2015年经济学人 威斯敏斯特宫 纸牌屋

The Palace of Westminster

House of Cards

The mounting case for MPs to abandon Westminster

OBSERVE the Palace of Westminster on a rainy night, and you may see lights strangely flickering¹ in its 1,100 rooms. Leaks not caught by buckets interfere² with mice-gnawed cables crammed³ into Victorian holes. But the damp and drips have one advantage: they temporarily curb⁴ the risk of fires in the many bits of this creaking, neo-Gothic edifice⁵ that are not protected by sprinklers.

The palace is in a bad way. In a speech on March 2nd John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, argued that it is decaying faster than it is being repaired. He claimed that fixing Parliament could cost some 3 billion. It came to only about a third more to build a new terminal at Heathrow Airport.

The efficient option would be for MPs to move somewhere else while workers revamp the palace, yanking out thickets⁶ of wiring and replacing the lot, for example. But politicians do not warm to the prospect⁷ of being far from government departments, television studios and a decent plate of spaghetti alle vongole. Andrew Griffiths, a Conservative MP, shudders⁸ at the thought of “moving to an office block in Slough⁹ for five or ten years”.

Parliament is expected to vote on the matter not long after the general election. It may consider leaving for good. Mr Bercow warned that if the palace is not repaired in the next decade, legislators will have to “abandon this site and look elsewhere”. But that might not be such a bad thing. The palace is poorly suited to its purpose: no amount of repairs will make the House of Commons chamber¹⁰ big enough to let all MPs sit down, for example. Nor will they remove the fusty atmosphere of the place—more mid-market country hotel than hub of modern democracy.

It is not clear where Parliament would go. The big northern cities have been touted¹¹ (Andrew Adonis, a Labour peer, has suggested moving the Lords to Salford Quays¹², outside Manchester). Even more far-fetched proposals include a purpose-built capital like Brasilia or Washington, or a roving legislature. Michael Fabricant has invited fellow MPs to use the cathedral in his seat of Lichfield in Staffordshire—though he warns that legislative¹³ sessions would have to fit around services.

And what to do with Westminster? Generation Rent, a group campaigning for tenants'rights, has a bright idea. It has commissioned plans to turn the palace into 364 affordable¹⁴ flats, complete with swimming pool and library. But most assume it should become a museum. As Hugo Summerson, a former Tory MP, sniffed¹⁵ in 1991: “We need a brand-new facility, and we should leave this place to the Americans and the Japanese.”

1 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

2 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

4 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

6 thickets   

n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物

参考例句：

• Small trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets. 小树稀稀朗朗地立在树林里。 来自辞典例句
• The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. 所有的地面盖满了密密层层的灌木丛。 来自辞典例句

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 shudders   

n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• It gives me the shudders. （（口语））它使我战栗。 来自辞典例句
• The ghastly sight gave him the shudders. 那恐怖的景象使他感到恐惧。 来自辞典例句

9 slough   

v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃

参考例句：

• He was not able to slough off the memories of the past.他无法忘记过去。
• A cicada throws its slough.蝉是要蜕皮的。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

12 quays   

码头( quay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She drove across the Tournelle bridge and across the busy quays to the Latin quarter. 她驾车开过图尔内勒桥，穿过繁忙的码头开到拉丁区。
• When blasting is close to such installations as quays, the charge can be reduced. 在靠近如码头这类设施爆破时，装药量可以降低。

13 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

14 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

15 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》