时间:2019-02-19 作者:英语课 分类:听播客学英语


英语课

   We do not often talk about politics on this podcast, but today is different. Today is a special day. Our Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has been Prime Minister since 1997. But today he will resign. In fact, Tony Blair told us many months ago that he was going to step down. But instead of quitting immediately, he decided 1 that he needed time to say goodbye properly. Since then, he has been saying goodbye to everyone – goodbye to his party, goodbye to Parliament, goodbye to President Bush, to the European Union, to the whole world. He has made speeches, he has gone to meetings, and attended receptions and dinners. He has appeared on chat shows and children’s programmes on television. He has been like a pop star making one last tour, to bid farewell to his fans. Do his fans still love him? How many fans does he still have? I don’t know and I don’t care. After today we will have a new Prime Minister, and Tony Blair will be yesterday’s man.


  Who will our new Prime Minister be? We have known for months, or even years, that Tony Blair’s successor would be Gordon Brown. For the last ten years, Gordon Brown has been Chancellor 2 of the Exchequer 3 – that is, he has been Minister of Finance. He has been the second most powerful man in the government. He and Tony Blair have not had an easy relationship. The problem has not been about policy – it is difficult to see any real political difference between them. Rather it has been a clash of personalities 4. Tony Blair thought that Gordon Brown was trying to push him out. Gordon Brown felt that Tony Blair stayed as Prime Minister for far too long. Every week the press has reported some new row, or some new problem in their relationship. It has been like a national soap opera. We all looked forward to the next episode.
  What is Gordon Brown like? Well, he is Scots. He is serious-minded. He may have a sense of humour, but he hides it well. (The famous 18th century English writer, Dr Johnson, once said that it requires a surgical 5 instrument to insert a joke into a Scotsman’s brain. He was perhaps thinking of Gordon Brown). And Gordon Brown is a very skillful politician.
  His political skill is clear in today’s newspapers. He has persuaded a Member of Parliament from the opposition 6 Conservative Party to leave and join the Labour Party instead. In other words, on the day that he becomes Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has made his political opponents look foolish.
  His main opponent is the leader of the opposition, David Cameron. David Cameron is young – only 40 years old. He has an informal and easy style. People have described him as the “new Tony Blair”. This may not help him very much; many people do not want a new Tony Blair. David Cameron comes from a rich family, and was educated at one of England’s leading and most expensive private schools. Despite this, he would like people to think that he is in touch, particularly with younger people. So he has a You Tube site, and a podcast. Several months ago, I sent him an e-mail asking him if he would make a special guest appearance on this podcast. I regret to tell you, dear listeners, that I received no reply. Until David Cameron takes the Listen to English podcast seriously, I cannot advise you or anyone else to vote for him.

adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
n.(英)大臣;法官;(德、奥)总理;大学校长
  • 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。
n.财政部;国库
  • 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。
n. 诽谤,(对某人容貌、性格等所进行的)人身攻击; 人身攻击;人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )
  • There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
  • Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。
adj.外科的,外科医生的,手术上的
  • He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
  • All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前,必须消毒。
n.反对,敌对
  • 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。
学英语单词
a retail outlet
aero-gas turbine engine
airborne early-warning station
aloe-emodin anthranol
Alseodaphne
Amynodontidae
anover de tajo
archiepiscopates
Atlantic manta
automated layout program
azzawi
ba'id
bone-seeking
brine mixing tank
burden of agricultural tax
calathidium
call/fault light
camise
carotenogenic
chabertia
characteristic symptom
Christmas is coming
Cobeta
cola ntu
condenser reactance
CRMS
Cynanchum auriculatum
declinometers
defect scattering
deka
denudes
depolo
dielectric strength.
diethylene glycol dioleate
dislocation breccia
dispersoids
dual-acting band brake
endurance athletes
entity life cycle model
epididymectomy
exchange of equivalents
expected date of confinement
feedback equalizer
financial document
font inline sequence
fullied
glass-transition temperature
guessive
Headon beds
Hit rough weather
hot air drier
ice drift
integration scenario
interest reserve
isochronous modulation
judiciall
land desertification
laser fracturing
Lingones
low-income countries and territories
lynset
marchaiss
metaverruca recta
Microporellidae
multisection optical amplifier
nitrogen cascade
non-climacteric fruit
number-crunch
open-center plan position indicator
open-tube vapor growth
palos hills
pay master general
payable to bearer
pipeline architecture
play a joke on someone
puccinia canaliculata
rabbler
real growth
reproducibles
rutinulose
scale board
Schiller's disease
seer hand
shearing rupture
SLSF (sodium loop safety facility)
soy(bean) milk film
standard body beef
steel cable baffle ring
straight sinuss
tazheranite
teargass
tetartohedral form
tetrodotoxin (ttx)
thermal properties of water
thrb
tutorial message
wait signal
wet plates
wide-opening
wind guard
Yawara
zircaloy tube