[E438]Waiting for Donald
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist 2016年第25期，Britain版块。
Trump comes to Britain
Scotland prepares to welcome a controversial investor
Jun 18th 2016 | ABERDEEN
THE MacLeod House and Lodge[麦克洛伊德之家旅馆 ], just outside Aberdeen[亚伯丁(英国苏格兰一郡)], is what a poor man might imagine a rich man's hotel to look like. Owned by Donald Trump, many of its fittings[设备;家具]—the lamps, the bed-covers[床罩], the radiators[暖气]—are golden.
The cleaners are making everything even shinier in anticipation of[期待;预期] the arrival of the man himself, who is expected in Scotland on June 23rd. Mr Trump's visit coincides with Britain's referendum[1] on the EU; he says he is coming for the official reopening of another of his hotels, in Ayrshire[埃尔郡(英国苏格兰西南部旧郡)].
Many Scots are not looking forward to hosting Mr Trump, whose mother was born on the tiny Isle of Lewis[刘易斯岛] in the Outer Hebrides[外赫布里底群岛]. Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, is likely to avoid meeting him. Organisers of the Scottish Open golf tournament were rumoured[谣传] to be considering his hotel as their venue[2] for 2017, but have announced they are going elsewhere. In January members of Britain's Parliament spent three hours trashing[3] him, as they debated whether to try to ban him from the country (they decided not to).
······
注释
[1]referendum：a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question （就重大政治或社会问题进行的）全民公决，全民投票
Is it more democratic to hold a referendum, rather than let the government alone decide?
进行一次全民公决，而不是由政府自己作出决定，是不是要更民主些？
[2]venue：the place where a public event or meeting happens （公共事件的）发生场所，举行地点；会场
The hotel is an ideal venue for conferences and business meetings.
这家酒店是举行会议和商务会谈的理想场所。
[3]trash：to criticize something or someone severely 猛烈批评，痛斥
The boss completely trashed her work, in front of everyone.
老板当着众人的面把她的工作批得一无是处。
······
Despite all this, Mr Trump has a few cautious fans around Aberdeen[亚伯丁(英国苏格兰一郡)]. The golf course[高尔夫球场] attached to the hotel is “really tough to play”, enthuses[1] one local golfer. In the Beachside Coffee Shop in nearby Balmedie[巴尔梅迪], another says Mr Trump's investments have drawn tourists, benefiting the local economy.
Most of all, though, Mr Trump has become an ally of conservationists. For years there have been plans to build turbines[2] in the sea near to the golf course. Mr Trump's interests dovetail[3] with those of the activists: he fears the turbines will spoil the views from his hotel.
In 2012 he appeared in front of a Scottish parliamentary committee[议会委员会]. The nation's pro-wind policy led to other people “laughing at what Scotland is doing”, he said, while the turbines themselves were “made in China” who then got Scotland to pay it “a lot of money”. Last year the Supreme Court[最高法院] ruled against him, however, and the turbines will go ahead. Mr Trump himself is likely to continue generating controversy[争论;论战;辩论], at home and abroad.
······
注释
[1]enthuses：to express excitement about something or great interest in it 津津乐地道讲述；兴奋地说
He was enthusing over a wonderful restaurant he'd been to.
他正津津乐地道说着他曾住过一家多么好的宾馆。
[2]turbine：a type of machine through which liquid or gas flows and turns a special wheel with blades in order to produce power 涡轮机，叶轮机，透平机
a steam turbine 汽轮机
a turbine engine 涡轮发动机
[3]dovetail：to cause something to fit exactly together （使）咬合；（使）吻合；（使）衔接
Their results dovetail nicely with ours.
他们的结果与我们的非常吻合。
We've tried to dovetail our plans with theirs.
我们试图把我们的计划与他们的计划衔接起来。
······
以上言论不代表本人立场。
原文摘自The economist，仅外语学习之用。
其中生词解释来源于Cambridge Dictionaries
回复“eco”或点击下方“阅读原文”查看系列笔记。