2007年VOA标准英语-Gordon Brown Set to Take Over as British Prime

By Mandy Clark
London
26 June 2007
 

Gordon Brown is designated Britain's new prime minister as Tony Blair steps down from office. And although Brown has been at the heart of British politics for the last decade, many people still are not sure what to expect from him as a leader. From London, Mandy Clark has this profile.

He has been a key player in British politics for the past 10 years. As finance minister, he has been in charge of the country's economy. But Gordon Brown, the man, remains¹ something of an enigma².

Born near Glasgow, Scotland, he grew up as the son of a protestant minister.

He joined the left-leaning Labor³ Party as a teenager, and headed to Edinburgh University to study history. There he served on the student council and earned a doctorate⁴.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown

Brown won a seat in parliament in 1983, and shared an office with another newly elected Labor politician -- Tony Blair.

Together they pulled the party out of the political wilderness⁵, says political biographer Anthony Seldon.

"It's an extraordinary relationship, there has been none like it in British politics in the last 100 years,” says Seldon.  “They were powerfully creative, they together established the Labor Party as the force in British politics.  They made it into a successful government, they worked very closely together but then they fell out so there is very strong love between them and very strong hatred⁶."

In the early years, Brown stayed in the background managing the economy, while Mr. Blair took the limelight. Political folklore⁷ says they had an agreement that Mr. Blair would hand over power after five years. But when the time came Mr. Blair refused and their friendship fractured.

In 2000, the workaholic Brown married. And the birth of two sons has helped soften⁸ his image.

Brown holding the budget box

Yet, the economy is his trump⁹ card. The red suitcase, known as the budget box, holds the finance minister's annual government spending plans. Both friend and foe¹⁰ credit him for the country's economic stability.

But being famous for fiscal¹¹ prudence¹² has left him with an image of a serious, sober Scotsman.

"He certainly doesn't have the charisma¹³ of Tony Blair, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing," said one citizen.  "I think that we are perhaps a bit sick of that kind of presentation politics, I think if he is someone who gets on with the job then that's a good thing and it's maybe time for that now."

"He has to prove himself in a number of issues I think and certainly how he handles the war, the Iraq situation, how that goes, may be a big swing in popularity either towards him or against him," said another.

Brown names security and terrorism as major international challenges, and many say Iraq will be his greatest challenge. He admits mistakes have been made there.

Gordon Brown shakes hands at an event

His other great battle will be taking on opposition¹⁴ leader David Cameron. Some consider Cameron Mr. Blair's political heir, emulating¹⁵ the youth and charisma of the prime minister's early years.

Michael Brown, a former Conservative politician, says the next election battle will be hard fought.

"The question on how the battle, the new battle between Gordon Brown on the one hand and David Cameron on the other, the Tory leader, is going to go -- not a single journalist, not a single member of parliament is able to put any money on who is going to win," he says.  "It is going to be one of the most open political races that we have had in this country for the last 15 years."

To compete, Brown is trying to shed his dour¹⁶ image -- though he maintains what he may lack in style, he makes up for in substance.

By the time the elections are called, he will have been prime minister for two years. It will then be the voters turn to decide if they like what they have seen from this private and prudent¹⁷ politician.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

3 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。

4 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

8 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

11 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

12 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

13 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 emulating   

v.与…竞争( emulate的现在分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The possibilities of producing something entirely new by emulating nature's very wide crosses are enticing. 用自然界的非常广泛的杂交方法创造出全新植物种的可能性是诱人的。 来自辞典例句
• The human emulating this archetypal patterning will be quite the accomplished businessperson. 这类原型模式者会是一个很成功的商人。 来自互联网

16 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

17 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。