VOA慢速英语2019 英国议会否决首相脱欧协议

British Parliament Rejects Prime Minister's Brexit Plan

The British parliament has rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for Britain to leave the European Union.

英国议会否决了首相特蕾莎·梅提出的英国脱欧协议。

The House of Commons voted 432 to 202 against the plan negotiated by members of May’s government. The prime minister said she is trying to carry out the "democratic decision" voters made 18 months ago to leave the EU.

英国下议院以432票对202票否决了梅政府成员谈判达成的协议。梅首相表示，她是在试图执行18个月前选民做出的脱离欧盟的“民主决定”。

Opposition¹ Labor² Party leader Jeremy Corbin called the vote a "catastrophic defeat" for May's Conservative Party. He also demanded a parliamentary vote be held Wednesday on whether to withdraw support from her government. He criticized the British government as incompetent³.

反对党工党领袖杰里米·科尔宾（Jeremy Corbin）称这次投票对梅首相的保守党是一次“灾难性失败”。他还要求在周三举行议会投票，决定是否撤回对梅政府的支持。他批评本届英国政府无能。

The vote against May’s plan was widely expected, but it is not clear what comes next for the withdrawal⁴, known as Brexit. Before the vote, May warned members of parliament that the EU would not offer an "alternative deal."

梅首相的脱欧协议被投票否决早有广泛预期，但是尚不清楚英国脱欧下一步怎么走。梅首相在投票前警告议员，称欧盟不会提供“替代协议”。

One of the main terms of her plan was to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and British Northern Ireland. She wanted to prevent the return of border measures if Britain and the EU failed to reach a free trade agreement.

她的协议的主要条款之一是旨在避免欧盟成员国爱尔兰和北爱尔兰之间出现一条“硬边界”。如果英国和欧盟未能达成自由贸易协定，她想要阻止边境管制措施的回归。

May's deal would have left unchanged the rights of more than three million EU citizens living in Britain and the one million Britons living in the EU. Britain would have paid $51 billion to settle its financial responsibilities with the EU.

梅首相的协议将使居住在英国的300万欧盟公民以及居住在欧盟的100万英国人权利保持不变。英国将会支付510亿美元用于解决其与欧盟的财政责任。

May’s plan faced opposition from both sides of the debate over Brexit. Those supporting the break argued that her deal would still leave Britain tied to EU rules. Opponents to Brexit wanted even stronger economic links to the EU.

梅首相的协议遭到了英国脱欧辩论双方的一致反对。支持脱欧的一方认为，她的协议仍将使英国受制于欧盟规则，反对者则希望同欧盟建立更紧密的经济联系。

Groups of pro-EU and pro-Brexit activists⁵ demonstrated near parliament in London, Tuesday.

周二，支持留欧和支持退欧的活动人士在伦敦议会附近进行了示威。

Negotiators from Britain and the EU agreed to the terms of the Brexit deal in November after long and difficult talks. It is unclear what will happen next.

经过漫长而又艰苦的谈判，英国和欧盟的谈判代表于去年11月份就英国脱欧协议达成一致。目前尚不清楚接下来将会发生什么。

May has until next Monday to present a new proposal.

梅首相在下周一前必须提出一项新的协议。

I'm Caty Weaver⁶.

Words in This Story

catastrophic –adj. something that is a disaster

incompetent –adj. lacking necessary ability or skills

alternative –n. something that offers another choice

1 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。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

4 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。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。