英语名人堂：索尼娅·甘地

索尼娅·甘地（英文：Sonia Gandhi，1946年12月9日－），印度女政治家。印度国大党主席、团结进步联盟主席。印度前总理拉吉夫·甘地之妻。

1946年出生在意大利的都灵市郊一个罗马天主教家庭，父亲是建筑承包商。1964年，年仅18岁的索尼娅离开家乡前往英国剑桥大学学习英语。1965年，她与当时在同校学习机械工程的印度著名政治家尼赫鲁的外孙拉吉夫·甘地相遇并相爱，俩人1968年在新德里举行婚礼。婚后，索尼娅一直在家里相夫教子，被人们认为是一位贤妻良母。她和拉·甘地育有一子一女。[1]  中国国务院总理李克强2013年5月20日在新德里会见印度国大党主席索尼娅·甘地。

 

Sonia Gandhi was born in 1946 to Italian parents in a small village in northern Italy. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended a Catholic school. Her life changed in 1964 when she went to study English in England. It was there that she met and fell in love with Rajiv Gandhi, the future Prime Minister of India.

 

The couple were married in 1969. Sonia quickly got a taste of Indian politics when she moved in with her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister. They decided¹ to stay out of politics. Rajiv was an airline pilot and Sonia stayed at home to look after her family. This changed dramatically in 1984 when Indira was assassinated² and Rajiv became Prime Minister.

 

Following her husband's assassination³ in 1991, she was under a lot of pressure to become leader of the ruling Congress Party. She refused many times over the next seven years. She hated politics and said she would rather her children be beggars than politicians. She finally joined the Congress Party and became its president within a record 62 days of joining.

 

She has been Congress President for ten consecutive⁴ years – another record. In 2004 she was asked to lead a 15-party coalition⁵ and be India’s Prime Minister. She refused and caused a political storm. She is still a member of parliament for Uttar Pradesh. She now speaks at international conferences and makes the yearly lists of the world’s most powerful or influential⁶ women.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。