Liz Truss is Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister

A chaotic six weeks ends in humiliating defeat.

cet6考试文章阅读练习。

short-serving prime minister 任职时间最短的首相
the longest-reigning monarch 在位时间最长的君主
end in defeat 以失败告终
humiliating <- humiliate adj. [耻辱的，丢脸的]

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Liz Truss is eligible for a taxpayer-funded allowance of $129,000 a year for life.
利兹 · 特拉斯有资格享受由英国纳税人出资的每年12.9万美元的终身津贴

The departing British leader would be the sixth prime minister to receive the reimbursement for her expenses after leaving office.
这位即将离任的英国首相将成为第六位卸任后收到津贴的首相

be eligible for sth/ be eligible to do sth [有资格做某事，符合…条件]
eligible [合适的，中意的]
took it for granted 认为这是理所当然的
state-funded [公立的]由国家出资的
daily expenses 日常开销
depart [离开][离职]
reimbursement <- reimburse n.[赔偿，赔付]
incurred by 由……产生
leave office 辞职 

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Conservatives Scramble to Replace Liz Truss as U.K. Leader

保守党迫切开启党首角逐，接替利兹 · 特拉斯成为英国新首相

Ms. Truss announced her resignation after six weeks in office, as virtually all her signature tax cuts were being reversed, a stark repudiation of her leadership.

上任六周后，特拉斯宣布辞职，其标志性的减税政策几乎均被推翻，执政能力遭到严重否定。

scramble for sth / scramble to do sth 指「争抢某物，争先恐后做某事」
scramble 也作名词，指「争抢，争夺」。惯用搭配是the scramble for sth, the scramble to do sth。
resignation为名词，作不可数名词时，指「辞职」这个行为，作可数名词，指「辞职信」。
virtually 为副词，指「几乎，差不多」，这个词大家要学会使用，在写作里可以替换almost, nearly 等词。
signature 「签名」->「明显特征，鲜明特色」
tax cuts 指「减税」。
cut 作名词，指「削减，减少」。比如：job cuts 裁员 price cuts 减价。
stark 为形容词，这里指「完全的，十足的」( complete and total)。
repudiation 为repudiate的名词形式，指「否认，驳斥」。stark repudiation便表示「严重否定」 

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①After less than two months in the job, Liz Truss resigned as Britain’s prime minister.

上任不到两个月，利兹 · 特拉斯辞去英国首相一职。

resign [rɪˈzaɪn] 指「辞职」，这个词儿比quit更加正式。resign as sth 指「辞去某职务」。
与我们前面讲过的depart as sth互为同义替换

  • resign oneself to sth 表示「屈从于某事，勉强接受某事」(to accept sth unpleasant that cannot be changed or avoided)
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②She made the announcement after an increasing number of her own Conservative Party MPs demanded that she step down following a series of chaotic political missteps, starting with the disastrous “mini-budget” of September 23rd. 
自9月23日推出灾难性的“迷你预算”以来，特拉斯政府在政策上屡犯失误，引发一系列混乱，保守党内部要求她下台的呼声越来越高，随后特拉斯宣布辞职。

  • She made the announcement after an increasing number of her own Conservative Party MPs demanded that she step down following a series of chaotic political missteps, starting with the disastrous “mini-budget” of September 23rd.

  • 细心的同学会发现，为什么这里主语是she，谓语动词step down却没有用第三人称单数呢？

  • 这是因为demand作「要求」讲时，后面跟的宾语从句需要用虚拟语气should do sth，should可以省略，因此这里作者就直接用了step down。
    misstep [mɪsˈstep] 为可数名词，指「错误，失策」(a mistake; a wrong action)。
    an increasing number of sth 指「越来越多的」，可以替换我们熟悉的more and more。
    MP是Member of Parliament的简称，指「议员」。
    step down 走下来，指「辞职，下台」。

  • 总结一下到目前为止我们学过的关于「辞职，卸任」的表达：

  • resign (as sth), resignation

  • depart (as sth), departure

  • leave office

  • step down

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③She will stay in office until the party chooses a new leader next week. ④Her successor will be Britain’s third prime minister of the year (so far).  ⑤Opposition parties demanded an immediate general election.
下周保守党将选出新任首相，在这期间她将继续任职。其继任者将是今年（到目前为止）第三任英国首相。反对党要求即刻举办大选。

stay in office 指「继续任职」。

successor 为名词，这里指「 接替者，继任者」，也可指「接替的事物」。反义词为predecessor。
succeed 为其动词形式，这个词除了指「成功」，还可指「接替，继任」。
succession 为不可数名词，指「继承，继任」。
考研英语2011年 Text 2里就考过这个词：
As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on. 当董事会迫于股东的压力仔细审查继任计划时，那些没有得到认可的高管们可能也想离开。
opposition parties 指「在野党，反对党」。
opposition 单独使用时，指强烈的「反对，反抗」，为不可数名词，来自动词oppose。介词搭配为opposition to sb / sth。