BBC news 2009-06-06 加文本

1.The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defied calls for him to stand down, insisting that he would in his words “fight on”.

in his words表示引用。之前学过的表示引用某人的话的表述方法还有：cited sb as saying;as sb put it.

2. Mr. Brown has been reshuffling his cabinet after five more ministers resigned from his government on Friday and local elections resulted in big losses for the governing Labour Party.

result in结果，导致

The systematic organization of the larger teams will result in better efficiency.
构建大组制体系有利于提高效率。

3.He acknowledges that Labour has suffered a painful defeat, but says the current political crisis fueled by the scandal over politicians’ expenses was a test of everyone’s nerves.

fueled by这个说法很形象，类似于汉语里的雪上加霜，火上浇油的意思。以后如果要表达这个意思，记住，只要用一个简单的词fuel就可以了。

4.I’m certain of what is at stake, not just for Labour, but for Britain.

at stake=at risk危如累卵, 在危险中

If the security of my country is at stake I will give my life to protect it.
如果国家的安全受到威胁，我会不惜付出生命来保护它。

5.The protesters were opposing government plans to open up their ancestral lands for oil and gas exploration.

open up展开, 给...开刀, 打开, 开发, 开办, 展示, 开始

If the agreement is to succeed, the EU must open up its markets.
如能达成协议，欧盟必须开放其市场。