BBC news 2010-01-07 加文本

1.Although many within the Labour Party doubt Mr Brown's leadership qualities, they also seem to think it would only make things worse to get rid of him before the general election.

get rid of摆脱,除掉,扔掉,干掉,消灭

例句：I got rid of his hang-up.
      我解开了他心上的疙瘩不适合。

      Her sadness and worry are difficult to get rid of.
      她的哀愁很难排除。

此外，还有一些单词也表示消灭，消除的意思，下面做一下区分：

abolish, cancel, eliminate, dispose, erase, exclude, extinguish

　　这一组动词都有“取消，除掉”的意思。

　　abolish v.指对法律、习俗、制度的废除；完全破坏。

　　The government abolished the tax on alcohol.政府取消了酒税。

　　cancel v.对预先安排的某种活动(如旅行、计划、会议等)的取消；删去(字、句)。

　　The meeting has been cancelled because of the flu.会议由于流感而取消了。

　　eliminate v.指消除、淘汰已经存在但是现在不需要的东西。

　　The losing team was eliminated from further competition.失利的那个队被淘汰了，不能参加下一阶段的比赛。

　　The doctor helped him eliminate toxins from the intestine.医生帮助他排出肠中毒素。

　　dispose v.处理，处置；表示“除掉、扔掉”时常与of连用。(这一点需要注意。)

　　After your picnic, please dispose of the litter.野餐后请清除掉垃圾。

　　erase v.除去，擦掉，指有意识地除去字迹、声音等。

　　I erased the music on the tape before recording on the tape again.我在往磁带上录音之前先消掉了上面的音乐。

　　exclude v.排斥；排除，不包括在内，与include互为反义词。

　　The restaurant excludes anyone who is not properly dressed from entering.衣冠不整者不得进入该餐馆。

　　extinguish v.熄灭，扑灭(火)；使沉默，使暗淡。

　　Firefighters extinguished a big fire.消防队员扑灭了大火。

2.The Central Bank governor's reluctance to comply probably reflects the fact that Central Bank's reserves are usually meant for stabilizing the value of the national currency.

meant for用于，目的是

例句：This product is meant for educational purposes only.
      这种产品仅针对教育目的。

      My comments were meant for his eyes only.
      我的评论只能给他看。

3.His decision to stand down clears the way for another leading Democrat Richard Blumenthal to run for the seat.

clear the way for为…扫清道路;为…开路

例句：Machines have cleared the way for progress.
      机器排除了进步的障碍。

这个短语和另外一个短语类似:pave the way for为……铺平道路，奠定基础

例句：The election could pave the way for political change.
      选举可能为政局的变化做好了准备。