经济学人228:德国议会 命令不止

 　　Germany's parliament

　　德国议会

　　Order, order!

　　命令不止

　　Many Germans crave¹ a less boring Bundestag, including its own president

　　即便是总统也渴望议院不再那么无聊

　　Gripped by question time

　　被提问时间紧抓不放

　　GERMANY'S parliament, the Bundestag, has produced some memorable² moments over the years. Whether they qualify as oratory³ is less clear. In 1984 a young Joschka Fischer (nobody dreamt of a Green foreign minister just 14 years later) yelled: “With your permission, Mr President, you are an arsehole!” Herbert Wehner, a leading member in the 1960s and 70s, told one opponent to “go wash yourself first” and another that “you are a pig, do you know that?”

　　德国议会，即联邦议会在过去几年有过一些难忘的时刻。对于他们是否符合演讲这一点尚不明确。在1984年一位名叫约什卡·费舍尔的年轻人（没人会想到他会在那14年之后当上外交部长）呼喊：“总统先生，你就是个混蛋！”上世纪60年代至70年代领军人物赫伯特·维纳警告一个对手“先洗干净了再来”，又称另一个对手“你特么就是一头猪你造吗？”

　　Those members attempting wit—and there are some—face a more humdrum⁴ reality. Often they address a chamber⁵ that is mostly empty. Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel and her ministers, if present at all, sit diagonally behind the orators⁷, so that they can ignore them and catch up on some reading. This may explain why many of Berlin's political wonks go online for their thrills, watching prime minister's questions in Britain's House of Commons. How else to have fun?

　　那些领军人物们用仅剩的一些智慧来面另一个更加单调的现实。他们经常在一个几乎空无一人的屋子里演讲。总理安吉拉·默克尔和她的部长们如果出席了的话一般会坐在演说者的斜后面，这样他们就可以忽略那些演说家并且可以自己阅读自己的。这或许可以解释为什么很多柏林的政治家们喜欢在网上看着总理在英国下议院提问时自娱自乐。除了这样他们还有别的方式来寻开心吗？

　　德国议会.jpg

　　Certainly not during the two Bundestag slots allotted⁸ to “question time”. One, on the first Wednesday of a parliamentary session, is billed as an interrogation of the government. But the government chooses the topic, the opposition⁹ must submit questions in writing the preceding Friday and ministers usually dispatch minions¹⁰ to read out replies. The second, also on Wednesdays, is meant to be more spontaneous but in practice turns out much the same.

　　当然这不是在议会设置的两个“提问时间”期间。一个“提问时间”是一个议会期的第一个周三，这被称为政府的审讯。但是是由政府选择主题，反对党必须在之后的星期五写出要提交的问题，然后部长一般分派手下宣读答复。第二个“提问时间”也是在星期三，这原本是更加自发自由的，但实践证明意义与前者没什么区别。

　　In April Norbert Lammert, the Bundestag's president, called these question periods the “weakest part of German parliamentary democracy” and “politically meaningless”. Last month he went from cranky to irate¹¹ when, on one occasion, not a single cabinet member turned up. Another no-show, he let it be known, and he would call the charade¹² off.

　　在四月议会主席诺贝特·拉默特将这些“提问时间”为“德国议会民主最大的弱点”并且“毫无政治意义”。当上个月无人出席议会时，他开始暴走了。第二次时，他便将此公之于众且不找任何借口伪装了。

　　The opposition, which has just one-fifth of the seats against the grand coalition's four-fifths, wants to change the format¹³ to make it more like Westminster, with direct questioning of the chancellor and her ministers. Unthinkable, for that would make politics a “show”, counters Mrs Merkel's Christian¹⁴ Democratic Union, the largest party. (Mr Lammert is also a Christian Democrat¹⁵, but the Bundestag is his focus of loyalty¹⁶.) So here is a modest proposal: if witty¹⁷ repartee¹⁸ is out of the question, why not take a leaf out of the Ukrainian or Italian parliament's book and go straight to the fisticuffs?

　　仅占五分之一席位的反对党来反对五分之四的大联盟，这五分之一希望能改变议会形式使之更像威斯敏斯特，可以更直接的向总理和部长提问。这个情形难以想象，因为这将使政治变成了一场“作秀”来抵制默克尔领导的最大党派基民盟。（拉默特也是基民盟党员，但是议会才是他效忠的重心。）因此得出了一个小小的建议：若已不能理智对话，为何不效仿乌克兰和意大利，亮出拳头一决雌雄？

1 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

2 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

3 oratory   

n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞

参考例句：

• I admire the oratory of some politicians.我佩服某些政治家的辩才。
• He dazzled the crowd with his oratory.他的雄辩口才使听众赞叹不已。

4 humdrum   

adj.单调的，乏味的

参考例句：

• Their lives consist of the humdrum activities of everyday existence.他们的生活由日常生存的平凡活动所构成。
• The accountant said it was the most humdrum day that she had ever passed.会计师说这是她所度过的最无聊的一天。

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 orators   

n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The hired orators continued to pour forth their streams of eloquence. 那些雇来的演说家继续滔滔不绝地施展辩才。 来自辞典例句
• Their ears are too full of bugles and drums and the fine words from stay-at-home orators. 人们的耳朵被军号声和战声以及呆在这的演说家们的漂亮言辞塞得太满了。 来自飘（部分）

8 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

9 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。

10 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

11 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

12 charade   

n.用动作等表演文字意义的字谜游戏

参考例句：

• You must not refine too much upon this charade.你切不可过分推敲这个字谜。
• His poems,despite their dignity and felicity,have an air of charade.他的诗篇虽然庄严巧妙，却有猜迷之嫌。

13 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

16 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

17 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

18 repartee   

n.机敏的应答

参考例句：

• This diplomat possessed an excellent gift for repartee.这位外交官具有卓越的应对才能。
• He was a brilliant debater and his gift of repartee was celebrated.他擅长辩论，以敏于应答著称。