VOA慢速英语2019 约翰逊议会选举大胜 英国正式开启脱欧

 

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party have won a big victory in general elections.

英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊及其保守党在大选中赢得重大胜利。

Results show the Conservatives won a clear majority of the 650 seats in Parliament. Johnson is now likely to act on his promise to lead Britain out of the European Union (EU).

结果显示，保守党赢得了议会650个席位中的明显多数。约翰逊现在有可能兑现自己的承诺，带领英国脱离欧盟。

The country is set to withdraw from the EU by January 31, the latest time limit set by the two sides. However, British negotiators will have much work to do to reach a trade deal with Europe before that date.

英国定于1月31日前退出欧盟，这是双方设定的最新时限。但是在此之前要想跟欧盟达成贸易协议，英国谈谈判人员还有很多工作要做。

Johnson has stated that Britain will withdraw from the EU, a move known as Brexit, with or without a deal in place.

约翰逊曾表示，无论是否达成协议，英国都将退出欧盟，也就是所谓的英国脱欧。

It has been more than three years since Britons decided¹ in a special referendum to separate from the EU. Political observers say it is likely that voters on Thursday, even those who wanted to stay with the EU, had grown tired of the issue and political indecision.

自英国人在一次特别公投中决定脱离欧盟以来，时间已经过去了3年多。政治观察家表示，可能周四参与投票的选民，即使是那些想要留在欧盟的选民，都已经对这一问题和政治上的优柔寡断感到厌倦。

‘Get Brexit Done'

实现脱欧

Before the vote, Johnson had a simple message: "Get Brexit Done." The message was designed to win votes. During the election campaign, the prime minister tried to avoid answering reporters' questions. His actions led to criticism in the media, but clearly did not hurt him and other Conservative candidates.

约翰逊在投票前释放了一个简单的信息：“实现脱欧。”该消息是为了赢得选票。在竞选期间，这位总理竭力避免回答记者的问题。他的举动引发了媒体的批评，但是显然并没有伤害到他以及其他保守党候选人。

The Associated Press notes that the Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, struggled to find a message to appeal to voters. Corbyn was seen as unsure about whether he supported Brexit or not. He was criticized for failing to take steps to deal with reports of anti-Semitism in his party. He also failed to gain support for costly² socialist³ reforms.

美联社指出，由杰里米·科宾领导的工党努力寻找一条吸引选民的信息。人们认为科宾在是否支持英国脱欧上立场不确定。他因未能采取措施处理党内反犹太主义报道而受到批评。他也未能获得支持去进行代价不菲的社会主义改革。

Corbyn has said he will not lead the Labour Party into another election, but has not offered to step down immediately.

科宾已经表示不会再次领导工党参与下一次大选，但是并未立即提出辞职。

In addition to the Conservatives, the National Party of Scotland was another big winner in the elections. The party won 48 seats in Parliament, 13 more than it had before.

除了保守党之外，苏格兰国民党是这次选举的另一大赢家。该党赢得了议会48个席位，比以前增加了13个席位。

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, said the election gave her a renewed mandate⁴ to push for another vote on Scottish independence. A vote on independence failed in 2014. Johnson has said he opposes another referendum on Scotland.

苏格兰首席部长尼古拉·斯特金表示，这次选举赋予了她新的授权，以推动就苏格兰独立进行下一次投票。2014年的独立投票失败了。约翰逊表示反对苏格兰举行另一次全民公投。

In Northern Ireland, the pro-Britain Democratic Unionist Party lost two of its 10 seats in the election. The party's leader, Arlene Foster, blamed Irish nationalist parties for the defeat.

在北爱尔兰，亲英国的民主联盟党在选举中失去了10个席位中2个。该党领导人阿琳·福斯特将失败归咎于爱尔兰民族主义政党。

The vote showed strong support for Brexit, but the Brexit Party of Nigel Farage did not win any seats. The party decided against nominating candidates for 317 Conservative-held seats to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote.

这次投票展示了对英国脱欧的强烈支持，但是奈杰尔·法拉奇的英国脱欧党没有赢得任何席位。该党决定不提名候选人角逐保守党控制的317个席位，以避免分散赞成脱欧的选票。

Farage said he would rather his party not win seats than have a second referendum on Brexit.

法拉奇表示，他宁愿他的政党不赢得任何席位，也不愿就脱欧举行第二次公投。

Johnson's success did not seem possible only a few weeks ago. His first three months in office were marked by defeats in Parliament and in the courts.

约翰逊的这种成功在几个星期前似乎还不可能实现。他上任前三个月的标志是在议会和法院的失败。

This summer, after the prime minister sought to have Parliament suspended in order to push through Brexit, the Supreme⁵ Court of the United Kingdom ruled the move illegal. He was then forced to ask the EU for more time beyond October 31 to work toward a Brexit agreement.

今年夏天，在这位总理寻求暂停议会以推动脱欧之后，大不列颠联合王国最高法院裁定此举为非法。然后他被迫要求欧盟在10月31日之后延期，以争取达成英国脱欧的协议。

Johnson then took a chance by supporting calls for general elections in an effort to gain public support and allies to pass Brexit legislation.

约翰逊然后借此机会支持举行大选的呼吁，以争取公众支持和盟友通过英国脱欧立法。

1 decided   

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。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。