英語四級閱讀理解精煉50篇03:布萊爾答清華學(xué)子(含答案)

　　Tony Blair In Qinghua University

　　QUESTION:Seven days ago during your visit to the USA, newspaper cuttings commented that the UK had become the 51 st state 1 of the United States. I want your views about that comment.

　　PRIME MINISTER:On the 51 st state , well that is what is often said by people who oppose Britain’s strong alliance with the United States of America . And actually it is not true to say that we don’t have our disagreements with the United States, sometimes we do. The Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change2 was an example of that. But I am proud of our relationship with the United States and I am proud of the partnership that we have . But I don’t think that we should see a strong relationship with the United States as the only strong relationship we can have. The problems that we face are problems to do with global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of irresponsible people, I think they are climate change, I think it is economic globalisation, I think it is to do with how we extend development to the poorest parts of the world. But I think those challenges are best dealt with by nations working together. So we have a close relationship with the United States, but we are also part of the European Union. I would like a closer relationship between the UK and China, because I think how China develops in this international framework is going to be vitally important. I think 21 st century politics is about nations coming together on a common agenda. Now that means in my view, not that we come together simply on an agenda that America sets, but that we come together on an agenda that we set together. I think that the path for Britain is not to be worried about our alliance with the United States, I think it is good that we have got an alliance with the United States, but I think we should be using that influence to try and bring the United States and other countries together on a common agenda that we are all happy with, that your leadership here in China is happy with, the European Union, the Russians, countries like India that are developing too . We have all got to get in the same place on the same agenda, and that is what we are working towards, because I think that is the best thing for people . .. I really do.

　　QUESTION:You are around my father’s age and like my father. Would you tell me here honestly, like talking to your own children, that you never lied on the Iraq war?

　　PRIME MINISTER:What would I say to my children? What I would say to them is this, that in the end as a political leader you have got to take the decisions that you think are right, and those decisions are sometimes very, very difficult. But I believe passionately in relation to Iraq, we could not allow Saddam Hussein to carry on developing weapons of mass destruction3 , and don’t be in any doubt that he was doing it, because we had 23 different United Nations resolutions about the very issue of Saddam and weapons of mass destruction. So please don ’t anyone here think this is something that suddenly was dreamed up by the Americans or the British , it was there , it was a serious issue . That is why the United Nations inspectors were in Iraq throughout the 1990s. They were then forced to leave at the end of 1998, it was why they went back in November after the United Nations resolution. So I don’t have any doubt about the threat that he posed, and I don’t have any doubt either about the danger of that threat in the hands of a man like Saddam. It is difficult for people here just to appreciate4 this, but out of a country of 23 million, 4 million of its people were in exile —4 million of them were in exile . Literally5 tens of thousands of children used to die of malnutrition every single year, of preventable diseases, because of the way he ran the country. And to allow someone like that to carry on being a security threat to the world I thought was the wrong thing, so I took the action that I did. Now there will be people here , and I totally understand it, who disagree with that decision, and the difficult thing about being a political leader is that in the end you have to take the decisions that you believe are right and stand by them. I took the decision I thought was right and I stick by it. And that is what I would say to my children or anybody else’s children.

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　　CET4大學(xué)英語四級閱讀練習(xí)題：

　?、? Matching:

　　1. prime minister A. homeless

　　2. alliance B. agreement

　　3. protocol C. decision

　　4. resolution D. premier

　　5. appreciate E. union

　　6. in exile F. understand

　　Ⅱ. Questions :

　　1. Who is the head of Iraq ?

　　2. How many resolutions UN passed to forbid Saddam Hussein to carry on developing weapons of mass destruction?

　　3. Why did newspaper cuttings comment that the UK had become the 51st state of the United States?

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　　參考答案：

　?、? 1. D 2. E 3 . B 4 . C 5. F 6 . A

　?、? 1. Saddam Hussein

　　3. That is what is often said by people who oppose Britain’s strong alliance with the United States of America.

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　　CET4大學(xué)英語四級閱讀參考譯文：

　　布萊爾答清華學(xué)子

　　學(xué) 生: 幾天前, 在您到美國的訪問時, 有報(bào)紙?jiān)u論說英國是美國的第51 個州, 您是怎么看待這些評論的?

　　布萊爾: 人們經(jīng)常會用第51 個州之說來反對英國跟美國的強(qiáng)大聯(lián)盟。但是我們不能說英美之間就沒有分歧, 有時候我們也會有不同意見,《關(guān)于全球氣候變化的京都議定書》就是一個例子。但對于我們與美國的關(guān)系, 我感到非常自豪, 我對我們的伙伴關(guān)系感到非常自豪。但是我并不認(rèn)為與美國的良好關(guān)系是我們所能具有的惟一的關(guān)系?，F(xiàn)在我們面臨的問題是國際恐怖主義, 是掌握在不負(fù)責(zé)任的人手中的大規(guī)模殺傷性武器, 是氣候變化, 是經(jīng)濟(jì)全球化, 是發(fā)展貧窮國家的經(jīng)濟(jì)。我覺得應(yīng)付這些挑戰(zhàn)的方法, 是各國人民的合作。所以我們跟美國有很好的關(guān)系,同時我們也是歐盟的一部分。我也愿意與中國發(fā)展更緊密的關(guān)系, 因?yàn)槲矣X得中國在國際構(gòu)架下如何發(fā)展事關(guān)重大。我覺得21 世紀(jì)的政治是各個國家為一個共同的議程走到一起。我的意思是, 我們不是按美國制定的議程, 而是按我們共同制定的議程走到一起。所以, 我覺得英國的任務(wù)不是去擔(dān)心與美國的聯(lián)盟, 我覺得我們應(yīng)該跟美國保持良好的盟友關(guān)系, 應(yīng)該把這種影響擴(kuò)大開來, 推動美國和其他國家的關(guān)系, 制定出大家都能接受的共同議程。中國的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能夠接受,歐盟、俄羅斯以及像印度這樣的發(fā)展中國家也能接受。大家都走到一起, 制定共同的議程, 這是我們努力的方向。因?yàn)槲矣X得這是最有利于人民的, 我堅(jiān)信這一點(diǎn)。

　　學(xué)生: 您大概是我爸爸的年齡, 您像我父親一樣。您能不能像您對您的孩子那樣老實(shí)地告訴我, 您在伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭當(dāng)中沒有撒謊?布萊爾: 我會怎么回答我的孩子? 我想要說的是, 作為一個政治領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人, 你不得不做出你認(rèn)為正確的決定。有時候要做出這些決定是很困難的, 但我堅(jiān)信: 有關(guān)與伊拉克的關(guān)系上, 我們絕不允許薩達(dá)姆繼續(xù)發(fā)展大規(guī)模殺傷性武器, 毫無疑問, 他的確在發(fā)展大規(guī)模殺傷性武器, 因?yàn)閷Υ寺?lián)合國有二十三個決議。在座的各位可別認(rèn)為這是英國或者美國虛構(gòu)的。事實(shí)就是如此, 這是很嚴(yán)肅的問題。這就是為什么聯(lián)合國檢查人員整個20 世紀(jì)90 年代都呆在伊拉克, 直到1998 年底被迫離開。但是在聯(lián)合國做出決定之后, 他們又回到伊拉克。我毫不懷疑薩達(dá)姆所構(gòu)成的威脅, 我也同樣不懷疑一個像薩達(dá)姆這樣的人手中握有這種武器會有危險(xiǎn)。中國人可能很難意識到這意味著什么, 但是在伊拉克2300 萬人口中, 有400 萬流落他鄉(xiāng), 每年有數(shù)萬的兒童死于營養(yǎng)不良和可防沿的疾病。所有這些都是因?yàn)樗慕y(tǒng)治所造成的。我認(rèn)為任由像他這樣的人繼續(xù)威脅世界安全是錯誤的, 所以我采取了那樣的行動。會有人不贊同我的決定, 我完全理解。作為一個政治領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的困難在于你必須做出你認(rèn)為正確的決定, 而且堅(jiān)持你的立場。我做出了我認(rèn)為正確的決定, 我堅(jiān)持這個立場, 這就是我要對我自己的孩子以及別人的孩子要說的話。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)評:英帝國的首相在張伯倫那會兒是張牙舞爪的, 在布萊爾這會兒則是溫文爾雅的, 不是張伯倫受教育不夠, 而是布萊爾的背后國力不支了。所以對于“ 英國是美國的走狗”之類的言論, 首相無力反駁。但是對伊拉克問題我個人認(rèn)為他句句是實(shí)話: 雖然“ 會有人不贊同”, 但出兵符合英國的利益, 所以是“ 正確的決定”, 作為政治領(lǐng)導(dǎo)就必須做這樣非常“ 困難”的決定。

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　　閱讀講解：

　　1. 第51 個州。美國有50 個州, 所以星條旗上有50 顆星。英國變成第51 個州是說英國的所作所為完全不像一個主權(quán)國家那樣, 處處惟美國命是從。

　　2.《關(guān)于全球氣候變化的京都議定書》。美國是全世界溫室氣體排放最多的國家, 因?yàn)槊绹囎疃? 由此美國拒絕簽訂該議定書。但是歐盟一直都是立場堅(jiān)定的環(huán)保主義者形象, 所以那次美國成為孤家寡人, 成為全世界唯一不肯承諾保護(hù)臭氧層的國家。

　　3. 大規(guī)模殺傷武器?，F(xiàn)代戰(zhàn)爭一般定義為使用后能造成大量參戰(zhàn)( 軍人) 和未參戰(zhàn)人員( 平民) 死傷的核武器、生物武器、化學(xué)武器和可攜帶這些武器彈頭的遠(yuǎn)程戰(zhàn)略導(dǎo)彈。其他武器一般為戰(zhàn)術(shù)武器或常規(guī)武器。到目前的事實(shí)證明, 布萊爾此話說錯了, 伊拉克并沒有什么“ 大規(guī)模殺傷性武器”存在。伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭的公正性和必要性受到廣泛的置疑。

　　4. appreciate v. 體會, 了解, 意識到, 懂得。這里不是常用的“ 欣賞”的含義。同樣的例子有:appreciate the difficulties of the situation ( 意識到局勢困難) 。這個詞做不及物動詞還有“漲價(jià)”的意味, 如: Things appreciate as time goes on. ( 貨物日漸昂貴。)

　　5. literally adv. 差不多, 簡直。( 同義詞) almost, about, approximately; 這里不要理解為“ 照字義, 逐字地”。