【英语语言学习】对于英国退出欧盟的两种看法

 A big debate rages in Britain. Should they stay in the European Union or leave? Yesterday in London, President Obama took a side.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Speaking honestly, the outcome of that decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States because it affects our prospects¹ as well. The United States wants a strong United Kingdom as a partner. And the United Kingdom is at its best when it's helping² to lead a strong Europe.

SIMON: Two brothers, both private business owners, join us now. Ian Baxter believes Britain ought to stay in the EU. Nigel Baxter wants out. They're speaking to us from BBC Studios in Nottingham. Gentlemen, thanks for being with us.

IAN BAXTER: Pleasure.

NIGEL BAXTER: Good afternoon.

SIMON: As I probably don't have to tell you, Baxter brothers, elite³ opinion, as they call it in the United Kingdom, Labour, Liberal Democrat⁴ and Tory is all we ought to stay in the European Union. This is a bad time for elite opinion in many sectors⁵ of the world, isn't it?

N. BAXTER: I think it is. I think we are seeing - the British public, I think, will regale⁶ against that, but also in the rest of the European Union we're seeing a huge amount of discontent in terms of the workings of the EU. And I think one of the things that we might see as a result of a Brexit is some contagion⁷ in Europe, the call for referendum in their own countries...

SIMON: Is this Ian or Nigel speaking?

N. BAXTER: This is Nigel here. One of the problems with the EU is that when you look at it, whilst it's 500 million people, it's hugely important from a trade perspective. It is not functioning very well. It has got no growth. It is completely stagnant⁸. It is a huge unemployment issue. Youth unemployment in places like Spain is approaching 50 percent. We have a huge problem with migration⁹, which is very difficult to deal with under the current rules of this Schengen Agreement. And I wouldn't be surprised if we're not talking about the disintegration¹⁰ of the European Union within the next few years.

I. BAXTER: Exactly, and that's what concerns me. Don't forget that whilst the EU is imperfect and has lots of problems that it needs to solve, what it's also done is helped facilitate changes in Europe. For example, when the Eastern Bloc¹¹ countries came out of the Soviet¹² Union, the European Union provided them with a home that promoted democracy, human rights and market economies. And that has worked.

SIMON: Let me ask this of both of you. I have British friends who say that no matter how close they are to Europe geographically¹³, they - there are just more cultural ties between Britain and the U.S. and Canada and they don't feel an emotional connection to Europe. Does that enter into this?

N. BAXTER: Well, I think that there's a lot of truth in that, to be honest with you. Obviously we've, you know...

SIMON: This is Nigel?

N. BAXTER: ...This is Nigel, sorry, yes. You know, we're sharing language, of course, so that's a big thing for us. You know, we have got great friends in Europe. We enjoy visiting and enjoying their culture, but I don't see a common - particularly common thread between us in the sense that you're talking.

SIMON: Ian Baxter.

I. BAXTER: I understand your point and we absolutely - we love you guys. But the truth is...

SIMON: We love you too, but (laughter) but go ahead.

I. BAXTER: The truth is, though, that we, you know, geographically we live in Europe. And these people are our neighbors. And, you know, I want to just pick back up on this question of, you know, keeping the peace and what happens if we leave. You know, on matters of trade, for example, we could see beggar-thy-neighbor kind of policies going on in Europe. And that's not what I want to see. I think cooperation, even though it's a difficult thing, is always going to be better.

N. BAXTER: Scott, just to come back on that if I may.

SIMON: Yes, Nigel.

N. BAXTER: This is the hysteria that we're starting to get then on trade. So what we're saying is, is a Bloc of countries of which we would have left, which has virtually double the amount of trade to the U.K. that we have to them, is going to enter into a destructive trade war in order to beggar-thy-neighbor, to use Ian's words. I mean, that is complete nonsense in my view.

We will have, of course, to work out the detail, but the realities of life are that we will, I suspect, in the short period of time, have come to terms with the exit and our markets and trade will continue much as if we had never noticed it before.

SIMON: How are you guys getting along?

I. BAXTER: Actually, we've spent a lot of time with each other recently because of doing things like this radio interview. And believe it or not, you know, we're getting along good.

N. BAXTER: It's fine, Scott. You know how it is younger brothers. You may have one. You know, they're not easy. But, you know, you have to - you can suffer them, you know? They're not often right either, but, you know, we can listen to them.

SIMON: Nigel Baxter is CEO of RH Commercial Vehicles, his brother, Ian, is CEO of Baxter Freight - both joining us from BBC Studios in Nottingham. Thanks so much for being with us.

I. BAXTER: Pleasure.

N. BAXTER: Yeah, thanks very much. Thank you.

 

 

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 regale   

v.取悦，款待

参考例句：

• He was constantly regaled with tales of woe.别人老是给他讲些倒霉事儿来逗他开心。
• He loved to regale his friends with tales about the many memorable characters he had known as a newspaperman.他喜欢讲些他当记者时认识的许多名人的故事给朋友们消遣。

7 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

8 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

9 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

10 disintegration   

n.分散，解体

参考例句：

• This defeat led to the disintegration of the empire.这次战败道致了帝国的瓦解。
• The incident has hastened the disintegration of the club.这一事件加速了该俱乐部的解体。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

12 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

13 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分