听播客学英语 174 上议院

 　　I have some political stuff for you in today’s podcast.

　　In Britain, we have a Parliament. Parliament makes new laws and oversees¹ the government of the country. There are two chambers², or Houses of Parliament – the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (we call them MPs) whom we vote for at General Elections. It has much more power than the House of Lords. The government needs to have the support of a majority in the House of Commons. If it loses this support, the government would have to resign.

　　The House of Lords is different. It has much less power. But it is also more independent of the government. Sometimes, the House of Lords is able to force the government to reconsider its policies or proposals. The members of the House of Lords are called “peers”. Some peers are appointed by the government or other political parties. Some peers are appointed by an independent body. And some of the peers are “hereditary³ peers” – they are members of old noble families who have inherited their place in the House of Lords. And then there are bishops⁴ and archbishops of the Church of England – they are in the House of Lords, too, and so are the most senior judges in the country. In other words, of the 746 members of the House of Lords, not one has been elected by the people. How complicated, you may think. How undemocratic. How out-of-date.

　　A lot of people in this country think so as well. But it has been difficult to agree what sort of House of Lords should replace the present one. Four years ago, Parliament looked at a number of possible ways of reforming the House of Lords, and rejected all of them. Recently the government suggested that most of the House of Lords should be elected, but that some peers should be appointed by the government or other political groups. Last night the House of Commons debated this issue. To everyone’s surprise, it agreed by a large majority that all the members of the House of Lords should be elected by the people – no more appointed members, no more hereditary peers.

　　This is a big and important change. It will take time to implement⁵. The government will have to present a bill (a draft law) to Parliament, and to decide in detail when and how elections to the House of Lords should be held, and what powers the new House of Lords will have. Many members of the present House of Lords will not be happy – they are, after all, likely to loose their jobs. But change is now inevitable⁶. Last night’s vote in the House of Commons was an important step towards creating a modern, democratic system of government in Britain.

　　The picture is of Baronness Amos, the Leader of the House of Lords. She was born in Guyana and came to Britain when she was nine year’s old.

1 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

2 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

3 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

4 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。