英新任領袖首次記者會相互打趣
Britain's new coalition government is a source of some bewilderment in a country used to one-party governments -- but its two leaders seemed determined to see the funny side on Wednesday.
Sketchwriters said Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrat chief Nick Clegg turned their first joint press conference into the "Dave and Nick" show, complete with a jovial, almost matey atmosphere.
After serious pledges on tackling the economy and earnest reassurances that their forced marriage could work, the two men seemed to let their hair down after the five days of tense negotiations since the indecisive election.
One questioner referred to the occasion when Cameron was asked what his favourite political joke was and replied "Nick Clegg".
"I'm afraid I did once," Cameron laughed, his face visibly reddening, and mumbled something about people sometimes having to eat their words.
Clegg, the deputy prime minister, affected to walk away from the lectern, while Cameron jokingly cried out: "Come back!"
Cameron was also asked how the new arrangement would work in practice in the normally brutally adversarial weekly session of questions for the Prime Minister in the House of Commons.
Cameron said: "It'll be different because obviously I'm not going to be answering Nick's questions, but he's going to be answering some of mine."
Turning to a puzzled-looking Clegg, Cameron explained to laughs from the audience: "Well, if I'm not there you're going to be answering my questions... I'm looking forward to a lot of foreign travel."
Cameron reassured journalists that for a by-election later this month sparked by the death of a candidate, both parties would still campaign separately, although he suggested the leaders could travel there together.
英國新組建的聯合政府讓這個已經習慣了一黨攬政的國家感到有些迷茫，但本週三兩位新任領導人似乎決意要一展他們風趣的一面。
時事專欄作家們評論稱，新任首相、保守黨領袖大衛•卡梅倫和自由民主黨領袖尼克·克萊格將他們的首次聯合新聞發佈會變成了一場“大衛、尼克秀”，旨在營造愉快、融洽的氛圍。
除承諾應對經濟難題、保證兩黨的“聯姻”經得起考驗外，兩人在發佈會現場不時地開起了玩笑。而此前，參選各方在大選無果後進行了長達五天的緊張談判。
現場一名記者提到了卡梅倫先前在被問及他最喜歡的政治笑話時回答說“尼克•克萊格”一事。
卡梅倫笑着說：“我恐怕是說過一次。”而此時，他的臉明顯泛紅，含糊不清地說了些有時不得不收回前言的話語。
這時，將出任副首相的克萊格假裝要走下臺，而卡梅倫則開玩笑地衝他大喊：“別走！”
卡梅倫還被問到了新的聯合政府在下議院每週召開的首相質詢會上將如何配合的問題。首相在該質詢會上通常要接受嚴厲尖銳的質詢。
卡梅倫說：“這會有所不同，因爲很明顯我不能替尼克回答問題。但他可以替我回答一些。”
現場的觀衆笑了起來，卡梅倫則轉向一臉迷惑的克萊格解釋道：“噢，如果我不在場的話，你就要幫我回答問題了。所以我希望能經常出訪。”
由於某選區的一名候選人去世，還需在本月末舉行一次補缺選舉。卡梅倫向在場的記者表示稱，兩黨在補缺選舉中仍將分開競選，但他表示可能將與克萊格一同前往。
Vocabulary:
sketch writer: a person who writes a column in a newspaper giving a brief description of political affairs（時事專欄作家）
jovial：marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer（愉快的，友好的）
matey：sociable; friendly（親熱，套近乎）
letone's hair down：to relax; behave informally（放鬆，輕鬆一下）
eat one'swords: to retract one's statement, esp. with humilit（收回前言，認錯道歉）
affect：to give the appearance of; pretend or feign（假裝，裝作）
