Unit Five American and British Political Systems
Passage 2 Gordon Brown's first speech
Background introduction: British political systems
In England, the most dominant are the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties. Meanwhile in the other regions notable parties are: The Scottish National Party in Scotland, Plaid Cymru in Wales, and various unionist parties and Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. The UK Parliament in London is at the heart of the political system in Britain and is the legislative body for the UK and British overseas territories. Parliament has two legislative parliamentary bodies, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes three types of members, Bishops from the Church of England, nobility (British honours system)and Law Lords (Judges). Its members are not elected and appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minster. The House of Commons consists of democratically elected Members of Parliament from various different political parties. Elections are held every five years.
Para. 1 - Para.12
Q: How does Gordon Brown put forward his opinion?
His opinion is that Britain needs raising aspiration and changes to meet new needs. Gordon Brown listed several examples that illustrate most people want to change something to reach a higher level, that is to say, Britain is also in great need of changing.
Labour party: British political party, one of the two dominant parties in Great Britain since World War I.
priority: the most important thing that you think needs attention before everything else.
ahead: in front of, in the future.
aspiration:a strong desire to achieve or have something.
entrepreneur：someone who owns a company.
tailored to people’s individual needs: to make the change and standard exactly right for person’s individual need.
address: 针对，解决In the passage, it means “to discuss, think about, or do something about a particular problem, especially with the aim of solving the problem.”
pensioner:领取养老金的人someone who is receiving a pension, a sum of money paid regularly by the government or company to someone who is officially considered to be too old or too ill to earn money by working. anti-social：反社会的anti-social activities show a lack of concern for other people and will possibly cause damage to other people. The prefix anti- means against.
yearn: 渴望 to have a strong desire for something.
tackling extremism: to get rid of terrorism. extremism:极端主义opinions, ideas and actions that most people think are unreasonable and unacceptable.
inescapable: impossible to escape or avoid
champion: 捍卫to publicly fight for or defend an aim or principle.
Para. 13 - Para.17
Q: What are Gordon Brown’s life values?
He grew up with the life values of duty, honesty, hard work, family and respect for others.
lose one’s sight: being unable to see anything.
NHS: National Health Service 国家卫生事业局
Para. 18 - Para.25
Q: What does Gordon Brown mean by“we must have a soul”?
He means that his government will run the country not only through a series of policies but more importantly, with a sense of duty to improve people’s lives and fulfill people’s needs.
conviction politician: a politician with strong beliefs. conviction: a very strong belief or opinion.
the driving power of social conscience: 社会良心的驱动力
a set of: a series of, a group of things that form a whole.
unfulfilled: 未实现的not realized or achieved
injustice: a situation in which people are treated very unfairly and not given their rights. the injustice of slavery.
