2006年VOA标准英语-Political Infighting in Ruling Party Grips Brit

By Gary Thomas
London
08 September 2006
 
 
The front pages of some British national newspapers, Sept. 8, 2006, with headlines covering the reported turmoil¹ within the leadership of the Labor² Party
  
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's pledge to step down within one year has failed to dampen political infighting within his Labor Party. The prime minister has suffered a sharp decline in popularity, which has raised concern within his party.

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If Tony Blair had hoped that by promising³ a timeframe in which to depart, he could douse⁴ the political firestorm over his leadership of the Labor Party, he was wrong.

Cracks continued to appear in Labor Party ranks Friday. In an interview with a London newspaper, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke lashed⁵ out at Chancellor⁶ Gordon Brown, the frontrunner to succeed Blair as Labor Party chief and, thus, prime minister, for the political infighting. He called Brown's behavior "absolutely stupid."

A Labor member of parliament, John Smith, said Blair's pledge to leave within a year was insufficient⁷.

"Quite frankly⁸, I think the prime minister's position is now untenable, and he will have to go sooner rather than later," he said.

Minister for Constitutional Affairs Harriet Harman said the infighting only helps the opposition⁹ Conservative Party, and had some blunt words for her colleagues.

"Well, I'm very concerned about the situation today and, quite frankly, really angry. And I really think that everyone should shut up now," she said.
 

Tony Blair at Downing Street, Sept. 7, 2006  
  
Tony Blair is credited with revamping the party. In what he termed New Labor, he moved it away from its socialist¹⁰ roots to the political center, and led it to victory in 1997, when he became prime minister. But his once bright political star has faded, and recent polls show Labor lagging behind the Conservatives.

Mark Fuller, an analyst¹¹ and communications director of the London research institute, Demos, says many Labor members feel that, after nine years, it is time for a change of leadership.

"People have just come to realize that the prime minister's time has come, and, for various reasons, he's lost a lot of authority and a lot of political capital, and has to step down, but it has to happen in - [and] it's a phrase that's been used so much in the last year or so - an orderly way, so there is an orderly transition to the next leader," he said.

Dana Allin, a research fellow in transAtlantic affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, says Blair's close relationship with President Bush and unwavering support for the Iraq war cost the prime minister a great deal of that political capital.

"George W. Bush is toxically¹² unpopular in Britain, as in much of the rest of Europe. There's just no question about that. And, so, Tony Blair's rather close relationship with him is not a political plus for him in Britain," he said.

British bookmakers, who will give odds¹³ on almost anything, are already taking bets on when Blair will actually leave, with favored odds now saying he will depart before the end of this year. Gordon Brown remains¹⁴ the frontrunner to succeed Blair, but bookmakers' odds are not as favorable to him as those given prior to the current infighting.

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

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 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 douse   

v.把…浸入水中，用水泼；n.泼洒

参考例句：

• Men came with buckets of water and began to douse the flames.人们提来一桶桶水灭火。
• He doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.他用灭火器把火焰扑灭。

5 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

8 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

9 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。

10 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 toxically   

有毒地

参考例句：

13 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

14 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。