在线英语听力室

VOA标准英语2009-Huge Struggle Ahead if Britain's Brown is to Kee

时间:2009-06-06 01:40:03

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Celebrated1 internationally just six months ago for his call to spend our way out of the global downturn, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's political fortunes have soured dramatically on the domestic stage. Under the backdrop of a deep recession and a number of scandals, the ruling Labor3 Party has sunk to its lowest level of popularity in more than 60 years of official polling. Huge challenges facing Mr. Brown and his party with a general election to come within 13 months.
 
Britain's PM Gordon Brown speaks at Kirk Hallam community college in Ikeston, in Derbyshire, as he attends the Labour Party European and Local Election Launch 14 May 2009

It has been almost two years since Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair. The job came with a host of inherited baggage and Prime Minister Brown has been fighting a largely uphill battle ever since.

With the exception of last November when he championed the call to reform the banking4 system and six weeks ago when he hosted the Group of 20 summit in London, Mr. Brown's poll numbers have been poor. In the weeks since the G-20 meeting, the already rough recession has been biting even harder here and multiple scandals are undermining his authority.

The latest negative story to affect the Brown government concerns the abuse of the expense system by politicians. People everywhere in the country are angry, especially under the backdrop of tough economic times.

In the House of Commons this week, Gordon Brown acknowledged the damage.

"We must prove ourselves worthy5 of the public's trust. We most apologize for mistakes that have been made," Brown. "We must rectify6 all of the errors that have happened and we must reconstruct the system in a way that the public will see it as building confidence in the political process."

Conservative Party leader David Cameron was much more forceful and sounded more in tune2 with the mood on the street.

"Is it not time to wake up and see what is going on in the country? Is it not time to for us to see ourselves as the rest of the country sees us? Is it not time to stop the talking, stop the endless committees and start showing some real leadership to deliver some real change? How can we bring about the change this country needs if we cannot change ourselves?

Having obtained leaked parliament expense records, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper has been running exclusive stories every day for the past week.

Assistant Editor Andrew Pierce says although it has damaged the reputation of all British politicians, Mr. Brown's Labor Party has taken the biggest hit.

"It always tends to hurt the government more because "A", they have got more MPs [members of parliament] than the opposition7 parties, the Conservative and the Liberal-Democrats," he said. "And also some of the figures who have been caught in the sharp glare of the bad publicity8 generated by the expenses scandal are indeed cabinet ministers. People that people have actually heard of."

The latest public-opinion polls have been grim reading for Prime Minister Brown. One this week, published by the Mail on Sunday, showing the Conservatives on course for a landslide9 victory is typical.

Andrew Pierce says it seems like one problem after another for the prime minister, and that is taking its toll10.

"I think the voters have pretty much decided11 with the Conservatives having now surged into a lead of about 20 points, and that has been consistent in the polls for some weeks," said Pierce.

Gordon Brown had a brief high where he conducted successfully in the views of most people here the G-20 negotiations12 in London. He was praised by Barack Obama, but within weeks he was brought to his knees by a series of scandals. There was one of his key Downing Street advisors13 had to resign after e-mails were uncovered by my own newspaper in which he was suggesting a series of unsubstantiated smears14 against a leader of the opposition and the shadow chancellor15. He had to go and that was very damaging for Gordon Brown not the least because it took him four days to apologize.

A damaging fight over residency rights for old Gurkha soldiers in Britain and an erosion of civil liberties have also put the Brown government squarely on the wrong side of the argument with the public.

As Pierce says, for many voters, enough is enough.

"People are fed up with them frankly16. The time for change argument is becoming very powerful. The recession is going to get much worse," said Pierce. "Unemployment, which at two million, will probably be three million come the next general election and people who have lost their jobs do not care about whether Gordon Brown conducted G-20 successfully. They will blame him and government that they have lost their job."

In three weeks, European and local elections will be held across England. If projections17 are correct, Labor will do very badly and many expect Mr. Brown to radically18 shake up his cabinet at that point. But few here believe that will be enough to shake up Mr. Brown's fortunes.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
2 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
3 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
4 banking aySz20     
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
参考例句:
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
5 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
6 rectify 8AezO     
v.订正,矫正,改正
参考例句:
  • The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
  • You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。
7 opposition eIUxU     
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。
8 publicity ASmxx     
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
参考例句:
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
9 landslide XxyyG     
n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票;一面倒的胜利
参考例句:
  • Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
  • An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。
10 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
11 decided lvqzZd     
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。
12 negotiations af4b5f3e98e178dd3c4bac64b625ecd0     
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。
13 advisors 9c02a9c1778f1533c47ade215559070d     
n.顾问,劝告者( advisor的名词复数 );(指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授
参考例句:
  • The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网
14 smears ff795c29bb653b3db2c08e7c1b20f633     
污迹( smear的名词复数 ); 污斑; (显微镜的)涂片; 诽谤
参考例句:
  • His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
  • Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。
15 chancellor aUAyA     
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。
16 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
17 projections 7275a1e8ba6325ecfc03ebb61a4b9192     
预测( projection的名词复数 ); 投影; 投掷; 突起物
参考例句:
  • Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
  • The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。
18 radically ITQxu     
ad.根本地,本质地
参考例句:
  • I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
  • The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。