| Song | 英国新市长 |
| Artist | 英语听力 |
| Album | BBC新闻词汇 |
| A decade ago when London chose its first directly elected mayor some feared it would become a shallow political beauty contest. But the idea has taken off. 16 authorities now elect or are about to elect their mayor. Ten more British cities are about to decide. This is Birmingham's so called Council House built with some grandeur in the 19th century to run Britain's second largest city. If voters say yes, they could scrap the traditional council here and choose an executive mayor. But one recent poll suggested the idea is unpopular and voters here remain divided. Some experts want to go further and give mayors control of local health and policing, though that remains highly controversial. Many democracies around the world already have directly or indirectly elected mayors and in mainland Europe it's common. So a "yes" vote in a large number of British cities could be followed by more. In a decade local government will have been transformed. | |
| 十年之前，当伦敦决定第一次由市民直接选举市长时，一些人认为是场浅薄的政治作秀。但这项决议如今却大获成功，16个政府机构正决定或已经直接选出他们的市长。十多个英国城市也有可能做出相同决定。 这项决议的雏形形成于19世纪伯明翰的领军人物为自己的城市争取英国第二大城市之时。如果选民同意，将废除传统的市政委员会，而由人们选举产生执行市长。但是最近一项民意调查显示，这个决议并没有受到普遍欢迎，选民中存在分歧。 一部分专家认为改革应更深入一些，应给市长当地市民的健康和治安的掌控权，这也颇具争议。世界上的很多民主人士以直接或间接的选举市长，而这在欧洲大陆也非常普遍。 因此，若大部分英国城市投赞同票，将会引起更多城市效仿。在未来十年，当地政府很可能发生改组。 |
| A decade ago when London chose its first directly elected mayor some feared it would become a shallow political beauty contest. But the idea has taken off. 16 authorities now elect or are about to elect their mayor. Ten more British cities are about to decide. This is Birmingham' s so called Council House built with some grandeur in the 19th century to run Britain' s second largest city. If voters say yes, they could scrap the traditional council here and choose an executive mayor. But one recent poll suggested the idea is unpopular and voters here remain divided. Some experts want to go further and give mayors control of local health and policing, though that remains highly controversial. Many democracies around the world already have directly or indirectly elected mayors and in mainland Europe it' s common. So a " yes" vote in a large number of British cities could be followed by more. In a decade local government will have been transformed. | |
| shí nián zhī qián, dāng lún dūn jué dìng dì yī cì yóu shì mín zhí jiē xuǎn jǔ shì zhǎng shí, yī xiē rén rèn wéi shì chǎng qiǎn bó de zhèng zhì zuò xiù. dàn zhè xiàng jué yì rú jīn què dà huò chéng gōng, 16 gè zhèng fǔ jī gòu zhèng jué dìng huò yǐ jīng zhí jiē xuǎn chū tā men de shì zhǎng. shí duō gè yīng guó chéng shì yě yǒu kě néng zuò chū xiāng tóng jué dìng. zhè xiàng jué yì de chú xíng xíng chéng yú 19 shì jì bó míng hàn de lǐng jūn rén wù wèi zì jǐ de chéng shì zhēng qǔ yīng guó dì èr dài chéng shì zhī shí. rú guǒ xuǎn mín tóng yì, jiāng fèi chú chuán tǒng de shì zhèng wěi yuán huì, ér yóu rén men xuǎn jǔ chǎn shēng zhí háng shì zhǎng. dàn shì zuì jìn yī xiàng mín yì diào chá xiǎn shì, zhè gè jué yì bìng méi yǒu shòu dào pǔ biàn huān yíng, xuǎn mín zhōng cún zài fēn qí. yī bù fen zhuān jiā rèn wéi gǎi gé yīng gēng shēn rù yī xiē, yìng gěi shì zhǎng dāng dì shì mín de jiàn kāng hé zhì ān de zhǎng kòng quán, zhè yě pō jù zhēng yì. shì jiè shang de hěn duō mín zhǔ rén shì yǐ zhí jiē huò jiàn jiē de xuǎn jǔ shì zhǎng, ér zhè zài ōu zhōu dà lù yě fēi cháng pǔ biàn. yīn cǐ, ruò dà bù fèn yīng guó chéng shì tóu zàn tóng piào, jiāng huì yǐn qǐ gēng duō chéng shì xiào fǎng. zài wèi lái shí nián, dāng dì zhèng fǔ hěn kě néng fā shēng gǎi zǔ. |