美国有线新闻 CNN 英国正式启动退欧程序

 

We`re talking about the Brexit, the British exit from the European Union. The E.U. has been around for decades. It`s a political and economic partnership¹ of 28 European Countries. Last June, Britain`s voted 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent to separate from the E.U., potentially leaving 27 countries in it.

我们今天谈论的是英国退欧问题.欧盟已经成立了数十年.这是一个由28个欧洲国家组成的政治和经济组织.去年六月,英国以51.9%比48.1的投票决定退欧，这使得欧盟将会剩下27个成员国。

One major issue in Britain`s decision was immigration. A majority of voters wanted Britain itself, not the E.U., to set British immigration rules. Another issue was the economy. Those who wanted to leave felt that Britain could do better business without European Union rules.

英国脱欧的一个主要原因是移民问题。一大批选民希望由英国自己，而不是欧盟来设定英国的移民规则。想要脱欧的人认为，即使没有欧盟的规则，英国照样可以业务发展。

Britain was and is deeply divided over the vote. But the nation`s prime<sup>2</sup> minister, Theresa May, has said Brexit means Brexit. And now, she`s just one day away from formally triggering³ Article 50. That`s part of the European Union agreement.

对于英国脱欧的投票，不论是过去还是现在都存在很大的分歧。但是英国首相特蕾莎·梅表示，Brexit就是英国要退出欧盟的意思。现在，离其宣布梅启动《里斯本条约》第50条还有最后一天。这是欧盟协议的一部分。

What Article 50 does is begin the two-year process to separate Britain from the E.U. Two sides have to agree on the terms of their division⁴. Why would something like this take so long? One reason is paperwork.

《里斯本条约》第50条标志着英国2年退欧程序正式开始。双方已经同意条款。为什么要花费这么长的时间呢?其中的一个原因就是各种文书文件工作。

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

3 triggering   

起动，触发，控制

参考例句：

• To set off an H-bomb, a special triggering device is required. 要爆炸氢弹，就需有一个特殊的引爆装置。
• This is triggering a second stage of new star formation. 由此触发了第二阶段新恒星的形成。

4 division   

n.区分，分开，除法，公司，部门，师(军队里)

参考例句：

• Have you learnt division?你学会除法了吗？
• The division commander ordered that we start the attack before dawn.师长令我们在拂晓前发起攻击。