商业周刊:无协议脱欧后的第一天(4)(在线收听

The McDonnell family has raised sheep here for centuries.

麦克唐纳家族在这里养羊已有几个世纪之久。

But overnight, the animals now face an export tariff to the EU of almost 50%. At the pre-Brexit price of £80 ($99) per head, McDonnell just about broke even.

但现在,这些动物突然面临着对欧盟近50%的出口关税。脱欧前,人均80英镑(99美元)的价格,让麦克唐奈几乎囊中羞涩。

After costs—feed, diesel, rent—he made a profit of £1 a head.

在花费了饲料、柴油、房租之后,他能为每人赚1英镑。

With sheep prices about to plummet, and without the EU subsidies that made up about half his income, he'll go out of business.

由于绵羊价格即将暴跌,如果没有占他收入一半左右的欧盟补贴,他的意就将倒闭。

"Come on, Toby!" McDonnell calls, calling his collie into his van.

“来吧,托比!”麦克唐纳打电话,把他的牧羊犬叫进货车里。

During the Troubles, as the decades of violence between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are known,

在动乱期间,北爱尔兰和爱尔兰共和国之间数十年的暴力冲突众所周知,

British soldiers blew these roads up to force drivers onto the main routes and through manned checkpoints.

英国士兵炸毁了这些道路,迫使司机进入主要路线,并通过有人值守的检查站。

Former Prime Minister Theresa May spent 19 months brokering a deal that would keep the border open and peaceful while still delivering Brexit,

前首相特雷莎·梅花了19个月的时间促成了一项协议,该协议将使边境保持开放的和平状态。同时,仍然实施脱欧,

a process that ultimately failed and put Johnson on course for the job.

这一过程最终失败,并使约翰逊现在就任首相一职。

Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is riding out no-deal for now, taking his chances that the U.K. will return to the negotiating table before the EU can punish him for failing to hold down its frontier.

目前,爱尔兰总理利奥·沃尔德卡没有达成任何协议,他希望英国能回到谈判桌前,因为他未遵守边境规定,欧盟可以对他进行惩罚。

McDonnell arrives at a hillside plot, and Toby scampers up the incline, out of view. Suddenly a herd of rams rushes over the lip.

麦克唐纳来到一个山坡上,托比跑上斜坡,看不见了。突然,一群公羊从山缝间串过。

Once they're in the back, McDonnell slams the door behind them and drives down narrow roads to a nearby field, crossing the Irish border.

它们一回到后面,麦克唐纳就砰的一声关上门,沿着狭窄的道路开到附近的一块田地,穿过爱尔兰边境。

Strictly speaking, this is now smuggling. Livestock entering the EU from a non-EU country must be checked for health reasons.

严格来说,现在这属于走私活动。出于健康原因,非欧盟国家的牲畜进入欧盟必须接受检查。

The thought of going through customs points a dozen or more times every day makes McDonnell shudder.

每天要经过数十次或更多次海关检查的想法,使麦克唐纳不寒而栗。

Checks mean infrastructure, people in uniforms: targets for violence.

检查意味着基础设施,穿着制服的人:暴力的目标。

He releases the sheep. If no-deal persists, he'll have to slaughter them all.

他放了那些绵羊。如果没有达成协议,他将不得不把它们全部杀掉。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/syzk/496954.html