Level 5-Day 21.Margaret Thatcher 'Against European Unity' (2)

词汇提示

1.manifestation 表现

2.arid 乏味的

3.chronicle 编年史

原文

Margaret Thatcher: 'Against European Unity' (2)

All these things alone are proof of our commitment to Europe's future.

The European Community is one manifestation of that European identity.

But it is not the only one.

We must never forget that east of the Iron Curtain peoples who once enjoyed a full share of, European culture, freedom and identity have been cut off from their roots.

We shall always look on Warsaw, Prague and Budapest as great European cities.

Nor should we forget that European values have helped to make the United States of America into the valiant defender of freedom which she has become.

This is no arid chronicle of obscure facts from the dust-filled libraries of history.

It is the record of nearly two thousand years of 'British involvement in Europe,cooperation with Europe and contribution to Europe, a contribution which today is as valid and as strong as ever.

Yes, we have looked also to wider horizons -as have others -and thank goodness for that, because Europe never would have prospered and never will prosper as an arrow-minded, inward-looking club.

The European Community belongs to all its members.

It must reflect the traditions and aspirations of all its members.

And let me be quite clear.

Britain does not dream of some cosy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community.

Our destiny is in Europe, as part of the Community.

That is not to say that our future lies only in Europe.

But nor does that of France or Spain, or indeed any other member.

The Community is not an end in itself.

Nor is it an institutional device to be constantly modified according to the dictates of some abstract intellectual concept.

Nor must it be ossified by endless regulation.

The European Community is the practical means by which Europe can ensure the future prosperity and security of its people in a world in which there are many other powerful nations and groups of nations ...

To try to suppress nationhood and concentrate power at the center of a European conglomerate would be highly damaging and would jeopardize the objectives we seek to achieve.

Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions and identity.

It would be folly to try to fit them into some sort of identikit European personality.

翻译

玛格丽特·撒切尔:“反对欧洲统一”(2)

所有这些都证明了我们对欧洲未来的承诺。
欧洲共同体是这种欧洲特性的一种表现。
但它不是唯一的。
我们绝不能忘记，在铁幕以东，曾经充分享有欧洲文化、自由和身份的人民已被切断了与他们的根源的联系。
我们将永远把华沙、布拉格和布达佩斯视为伟大的欧洲城市。
我们也不应忘记，欧洲的价值观曾帮助美利坚合众国成为自由的勇敢捍卫者。
这本书并不是对尘封的历史图书馆里的晦涩事实的枯燥编年史。
它记录了近两千年来英国对欧洲的参与、与欧洲的合作以及对欧洲的贡献，这种贡献在今天依然有效，一如既往地强大。
是的，我们和其他国家一样，也看到了更广阔的视野，谢天谢地，因为作为一个目光短浅、内向的俱乐部，欧洲永远不会繁荣，也永远不会繁荣。
欧洲共同体属于其所有成员。
它必须反映其所有成员的传统和愿望。
让我把话说清楚。
英国并不梦想成为欧共体边缘的舒适、孤立的存在。
作为共同体的一部分，我们的命运在欧洲。
这并不是说我们的未来只在于欧洲。
但法国、西班牙或其他任何成员国也没有。
共同体本身并不是目的。
它也不是一种根据某些抽象知识概念的指令不断修改的制度手段。
它也不能因无休止的监管而僵化。
欧洲共同体是欧洲在一个有许多其他强国和国家集团的世界上确保其人民未来繁荣和安全的实际手段……
试图压制国家地位并将权力集中在一家欧洲企业集团的中心，将具有极大的破坏性，并将危及我们寻求实现的目标。
欧洲将变得更加强大，正是因为法国还是法国，西班牙还是西班牙，英国还是英国，每个国家都有自己的习俗、传统和身份。
试图让他们融入某种欧洲人的个性是愚蠢的。