VOA慢速英语2021 德国总理默克尔准备离职（在线收听）

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing to step down after leading the country for 16 years.

德国总理安哥拉·默克尔在领导国家16年后准备卸任。

As she leaves office, she is seen as a leader with strong diplomatic skills who had to deal with a series of major crises in Europe.

在她离任时，默克尔被视为一位外交手段极强的领导人，她不得不应对欧洲一系列重大危机。

In Germany, Merkel did carry out some major government programs. These included ending the country's requirement of national military service and setting Germany on a path away from nuclear and coal power production.

在德国，默克尔确实实施了一些重大的政府项目。其中包括终止该国的全民兵役制度，并使德国走上了远离核能和煤电生产的道路。

She also enabled the legalization of same-sex marriage and took the lead on setting a national minimum wage and a program to provide assistance to fathers to take care of young children.

她还推动了同性婚姻合法化，并率先制定了全国最低工资标准，以及一项向照顾年幼孩子的父亲提供帮助的项目。

But one of her senior allies recently described what many see as her main service: an anchor of stability in stormy times. The ally told Merkel: "You protected our country well."

但是她的一位资深盟友最近谈到了许多人眼中她的主要作用：作为暴风雨时期的稳定之锚。这些盟友对默克尔表示：“你很好地保护了我们国家。”

Bavarian governor Markus Soeder similarly explained Merkel's leadership. He said of the crises facing Germany, "they came overnight and you had to govern well."

巴伐利亚州州长马库斯·索德对默克尔的领导地位做出了类似解读。他谈到德国面临的危机时表示，“它们一夜之间就来了，你必须管控好。”

Merkel passed her first test in 2008, promising at the height of the world financial crisis that Germans' savings were safe. Over the following years, she helped lead efforts to save the euro from the debt crisis that hurt several European Union members. She agreed to government assistance plans, but also said painful spending cuts were needed.

默克尔在2008年通过了她的第一次考验，她在世界金融危机最严重的时期承诺德国人的储蓄是安全的。在接下来的几年里，她帮助领导了将欧元从损害数个欧盟成员国的债务危机中拯救出来。她同意了政府援助计划，但是也表示需要痛苦地削减开支。

In 2015, Merkel welcomed migrants as masses of people fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere traveled across the Balkans. She permitted in hundreds of thousands and promised that "we will manage" the flow. The program later faced resistance both at home and among European partners.

2015年，随着大批逃离叙利亚和其它地区冲突的难民穿越巴尔干半岛，默克尔张开双臂欢迎这些移民。她批准了数十万人进入德国，并承诺管理难民流。该项目后来在国内和欧洲合作伙伴当中都面临了阻力。

Working with other international leaders, Merkel sought to seek compromises and explore a multilateral path to the world's problems. This continued through years of political developments. These included changes in the relationship between the U.S. and its European allies under President Donald Trump and Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

默克尔同其他国际领导人合作，寻求妥协、探索解决全球问题的多边途径。这种状况贯穿了多年的政治发展。其中包括在川普总统当权以及英国退出欧盟决定下美国同欧洲盟友之间关系的变化。

Merkel led Germany's COVID-19 response that saw the country do better than some of its neighbors.

默克尔领导了德国对新冠肺炎的响应，该国比周边邻国都做得更好。

The health emergency was just one example of a crisis Merkel had to manage. Ralph Bollmann is a reporter who also wrote a book about Merkel's life and time.

卫生紧急状况只是默克尔必须要应对的危机的一个例子。拉尔夫·伯尔曼是一名记者，他还写了一本关于默克尔生平和时代的书。

"I think Ms. Merkel's most important legacy is simply that, in such a time of worldwide crises, she provided for stability," he told The Associated Press. Merkel's achievement, Bollmann said, "is that she led Germany, Europe and perhaps to some extent the world fairly safely through that..."

他对美联社表示：“我认为默克尔最重要的遗产就是，在这样一个全球危机时期，她提供了稳定。”伯尔曼表示，默克尔的成就“就是她带领了德国和欧洲，或许在某种程度上包括全世界安全度过。”

Crises took up so much energy that "not much time was left to deal with other issues," he added.

他还表示，危机占用了太多精力，以至于“没有太多时间来处理其它问题。”

In 2018, Merkel announced she would not seek a fifth term as chancellor. Her political longevity is already historic. Among democratic Germany's post-World War II leaders, she is only behind Helmut Kohl. Kohl served from 1982 to 1998 and led the country through reunification. Merkel could beat his record if she is still in office on December 17. That is possible if parties are slow to form a new government after the September 26 election.

2018年，默克尔宣布她不会寻求第5个总理任期。她长久的政治生命已经是历史性的。在民主德国二战后的领导人当中，她仅次于赫尔穆特·科尔。科尔于1982年到1998年任职，并领导了国家统一。如果默克尔在12月17日仍然在任，她可能会打破科尔的记录。如果政党在9月26日大选过后组建新政府很慢，这就有可能实现。

Whether she gets there or not, Merkel can celebrate an unusual end to her political career: she is set to become the first German chancellor to leave power when she chooses.

无论她是否能达成这个目标，默克尔都能庆祝她政治生涯的不寻常结束：她将成为首位自行选择离职的德国总理。