2019年经济学人 路的尽头--特蕾莎·梅辞职(2)

 

In the sameway, Remainers might once also have been satisfied by the prospect¹ of a customs union, so long as it was tied to a vote in Parliament on whether to hold a second referendum. But when Mrs May belatedly offered such things this week, it was dismissed by all sides as inadequate². The scope for compromise has drastically narrowed from where it stood in 2016. Talks with the Labour opposition³ and indicative votes among mps on possible Brexit options have gone nowhere, in large part because they were initiated⁴ so late in the day. Mrs May inherited a divided country which urgently needed to be coaxed⁵ back together. Her approach has driven its two tribes still further apart.

同样，只要关税联盟与议会投票决定是否举行第二次公投有关，留欧派也可能曾对关税联盟的前景满意。但当梅本周姗姗来迟地提出这些建议时，各方都认为这些建议不够充分，不予理会。与2016年相比，妥协的余地已经大幅缩小。与工党反对派的谈判以及议员们就可能的退欧方案进行的指示性投票都无果而终，这在很大程度上是因为谈判是在当天晚些时候启动的。梅接手的是一个分裂的国家，迫切需要重新团结起来。但她的做法使这两派进一步分裂。

She has no cards left to play. A change of leader might give new momentum⁶ to talks in Westminster, which have stalled in the past few weeks, despite the EU’s urging of Britain to get on with it. Boris Johnson, the favourite among the Conservative Party members who will choose the next leader, represents a dangerous gamble for the country. But he may be more capable than Mrs May of the political and ideological⁷ flexibility⁸ that will be required to get Britain out of the trap in which it has placed itself.

她已无牌可打。尽管欧盟敦促英国继续进行谈判，但在过去几周，英国议会的谈判陷入停滞。鲍里斯?约翰逊是保守党成员中最有希望当选下任领导人的人，对英国来说，这是一场危险的赌博。但他可能比梅更有能力在政治和意识形态方面保持灵活性，这是英国摆脱自身所陷困境所必需的。

No one should assume that Mrs May’s exit will solve Britain’s Brexit problems. Mr Johnson proposes to renegotiate the withdrawal⁹ agreement, but the EU is sure to refuse him. At home, most Leave-voters detest¹⁰ the current deal so vehemently¹¹ that they would rather quit with no deal at all (another dreadful legacy¹² of Mrs May, who spent two years saying Britain could prosper¹³ with no deal, before admitting that she was wrong). Upstart parties on both the Leave and Remain sides are tugging¹⁴ Labour and the Tories towards the extremes. The possibility of cross-party agreement seems more remote than ever. And as the chances of no deal edge up, the pound is sliding. Mrs May has had a wretched time in office. Her successor will find it no easier.

人们不应该认为梅的退出会解决英国的脱欧问题。约翰逊提议重新谈判撤军协议，但欧盟肯定会拒绝他。在国内，大多数脱欧派选民对目前的协议深恶痛绝，他们宁愿在没有任何协议的情况下脱欧（梅的另一个可怕的遗留问题是，她在承认自己错了之前的两年里一直表示，没有协议，英国就能繁荣）。左派和左派的新贵政党都在把工党和保守党推向极端。跨党派达成协议的可能性似乎比以往任何时候都要渺茫。而且，由于没有达成协议的可能性小幅上升，英镑正在下滑。梅在位的时候过得很艰难。而之后的继任者会发现不会更容易。

1 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

2 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

5 coaxed   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱

参考例句：

• She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
• I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

8 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

11 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

12 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

13 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

14 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句