新闻英语：“铁娘子”撒切尔夫人逝世 享年87岁

英语自学网

新东方网英语讯：撒切尔夫人于1979至1990年间担任首相，至今仍是英国史上唯一女首相，更曾获民调肯定为二次世界大战后，英国最伟大首相。撒切尔夫人改变了英国。她不仅让本国的社会秩序发生了革命性变化，也在苏联帝国瓦解后大大重塑了国际政治。她改造了僵化的英国经济，制服了工会，努力“推回政府的边界”，将国企私有化。在国际上赢得了马岛战争，使“撒切尔主义”作为一种政治哲学而得到尊重。>>英国女王与首相卡梅伦 及政界人士纷纷表示致哀。
        　　撒切尔夫人生平简介　当代政界评论　撒切尔夫人风采回忆
        　　>>双语新闻：撒切尔夫人的政治角色
        　　>>双语新闻：撒切尔夫人葬礼定于下周三举行
        　　>>撒切尔夫人名言语录（双语）
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        　　LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87, following a stroke.
        　　Family spokesman Lord Tim Bell said Britain's only female prime minister died peacefully on Monday morning. Within minutes of the announcement, ordinary citizens began to put flowers and condolence notes outside her home in London.
        　　The British government said Thatcher would receive a ceremonial funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral with military honors - a step short of a state funeral - in accordance with the wishes of her family. It said a private cremation would follow later, but provided no details on the timing of the service.
        　　>>《女王》制片商拟将撒切尔夫人搬上荧幕
        　　>>“撒切尔”基因让人每天仅睡4小时（双语）
        　　Thatcher, who was made a baroness by Queen Elizabeth, had a long and controversial career, transforming the British economy and society with her Conservative Party’s anti-union, anti-regulation policies during an 11-year tenure from 1979 to 1990.
        　　She was a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s only woman prime minister, and she held the job longer than anyone else in the 20th Century. When she first came to office, she expressed this hope.
        　　“Where there is discord may we bring harmony, where there is error may we bring truth, where there is doubt may we bring faith and where there is despair may we bring hope,” she said.
        　　But her tenure through three election victories created considerable discord, alienating workers, deregulating health and safety hazards, and splitting her own Cabinet on some issues. She stood firm against militants in Northern Ireland, allowing one of them to starve himself to death in prison.
        　　She supported British membership in the European Union, but insisted on not participating in the open borders agreement and the common euro currency. And she took the country to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
        　　Dignitaries react
        　　On Monday, Queen Elizabeth expressed sadness at Mrs. Thatcher’s death, and approved plans for a ceremonial funeral with full military honors and a procession across London to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
        　　Prime Minister David Cameron, also a Conservative, cut short a visit to Spain and France following the news. He said Monday his country had "lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton."
        　　Cameron said “she did not just lead our country, she saved our country,” and said she will go down in history as “the greatest British peacetime prime minister.”
        　　European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso paid tribute Monday to her "contributions" to the growth of the EU, despite her reservations about its merits.
        　　Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said Thatcher was a "great politician" whose words "carried great weight." The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who held frequent meetings with Thatcher at the end of the Cold War, called her death "sad news."
        　　U.S. President Barack Obama said “the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend.”
        　　Within minutes of the announcement, ordinary citizens began to put flowers and condolence notes outside her home in London. Throughout the city, people were hearing the news as they went out for lunch.
        　　“It is a terrible loss for the UK, but also I think all around the world really," said one citizen. "I think she was an inspirational woman, and I think there will be lots of people affected by this.”
        　　“She took some difficult decisions, was not afraid to put people’s noses out of joint," said another. "And I think a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum respected her for that.”
        　　“I do not think she did more harm than good. I think she did what could with what she had, like most people do. And it was a hard job to do, I would say, especially being a woman,” another citizen added.
        　　Mrs. Thatcher’s supporters and opponents agree that she had a huge impact on Britain, as a pioneering woman in politics and as a transformational prime minister. As with any politician, her legacy will be mixed, but all appear to agree she earned her nickname, the Iron Lady.
            
            

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        　　Changed British politics
        　　Thatcher, who is credited with changing the face of British politics during her three terms as Prime Minister, was married to Denis Thatcher and had two children, a son and daughter - twins.
        　　In her autobiography, Thatcher said her foremost achievement, as prime minister, was to shift British policy from what she called soft socialism to a free-enterprise society.
        　　Five years after leaving office, she told a television interviewer she had also restored Britain's high rank in the world because of her unwavering stand for freedom and liberty. She recalled her decision to send British troops to defend the Falkland Islands in 1982 when Argentine forces invaded the British dependency.
        　　"People knew that we would not tolerate an aggressor. We would not appease an aggressor. So we went down to the Falklands," she recalled. "That was the first time an aggressor had been thrown out in the post war period. So we did turn Britain around to become a great nation again although within much smaller borders in a way because we no longer have an empire. But we got back our self-respect and our reputation."
        　　The same could be said for her condemnation of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Standing next to then U.S. President George Bush at a meeting in the United States, Thatcher did not hesitate to call for military action if necessary to stop Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
        　　Thatcher studied research chemistry and law but soon switched to politics. Margaret Thatcher served as secretary of state for education and science in the 1970s. She quickly rose through Conservative party ranks and became leader of the opposition in Parliament in 1975. She was elected prime minister in 1979.
        　　Thatcher's leadership was controversial at the time. She cut the power of the labor unions, reduced public spending, privatized state-run companies, and moved her centrist Conservative Party farther to the political right.
        　　She never hid her hostility toward the European Union's design for closer economic and political cooperation. Thatcher warned it would rob Britain of its sovereignty.
        　　As the only woman EU leader at the time, Thatcher's trademark became the black handbag she always carried on her arm. Her blunt style and sharp tongue were described as "handbagging."
        　　The term became synonymous with Thatcher tirades against EU leaders trying to forge closer unity.
        　　"You can't just have precisely the kind of leader that you would like. It's a choice between what's on offer," she noted. "Doubtless there were many people for whom I was not the ideal leader, particularly those who wanted to go into Europe much more deeply than I did."
        　　Despite the criticism, the tenacious Margaret Thatcher won landslide victories for second and third terms in office. But her deliberate move to the political right angered many within her own party.
        　　She was ousted as party leader and prime minister in 1990. Thatcher was later made a baroness and appointed to the House of Lords.
        　　In a 1996 speech, Thatcher blamed her party's loss of popularity on a new leadership that she said had betrayed her principles. What works she insisted, is free enterprise, not big government.
        　　She did not hesitate to offer advice to her successor, John Major, as he battled unsuccessfully to keep the Conservative Party in power.
        　　"Never give up power voluntarily," she advised. "If you believe in your message you want to win because you know the message in your hands is likely to be very much more effectively administered than people who now say they agree with it but who never have thought of it in the first place."
        　　Ironically, it was a newly fashioned Labour Party that dumped its socialist rhetoric and adopted the Thatcher strategy to win power in 1997 and put the Conservative Party back in the opposition.
        　　Thatcher refused to sit quietly in the background even in her final years. She was a tireless campaigner for conservative candidates around the country and never hesitated to offer advice and support to the next generation of Conservative Party leaders.
            
            

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        撒切尔夫人简介：
            玛格丽特·希尔达·撒切尔(一般称为撒切尔夫人，英语：Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher)她是英国保守党第一位女领袖，也是英国历史上第一位女首相，她连任三届，任期11年。　　
        　　■牛津毕业
        　　撒切尔夫人原名玛格丽特·罗伯茨，1925年出生于英格兰林肯郡格兰瑟姆。1943年，她进入牛津大学攻读化学学位。
        　　■嫁给富商
        　　1951年12月，她与富商丹尼斯·撒切尔结婚，婚后改用丈夫的姓氏。两人婚姻持续52年，直到丹尼斯2003年6月逝世。
        　　1953年8月，她生下一对双胞胎儿女马克和卡萝尔。
        　　■出任首相
        　　1959年10月，英国保守党赢得选举上台，撒切尔夫人当选保守党议员。1964年，工党胜选上台，但撒切尔夫人再次当选议员。1970年6月，保守党胜选重新上台，撒切尔夫人就任教育和科学大臣。
        　　1979年5月，她率领保守党赢得大胜，由此成为英国历史上首位女首相。此后，撒切尔夫人分别于1983年6月、1987年6月率领保守党两次胜选，成功连任首相。
        　　■被迫辞职
        　　1990年，因保守党内部出现分裂，撒切尔夫人当年11月辞任党首和首相职务。
        　　■终身贵族
        　　1992年，撒切尔夫人受封为终身贵族———凯斯蒂文女男爵，进入议会上议院(贵族院)。
        　　当代政界评论
       
                “撒切尔是自由的捍卫者、全球女性的典范。美国人记得她在冷战期间与里根总统‘肩并肩’，她证明了领导人可以不被历史所裹胁，但可以用道德信念、不屈的勇气以及钢铁意志来塑造历史。”
       
       
                　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——美国总统奥巴马
       
       
                “对于我们的国家，这是一个真正悲伤的日子 ，我们失去了一位伟大的领导人，一位伟大的 首相，一位伟大的英国人。她不只只是领导了 我们的国家，她挽救了我们的国家。我认为， 人们将会认为她是英国有史以来最伟大的首相 ，她的遗产将是她为这个国家提供了杰出的服 务，展现了巨大的勇气。人们将在数十年和数个世纪后知道她的事情。”
       
       
                　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　 　　　　　——英国首相卡梅伦
       
       
                “女王对撒切尔夫人辞世感到悲伤， 女王将向她的家庭发出私人致哀信息。”
       
       
                　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　——白金汉宫
       
       
            
            

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        　　小编：下面我们用一组图片回忆撒切尔夫人的风采吧~

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