中英双语新闻 苏格兰首席大臣建议再次举行独立公投

BBC News with Marion Marshall.

The British government has condemned¹ the announcement of plans by the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to call a second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister Theresa May described the move as deeply regrettable, saying it would create more uncertainty² and division.

MPs at Westminster have approved a revised bill put forward by the government setting out its plans for Brexit. They have voted by a clear majority to reject two amendments³ put forward by the Upper Chamber—the House of Lords.

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his rival Geert Wilders of the anti-Islam Freedom party have been going head-to-head in a televised debate two days before the parliamentary election in the Netherlands. Mr Rutte defended his economic record over the past five years, but Mr Wilders attacked his credibility, criticising him for allowing record immigration.

New figures show defence spending among Nato members edged up in 2016, but most European nations are still nowhere near the threshold of 2% of Gross Domestic Product that President Trump⁴ has insisted on. Only four European nations—Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland—hit the target.

South Africa says the city of Durban will not be able to host the 2022 Commonwealth⁵ Games despite being chosen two years ago as its venue⁶. It’s because of rising costs.

The United Nations says that inadequate⁷ funding has forced it to reduce the food rations⁸ it distributes in Yemen, even as millions there are threatened by potential famine. The organisation⁹ said it had been forced to cut back to make limited supplies stretch further.

The German Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel has postponed¹¹ her trip to Washington to meet President Trump because of a blizzard¹² which is expected to hit cities along the US east coast within hours. Washington could see 15 centimetres of snow with New York expected to receive up to three times as much.

Marion Marshall为您报道BBC新闻。

苏格兰首席大臣斯特金(Nicola Sturgeon)宣布了一系列计划，呼吁针对脱离联合王国举行第二次全民公投。英国政府对此提出谴责。首相特蕾莎·梅(Theresa May)称此举非常令人遗憾，会造成更多分歧和不确定性。

威斯敏斯特议员通过了政府提出的脱欧计划修订案。他们以大多数优势投票否决了上议院提出的两项修正案。

距离荷兰议会选举还有两天时间，荷兰首相马克·吕特(Mark Rutte)和他的竞争对手，反伊斯兰自由党的基尔特·威尔德斯(Geert Wilders)在电视辩论中展开正面交锋。吕特为过去五年的经济记录辩护，但是威尔德斯攻击了他的信誉，批评他允许记录移民。

新的数据显示，2016年，北约成员国国防支出增加，但是大部分欧洲国家的支出仍然没有达到特朗普总统提议的国内生产总值的2%。只有四个欧洲国家达到目标，分别是英国，埃塞俄比亚，希腊和波兰。

南非表示，德班市将不能举办2022年英联邦运动会，尽管两年前已被选为主办城市。这是因为成本的不断增加。

联合国表示，资金不足导致他们减少了对也门的食物配给，尽管那里的数百万人面临潜在饥荒的威胁。联合国称，他们不得不采取缩减措施，使有限的补给持续更长时间。

由于几小时内暴风雪可能袭击美国东海岸沿线城市，德国总理安格拉·默克尔(Angela Merkel)推迟了访问华盛顿与特朗普总统会晤的计划。华盛顿的积雪可能达到15厘米，而纽约的积雪厚度可能是华盛顿的三倍。

1 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

6 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

7 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

8 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

9 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

10 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

11 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

12 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。