82. 投票、选举、政治与政府

你正在收听卢克的英语播客。

You're listening to Luke's English podcast.

如需更多信息，请访问 teacherluke.podomatic.com。

For more information, visit teacherluke.podomatic.com.

大家好，女士们、先生们，欢迎来到卢克英语播客的又一期节目。

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another edition of Luke's English podcast.

这个周末过得很愉快，今天我也度过了非常美好的一天。

It's been a good weekend, and, I've had a very good day today.

希望你们也是如此。

I hope you have too.

无论你身在世界何处，无论你在做什么，无论你是独自一人收听这段节目，还是只是静静地坐在电脑前。

Wherever you are in the world, whatever you're doing, whether you're listening to this, on your own, maybe, maybe you're just sort of sitting there on your own in front of the computer.

你可能是在和别人在一起。

You could be in, you know, company.

周围可能有人。

There might be people around you.

谁知道呢？

Who knows?

也许你正在用你的iPod或iPhone听这个。

Maybe you're listening to this on your iPod or your iPhone or something.

我不知道你听这个时处于什么样的情境中。

I've no idea what situation you might be in listening to this.

向任何可能和你在一起的人问好。

Hello to anyone else who might be there with you.

你知道的，干得好。

You know, well done.

你正在收听Luke的英语播客。

You're listening to Luke's English podcast.

恭喜你收听。

Congratulations for listening in.

如果你这是第一次听这个播客，那就继续听下去吧，因为你正在成为全球越来越多定期享受Luke英语播客益处的听众群体中的一员。

You know, if you think if the if it's the first time you've ever listened to this, then do keep listening because you're becoming part of an ever growing community of listeners around the world who regularly enjoy the benefits of Luke's English podcast.

所以，欢迎加入这个俱乐部。

So welcome to the club, basically.

现在，我想在这集中告诉你的主要事情是，我想请你帮个忙。

Now one of the main things I want to tell you in this episode is basically I'd like you to do me a favor.

你能帮我个忙吗？

Could you do me a favor, please?

我希望你能为我投票，参加麦克米伦词典举办的一个奖项评选。

And that is I'd like you to vote for me in an awards competition which is being held by Macmillan dictionaries.

麦克米伦是一家出版社，他们出版非常受尊敬的英语词典和学习资料，适合你这样的人。

Now Macmillan are a publisher, and they publish very, very well respected English dictionaries and learning aids for people like you.

对吧？

Right?

他们举办了一个比赛，让人们投票选出互联网上最佳的英语学习网站或最佳的英语学习博客。

And so what they've done is they've created a a competition in which people can vote for the best English learning website or the best English learning blog on the Internet.

我最近是通过一位听众在Facebook上告诉我的，才知道这个比赛的。

And I discovered this recently as one of my listeners told me about it on Facebook.

所以我心想，哇。

And so I thought, wow.

我必须参与进来。

I've got to I've got to get involved in this.

我必须努力赢得这个比赛，因为我已经做了将近三年的Luke's English Podcast，而且一直很努力。

I've got to try and win this competition because I've been doing Luke's English podcast for nearly three years, and I've been working pretty hard.

现在已经有至少80集可供收听，这确实是一份相当庞大的作品，我觉得。

There are at least 80 episodes of it available now, which is really a large, you know, large body of work, I think.

如果你是新听众，刚发现这80集内容，我不确定这相当于多少小时的Luke's English Podcast，但肯定很长。

And if you're new to the podcast and you've just discovered 80 episodes, that's I'm not sure how many hours of Luke's English podcast that is, but, that's a long time.

这至少是好几天只听Luke's English Podcast的时间。

That's at least a few days of just listening to Luke's English podcast.

从这些节目中，你能学到非常多的东西，各种各样的内容，尤其是词汇，还能学到很多关于不同口音的理解。

And you can learn a hell of a lot from all of those episodes, all kinds of things, particularly items of vocabulary, and you can learn a lot about understanding different kinds of accents that you might hear.

而且，希望你听的时候也能享受其中。

And also, hopefully, you just enjoy listening while you're doing it.

所以我现在每天通常至少有一千次下载，这已经相当多了。

So I get regularly sort of at least a thousand downloads every day now, which is quite a lot.

于是我对自己说，好吧。

So I just think to myself, right.

如果我的听众中有一半甚至四分之三的人在这次比赛中为我投票，我或许真的能赢。

If maybe just, let's say, half of my listeners or three quarters of my listeners voted for me in this competition, I might even be able to win it.

对吧？

Right?

我觉得我需要大约一千票。

Now I reckon I need about 1,000 votes.

明白吗？

Okay?

因为还有一个叫 Film English 的网站，他们已经有大约九百五十票了。

Because there's another website on there called Film English, and they've got about 950.

所以我认为我得达到一千票才能赢得这场比赛。

So I think I need to get to a thousand in order to win this.

投票将在1月30日截止。

And the the voting closes on, the January 30.

所以我大概有十五天的时间来争取达到一千票。

So I've got about, let's say, about fifteen days, to try and get to a thousand votes.

如果你想要为我投票，非常非常简单。

Now if you want to vote for me, it's very, very simple.

你不需要注册。

You don't need to register.

你不需要填写任何信息。

You don't need to put any details in.

你只需先访问我的网页，那里会有一个链接。

You simply go to my web page first, and there you will find a link.

我的网页，你可能已经知道，是 http://teacherluke.podomatic.com，或者你也可以直接去谷歌搜索“Luke's English podcast”，它是由Podomatic托管的。

So my web page, you probably know, is httpcolon//teacherluke.podomatic.com, or alternatively, can just go to Google and do a search for Luke's English podcast, and it's hosted by Podomatic.

所以如果你去那里，就会在页面上找到与本集相关的投票链接。

So if you go there, you will find a link on the page appropriate to this episode.

你只需点击那个链接，它会带你到另一个页面，向下滚动，你会看到名为‘Luke的英语播客’的条目，旁边有一个数字和一个投票按钮。

And you just click that link and it'll take you to another page and scroll down and you'll find Luke's English podcast with a number next to it and then a vote button.

所以只需点击投票按钮，这就会为我的票数增加一票。

So just simply click the vote button and that will add another vote to my list.

明白吗？

Okay?

现在，每个IP地址只能投票一次。

Now you can you can only vote once from one IP address.

所以如果你在家投了一次票，比如，你就不能再从家里投票了，你得去别的地方投。

So if you vote once from your home, for example, you won't be able to vote from your home again, so you'll need to vote somewhere else.

也许你可以在家投一次，在工作的地方再投一次，这样会有帮助。

Maybe if you vote at home and vote at work, that would help.

你也可以告诉一些人这件事，请他们帮忙投票。

You could perhaps tell some people about it and ask them to vote.

这非常简单。

It's very simple.

你根本不需要注册。

You don't need to register at all.

这会很有帮助。

That would really help.

我当然一直请我的朋友和家人给我投票，我也已经邀请了这个播客的听众在Facebook上为我投票。

I've been asking all my friends and my family to vote for me, of course, and I've and I've invited listeners to this podcast to vote for me already on Facebook.

所以如果你想投票，也可以去Facebook，那里也有链接。

And so if you want to vote, you can go to Facebook as well, and you can find the link there.

我的Facebook页面叫Luke's English Podcast。

My Facebook page is called Luke's English Podcast.

此外，你当然也可以去Twitter，我的用户名是at english podcast，那里也有链接，告诉你如何投票。

As well as that, of course, you can go to Twitter, and there my name is at english podcast, and you can find links, to the web page on how to, vote there as well.

所以请为我投票吧，因为如果我赢了，我从麦克米伦得到的奖品是一本词典。

So please do vote for me because if I win, my prize that I get from Macmillan is a is a dictionary.

所以我将从麦克米伦得到一本非常棒的词典。

So I get a really fantastic, dictionary from Macmillan.

而且我还能获得权利，在我的网页上宣传，或者至少声明我赢得了这个奖项。

And also I get the right to, advertise or at least say on my web page that I won the award.

所以我能得到一个徽章，可以贴在我的网站上。

So I get a kind of badge which I can post on my website.

我认为这将是一个非常好的方式，进一步提升《Luke's English Podcast》的知名度，最终让我能花更多时间在这上面。

And I think that would be a really, really good way of further raising the profile of Luke's English podcasts so that eventually I could spend more time on this.

因为如果它变得广为人知，也许就有办法让我以更大的规模继续做下去。

Because, if it becomes well established, there might be ways for me to continue doing this on a bigger scale perhaps.

我可能能够更规律地制作节目。

I might be able to do episodes more regularly.

我可能能够建立一个功能丰富的网站，甚至加入一些练习，让你可以练习各种内容。

I might be able to build a whole website with lots of different functions and maybe some exercises where you can practice various things.

所以我也许能打造一些别的东西。

So I might be able to build something else.

所以我认为这是把播客推向另一个层次的好方法，因为我感觉我已经有了足够的听众。

So I think it's a good way of starting to push the podcast kind of up to another level perhaps because I think I'm getting enough listeners.

我一定是，因为我的数据告诉我，我每天的下载量在1002到1500次之间，这数量真的非常庞大。

I must be because my statistics tell me that I'm getting between 1,002 and a half thousand downloads every day, which is really massive amounts.

我现在在带宽和存储空间上花了不少钱，目前我有30吉字节的存储空间和3太字节的带宽配额，这已经是一个惊人的数量了。

I'm now spending quite a lot of money on my bandwidth and my storage space, and that's at I I now get 30 gigabytes of storage space and three terabytes of bandwidth allowance, which is an incredible amount.

通常到月底，我的带宽配额就会用超。

And usually by the end of the month, I exceed my bandwidth allowance.

我每个月经常传输大约3.5太字节的数据，这对我来说简直难以置信，但我非常高兴。

I I often transfer about 3.5 terabytes of data in a month, which is just unbelievable as far as I'm concerned, but I'm very happy about it.

所以，如果其中一些人投了票，我也许就能赢。

So if if some of those people voted, I might be able to win.

现在，为了激励你们为我投票并继续收听Luke的英语播客，我会举办一个自己的比赛——Luke英语播客竞赛，你们有机会赢得这本词典。

Now what I'm gonna do is as an incentive for you to vote for me, and for you to continue listening to Luke's English podcast, I will, create my own competition, Luke's English podcast competition, and you will have the opportunity to win the dictionary.

如果我从麦克米伦赢得了这本词典，我会把它作为特别奖赠予我的一位听众。

So if I win the dictionary from Mac from Macmillan, then I will give it to one of my listeners as a special prize in my own competition.

所以，祝好运，我们一定能赢，然后你们当中就会有人有机会拿到这本来自麦克米伦的精美词典，我相信我们都同意，这会对你们的英语学习有很大帮助。

So fingers crossed, we will win, and then one of you will have a chance to get your hands on that lovely dictionary from Macmillan, which I think we all agree would help your English very, very much.

别忘了，你也可以在YouTube上观看我的所有视频。

Don't forget also you can see all my videos on YouTube.

只需前往YouTube，搜索“Luke's English Podcast”，你就能看到我上传的所有视频，包括街头采访和一些其他有趣的内容。

Just go to YouTube and type Luke's English Podcast, and there you can see all the videos that I I've uploaded, which include interviews with people in the street, a couple of other interesting pieces.

所以一定要去看看。

So do check those out.

这些视频都有完整的文字稿可供查阅。

There's there's full transcripts available for all those videos.

当然，我现在经常在Twitter上发帖，分享各种内容，比如小笑话，或者我看到的一些有趣图片。

Of course, on Twitter, I quite regularly tweet these days, and I tweet all sorts of things like little jokes or maybe pictures of things that I've seen.

我有时会在推文中教一些词汇。

I sometimes teach bits of vocabulary in my tweets.

所以请在Twitter和Facebook上也关注我。

So do follow me on Twitter and on Facebook as well.

我会在这些平台上分享所有内容，还会向大家提问，并通过Facebook获得反馈。

I share all my things on there, and I I kind of ask people questions, and I get feedback through Facebook.

所以请积极参与并注册这些平台。

So do get involved and just sign in to those things.

这非常有趣。

It's quite a lot of fun.

现在让我想到投票这个想法。

Now just thinking of this idea of voting.

对吧？

Right?

因为很明显，我希望你们去投票。

Because, obviously, I want you to vote.

我真的很希望你们为《Luke的英语播客》投票。

I really want you to vote for Luke's English podcast.

我一直在思考与‘投票’这个词相关的所有词汇和语言表达。

I was thinking about all the vocabulary, and language which we are so which we associate with, the word vote.

这让我想到了大量与政治相关的词汇。

And so it just made me think of loads and loads of vocabulary for politics.

所以我觉得现在我要告诉你一些我想起来的东西，这些都是与政治和投票相关的词汇。

So I think now I'm gonna just tell you some of the things that I I thought of, and these are all bits of vocabulary that relate to politics and voting.

首先，我们有单词 'vote'。

So first of all, we have the word vote.

对吧？

Right?

作为动词的 'vote'。

To to vote as a verb.

我打算投票给托尼·布莱尔，比如说。

I'm going to vote for I'm gonna vote for Tony Blair, for example.

对吧？

Right?

这个词既是动词，也是名词，即 'vote'。

And that's the verb, but also a noun, a vote.

所以我们要进行一次投票来决定我们要做什么。

So in we're we're going to have a vote to decide what we're going to do.

所以我们需要通过投票来做决定，比如投票和进行投票。

So we're gonna have a vote in order to make a decision, for example, to vote and to have a vote.

同样地，作为同义词，你可以说选举或举行选举。

Similarly, as a synonym, you can have to elect or to to have an election.

对吧？

Right?

注意，如果你是日语母语者，这个词的发音可能有点难。

Note, if you're perhaps a Japanese speaker, that word can be a little bit tricky to pronounce.

选举。

Election.

对吧？

Right?

因为你得发好那个 L 的音。

Because you have to get the l sound.

选举。

Election.

现在，正如你可能知道的，日语使用者在发 r 和 l 音时常常有困难，这两个音对他们来说常常是一样的，所以一定要确保在‘election’这个词上发对 l 音，否则可能会有点尴尬。

Now if you as you may know, Japanese speakers do have some problems with the r and l sounds and often they're the same, so make sure you do get the l sound right on that word election, because otherwise, it could be a little bit embarrassing.

这里给你一点小建议。

Just a little bit of advice there.

所以，选举某人就是指在一场有多人参选的选举中，选择那个人。

So, to elect someone would be to kind of, choose that person if there's gonna be an election where there's a number of people that you can vote for.

如果你选了某个人，那就意味着大多数人选择了他，于是他成为了首相。

If you elect one person, that means that most people chose that person and they then became the prime minister.

因此，他是通过选举当选的，因为他获得的票数比其他人都多。

So they were elected in in an election because they got more votes than everyone else.

明白吗？

Okay?

你也可以说法是‘投一票’，这就是你表达自己投票意愿的方式。

You can also say to cast a vote, and that's where you kind of make your votes.

你可以投出你的选票，或者也可以说法是‘进行投票’。

You cast your votes or possibly take a vote as well.

所以，如果你在开会，比如想做决定时，你可以说：好吧。

So if you're in a meeting, for example, and you're trying to make a decision, you'd say, okay.

我们来投票吧。

Let's take a vote.

你可以把票写在纸上放进箱子里，或者通过举手的方式来投票。

And either you would cast your vote on a piece of paper in a in a box or something, or you would do it by show of hands by show of hands.

所以，如果通过举手的方式来投票，就意味着你通过把手举起来表示意见。

So if you take a vote by show of hands by show of hands, that means that you you decide by putting your hand in the air.

所以，比如说：好吧。

So it'd be like, okay.

我们该怎么做呢？

What should we do?

我们应该推出产品吗？

Shall we should we launch the product or not?

那我们通过举手来投票吧，赞成的就举手，比如这样。

So let's vote by show of hands for yes, and then everyone puts their hand up, for example, by show of hands.

我们来看看。

Let's see.

在选举中，比如政治选举，特别是在英国，投票时你会去投票站。

In an election, like a political election, particularly here in The UK, when you vote, you go to a polling booth.

投票。

Poll.

投票站。

Polling.

所以是 P-O-L-L-I-N-G，投票站。

So p o l l I n g, polling booth.

那就是你实际为某人投票的地方。

And that's the place where you actually vote for someone.

投票站内通常是一个儿童学校、小学或类似的公共建筑。

And inside the polling booth now the usually a polling booth is is like a children's school or a primary school or some public building like that.

在选举日，你会走到投票站，进去投下你的选票。

So on election day, you'd walk down to the polling booth and you go in and you cast your vote.

你是在投票箱里完成这个步骤的。

And you do that in a ballot box ballot box.

所以你勾选的那张纸就是你的选票。

So the piece of paper that you tick, that's your ballot paper.

当你勾选了一个名字后，就把选票拿到投票箱前，放进投票箱里。

And when you've ticked a name, you take it to the box and you put it into the ballot box.

选票就是用于投票的那些纸张。

So the ballots are the papers which are used in order to cast a vote.

明白吗？

Okay?

所有这些选票随后都会被收集并计数。

And all those ballots are then collected and counted.

明白吗？

Okay?

最后，统计出结果，我们就知道谁当选了。

And then finally, the results are calculated and we know who's been elected.

明白吗？

Okay?

所以这就是一个投票站。

So that's a polling booth.

我们还有民调，类似于预测。

Also we have polls which are like predictions.

比如，如果即将举行大选选出新政府，可能会有一些民调告诉你我们预期会发生什么。

So if for example there's going to be a general election for a new government, there might be polls which tell you what we expect is going to happen.

例如，民调显示工党将获胜，这就是民调。

So the polls suggest that Labour are going to win, for example, polls.

当然，选举中有候选人，他们是主动参选、争取成为领导人的那些人。

Of course, you have candidates in elections, and these are the people who've put themselves forward for the chance to become the leader.

目前，美国大选即将来临，候选人正在积极准备。

So, of course, at the moment, we've got an American election coming up, and the candidates are getting themselves ready.

我认为巴拉克·奥巴马可能仍然是领先的候选人，但我们拭目以待。

I think probably Barack Obama is still the top candidate, but we will see.

显然，当候选人报名参选时，他们就会进入竞选阶段。

Obviously, when candidates put themselves forward for an election, they then enter into a campaign.

在美国，总统竞选通常是非常昂贵的宣传机器，四处奔走为候选人争取支持。

So often in America, the presidential campaigns are incredibly expensive publicity machines, which kind of go around drumming up support for that candidate.

在英国，大选前也会发生类似的情况。

It happens in The UK as well before a general election.

政党会通过广告等各种宣传手段努力争取大量支持。

The parties kind of try to drum up a lot of support with advertising and so on, lots of publicity.

现在，在英国，投票时我们采用某种特定的制度。

Now in The UK, when when you vote, we have a certain kind of system here.

我们的制度叫做‘简单多数制’。

So our system is is called first past the post.

简单多数制。

First past the post.

简单多数制。

First past the post.

对吧？

Right?

在这种制度下，国家被划分为不同的——现在叫什么来着？

And in that system, the country is divided up into different what are they called now?

小区域，小的政治选区。

Little regions, little political constituencies.

所以国家被划分为选区，每个选区在下议院中有一个席位。

So the country is divided into constituencies, and each constituency is represented by one seat in the House of Commons.

明白吗？

Okay?

现在人人都知道，伦敦的象征是位于泰晤士河畔的大本钟，那座大塔楼，它连接着议会大厦。

Now everyone knows a symbol of London is Big Ben next to the River Thames, the Big Tower, and that's attached to the houses of parliament.

在议会大厦里，我们有两个议院。

And in the houses of parliament, we have two chambers.

我们有下议院和上议院。

We have the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

明白吗？

Okay?

实际上，大本钟并不是这座塔的名字，也不是钟的名字。

Now actually, Big Ben is not the name of the tower, and it's not the name of the clock.

它实际上是塔内那口钟的名字。

It's actually the name of the bell inside the tower.

那就是大本钟。

That's Big Ben.

这是一种常见的误解。

That's a common sort of misconception.

人们以为钟或者塔叫大本钟。

People think that the clock or the tower is called Big Ben.

其实它是塔里的那口钟，声音非常著名，每小时整点都会报时。

Actually, it's the bell inside, and it's got a very, very sort of, let's see, very well known sound, the chime of Big Ben on the hour every hour.

这是一种非常著名的声音，大本钟是一口非常大的钟。

It's a very well known sound, and Big Ben is a very big bell.

所以它会发出‘咚、咚’的声音，你知道的，非常响亮。

And so it kind of goes dong, dong, you know, very loudly.

这太棒了。

It's it's brilliant.

所以，是的，有两个议院：下议院和上议院。

So, yeah, two chambers, House of Commons, House of Lords.

在下议院，政府成员以及通过选举产生的所有议员都在这里，他们负责制定新法律以及涉及国家治理的各类重大决策。

In the House of Commons, that's where the government sits and all of the members of parliament who've been voted for in the elections, and they decide on new laws and all kinds of other big decisions involved in running the country.

明白吗？

Okay?

除此之外，还有上议院，这是一个次级议院。

As well as that, you've got the House of Lords, and that's a secondary chamber.

上议院的议员由政府设立的遴选委员会任命产生。

And the lords are made up of either people who've been chosen by select committees organized by the government.

所以，他们要么是被政府任命进入上议院，要么是继承了父亲的席位。

So either either they've been chosen by the government to sit in the House of Lords, or they inherited their position from their father.

对吧？

Right?

这就是贵族制度的旧式体系。

Now that's the old fashioned system of the peerage.

因此，某些贵族确实从父亲那里继承了头衔，这是一种非常陈旧的选拔议会代表的方式。

And so certain lords actually inherit their title from their fathers, and that's an extremely old fashioned method of selecting representatives in, like, a parliament, for example.

但这种制度至今仍在延续，不过我相信它很快就会被废止，这种制度也将被终止。

And yet it still goes on, but I believe that that will probably stop before long, and they're gonna stop that system.

但另一半贵族则是由政府任命的，他们通常是极具专业能力、判断力出色、声望很高的人士，他们会组成委员会，对下议院通过的每一项法律进行评估。

But the other half, or the other lords are actually picked by the government, and they are usually very expert people with very good judgment, very respected opinions, and they sit in committee in order to kind of evaluate any law which is passed by the House of Commons.

对吧？

Right?

所以，这就像另一个议院，负责做出一些次重要的决策。

So it's like another chamber where they decide, like, make secondary important decisions.

它过去也曾是国家的最高上诉法院，但现在改到叫什么了？

It used to also be the highest court of appeal in the in the country, but that's moved to the what's it called now?

我现在想不起它的名字了。

I can't remember the name of it now.

不过，贵族们过去也负责司法裁决，但现在已经被移走了。

But anyway, the the lords also used to make judicial decisions, but that's been moved now.

我怎么也想不起来他们现在所在的地方叫什么，但这其实并不重要。

I can't for the life of me, I cannot remember the the name of the place where they now live, but it doesn't really matter.

不管怎样，它只是另一个高等法院。

Anyway, it's just another high court.

但在下议院，那是政治家和国会议员们坐的地方。

But in the House of Commons, that's where the the politicians, the members of parliament sit.

所以下议院的每一个座位，你可能从电视上或其他地方见过。

So each seat in the House of Commons you might know the House of Commons from TV or something.

它非常有名，因为与其他议会或政府建筑不同，其主要议事厅的座位是面对面排列的。

It's quite famous because it's different to other sort of parliament buildings, government buildings, because the main chamber has seats that face each other.

所以，有两边，所有政治家都坐在两侧，面对面相对。

So there's, like, two sides, and all the politicians sit and face each other across this room.

那里的氛围非常嘈杂，而且极具攻击性。

And the atmosphere in there is, like, very loud and really aggressive.

所以他们互相大喊大叫。

So they shout at each other.

他们大声地表达分歧。

They disagree loudly.

他们互相取笑。

They laugh at each other.

那里有很多友谊和玩笑，大家互相调侃等等。

There's lots of sort of camaraderie and jokes, and they make fun of each other and so on.

那里气氛非常喧闹、嘈杂，几乎带有攻击性。

Very boisterous, very loud, almost aggressive atmosphere in there.

每个席位代表英国的一个选区。

So each seat is rep represents a constituency area in The UK.

对吧？

Right?

所以当你投票时，你是在为一个政党投票，让其代表你的选区。

And so when you vote, you vote for a political party to be the representative of your area.

明白吗？

Okay?

如果你的政党赢得了该选区，那么他们的议员就会坐在议会的这个席位上。

Now if your party wins that area, then their representative member of parliament sits in that seat in the house.

明白吗？

Okay?

所以，基本上，获得最多总票数的政党，也就是在议会中赢得最多席位的政党，将成为政府。

So, basically, the, the party which got, the most votes overall, the the one that, let's say, has taken the most number of seats in the house, they become the government.

明白吗？

Okay?

因此，他们必须以显著多数获胜。

So they have to win by a big majority.

我认为是40%。

I believe it's 40%.

我可能错了。

I might be wrong.

但他们必须赢得多数票，如果做到了，他们就会成为政府。

But they have to win by a majority, and if they do that, then they they become the government.

然后，最大的政党，也就是第二大党，就会成为反对党。

Then the the the largest party, you know, the second party becomes the opposition.

明白吗？

Okay?

有时候投票结果会比较分散，非常接近，最近就发生过这种情况，投票结果几乎持平，因此保守党没有获得绝对多数。

Now sometimes the vote is kind of split, like, quite equally, and that happened recently when the we had, like, a quite an equal vote cast and so the conservative party didn't get an outright majority.

于是他们与自由民主党联合起来，组成了一个联合政府，这被称为联盟。

So they teamed up with the liberal democrats, and they became like a team government, the two of them together, and that's known as a coalition.

联合政府就是不同政党的组合。

A coalition government is like a combination of different parties.

联合政府中往往需要大量妥协，也常常充满摩擦，因为这些政党通常代表不同的立场，我认为我们现在的政府可能就是这种情况。

And there's a lot of compromise and often a lot of friction in coalition governments because often the parties actually stand for different things, which I think may be the case in our government at the moment.

所以就是这样了。

So there you go.

另一种不同的投票方式是比例代表制，即所有选票都被统计，得票最多的政党成为政府。

The other different kind of voting would be proportional representation, and that's where simply the votes are all counted and the party that gets the highest number of votes is the government.

这是一种在许多地方常见的制度。

And so that's a common system in many places.

我提到了反对党。

I mentioned the opposition.

反对党坐在议会的另一侧，对政府持对立立场。

That's the other party that sits on the other side of the house, and they take a kind of contrary position against the government.

政府上台后，当然会有部长，还有一些高级部长，他们被称为内阁部长。

The government, when they when they come into power, they have ministers, of course, and then there's, like, higher level ministers, and they would be cabinet ministers.

内阁就像是由议会领导人挑选出来的一群议员组成的特别委员会或团体，他们围绕在领导人身边，成为最重要的部长。

Now the cabinet is like a select, let's say, committee or group of of members of parliament, which have been chosen by the leader of that parliament, and they gather around him and they become the most important ministers.

因此，他们会设有外交部长、教育部长、财政部长等职位。

And so they have things like minister for foreign affairs or educational trade, for finance, things like that.

明白吗？

Okay?

所以首相位于最高层，目前是保守党的戴维·卡梅伦，他围绕自己任命了内阁成员，这些人分别负责政府的不同部门。

So you've got the prime minister at the top, and in this case, at the moment, it's David Cameron for the Conservative Party, and then around him, he's chosen his cabinet, and those are, like, the ministers for different ministries in the government.

明白吗？

Okay?

就是这样。

So there you go.

这就是你所了解的基本民主选举。

That's like the your basic, like, democratic election.

明白吗？

Okay?

现在，虽然严格来说不是在上面，但与首相戴维·卡梅伦并列的，还有女王。

Now above well, not exactly above, but separate to David Cameron, the prime minister, we also have the queen.

而女王实际上并没有任何实权。

And the queen really doesn't have any power exactly.

我的意思是，她确实有一些权力，但基本上只是象征性的。

I mean, she has some power but it's just sort of symbolic really.

大卫·卡梅伦才是做出所有重大决策的人。

David Cameron is the one who makes all the big decisions.

但本质上，女王代表国家，她是我们的国家象征。

But essentially the Queen represents the state, so she's our sort of state representative.

因此，女王和国家是等同的，是一回事。

So the Queen and the state are synonymous with each other, the same thing.

所以，例如，如果你犯了罪，你会被送上法庭，由王室——也就是实际上由女王——提起公诉。

And so for example, if you commit a crime, you would be taken to court and prosecuted by the Crown or effectively by the Queen.

我的意思是，女王并不会亲自走进法庭来起诉你，但所有行动都是以王室的名义进行的。

I mean, the queen doesn't actually go into court and sort of prosecute you herself, but it's done in the name of the the the crown.

对吧？

Right?

所以，女王代表国家。

So the queen represents the state.

她实际上没有任何权力。

She doesn't really have any power.

她每周都会见一次首相。

She meets the prime minister every week.

每周二，他们见面聊天。

Every Tuesday, they meet and they chat.

他们可能喝杯茶，愉快地坐在一起，聊聊最近发生的事。

They probably have a cup of tea and have a lovely time just sitting and chatting about what's been going on.

此外，在议会每年开幕时，女王也会参与其中，因为她会派代表去敲议会的大门，那个代表敲门后，有一套固定流程：他们会在他进来前把门砰地关上，因为他不受欢迎。

And, also, at the beginning of parliament, when parliament opens every year, the queen is involved because she sends a representative to knock on the door of parliament, and he knocks on the door and there's this routine where he comes in, and then they slam the door in his face because he's not welcome.

然后他再次敲门，他们才让他进去。

And then he knocks again and they let him in.

明白吗？

Okay?

这其实是一种象征，因为它代表了议会和白金汉宫之间的分立，这是因为多年前发生过内战，当时确实存在分裂。

Now that's kind of symbolic because it represents the fact that there is a division between parliament and the at Buckingham Palace that's because there was a civil war many years ago, and actually there was a dis division there.

所以现在又重新合并了，政府实际上是女王的政府，但她并没有真正做出任何决定。

So now it's been brought back together again, and the government is actually the Queen's government, but really she hasn't actually made any decisions.

但这就是你所说的民主吧。

But there's your basic sort of democracy, I suppose.

现在在选举中，有时会出现作弊的指控或 allegations。

Now sometimes in elections, there can be accusations or allegations of cheating.

所以这涉及到腐败问题。

So that's things like corruption.

腐败就是当身居权力职位的人滥用权力时发生的情况。

So corruption is when obviously people in positions of power abuse that power.

他们不为公众服务，而是为自己谋利。

They don't serve the public, they serve themselves.

这就像作弊。

It's like cheating.

所以你会遇到像投票舞弊这样的事情。

So you get things like vote rigging.

所以这就是投票本来应该公平，却已经被提前决定了的情况。

So that's where a vote is kind of instead of being fair, it's already been decided.

他们以某种方式在投票中作弊，进行票数操纵。

Somehow they cheat in the vote, and they've they do vote rigging.

还有计票错误，就是没有正确统计选票。

And also miscounting, that's where you don't count the ballots correctly.

所以你统计的时候就会出现计票错误。

So you count them on miscounting.

就是这样了。

So there you go.

有时候，你知道，权力会使人腐败，对吧？

Sometimes, you know, power corrupts, doesn't it?

绝对的权力导致绝对的腐败。

And absolute power corrupts absolutely.

对吧？

Right?

所以权力会腐蚀人。

So power corrupts.

他们就是这么说的。

That's what they say.

事实上，世界各地有许多政府似乎都存在一定程度的腐败。

In fact, around the world, there are various governments which, seem to have some level of corruption going on.

我不会点名具体是哪些国家，但我相信你大概知道我在说谁。

I'm not gonna name any names here, but I think you probably know who I'm talking about.

在过去一年左右，世界各地出现了许多问题，人们纷纷反抗自己的政府，而有些政府则以非常暴力的方式进行镇压。

Over the last year or so, there's been lots of problems in various parts of the world with people sort of fighting against their their governments, and the governments in some cases fighting back in quite violent ways.

当这种事情发生时，总是令人相当沮丧。

And that's always rather depressing when that kind of thing is going on.

所以在一些地方，会出现像起义这样的情况。

So in some places, get things like an uprising.

这就是人们起来反抗政府的起义。

That's where people just sort of rise up and fight back against the government, an uprising.

有时候，如果组织得很有条理，这可以被称为革命，比如人民起来夺取生产资料的控制权。

It's sometimes if it's very organized, it could be called a revolution and that's where, for example, the people rise up and they take control of, let's say, the means of production.

我想这是卡尔·马克思曾经说过的话。

I think that's what Karl Marx used to say.

他说社会分为无产阶级——工人，和资产阶级，而资产阶级才是掌控者。

He said that society was divided into the proletariat, the workers, and the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie are the ones who control.

他们拥有生产资料，因此控制着社会和社会的意识形态。

They own the means of production, and so they have control over society and the ideologies in society.

但他相信无产阶级会起来，夺取生产资料的控制权，那时就会发生一场革命。

But he believed that the proletariat would rise up and they would take control of the means of production, and then that would be a revolution.

这种情况在某些地方确实发生过。

And it happens in some places.

它在俄罗斯发生过，在法国和其他一些地方也发生过，都是革命。

It's happened in in Russia, and it's happened in France and various other places, revolutions.

我们还有政变，军事政变或政治政变，政变的拼写是 c-o-u-p。

We also have coups, a military a military coup or a political coup, and coup is spelled c o u p.

政变是指领导层被推翻并由其他人取代。

And a coup is where a leadership is, like, brought down and replaced with someone else.

所以这就是政变。

So a coup.

比如，上世纪七十年代伊朗发生过一次著名的政变。

Like, there was a coup in Iran in the seventies, for example, a famous coup in Iran.

但除此之外，公众通常会抗议政府的行为。

But beyond that, the public often will protest against what the government is doing.

于是就出现了抗议活动。

So you get protests.

抗议是一种公开示威，以表达对某事的反对。

A protest is like a public demonstration in order to say that you disagree with something.

当然，最近发生了占领华尔街的抗议活动，美国民众前往银行聚集的华尔街，在那里露营并重新夺回街道。

And, of course, recently, there were the Occupy Wall Street protests where people in America were going to to Wall Street where the banks were, and they were, like, camping out there and reclaiming the streets.

在伦敦，我们也发生了类似的情况，人们在伦敦城圣保罗大教堂附近扎营，以抗议……

We got a similar thing here in London where people kind of camped out in the city of London near Saint Paul's Cathedral as a protest against.

事实上，他们究竟抗议什么并不太清楚，但我认为他们抗议的是资本主义社会中的道德沦丧，这是一个相当宏大的议题。

Really, it was not very clear what they were protesting against, but I believe they were protesting against really the sort of moral decline in in capitalist society, which is quite a big topic to deal with.

但目前看来，这似乎是个大问题。

But it seems to be kind of a big deal at the moment.

很多人认为资本主义实际上已经失效了。

A lot of people seem to think that capitalism isn't really working.

你可以在经济中看到这一点，这些资本主义国家的经济正因信贷问题而崩溃——当时大家到处互相借贷，彼此交易各种复杂的金融产品。

And you can see that in the economy, way that the economies in these capitalist countries are failing because of credit, this big credit crisis where everyone was lending money to each other all over the place, and they were lending these sophisticated financial packages to each other.

最终，实际上只是在全球范围内互相转嫁债务，而那本质上等于什么都没借。

And in the end, really, were just lending debt around the world, and that's like lending nothing.

所以出现了资金的真空。

So there's like a a vacuum of money.

钱用光了，但我们所有人都似乎觉得自己比实际拥有的更多。

The money's run out, and yet we all seem to think we have more than we actually have.

因此，钱不够分了。

So there's not enough money to go around.

所以，当然没人再借钱了，这导致企业停滞不前，经济放缓，进而引发衰退；而要摆脱衰退非常困难，因为一方面你可以向经济注入大量资金，但你又没有足够的钱来注入；另一方面，你也可以放任经济自生自灭，但这样又可能陷入长期停滞，毫无起色。

So, of course, no one is lending money, and that causes businesses to to kind of stall and go slow and that causes recession, and it's very difficult to get out of recession because on one hand you could pump a lot of money into the economy, but that's very difficult because you haven't got enough money to pump into the economy, or you kind of let the economy just leave it alone, but then there's a chance it's just gonna stagnate and it's not really gonna go anywhere.

所以这是一个艰难的抉择。

So it's a tricky decision.

另外，去年在伦敦，我们发生了著名的伦敦骚乱。

Also, of course, in London last year, we had the famous London riots.

这并不是伦敦第一次发生骚乱，但这次规模相当大，而且在城市的多个地区同时爆发。

Not the first time we've had riots in London, but these these ones were pretty big, and those were those broke out in various parts of the city.

事件始于伦敦东北部的托特纳姆，起因是一名男子被警察开枪击中，或据称被警察开枪击中。

It started in Tottenham in Northeast London after a man was shot by police or allegedly shot by police.

人群中的民众指控警察在该男子手无寸铁时开枪，认为这就像一场处决。

People in the crowd accused the police of shooting him when he was unarmed, so they believe it was a like an an execution.

他们就是这么认为的，这引发了街头大规模的打斗和对抗警察的冲突，大量汽车和商店被焚毁。

This is what they believed, and that caused large fighting in the streets and fighting against police, and lots of cars were burned, shops were burned.

在那个区域，周六晚上发生了冲突，到了周日晚上，暴力事件蔓延到了城市的其他地区。

And in that area, there was fighting on Saturday night, and Sunday night, the fighting increased to other parts of the city.

所以伦敦各地都发生了大规模的骚乱，包括布里克斯顿、克拉珀姆、伊林等城市多个地区。

So there was all sorts of big riots all around London, including places like Brixton and, where else, Clapham, Ealing, many places in the city.

人们在街上肆意破坏，焚烧商店和汽车，抢劫路人。

People were were sort of destroying everything in the street, burning shops, burning cars, mugging people.

他们还做了些什么？

What else were they doing?

他们还进行了抢掠。

They were also looting.

也就是说，暴徒砸碎商店的窗户，冲进去把里面的东西全部偷走，这就是抢掠。

So that's when the rioters smashed the window of windows of shops and go into the shops and steal all the things from inside them, looting.

这简直太糟糕了。

It was absolutely terrible.

事实上，在骚乱发生期间，我在伯明翰的一些朋友很担心我，给我发了条短信说：天哪。

In fact, while it was happening, some of my friends back in Birmingham were a bit worried about me, and they sent me a sent me a text saying, oh my god.

我在电视上看到了这些骚乱。

I've seen the riots on TV.