美语情景对话 第579期:Irish Politics 爱尔兰的政治

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

托德：露丝，你来自爱尔兰。

Ruth: Yes, that's right.

露丝：对，没错。

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

托德：你能谈谈爱尔兰政府吗，比如你们国家的元首是总统还是总理？

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.

露丝：实际上，都有。我们的总统是玛丽·麦卡利斯，还有一个治理职位，即爱尔兰总理，现任总理是伯蒂·埃亨。

Todd: So you have two Prime Ministers.

托德：所以你们有两位总理。

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

露丝：我们有一名总统，一名总理。

Todd: OK, and the woman is the.

托德：好，那刚提到的女性是……

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

露丝：那名女性是现任总统。玛丽·麦卡利斯是现任总统。

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

托德：好，那谁掌握实权？谁来做决定？

Ruth: Normally 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.

露丝：我认为总理做大部分的决定，他是管理政府的人。他决定政府事务。

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

托德：好，那个职位叫什么，Taoiseach？

Ruth: Taoiseach.

露丝：对，Taoiseach。

Todd: Taoiseach.

托德：Taoiseach。

Ruth: It's Irish.

露丝：这是爱尔兰语。

Todd: OK, so that's like Gaelic.

托德：好，和苏格兰的盖尔语很像。

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.

露丝：对，没错。爱尔兰仍有很多地方用盖尔语，因为盖尔语是官方语言之一。许多东西既有爱尔兰说法也有英语说法。

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

托德：爱尔兰如何选总理？

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.

露丝：爱尔兰总理由民众选出。我们会投票选出总理，当然总统也是民众投票选出来的。两个职位都要进行投票。

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

托德：嗯，这真有趣。选举是同时进行吗？

Ruth: No, usually they happen seperately.

露丝：不是，一般是分别举行的。

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

托德：好，那总统负责什么？

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 works.

露丝：我不太清楚。我真不清楚。我对政治不太感兴趣，所以我不太清楚政府的运作。

Todd: Right, right.

托德：好，好的。

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

露丝：不过我知道我们爱尔兰也有总统。

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

托德：好，有女性担任过总理一职吗？你们有过女性总理吗？

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

露丝：爱尔兰从未有过女性总理，只有女性总统。爱尔兰有过两位女性总统，在现任总统玛丽·麦卡利斯之前玛丽·罗宾逊也曾担任过总统一职。

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

托德：好，那爱尔兰的大部分民众都会参与投票吗？投票人数多吗？

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

露丝：非常多的人会参与投票。不过主要是年长一些的人。年轻人参与投票的不太多。

Todd: That's not good.

托德：这可不好。

Ruth: No, not very good at all.

露丝：对，一点儿也不好。

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

托德：嗯，我想美国有50%的年轻人会参加投票，也可能更少一些。

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

露丝：爱尔兰也差不多，不过投票的年轻人还是占少数。

Todd: OK, well, thanks Ruth.

托德：好，谢谢你，露丝。

Ruth: No problem.

露丝：不客气。

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重点讲解：
1. in fact （用于修正、引出相反意见或对比等）事实上，其实；
例句：I think so; in fact, I am quite sure.
我想如此，事实上我非常确信。
2. as well 也；还；
例句：Tom is very unfriendly to me as well.
汤姆对我也很不友善。
3. vote in 投票选出；投票使当选；
例句：The members of the national assembly will vote in a prime minister by a simple majority.
国民议会成员将以简单多数的方式选出一个首相。
4. at the same time 同时；
例句：Don't all speak at the same time.
大家别同时说。