During the strike, must have been 1979. Jill and I were newlyweds. Couldn't keep our hands off each other. And she thought I was crazy for wanting to haul steel. And this trucker gets on the radio, he says, "Big 10 wanting to come in." I forget exactly how he said it. And the only woman truck driver I ever knew I met that day. She said, "This is Big Mama. No room." Swear to God. True story.
这倒提醒了我。曾经有个家伙要把钢材运到俄亥俄州，所以我决定和他一起去那里看看。当时我开车经过里奇兰县的夏伊洛。他的代号是"Big 10"，所有的卡车停靠点都被封锁了。还记得吗？在罢工期间，应该是1979年。Jill和我刚新婚不久，那时我们还不能不碰对方。她觉得我想运钢材的念头简直是疯了。有个卡车司机在广播里说"Big 10想进来"。我记不清他具体是怎么说的了。那天我见到的唯一一个女卡车司机说"这是大妈，没你的位置了。"我发誓这是真实的故事。
Anyway, I am writing to recommend [Chris Li] for admission to Brown University. He is a bright, young Chinese fellow who comes from a very prosperous family. I didn't meet a lot of Chinese growing up in Scranton, but my father was a car salesman and his boss used to always say he wished he'd married an Asian gal to help him run the books and keep all the numbers in order. Now, that was before the Japanese started kicking our butts in the 1980s, when everyone started driving Toyotas and Hondas, and they were sending us all sorts of fancy gadgets. You know, I remember during my first campaign for reelection I used to hang out backstage with a Walkman, literally, with the headphones on, listening to "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer on cassette. "Looking for some hot stuff, baby."
言归正传，我向布朗大学推荐[Chris Li]。他是一个聪明的、家里很有钱的年轻中国小伙子。我在斯克兰顿长大，并没有遇到过太多中国人，但我的汽车销售员父亲，他的老板过去常常说希望可以娶一个亚洲女孩来帮助他管理账目，让所有的数据井井有条。那是在80年代日本人开始打败我们之前，人人都开着丰田和本田，他们送给我们各种各样的新奇小玩意儿。我记得在我第一次竞选连任的时候，我经常在后台拿着随身听，戴着耳机听唐娜·萨默的《坏女孩》录音带，"寻找一些热的东西，宝贝。"
Accordingly, I am recommending [Chris Li] for your finest math program. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I am positive that he will be as generous a contributor to your family as his father has been to ours.
因此，我由衷地向你最优秀的数学项目推荐[Chris Li]。我相信他会像他父亲为我们家庭慷慨贡献那样，为你的家庭做出贡献。
Sincerely,
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
从报道来看，拜登曾写过推荐信这事儿是真的，而且除了布朗大学，这位Chris Li还申请了康奈尔大学和纽约大学。
*图源：《每日邮报》
不过当时的新闻并没有公布Chris Li的申请结果，我们也无法得知拜登的"力荐"是否奏效，而且也有网传说这封推荐的内容是美国媒体在整活儿，真实性存疑。
但如果拜登的推荐信真的长这样的话，菌菌只能表示，"本以为是整个大的，结果却…emmm"
写推荐信的人来头够大，文笔也很优美，也用了大量华丽的词藻构建出了一封引人入胜的回忆散文。
但你仔细看，四段中仅有两段提到了被推荐人。更仔细看的话，被推荐人出现的篇幅还没有鱼鹰多…
一封好的推荐信，应该是你其他申请材料的补充，可以通过第三方的视角证明你确实拥有某种品质。
写推荐信的人不一定所谓的名人或者title高的人，不一定是给你高分的那门课的老师，而应该是足够了解你的人。Ta知道你经历过的挫折与困难、熟悉你参与项目的过程，可以给出更个性化的高质量推荐信。
以MIT为例，具体来讲，招生官们想看到的推荐信应该是这样的：
你与申请人是什么关系？如果你不了解申请人，只能写一个简短的摘要，请写明这一点。
学生是否愿意挑战自我并尝试课堂之外的内容？
申请人有哪些不寻常的能力、才能或领导力？
哪些事情会激励这个申请人，或让他感到兴奋？
申请人是如何与老师和同龄人互动的，请描述下他们的个性和社交技巧。
关于这个学生，你印象最深刻的是什么？
申请人是否有过遇到失败和挫折的经历，如果有的话，Ta是怎么应对的？
如果你了解MIT的话，你为什么认为申请人是适合MIT的，Ta将如何融入MIT的社区文化并获得成长？
反观这封推荐信，压根儿没有提供有关申请人的任何实质性信息，也没有展现出推荐人对申请人的了解。
所以别说推荐Chris Li了，就算是推荐Chris Wu都能直接套用。
Ref：
每日邮报
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