Al Smith was governor of New York State． He was a fa mous man． He was born very poor on the East Side of New York City． He had little education． He worked very hard and won great success．

One day， as governor， he was visiting the state prison at Sing Sing． Sing Sing is one of the largest prisons in the United States． The head of the prison asked Mr． Smith to say some thing to the prisoners． Mr． Smith had never spoken to thiskind of audience before．He did not know how to begin．

Finally， he said，“My fellow citizens…．” Then he re mem bered that when a man goes to prison he is no longer a citizen． He began again．“My fellow prisoners…．” That did not sound right， so he said：“Well， anyway， I'm glad to see so many of you here today．”

阿尔•史密斯是纽约州的州长。他是个名人。他出生在 纽约市东部的一个穷苦家庭。他读书不多，但是他工作勤奋， 终于获得了很大的成就。
有一天，作为州长，他访问星星州立监狱。星星监狱是全美国最大的监狱之一。监狱长请史密斯对囚犯们说几句话。史密斯先生以前从来没有对这一类听众讲过话。他不知道该怎样开口。
最后，他说：“我亲爱的公民们……”接着他想起一个人蹲进监狱就不再是公民了。他重新开始：“我亲爱的囚犯们……”那听起来也不对劲儿，于是他说：“噢，无论如何，今天在这儿见到你们这么多人，真是太高兴了。”