Silvio Berlusconi reacts as Michelle Obama holds out her hand for a formal handshake.

Silvio Berlusconi is the 5ft 6ins ladies' man with the flair¹ for the tactless remark, Michelle Obama is the 5ft 11ins tough cookie First Lady with a determination as steely as her arms.

The meeting between the pair at the opening reception for the G20 summit in Pittsburgh bore all the hallmarks of a classic US-European impasse³, with the American president in the middle, looking daggers⁴ at his Italian counterpart.

While Mrs Obama exchanged hugs and kisses with Browns, the Sarkozys, the Medvedevs and Germany's Angela Merkel, she didn't appear to want to come too close to Mr Berlusconi.

The Italian prime minister came alone to the reception at the Phipps Conservatory⁵ and Botanical Garden, primarily because his wife is divorcing him.

He has been embroiled⁶ in a series of scandals involving call girls and a lingerie model, and even his staff have suggested he is a sex addict⁷. Mr Berlusconi's mastership of the public gaffe⁸ has also been extended to President Obama, whom he memorably⁹ described as "young, handsome and tanned".

Mrs Obama may have decided¹⁰ that if any woman was going to be snapped with Mr Berlusconi on Thursday night, it wasn't going to be her.

A handshake, delivered with the caution of someone feeding a dead mouse to a crocodile, was all the Italian president got from her despite his best efforts to turn on the Latin charm.

As Barack Obama gestured to his wife in introduction, Mr Berlusconi threw up his arms in apparent delight.

It is not clear whether he was merely appraising¹¹ her appearance or encouraging her to come to him for a hug but a severe-looking Mr Obama clearly wanted to move him along, dispatching Mr Berlusconi with a series of back pats which probably in no way made up for the one that he didn't get from the First Lady.

Fresh from reports that he was snubbed by the American leader at the United Nations in New York, Mr Brown looked delighted as he and his wife, Sarah, were pictured, smiles all round, in a line-up with the Obamas.

Mr Berlusconi missed a second chance to eke¹² a warmer greeting from Mrs Obama as the First Lady whisked off the leaders' spouses¹³ for a separate dinner at a farm where they ate food raised through sustainable agriculture.

他身高5英尺6英寸（1米68），为人风流，向来口无遮拦；她是第一夫人，身高5英尺11英寸（1米8），意志如她的臂膀一样坚定。

（意大利总理）西尔维奥•贝卢斯科尼和米歇尔·奥巴马在匹兹堡召开的G20峰会开幕晚宴上的会面充分体现了经典的欧美关系僵局。当时美国总统奥巴马站在两人中间，对这位意大利元首“怒目而视”。

尽管奥巴马夫人与布朗夫妇、萨科奇夫妇、梅德韦杰夫夫妇以及德国总理安吉拉•默克尔都大方地互相拥抱亲吻，但她似乎不想和贝卢斯科尼走得太近。

身为意大利总理的贝卢斯科尼孤身一人出席在菲普斯温室植物园举办的招待晚宴，这主要是因为他的妻子正和他闹离婚。

贝卢斯科尼身陷一系列性丑闻，女主角涉及数名应召女郎和一名内衣模特，甚至他的手下也暗示他是个性瘾者。贝卢斯科尼一向“语出惊人”，就连奥巴马也难逃他的“毒舌”，他曾评价奥巴马“年轻、帅气、皮肤黝黑”，这一评价实在令人“难忘”。

也许奥巴马夫人早已想好，绝不能在周四的晚宴上被拍到她与贝卢斯科尼在一起。

尽管贝卢斯科尼全力展现其拉丁魅力，但他从奥巴马夫人那里得到的仅仅是一个握手而已，而且这个握手的动作之谨慎就像是给鳄鱼喂一只死耗子。

当奥巴马介绍夫人时，贝卢斯科尼张开双臂，显得非常高兴。

不知道贝卢斯科尼只是在评价米歇尔的打扮，还是鼓励她上前拥抱一下，但表情严肃的奥巴马显然想把他弄走，他拍了拍贝卢斯科尼的背，但这可能也无法弥补贝氏没能从第一夫人那得来的拥抱。

最新报道称，英国首相布朗在纽约联合国总部受到了奥巴马的冷遇，但他在与夫人莎拉和奥巴马夫妇的合照上则显得很开心，照片上的每个人都笑脸盈盈。

之后米歇尔和首脑夫人们随即赶往一家农场出席在那里举行的一个单独晚宴，她们品尝的食物都是可持续农业生产出来的。因此贝卢斯科尼再次失去与奥巴马夫人热情会面的机会。

Vocabulary:

ladies' man: a man who strives especially to please women and to attract their attention and admiration¹⁴（喜好与女性打交道的男子，讨好女性的男子）

flair：a natural talent, aptitude¹⁵, or ability（天赋，才能）

tactless：lacking tact²; showing no tact; undiplomatic; offendingly blunt（不老练的，不得体的）

tough cookie：a tough person（一个决定了做什么事，就非常坚决地去做的人，并且总能成功，甚至是在困难的情况下。）

hallmark：any distinguishing feature or characteristic（特点）

impasse：a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock¹⁶（僵局）

looking daggers：to look at someone with a furious, menacing expression（对某人）怒目而视

gaffe：a social blunder; faux pas（出丑，失态）

in no way:怎么样也不；决不

snub：to treat with disdain¹⁷ or contempt, esp. by ignoring（冷落，故意怠慢）

eke：to increase; enlarge; lengthen（补充，增加）

sustainable agriculture:可持续农业