奥巴马卡梅伦G20会面 赌球互赠啤酒

US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron toasted the "special relationship" between their two countries Saturday, swapping bottles of beer after a World Cup bet.

The pair, who travelled to Toronto for the G20 summit together in Obama's helicopter after technical issues grounded Cameron's, clinked bottles after their first meeting since Cameron took office last month.

They hailed the "special relationship" between their two countries after exchanging the drinks following a bet on who would win this month's World Cup football game between England and the United States which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Obama presented Cameron with a bottle of Goose Island 312 from his home city of Chicago, while Cameron gave Obama a bottle of Hobgoblin, which is made in his constituency in Oxfordshire, west of London.

"I advised him that in America we drink our beer cold, so he has to put this in the refrigerator before he drinks it," the president joked.

On relations between the two countries, Obama told reporters that he and Cameron had "established a strong working relationship and we are confident that the special relationship is only going to get stronger in the months and years to come."

Cameron agreed, saying: "The relationship between our two countries I think is incredibly strong and I think can get stronger in the years ahead."

Britain is the second-largest contributor of troops to the war in Afghanistan after the United States, but the two did not refer to the recent dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and NATO forces.

Nor did they publicly comment on BP, the British-based oil giant whose actions have drawn sharp criticism in the United States over its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in US history.

美国总统贝拉克．奥巴马和英国首相大卫．卡梅伦于上周六举杯共庆两国间的“特殊关系”，并互赠啤酒，履行两人间的一个“赌球约定”。

这是卡梅伦于上月就任英国首相后与奥巴马的首次碰面。此前由于卡梅伦的专机出现技术故障，他搭乘奥巴马的直升飞机（译者注：从G8峰会现场）一同前往多伦多参加20国集团领导人峰会。

因英格兰和美国队在本届世界杯小组赛中1比1战平，两人在当天的会面中互赠啤酒履行赌约，此外两人在会面中还大赞两国间的“特殊关系”。

奥巴马送给卡梅伦一瓶他老家芝加哥所产的鹅岛312啤酒，卡梅伦则送给奥巴马一瓶他所在的选区、伦敦西部牛津郡产的一种叫做“淘气鬼”的啤酒。

奥巴马开玩笑说：“我跟他说美国人都喝冰镇啤酒，所以建议他在喝之前要把啤酒放在冰箱里冷藏一下。”

在谈及两国关系的问题时，奥巴马告诉记者说他和卡梅伦已经“建立起一种稳固的工作关系，我们相信这种特殊的关系在未来会变得更加牢固。”

卡梅伦对此表示同意，并称：“我认为我们两国间的关系十分牢固，我也认为这种关系在未来几年内还会更加稳固。”

英国是继美国之后向阿富汗派兵最多的国家，但当天两位领导人并未提及最近美军和北约部队总司令斯坦利．麦克里斯特尔被撤职一事。

他们也未公开谈及英国石油公司最近的漏油事件。总部位于英国的石油业巨头英国石油公司在处理墨西哥湾漏油事件上的一些所作所为遭到美国的尖锐指责。这一事件造成美国历史上最严重的环境灾难。

Vocabulary:

ground: to prevent an aircraft from taking off 使停飞；阻止…起飞

constituency: (in Britain) a district that elects its own representative to parliament （英国选举议会议员的）选区