纽约时报 特雷莎·梅卸任 英国前路茫茫(1)

Britain Reels as May Departs.

特雷莎·梅卸任 英国步履维艰

Resignation Creates a Quandary¹ over Brexit Plans

脱欧计划陷入两难境地

By Benjamin Mueller and Stephen Castle

文/本杰明·米勒，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔

LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation on Friday

伦敦电——英国首相特蕾莎·梅已于周五宣布辞职，

after three years of trying and failing to pull Britain out of the European Union,

三年来，她一直在为让英国退出欧盟不停奔走，一直未能如愿，

throwing her country into an unpredictable situation

反倒让英国陷入了变幻莫测的局面，

and setting off a bare-knuckled contest among other Conservative lawmakers to replace her.

也在其他保守派议员中间引发了一场为取代她而展开的激烈竞争。

As she stood behind a lectern outside 10 Downing Street,

站在唐宁街10号首相府邸外的讲台后，

Mrs. May admitted that a different leader was needed to shepherd the split, known as Brexit.

梅承认，英国需要换一位领导人来领导这场分手，即所谓的“脱欧”。

But she also warned that the unyielding stance taken by the hard-line factions² of lawmakers who had proved her undoing³ would have to change.

但她也警告称，证明她失败了的强硬派议员必须改变他们不愿妥协的姿态。

“To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus⁴ in Parliament where I have not,” Mrs. May said.

“要想成功，他或她必须带领议会达成共识，完成我未能完成的工作，”梅说。

“Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise.”

“这样的共识，只有争论各方都愿意妥协才能达成。”

Whether such compromise is even possible in Britain’s polarized politics is unclear at best.

然而，在政治两极分化的英国，这种妥协是否真有充其量也只是个未知数。

Brexit has splintered both the Conservatives and the opposition⁵ Labour Party into warring factions

自2016年6月23日，公投以微弱优势通过脱欧提案以来，

since the referendum that narrowly approved the departure on June 23, 2016.

这一提案就将保守党和反对党工党分裂成了敌对派系。

A second referendum that could keep Britain in the European Union remains⁶ a distant possibility.

保住英国欧盟成员国地位的第二次公投仍然遥遥无期。

But many Conservative lawmakers have grown more hard-line during Mrs. May’s long, fractious tenure⁷

但在梅漫长而难以驾驭的任期内，许多保守派议员都变得更加强硬了，

and now support leaving the bloc⁸ with no withdrawal⁹ deal at all —

现在，他们站到了不签署任何脱欧协议就离开欧盟一方——

a move opposed by a majority in Parliament

此举不仅遭到了议会多数议员的反对，

and one that most analysts¹⁰ warn could bring dire¹¹ economic consequences.

还可能，多数分析人士警告称，带来可怕的经济后果。

Mrs. May’s departure, eagerly anticipated even by members of her own cabinet,

梅的离开，就连她自己的内阁成员也热切期待着她的卸任，

is certain to mean a politically charged summer in Britain.

必然意味着英国的这个夏天将染上浓浓的政治色彩。

Mrs. May said she would step down as Conservative Party leader on June 7,

梅表示，她将于6月7日，

a few days after President Trump¹² makes an official state visit.

也即特朗普总统对英国进行正式国事访问的几天之后辞去保守党领袖一职。

The contest to succeed her will begin the following week,

接替她首相之职的竞选将于下周开始，

and Mrs. May will remain in office until her successor is chosen.

在继任者选定之前，梅将继续留任。

Brexit, meanwhile, will remain in a state of suspended animation¹³ until a new leader is chosen.

与此同时，在选出新领导人之前，“脱欧”提案仍将处于假死状态。

Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European bloc on March 29,

英国原定于3月29日脱离欧盟，

but the deadline was extended to Oct. 31 after Parliament refused three times

但由于议会再三拒绝，为给通过梅与欧洲领导人谈判达成的脱欧协议创造机会，

to pass the withdrawal agreement that Mrs. May had negotiated with European leaders.

脱欧的最后期限被延长到了10月31日。

Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and a hard-line supporter of Brexit,

鲍里斯·约翰逊是前外交大臣、脱欧提案的强硬派支持者，

on Friday signaled an unflinching attitude, foreshadowing the tone for a leadership contest.

周五，他表现出了坚定的态度，言辞之中透露出他会加入首相之职的竞争队伍。

He is a leading contender to replace Mrs. May.

 

他也是梅的继任者中的主要竞争者。

1 quandary   

n.困惑，进迟两难之境

参考例句：

• I was in a quandary about whether to go.我当时正犹豫到底去不去。
• I was put in a great quandary.我陷于进退两难的窘境。

2 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 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。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

8 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。

9 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。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

12 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。

13 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。