英闻天下——487 Thatcher: Greatest British Peacetime PM

 　　Former British Prime Minister Baroness¹ Margaret Thatcher², Britain's first female to lead the country, has passed away "peacefully" at the age of 87, after suffering a stroke whilst staying at the Ritz Hotel in central London.

 

　　Although known as a controversial politician, it is said Thatcher will go down in history as the greatest Prime Minister during Britain in peacetime.

 

　　CRI's London correspondent Tu Yun finds out how British people remember their 'Iron Lady'.

 

　　As the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century, Lady Thatcher is believed to have transformed Britain during her three terms in power between 1979 and 1990.

 

　　"She'd done good things. She did terrible things."

 

　　"I remember Thatcher when she introduced the right to buy council property. So it gave a lot of people a foot on the housing ladder. And the Falkland War. That's the merry thing about Thatcher I remember."

 

　　But Thatcher's free market policies and privatization of state industry also divided the country.

 

　　Jasper Pilgrim was a teenager when riots broke out in 1981 against a background of heavy handed policing and an 80-percent increase in unemployment among black people.

 

　　"She made a lot of people homeless. She made a lot of people unemployed³. She's got a lot of things that's wrong there."

 

　　But Thatcher made no concession⁴ when asked to make a U-turn in her economic policies.

 

　　"You turn if you want. The lady's not for turning."

 

　　82-year-old M. Nathan remembers how all these policies and her tough stance against the Soviet⁵ Union at the height of the Cold War made Thatcher the so-called "Iron Lady".

 

　　"She was so stubborn. Typical woman, always right."

 

　　But Thatcher's close friend and spokesman, Tim Bell, gave different perspective when interviewed by the BBC.

 

　　"She's a most extraordinary woman. Great privilege to work for her and even greater privilege to live in a country that she ran because she ran it very well."

 

　　British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his European trip to make tribute to the Iron Lady.

 

　　"Today is a truly sad day for our country. We've lost a great prime minister, a great leader, a great Briton. As our first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds⁶. And the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn't just lead our country, she save our country. And I believe she'll go down as the greatest British peacetime prime minister."

 

　　She will not have a state funeral, but will receive the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.

 

　　The ceremonial funeral with military honors will be held in around ten days time at St Paul's cathedral.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Tu Yun in London.

1 baroness   

n.男爵夫人，女男爵

参考例句：

• I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you.我相信男爵夫人能够把家里的事替你安排妥当的。
• The baroness,who had signed,returned the pen to the notary.男爵夫人这时已签过字，把笔交回给律师。

2 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？