英文原版对话1000个:639 Irish Politics

Todd: So, Ruth, you're from Ireland.

Ruth: Yes, that's right.

Todd: And could you talk a little bit about the government in Ireland, like do you have a president or a prime¹ minister?

Ruth: In fact, we have both. We have a president, Mary McAleese, and then there's another set, another ruling body, where the head is called the Taoiseach, which is Irish for Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister at the moment is a man called Bertie Ahern.

Todd: So you have two Prime Ministers.

Ruth: We have a president and then we have a Prime Minister.

Todd: OK, and the woman is the

Ruth: The woman is the President. Mary McAleese is the president.

Todd: OK, well, who actually has the power? Who makes the decisions?

Ruth: Normally² I think it's the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister, that makes most of the decisions, and he's over the government. He decides the government.

Todd: OK, and what's that title called, Taoiseach.

Ruth: Taoiseach

Todd: Taoiseach

Ruth: It's Irish.

Todd: OK, so that's like Gaelic.

Ruth: Yeah. Yeah. There are still some parts of Ireland that's the Gaelic and, and also because it's one of the official languages. A lot of things will have an Irish name and an English name as well.

Todd: So how do you choose the "Taoiseach".

Ruth: The Taoiseach is chosen by the people. So we vote in the Prime Minister, but we also vote in the President as well. We get to choose both.

Todd: OK, well, that's quite interesting. Do the elections³ happen at the same time?

Ruth: No, usually they happen seperately.

Todd: OK, so what's the point of having the President?

Ruth: I'm not sure. I don't really know. I'm not big into politics, so I'm not sure how the whole thing works⁴.

Todd: Right, right.

Ruth: But I just know that we have a president as well.

Todd: Well, have you ever had a female⁵ "Taoiseach", a female Prime Minister?

Ruth: There's never been a female "Taoiseach", only female presidents. We've had two female presidents. Mary McAleese and before her, Mary Robinson.

Todd: OK, now is Ireland do most of the people vote? Do you have a high voter turnout?

Ruth: Quite a lot of people do vote. Mainly, older people, though. Younger people don't vote so much.

Todd: That's not good.

Ruth: No, not very good at all.

Todd: Yeah, I think in the states it's like 50%, or going down.

Ruth: It's probably that, but maybe on the lower side.

Todd: OK, well, thanks Ruth.

Ruth: No problem.

 

1 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

2 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

3 elections   

n.选举，当选，推举( election的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• He emerged victorious in the elections. 他在竞选中脱颖而出获得胜利。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。