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阅读理解
Before Nicolas Sarkozy became French president, he was asked if he thought about presidency when he looked in the mirror while shaving．“Not just when I' m shaving,” he answered．
When Francois Hollande, now president-elect(总统当选人)of France, was asked the same question, he replied：“Do I see myself as president? No, I am a presidential candidate．A candidate must not think himself president; he must give hope that he becomes president．”
Hollande has promised to be a “normal president” – something Sarkozy certainly was not．Sarkozy celebrated his election in 2007 at a world-class Parisian restaurant．He took holidays on the yachts(游艇)of wealthy businesspeople．Hollande, by contrast, was still going around Paris on his three-wheeled motorbike at the start of this year．One member of his party said he looked “more like a pizza delivery man” than the next president．
“That is the key to Hollande's success because the election is turning into a sort of referendum(公民投票)for or against Nicolas Sarkozy,” Eric Dupin, a journalist and political observer told Global Post．“Francois Hollande is the one who appears not only as his main opponent politically, but also as his complete opposite psychologically．”
When he was the Socialist party leader, Hollande was nicknamed “the marshmallow(软糖)” because he hated fights．Sarkozy, by contrast, is known to be loud and aggressive．
When faced with Sarkozy's verbal attacks during the election, Hollande stayed calm．This sometimes annoyed even his own supporters．“I wish he would just let go and savage(用暴力对付)Sarko,” one Hollande voter said to the Guardian．
But Hollande still knows how to fight．Stéphane Le Foll, a Socialist MEP who has been one of Hollande's closest advisors for 17 years and is co-directing his campaign, said Hollande had quietly planned his presidential bid for 10 years．“I think we all underestimated this guy,” Alain Minc, one of Sarkozy's closest friends and advisers, told Reuters．
Hollande was born in 1954 into a middle-class family．He lived through the 1968 protests that nearly overthrew the French government．“They shocked him, but also politicized him, he said in a recent interview, making him understand that change was possible,” reported the New York Times．When Hollande was 15, he told friends he expected to become president．
“I didn't come to the first rank either by chance or by obsession(执迷),” Hollande said in an interview with Reuters．“I got there because I put myself in this situation, and because I deserved it．”
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