英伦广角 2012-04-28 英国保守党民意大失

 Well, the prime minister has endured a month or so of bad headlines, a botched budget according to critics, terrible opinion polls, the Abbot Catarda, farce¹ as some MPs call it, now immune to the over laws reform, so what do you do? And it looked like a re-launch, he took to the campaign trail, he went to an aircraft factory in the west of England, not flying high anymore in the polls, the prime minister thought though to defend some pretty tough cuts that the government is planning, on top of those already announced. 

 

What the government is doing is getting back to the key issues facing this country, they need to get on top of our debt and deficit² to get our economy moving, but above all, to say, we’re on the side of those people who work hard, who wanna do the right thing for themselves and their families, we want to keep your taxes down, we wanna improve your schools, we want to reform welfare, it’s a government on your side, that’s what today is about. 

 

Well, according to one concern of the MP, that’s  the last thing is on people’s side, now Dean Doris, the outspoken³ conservative MP has branded the prime minister and chancellor⁵ posh boys which she went further, she said unfortunately, I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don’t know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant⁶ posh boys who show no remorse⁷, no contrition⁸ and no passion to want to understand the lives of others, and that is their real crime, well, those cuts were spelled out by the treasury⁹ chief secretary Danny Alexander, he’ll calling a white hall department to go for even more savings¹⁰, a new age of austerity. 

 

Under the new rules that I’m announcing, I’ve asked all departments to identify around 5% of their resource budget, but could be reprioritized if new pressures emerge or new policies have to be funded, so there’s a shared understanding how it could be paid for.

 

Well, the voters don’t like it according to a new poll for the Guardian¹¹, in the past week or so, we see big poll leads for labor¹², one as high as 11 or 12%, and the Guardian now has a poll showing a big slump¹³ in torrid support, conservatives down 6% on a month ago to 33%, labor up 5 to 41%, Lib Dems unchanged on 15%, and significantly other parties add up to 12%, so that suggests, UK panda, and perhaps the nationalists in Scotland and Wales doing well, so that’s an 8% labor lead, those local elections and the  mayor election in London are only about 10 days away, that’s labor’s highest poll rating for some time. That suggests that Mr. Miliband may be on his way to Downing Street. It’s bad news for Boris Johnson in London, in London the poll showing Ken⁴ Livingstone closing the gap, all these cuts are clearly not popular and the government’s handling or mishandling of events over the past months. Well, they’re being punished and paying heavy price for the voters.

1 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 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。

6 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

7 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

8 contrition   

n.悔罪，痛悔

参考例句：

• The next day he'd be full of contrition,weeping and begging forgiveness.第二天，他就会懊悔不已，哭着乞求原谅。
• She forgave him because his contrition was real.她原谅了他是由于他的懊悔是真心的。

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

11 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

12 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。

13 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。