英语听力精选进阶版 10842（在线收听）

Good morning. There's been a good deal of interest in the exchanges in the House of Commons yesterday when Jeremy Corbyn as the new labour leader asked questions of the prime minister for the first time. The ability of members of parliament to ask oral or written questions of ministers is a vital part of British democracy. And such questioning is a day by day reality not confined to the weekly showpiece questioning of the prime minister. In the House of Lords, each day starts with a series of such questions and it's not uncommon for a minister in the face of this to go beyond his or her departmental briefing and say something which can move policy forward. This half an hours of questioning at the start of each day is arguably the most productive part of the day's work.

上午好。人们对昨天议会下院的交锋非常感兴趣。工党新任领导人杰里米·科尔宾(Jeremy Corbyn)首次向首相提问。议会成员向内阁大臣们口头提问或书面提问是英国民主制度的关键部分。提问每天都在进行，而不仅仅局限于每周公开的对首相的提问。在上议院，每天都是以一系列这样的问题开始的，部长们面临这种境地，面临超出自己部门的问题非常常见，经常会说出一些推动政治进程的见解。每天开始时半个小时的提问毫无疑问是每天工作中最有效率的部分。

Of course the use of probing questioning to get at a hidden or underlying truth isn't an invention of the British parliament, it's as old as civilization. The method of questioning developed in Greece by Socrates some two and a half thousand years ago lay at the heart of later ethical critical thinking and much of the scientific method of testing hypotheses. He's quoted as saying "I can't teach anybody anything, I can only make them think". This wasn't always appreciated by those whose arguments were shown to be shallow by his relentless questioning. This may well have contributed to his condemnation and death.

当然，探究质疑以获得隐藏的真相并不是英国议会的发明，其历史像人类文明那么悠久。大约2500年前由希腊苏格拉底开创的提问方法一直处于后世伦理批判性思维和检验假设科学方法的中心。报道引用他的话说，“我不能教给任何人任何事，我只能让他们思考。”而有些人则不是很赞赏这句话，他们的辩论在他不懈的追问下显得非常肤浅。这导致他的判罪和死亡。

Another teacher relying on the power of asking questions was Jesus from Nazareth. The gospels credit him with asking 135 questions during his three year tour of teaching and healing. Some of his questions were fundamental "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world. Yet forfeits his soul?" Some were challenging, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do as I say?" "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Some came out of his own personal agony, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

另外一位依赖提问的力量的导师是来自拿撒勒的耶稣。四福音书赞誉他三年的游历讲学期间提出了135个问题。其中一些问题是基础性的，比如“如果一个人赢得了整个世界，却丧失了灵魂，还有什么益处？”还有一些是挑衅性的，“为什么你称呼我为上帝啊，却不按照我说的来做？”“为什么你能看见你兄弟(别人)身上锯末屑那么小的缺点，却注意不到自己眼中木板那么大的缺陷？”其中一些来自他个人的痛苦，“上帝啊，上帝啊，你为什么要遗弃我？”

And Jesus skilfully asked rhetorical questions to emphasize a point in a powerful but non combative manner. "Why does this generation seek for a sign?" communicates rather better than "You stubborn group of unbelieving people." Probing questions can be effective without being hectoring. Hopefully we will see more of this style of questioning and answering from all sides in the House of Commons in the months ahead.

耶稣技巧地询问了一些修辞问题，以有力却不好斗的方式强调自己的论点。“这一代人为何寻求符号和指示？”比“你们这些顽固的多疑的人们”好得多。探究质疑有效而不威吓。或许未来的几个月我们会看到下院出现更多这种类型的提问和回答。