纽约时报 败局逼近 特雷莎·梅推迟英国脱欧公投(2)

“This delay will further aggravate¹ the uncertainty² for people & businesses,” he wrote. “It’s time they make up their mind!”

他还写道：“这一拖延将进一步加剧个人和企业的不确定性。”“他们是时候拿定主意了!”

Mrs. May told lawmakers she would resume talks with the European Union over their sticking points.

梅对议员们说，她将恢复与欧盟关于脱欧症结的谈判。

But European leaders have said they will not renegotiate.

但欧洲一些领导人表示，他们不会重新展开谈判。

“If we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin,” Mrs. May told Parliament,

“如果我们按原计划明天就投票，脱欧协议将会以明显的差距被否决掉，”梅告诉议会，

adding that she wished to defer³ the vote “and not proceed to divide the House at this time.”

同时，她补充说，她希望推迟投票，“不在这个时候让众议院变得更加分裂。”

Yet, by opting⁴ to try to enter more negotiations⁵, both before and at a summit meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday,

然而，通过尝试获得更多谈判的机会，具体时间是周四和周五布鲁塞尔欧盟领导人峰会召开之前及召开期间，

Mrs. May effectively has placed her fate in their hands.

梅实际上是把自己的命运交到了欧盟领导人的手上。

The leader of the opposition⁶ Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said Mrs. May’s government had “lost control of events and is in complete disarray⁷.”

反对党工党领袖杰里米·科尔宾说，梅的政府已经“失去了对事态的控制，完全陷入了混乱”。

Almost every major cabinet minister and some less senior figures are being mentioned as a possible leader or jockeying for position.

几乎每一位重量级的内阁部长，还有一些级别较低的人物都已经被称之为英国可能的领导人或领导人席位角逐者。

The opposition to Mrs. May’s plan had crystallized largely over objections to contingency⁸ plans for dealing⁹ with the Irish border

对梅的脱欧计划持反对意见的人主要针对的是处理爱尔兰边境问题的应急计划，

that pro-Brexit lawmakers say could potentially leave the United Kingdom tied to some of the bloc’s rules.

支持脱欧的议员表示应急计划可能会让英国继续受制于欧盟的一些规定。

Presently, Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, are within the European Union

目前，隶属英国的北爱尔兰和爱尔兰都在欧盟体系之内，

and there are no customs or other regulatory checks on goods passing between them.

两地之间往来的商品不用接受海关或其他管制检查。

That could change after Brexit, or not.

英国脱欧之后，这种情况可能会改变，也可能不会。

Mrs. May’s plan, for example, could mean the whole of the United Kingdom would be part of a European-wide customs union.

打个比方，梅的脱欧计划可能意味着整个英国都将成为覆盖整个欧洲的关税联盟的一部分。

But Brexit supporters fear that could leave the United Kingdom indefinitely tied to many European rules.

但支持脱欧的民众担心，这可能使英国无限期受制于欧洲的许多规则。

Lawmakers themselves, though, do not agree on an alternative to Mrs. May’s proposal.

不过，议员们自己也没能协商出能够替代梅的脱欧提议的其他方案。

Some would prefer a Brexit plan that might keep closer ties to the European Union,

一些议员偏向能够继续与欧盟保持紧密联系的脱欧方案，

while others hope to reverse the whole process by holding a second referendum.

另一些人则希望通过举行第二次公投来逆转整个进程。

European Union officials have insisted that Mrs. May’s deal, reached last month after lengthy¹⁰ negotiations, is their final offer.

欧盟官员坚称，上个月经过漫长的谈判之后与梅达成的协议已经是他们的最终答复。

“The Brexit withdrawal¹¹ agreement is the only deal on the table between the E.U. and the U.K. and is not open to renegotiation,”

“脱欧协议是欧盟和英国当前纳入考虑的唯一协议，并且没有重新协商的余地，”

the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, declared.

爱尔兰总理利奥·瓦拉德卡尔宣称。

What Mrs. May seems to be angling for is a formal declaration or assurance from the European Union

梅似乎极力想得到的是欧盟给出正式声明或保证，

that the plan for the Irish border — keeping it open for the flow of goods — will not be permanent.

表明爱尔兰边境相关的计划——为保证商品流通保持边境开放的计划——不会一直延续下去。

1 aggravate   

vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火

参考例句：

• Threats will only aggravate her.恐吓只能激怒她。
• He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing it.他揉擦伤口只会使伤势加重。

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 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

4 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 disarray   

n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱

参考例句：

• His personal life fell into disarray when his wife left him.妻子离去后，他的个人生活一片混乱。
• Our plans were thrown into disarray by the rail strike.铁路罢工打乱了我们的计划。

8 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。