继位 Succession

Hello, I’m Rob…
你好，我是罗伯。
And I’m Stephen.
我是斯蒂芬。
And this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we’re talking about royalty and succession.
这里是6分钟英语BBC英语学习栏目。今天我们谈论一下皇室和继位。
Succession is the act of taking over the position of King or Queen – and there are certain rules about who can succeed.
继位是指继承国王或皇后的位置的行为，而且能否成功具有一定的规则。
Yes and for the British Royal Family these rules have just changed. We’ll talk a bit more about that soon but as always I like to start the programme with a question. So Stephen, are you ready?
然而英国王室的继承规则正发生了变化。我们接下来会与大家探讨一下，但正如往常一样我想首先问大家一个问题。那么斯蒂芬，你准备好了吗？
I guess so!
是的！
This is a royal question! Can you tell me which King did the current British Queen, Queen Elizabeth the Second, succeed? Was it:a) King George the Fifthb) King George the Sixthc) King Edward the Eighth
这是一个皇室的问题！你能说出当前英国女王伊丽莎白二世是从哪位国王那里继位的么?答案是：a）乔治五世b）乔治六世c）爱德华八世
I think it’s a George and I’m going to guess King George the Sixth
我想应该是乔治，我猜是乔治六世。
OK, well, we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now let’s get back to the subject of royalty and particularly succession. Many people are fascinated by royal families – their every move is analysed because people want to see if they are worthy of their title.
好，那么在节目的最后我们将查看一下你的答案是否正确。现在我们继续回到“皇室和继位”的主题。很多人着迷于皇族，关心他们的一举一动并查看这是否与他们的权位相称。
And people closely watch the princes and princesses because they could one day be the next monarch.
人们密切观察着王子和王妃的进程，因为他们会成为下一个统治者。
A monarch is the person who rules the country – in other words the King or Queen. If the current ruling monarch dies or abdicates, their oldest son or daughter could be their successor.
统治者是统治国家的人，也就是国王或女王。如果当前统治者去世或退位，长子或长女就会成为他们的继承人。
But in the UK, old succession laws meant that it was always the eldest son who would take over the throne, unless of course there is only a daughter, as is the case with the British Queen.
但是在英国，遵循古老的继承法应该是长子继承王位，除非只有一个女儿，就像英国女王这种情况。
So men were always preferred over women in succession simply because of their gender. And many people felt these restrictions were outdated and out of touch with the modern world. But they’ve recently been updated. Let’s hear about these changes from the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy. Listen to what would happen if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – William and Kate – were to have a girl first…
所以说在皇位继承中，总是优先考虑男人而非女人，仅仅因为他们的性别。许多人认为这一限制过于陈旧与当今社会格格不入。但是最近这有所更新。让我们从BBC的邓肯.肯尼迪那里听听这些变化。听听如果剑桥公爵和公爵夫人——威廉和凯特——第一个出生的是女儿会怎样？
Changes to the monarchy as big as this need approval from all 16 realms where the Queen is head of state and now, at the bi-annual meeting of the Commonwealth, agreement has been reached. David Cameron said the changes would end male dominance and that the order of succession to the throne would now depend on the order of birth. Mr Cameron said if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, were to have a girl first, she would one day become Queen. The Prime Minister said the rule banning future monarchs from marrying Catholics would also be scrapped.
君主政体的变化太大了，它需要征得16个作为国家元首的女王的建议，而现在，在每年一度的英联邦会议上，协议已经达成。大卫?卡梅隆说这些变化将会终结男性主导，皇位的继承将取决于出生顺序。卡梅隆先生说，如果剑桥公爵和公爵夫人，威廉和凯特，首先生了一个女儿，那么日后她将成为女王。英国首相表示，禁止未来君主与天主教徒结婚的规定也会取消。
So Duncan Kennedy says these are big changes to the British monarchy. They needed approval, or agreement, from the 16 countries where the Queen is head of state.
所以邓肯.肯尼迪说这些都是英国君主制的极大变革。这需要16个女王统治国家的赞同。
Well approval was given and the order of succession to the throne is now simply down to the order of birth. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, says it would end male dominance.
这获得了赞同，皇位继承顺序现在仅取决于出生的顺序。英国首相大卫?卡梅隆说,它将终结男性主导。
So this means in the future, if William and Kate have a baby girl first, she would one day be Queen.
这意味着在日后，如果威廉和凯特首先生下一个女婴，有一天她将成为女王。
Rob, there was another change to the rules about the monarchy that Duncan Kennedy mentioned?
罗伯，邓肯·肯尼迪提到另一个君主制规则的改变吗？
Yes, it was to a controversial law that banned future monarchs from marrying Catholics. Previously, if they did, they would be ruled out of succession.
是的，禁止未来君主与天主教徒结婚是一个有争议的法令。以前，如果他们这样做，他们就被从继承人中去除。
But they were allowed to marry people from other religions though?
那他们允许与其它宗教教徒结婚么？
That’s right. It seems strange but it’s all to do with the history of the country and an attempt by Parliament to prevent a Catholic monarch. Anyway, the ban on marrying Catholics has now been lifted and Duncan Kennedy can tell us more on this historic change of law…
答案是是的。这似乎很奇怪，但这与国家历史和防止天主教君主产生有关联。无论如何,禁止未来君主与天主教徒结婚的规定现已被解除，邓肯·肯尼迪会告诉我们更多关于这个历史性法律变革的事情。
It’s understood the Queen has given the reforms her full backing. Mr Cameron said it was an historic moment for the monarchy as the changes would sweep aside what he called out-dated rules that don’t make sense anymore. The changes have to be formally approved by all the nations involved with Britain taking the lead in bringing forward legislation.
女王全力支持改革是可以理解的。卡梅伦先生说对于君主制这是一个历史性的时刻，这些变化将会横扫他所谓过时的毫无意义的规则。这一变革需要被所有参与英国率先提出的立法的国家正式批准。
So he calls these changes reforms – and the Queen has given these reforms her full backing.
所以他称这些变化为改革，而且女王权利支持这些改革。
That’s good because David Cameron said the old rules don’t make sense anymore! He calls it an historic moment for the monarchy.
这太棒了因为大卫?卡梅隆表示旧的规则已经没有意义了！他称此为君主制的历史性时刻。
By historic, he means they are important and likely to be seen as important at some point in the future.
他用历史说明这在未来的某一时刻会被视为十分重要。
I’m sure they will be. The changes aim to give the British Royal Family a modern outlook and perhaps it was inevitable after the huge international attention that William and Kate have attracted.
我确定它会的。这一改变的目的是为了给英国皇室的一个现代的前景，也许在威廉王子和凯特吸引了巨大的国际关注之后这便是不可避免的。
So in other words, their popularity around the world has helped these changes happen more quickly.
所以换句话说，他们在全世界受到的欢迎帮助推动了这些变化的产生。
And putting the changes in place – or implementing them - will overturn 300 years of tradition, custom and law. Maybe it will help secure the future of the monarchy for centuries to come. Anyway, it’s time to return to today’s question.
而且这些变化的实现将推翻300年来的传统、习俗以及法律。也许它将帮助确保未来未来几个世纪的国王。无论如何,是时候回到今天的问题上了。
I thought you’d forgotten!
我想你已经忘记了！
Of course not. I asked you, which King did the current British Queen, Queen Elizabeth the Second, succeed. Was it:a) King George the Fifthb) King George the Sixthc) King Edward the Eighth
当然没有。我的问题是，当前英国女王伊丽莎白二世是从哪位国王那里继位的。答案是：a）乔治五世b）乔治六世c）爱德华八世
And I said King George the Sixth.
我选择的答案是乔治六世。
You are right. The answer is King George the Sixth. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter Elizabeth when he died in 1952. Queen Elizabeth the Second has been on the throne ever since – that’s almost 60 years. OK Stephen, would you mind reminding us of some of the vocabulary that we’ve heard today?
你答对了。正确答案是乔治六世。他在1952年去世之后由他的长女伊丽莎白继位。伊丽莎白二世女王从那时起在位，已经有近60年了。斯蒂芬，你介意提醒我们一下今天提到的一些词汇吗?
Sure. We’ve had…successionmonarchabdicatesoutdatedapprovaldominanceruled outhistoricreformsimplementing
好的。我们还有...继位君主退位过时的批准统治取消历史性改革执行
Thanks Stephen. Well we hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme, and you’ll join us again soon for another 6 Minute English.
谢谢你，斯蒂芬。希望您能喜欢今天的节目，并再次收听我们的6分钟英语节目。
Bye!
再见！