新奇事件簿 退欧将危及英国科学大国地位

People in Britain will soon vote on whether or not to stay in or leave the European Union (EU). Newspapers have called it 'Brexit', which means Britain's, or British, exit. It is one of the biggest issues for Europe in decades. British people have very strong feelings about leaving and staying in the EU. A group of scientists has come together in support of staying in Europe. All of the 13 scientists are Nobel Prize winners. The group says leaving the EU would be a "key risk" to British science. A spokesman¹ explained how important it was for science that Britain remained in Europe. He said: "Inside the EU, Britain helps steer² the biggest scientific powerhouse in the world."

英国将就是否“留欧”进行公投。媒体将其称之为“Brexit”，意为“英国退欧”。这也是数十年以来欧洲面临的最严峻问题之一。对于去留问题，民众表达了强烈意愿。许多科学家强烈支持“留欧”。十三名科学家均为诺贝尔获得主。称“退欧”将对英国科学发展产生极大威胁。就科学发展而言，发言人对“留欧”的重大意义进行了阐述。他认为：“作为欧盟成员国，英国是领导世界的科学强国。”

Another top British scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking³, said Brexit would be, "a disaster for UK science". Many other scientists agree, saying Britain would receive less money from the EU for research. They add that British scientists could no longer work as often or as closely⁴ with colleagues in European countries. Professor Hawking said many young European scientists come to Britain to work. He said this could slow down after a Brexit. However, many other scientists say Brexit would be better for British science. The campaign group Scientists For Britain says that the UK would not suffer financially from Brexit. It says the top two countries funded by an 80-billion-euro EU science programme are not EU members.

英国知名科学家斯蒂芬·霍金认为，“英国退欧”将是英国科学界的灾难。许多科学家也表示赞同，称欧盟的科研经费将会随之减少。还称英国科学家与欧盟同行合作的频率，以及联系度也将减少。霍金表示，许多年轻有为的欧洲科学家选择前往英国。若通过“退欧”，这一趋势或将有所减缓。但还有一些科学家赞同“退欧”。活动组织“Scientists For Britain”称，“退欧”将不会为英国带来经济损失。称获得欧盟800亿欧元科研经费的前两个国家均不是欧盟国家。

1 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

4 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。