政治乌龙 Gaffes

Hello, I’m Neil.
大家好，我是尼尔。
And I’m Callum.
我是卡勒姆。
And this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we’re talking about political gaffes.
这里是BBC英语学习6分钟英语栏目。今天我们谈论一下政治乌龙。
Yes, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has suffered a rather embarrassing moment. Some private remarks he made to the US President, Barack Obama, during the G20 Summit in Cannes last week have been made public.
法国总统尼古拉斯·萨科奇遭受了一个相当尴尬的时刻。他与美国总统在戛纳G20峰会上的一些私人言论上周被公开。
When a politician says or does something embarrassing, or which reveals thoughts he doesn’t want the public to know about, it’s called a political gaffe.More on political gaffes later on, but first a question for you, Callum. Are you ready?
当一个政治家说或做一些令人尴尬的事情或者显示了他不想让公众了解的想法，我们称之为“政治乌龙”。接下来我们会讲到更多的政治乌龙，但首先我有一个问题提问你，卡勒姆。准备好了吗？
Go on!
准备好了！
Seeing as we’re talking about heads of state, I have a question about Presidents… Who is the President of Germany? Is it:a) Angela Merkelb) Christian Wulffc) Jurgen Klinsmann
因为我们正在谈论国家元首，我有一个关于总统的问题。德国总统是谁？他是：a）安吉拉·默克尔b）克里斯蒂安·武尔夫c）尤尔根·克林斯曼
Christian Wulff.OK, well, we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now let’s get back to the subject of political gaffes. Let’s find out exactly what it was that the French President said. Here’s a report from the BBC’s Christian Frazer:
克里斯蒂安·武尔夫。好吧，我们会在节目的最后看看你的答案是否正确。现在让我们继续回归主题“政治乌龙”。让我们听听法国总统确切的说了些什么。BBC的弗雷泽这有一段报道：
On Thursday, as journalists were gathering for a bilateral news conference with the American and French presidents they were treated to a remarkable insight into the personal dynamics of the negotiating room. "I can’t look at him any more" said Mr Sarkozy, of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "he’s a liar". "You’re sick of him", said the American President in some exasperation, "I have to deal with him every day."
星期四,当记者们聚集在一个美国和法国总统的双边新闻发布会上，他们正在这个谈判房间里受到广泛的关注。“我不能再看他了”萨科奇谈论以色列总理内塔尼亚胡，“他是一个骗子。”“你是厌恶他了”，美国总统有些愤怒的说，“我每天都要和他打交道。”
Ah, yes. That is pretty bad, isn’t it? He called the Israeli Prime Minister "a liar".
啊，是的。这非常糟糕，不是吗？他称以色列总理为“骗子”。
I think Barack Obama would rather his comments hadn’t become public either.He appears to have some sympathy for Mr Sarkozy by saying "I have to deal with him every day". Callum, what does it mean "to deal with someone"?
我想奥巴马也不希望他的言论被公之于众。他似乎对萨科齐先生有些同情，所以说道“我每天都要和他打交道”。卡勒姆，“to deal with someone”是什么意思？
It means to talk to and meet someone often as part of your job. But Neil, I think one of the most interesting aspects of this story is that it took several days for French journalists who overheard the comments to report the story.
它的意思是因工作需要你需要经常与某人谈话、会面。但尼尔，我觉得这件事情最有意思的方面之一是经过了好几天法国记者才偶尔听到这些评论并报道了这一事件。
Yes, French journalists overheard the comments. This means they heard them without meaning to or without the speakers’ knowledge. It seems pretty strange to me for journalists not to report such a big story.
是的，法国记者偶尔听到的这些评论。这意味着他们并不是有意去听这些的。这让我觉得很奇怪记者们为何不报道这么大的新闻。
Yes, I’m not sure British journalists would act in the same way. Here’s the BBC’s Christian Frazer again.
是的，我不确定英国记者会这样做。BBC的弗雷泽会带给大家更多。
French journalists stunned by what they’d heard, initially agreed not to print the quotes. Was it ethically unsound or was it the overbearing deference, even fear, with which French journalists approach the political class? You can’t help feeling British journalists might have reacted differently. In fact they did when Gordon Brown made a similar mistake.
法国记者为他们所听到的感到震惊，最初同意不会公开。这是法国记者面对政治阶层时表现出来的伦理上的不健全或是专横的敬意甚至是恐惧吗？你不禁感到英国记者可能会作出不同的反应。事实上当戈登·布朗犯了类似错误时，他们这样做了。
The French journalists might have thought it was ethically unsound to print the quotes. This means they might have thought it was below the standards of their profession.
法国记者可能认为将其公开属于不道德行为。这意味着他们可能会认为这不符合他们的职业标准。
Or perhaps it was because in France there is a deference for the political class.A deference is a politeness and respect for someone or something.
或者也许因为在法国对政治阶层的敬意。敬意是指对某人某事尊重或礼貌的态度。
As the reporter says, this approach is very different to the treatment the former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, received from the British press when he made a political gaffe before the last general election in the UK in May 2010. Do you remember what happened, Callum?
据报道，英国媒体对待英国首相戈登?布朗在上次大选之前的2010年5月的政治乌龙时件的方式就迥然不同。你记得发生什么了吗，卡莱姆?
Yes, Gordon Brown was heard describing a person he had just spoken to as "a bigoted woman". A bigoted person is someone with strong and unreasonable opinions which they won’t change under any circumstances.
是的，有人听到戈登·布朗是描述一个和他刚刚讲过话的人为“一个顽固的女人”。一个顽固的人有很强的、不合理的在任何情况下都不会改变的意见。
And what kind of impact did this political gaffe have on Gordon Brown?
这个政治乌龙对戈登?布朗有何影响呢？
I think most people agree it was the final nail in his coffin.
我想大多数人认为这是他棺材上最后一颗钉子。
The final nail in his coffin. This means it was the last in a series of events leading to the failure of something. Gordon Brown lost that election and his position as Prime Minister. Do you know of any other political gaffes, Callum?
棺材上最后一颗钉子。它的意思是在一系列事件中最终导致失败的事情。戈登·布朗输掉了大选和他的首相之位。你还知道其它的政治乌龙吗，卡莱姆？
There have been a few notable ones. My favourite was from a former US President, Ronald Reagan. He was getting ready to go on air when he said this:
有很多值得注意的。我最喜欢的是美国前总统罗纳德·里根的那件。他准备登机时，他这样说道:
My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.
美国同胞们，我很高兴的告诉你们今天我已经签署了将永远取缔俄罗斯的法案。5分钟的时间里民众沸腾了。
He joked that he’d signed legislation, meaning he’d created a law, which banned Russia! He added that the bombing would start in five minutes!Fortunately this wasn’t broadcast but appeared at a later date. And so onto our quiz question, Callum.
他开玩笑说，他会签署了法案，这意味着他创造了一项禁止俄罗斯的法律！他补充说，轰炸会在5分钟内开始！幸运的是这不是广播，而是在之后的时间出现的。所以现在回到我们的测验问题，卡勒姆。
Yes, I’m ready.
好的，我准备好了。
I asked who the President of Germany is...
我的问题是谁是德国总统。
And my answer was Christian Wulff
我的答案是克里斯蒂安·武尔夫。
And you were right. I was hoping to trick people with that question. The President of Germany isn’t as well known as the Chancellor, or Prime Minister.In fact, I had to look him up myself just to check! Thanks Callum. Well we hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme, and you’ll join us again soon for another 6 Minute English.
你的答案是正确的。我想用这个问题去捉弄人。德国总统并不像总理或首相一样众所周知。事实上，我需要亲自看一下以便检查答案是否正确。谢谢卡勒姆。希望您能喜欢今天的节目，并再次收听我们的6分钟英语节目。
Bye!
再见！