英国新闻听力 英国前首相呛声脱欧派

It’s just two and a half weeks until Britain’s EU referendum. If the country votes to remain by a reasonable margin¹, then by and large1 life will carry on pretty much as before for most people. However, if the UK votes to leave, the nation will be an unchartered territory with the Prime Minister David Cameron facing questions about his future. On Sunday, one of his predecessors² John Major intervened on behalf of the remain campaign. And in a sign of how heated the debate has become, he didn’t mince³ his words, as I heard from our political correspondent Chris Mason.

Well, as John Major had a reputation as British Prime Minister in the 1990s of being dull even of being boring, he acknowledged today that he is often understated in his public interventions⁵. And yet what he said in a BBC interview was anything but understated as he repeatedly criticized the leave campaign in the UK referendum.

And what they have said about leaving is fundamentally dishonest and it’s dishonest about the cost of Europe. And on the subject that they’ve veered⁶ towards having lost economic argument of immigration, I think their campaign is verging⁷ on the squalid. So these promises of the expenditure⁸ on the national health service or elsewhere are frankly⁹ fatuous¹⁰. They are a deceit. I’m angry at the way that British people are being misled.

John Major of course faced immense troubles over Europe during his time as Prime Minister. What did the leave campaign say about it?

Yeah, I should say there was a chasm¹¹ in the Conservative Party when it was governing Britain for much of the 1990s. Today it was as if he was trying to crowbar open, prize open that chasm even further. He clearly feels aggrieved¹² how he was treated by some of the same people who were in his government 20 years ago, who are now leading advocates of the leave campaign. But there’s an additional figure, a big figure within the governing Conservative Party in the UK. That’s Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London. So what did he make of what Sir John Major had said and particularly the suggestion from the former British Prime Minister that Mr. Johnson was merely setting out5 his argument because he wants to be Britain’s next Prime Minister.

Obviously there’s going to be temptation by one side to try to turn into a personality driven conversation. My view by the EU has changed. We’ll be safer, taking back control.

The question is the extent too which this powerful intervention⁴ from Sir John Major will make any difference to voters.

还有两周半就是英国的欧洲公投了。若英国以合理优势获得留下票数，则大多数人的生活总体来说就和以前差不多了，但若投票离开，则该国将成为欧盟规则以外的国家，首相大卫•卡梅伦也将面临关乎前途的问题。周日，他的前任之一——约翰•梅杰代表留欧派介入了此事。争论如火如荼地进行，他说话也一点不含糊。本台政治记者克里斯•梅森报道。
20世纪90年代约翰•梅杰当英国首相时曾以无趣甚至遭人厌著称，如今，他承认自己在公共干预方面通常过于保守。但在一次BBC采访中，他的话却一点也不保守，在英国公投中屡次抨击脱欧派。
他们的脱欧言论从根本上就是不诚实的，关于欧洲要付出的代价，他们没说实话。在移民的经济论证方面也快输了，就凭这一点，我认为他们的计划趋于卑劣。那么国民医疗保健制度花费或其他地方的承诺就真的是昏庸了，都是谎言。英国民众受到了误导，这是我生气的地方。
当然，任首相期间，约翰•梅杰曾面临和欧洲有关的巨大麻烦。在一点上，脱欧派怎么看？
可以说，在90年代保守党当政的近十年间，内部存在着分歧，今天来看梅杰似乎想把这个分歧撬得更大。20年前他手下的人有些成为现在脱欧派的倡导者，而他显然对当年自己的遭遇愤愤不平。同时，在当权的保守党内还有一个人物，一个大人物，他就是伦敦前市长鲍里斯•约翰逊。那么他怎么理解约翰•梅杰爵士的话，尤其是这位前首相暗指约翰逊先生陈述他的观点仅仅是因为他想成为英国下一任首相？
显然，一方想试图把对话转为人格驱动型对话。我对欧盟的看法变了。我们拿回管理权会更加安全。
问题是约翰•梅杰的强势介入对选民的影响程度会有多大呢？

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mince   

n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说

参考例句：

• Would you like me to mince the meat for you?你要我替你把肉切碎吗？
• Don't mince matters,but speak plainly.不要含糊其词，有话就直说吧。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

6 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 verging   

接近，逼近（verge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed understanding, verging on sympathy, for our approach. 他宣称对我们提出的做法很理解，而且近乎同情。
• He's verging on 80 now and needs constant attention. 他已近80岁，需要侍候左右。

8 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

9 frankly   

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。

10 fatuous   

adj.愚昧的；昏庸的

参考例句：

• He seems to get pride in fatuous remarks.说起这番蠢话来他似乎还挺得意。
• After his boring speech for over an hour,fatuous speaker waited for applause from the audience.经过超过一小时的烦闷的演讲，那个愚昧的演讲者还等着观众的掌声。

11 chasm   

n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突

参考例句：

• There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
• A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。

12 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》