纽约时报 英国首相鲍里斯在议会遭遇重挫(2)

The practical effect of Mr. Lee’s defection for Mr. Johnson was limited, however,

然而，李的倒戈并没有给约翰逊带来太大影响，

because the government would fall only if it were defeated in a confidence motion.

因为只有在信心动议之际被击败政府才会倒台。

But in a moment weighty with symbolism, Mr. Lee walked across the floor of the House of Commons

然而，就在首相谈及最近举行的七国首脑会议这个充满象征意义的时刻，

and sat beside Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats¹, as the prime minister was speaking about the recent Group of 7 summit.

李穿过下议院，坐到了自由民主党领袖乔·斯温森身旁。

Mr. Lee accused Mr. Johnson of pursuing a damaging withdrawal² from the European Union in unprincipled ways,

李指责约翰逊为了脱欧不择手段，这种脱欧方式危害十足，

and of “putting lives and livelihoods³ at risk.”

是“将无数的生命和生计置于不顾”的做法。

Mr. Lee’s break with the Tories was most likely just the first of many.

李与保守党的决裂很有可能只是给其他人与保守党决裂起了个开端。

On Tuesday night, Downing Street began pressing ahead with plans to discipline those rebels who voted against the government,

周二晚，唐宁街开始推动惩罚那些投票反对政府的反对派的有关事宜，

moving to expel them from the Conservative Party.

意图将他们驱逐出保守党。

Those who defied the government included two former chancellors⁴ of the Exchequer⁵, Philip Hammond and Kenneth Clarke,

公然反抗政府的成员包括前财政大臣菲利普·哈蒙德和肯尼斯·克拉克，

and Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill.

以及温斯顿·丘吉尔的孙子尼古拉斯·索米斯。

That could threaten Mr. Johnson’s ability to manage day-to-day business in Parliament, underscoring the need for a new election.

这一举措可能会威胁到约翰逊管理国会日常事务的能力，继而也凸显出了重新选举的必要性。

The extent of the Tory civil war was on full display

包括哈蒙德在内的多位保守派评论专家都向约翰逊抛出了充满敌意的问题，

as several of Mr. Johnson’s Conservative critics, including Mr. Hammond, lobbed hostile questions at him,

保守党内部的分裂程度可见一斑，

making it plain that they had not been brought back into line by threats of expulsion from the party.

很明显，开除党籍的威胁并没有让他们变规矩。

Opponents of a no-deal Brexit argue that leaving the block without a deal —

反对“无协议退欧”的人士辩称，不达成协议就离开欧盟——

as Mr. Johnson has promised to do, if no agreement is reached — would be catastrophic for the British economy.

约翰逊承诺过，如果不能达成协议，就实行硬脱欧——将对英国经济带来灾难性的后果。

Many experts say it could lead to shortages of food, fuel and medicine,

许多专家表示，硬脱欧可能导致食品、燃料和药品短缺，

and wreak⁷ havoc⁸ on parts of the manufacturing sector⁹ that rely on the seamless flow of goods across the English Channel.

还会对依赖英吉利海峡两岸无缝物流的制造业造成严重破坏。

Leaked government reports paint a bleak¹⁰ picture of what it might look like.

从泄露的政府报告来看，该国前景颇为黯淡。

Mr. Johnson says he needs to keep the no-deal option on the table to give him leverage¹¹ in talks in Brussels,

约翰逊表示，他需要将零协议脱欧这一选项留在谈判桌上，作在布鲁塞尔的谈判中傍身之用，

because an abrupt¹² exit would also damage continental¹³ economies, if not as much as Britain’s.

因为突然的退出不仅会损害英国本土的经济，也会损害欧洲大陆的经济，即使程度不及英国严重。

The prime minister appealed to his own lawmakers not to support what he called “Jeremy Corbyn’s surrender bill,”

首相呼吁议员们不要支持他所谓的“杰里米·科尔宾的投降法案”，

a reference to the leader of the opposition¹⁴ Labour Party.

他指的是反对党工党的领袖。

“It means running up the white flag,” he said.

“其实质等同于挂起了白旗，”他说。

Mr. Johnson also claimed to have made progress in talks with European Union leaders,

约翰逊还声称，自己已经在与欧盟领导人的会谈中取得了进展，

although his own Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, on Monday gave a much less rosy¹⁵ assessment¹⁶ of the state of negotiations¹⁷.

他的脱欧事务大臣斯蒂芬·巴克莱周一对谈判状况的评估则远没有那么乐观。

Britain’s main demand is for the European Union to ditch the so-called Irish backstop,

英国主要的诉求是欧盟放弃所谓的爱尔兰后盾，

a guarantee that the bloc⁶ insists it needs to ensure that goods flow smoothly¹⁸ across the Irish border

但欧盟坚持要求，无论与英国的贸易谈判结果如何，

whatever happens in trade negotiations with Britain.

欧盟都需要确保货物能够顺利通过英爱边境。

Mr. Johnson said he planned to visit Dublin next week for talks with his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar.

约翰逊表示，他计划下周访问都柏林，与爱尔兰总理利奥·瓦拉德卡尔举行会谈。

Conservative rebels believe Mr. Johnson is more interested in uniting Brexit supporters behind him

保守派反对派认为，相比在布鲁塞尔成功达成脱欧协议，

ahead of a general election than in securing an agreement in Brussels.

约翰逊更感兴趣的是在大选前团结脱欧支持者。

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

4 chancellors   

大臣( chancellor的名词复数 )； （某些美国大学的）校长； （德国或奥地利的）总理； （英国大学的）名誉校长

参考例句：

• The opposition leader spoke against the chancellors' proposals and mincemeat of them. 反对派领导人反对大臣们的建议，并将他们驳得体无完肤。
• Chancellors and defence secretaries are supposed to keep such disputes private. 各部大臣和国防大臣本应该私下进行这种争论。

5 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

6 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

7 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

8 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

11 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

12 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

13 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

14 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。

15 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

16 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

17 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

18 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。