2006年VOA标准英语-Britain's Brown Poised to Succeed Blair

By Simon Marks
London
11 October 2006
 
watch Brown Rise to Power

The battle to succeed Tony Blair as Britain's Prime Minister has cast the spotlight¹ onto one of the country's most senior government ministers.  Gordon Brown is Britain's Chancellor² of the Exchequer³ - a post broadly equivalent to that of Treasury⁴ Secretary or Finance Minister in many other countries. For 10 years he has stood in the wings waiting for a chance to become Britain's prime minister, and now Mr. Blair has announced that he'll be stepping down within the next 12 months.  Simon Marks in London reports.

Gordon Brown

He is well-known on the world stage.  As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown has been a fixture⁵ at international conferences on finance for nearly a decade now.

But in Britain itself, Brown has spent those years being overshadowed by his boss, Tony Blair. With Prime Minister Blair set to leave the stage within the next year, Brown hopes to occupy its center.

 

John Kampfner edits The New Statesman, a weekly news magazine supporting Brown's bid to succeed Tony Blair in the prime minister's residence, Number 10 Downing Street. "There are a lot of people in the Labour Party who believe that getting rid of Tony Blair is going to be just the beginning of a dawn of a great new era of left-wing politics," says Kampfner.  "That is not going to happen.  Gordon Brown will not let that happen."

He won't, says John Kampfner, because Britain has been transformed under Tony Blair's leadership, and Gordon Brown was there by his side throughout.

Their relationship has not always been friendly. London is awash with rumors⁶ of confrontational⁷, combative⁸ meetings over the timing⁹ and manner of Mr. Blair's departure.

Brown, now energetically trying to sell himself to the British public, is promising¹⁰ continuity in at least one important area of policy. "We will take any necessary steps and find any necessary resources to ensure - whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else - there is no safe haven¹¹ for terrorists, and there is no hiding place for terrorist finance," says Brown.

But in Britain today, there is enormous pressure on Gordon Brown to distance himself from the United States and its "war on terror".

Anti-war protesters, and a sizeable portion of the public at large, now criticize Tony Blair for his unyielding support of the Bush administration.

They may be in for a disappointment, says John Prideaux, who covers British politics for The Economist¹². "He's instinctively¹³ pro-American and an Atlanticist," says Prideaux of Brown.  "He's somebody who is a big admirer of the American economy and its dynamism, and somebody who likes to take his holidays in the States.  And although he hasn't given very many speeches on foreign policy, people tend to infer from that that he's as pro-American as Tony Blair has been."

John Kampfner says Brown is less charismatic than Blair. "I think the one rider to that is that Gordon Brown is unlike Tony Blair, he's a very unromantic political figure," notes Kampfner.  "He is not going to be drawn¹⁴ into any kind of 'love-in' with another political leader.  He is going to be very sober, he is going to say 'what's in it for us?  I don't agree with this, I don't agree with that.'  But I'm sure his basic template will be pro-American".

To flesh out that template, Gordon Brown must first win the Labour Party leadership, and to his reported irritation¹⁵, Tony Blair has stopped short of endorsing¹⁶ him for the post.

Members of Parliament, and the electorate¹⁷ outside it, now wait to see whether Tony Blair anoints the man who has sat next to him for a decade, or seeks to back another candidate to try and build on his legacy¹⁸.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 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。

3 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

4 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。

5 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

6 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

8 combative   

adj.好战的；好斗的

参考例句：

• Mr. Obama has recently adopted a more combative tone.奥巴马总统近来采取了一种更有战斗性的语调。
• She believes that women are at least as combative as are.她相信女性至少和男性一样好斗。

9 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

10 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。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

13 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

16 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

17 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

18 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。