Journalists such as Boris Johnson don’t make good prime ministers
想当首相的前记者
广州新闻翻译公司：退欧公投把英国命运交到了两位前记者手中，不是个好兆头。某些擅长“简单化+夸张”的记者很难成为好的治国者。
There was no class of people who felt a colder sense of dread in their stomachs than journalists when the Brexit result put the fate of the UK in the hands of two of their former number, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.
当英国退欧公投的结果把英国的命运交到鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)和迈克尔•戈夫(Michael Gove)的手中，没有哪一类人比记者更由衷地感到一种深深的恐惧了，这两个人正是他们过去的同行。广州新闻翻译公司。
Most journalists are decent, upright seekers after truth, particularly those who write for the Financial Times. But they know, deep down, that many in the trade get by on the strength of making things up as they go along.
大多数记者是正派、诚实的真理追寻者，尤其是为英国《金融时报》撰文的记者。但在内心深处，他们知道，这个行当里有许多人一直都是依靠信口雌黄的能力谋生的。
The first 72 hours of life out of the EU straitjacket were entirely predictable. Having won the referendum on a series of wildly contradictory and nonsensical promises, Mr Johnson initially went to ground and then announced his plan for the future by means of his regular column in the Daily Telegraph. The piece that emerged was meandering, repetitive and hugely at odds with reality. Any journalist would recognise it as something written on deadline by someone way off his beat and out of his depth.
脱出欧盟(EU)桎梏的头72个小时完全是可以预测的。依靠一系列极端矛盾和荒谬的许诺赢得公投后，约翰逊先是潜伏起来，然后通过他在《每日电讯报》(Daily Telegraph)上的定期专栏宣布了他对未来的计划。这篇文章不着边际、重复乏味、和现实极度不符。任何记者都会看出，这是一个人针对自己不熟悉、一窍不通的领域在截稿期前写的东西。广州新闻翻译公司。
Now, it may be perfectly possible for journalists to cast aside their former weaknesses and assume the mantle of responsible statecraft. But the fact that Mr Johnson chose to fill the vacuum of information by means of a badly written comment piece does not bode well.
记者们抛开以前的弱点、承担起治国之责是完全有可能的。但约翰逊选择用一篇糟糕的评论文章填补信息真空，这不是个好兆头。
All journalists know the tricks, even if they do not use them. Simplify, then exaggerate; say things for comic or dramatic effect; when necessary, stretch the truth beyond any reasonable elasticity. Mr Johnson is a master at them all.
所有的记者都知道这套把戏，尽管他们不用。先简单化，再夸大；叙述事情力求达到搞笑或者戏剧性的效果；在有必要的时候，超出合理范围地曲解事实。约翰逊是精于此道的大师。广州新闻翻译公司。
During a stint reporting from Brussels for the Telegraph, Mr Johnson made a name for writing wildly exaggerated stories. Perhaps the most symbolically false was a confident assertion that the Berlaymont building that houses the European Commission would be demolished (it still stands). In other words, he has made a living out of circulating falsehoods about the EU. No one can say they were not warned.
在布鲁塞尔为英国《每日电讯报》做报道期间，约翰逊就因为撰写极度夸大的报道而出了名。可能最具代表性的谬误是他自信地断言欧盟委员会(European Commission)所在的贝尔莱蒙大厦将被拆除（目前这栋大厦依然存在）。换句话说，他靠传播有关欧盟的不实之言谋生。没人能说他们没被警告过。
David Cameron is often referred to as the “essay crisis” prime minister, his first-class honours degree from Oxford university having trained him well in the art of coming up with a semi-plausible argument on the basis of not enough reading. But at least Oxford students are generally given a week to write an essay. The arguments of the Vote Leave campaign have often looked like the kind of thing produced inside two hours by a hack in a hurry to get to lunch.
戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)常被称为“论文危机”首相，他在牛津大学(University of Oxford)获得的一等荣誉学位意味着他在一门艺术上得到了良好训练：即便没有阅读足够多的材料，也能提出让人觉得有几分可信的论点。但至少牛津的学生可以有一周的时间来写一篇论文，而退欧派写的东西呢，看上去常常像是雇佣文人赶着要去吃午饭在两个小时里匆忙炮制出来的。广州新闻翻译公司。
If Mr Johnson becomes prime minister and continues writing his column, the consequences are too horrible to contemplate. Prime Minister’s Question Time will essentially become a matter of referring the honourable gentleman to his piece in that week’s Telegraph.
如果约翰逊当上首相，并继续写他的专栏，后果真是可怕得令人不敢细想。首相问答(Prime Minister’s Question Time)基本会沦为议员们对这位可敬的绅士在当周的《每日电讯报》上撰写的专栏文章的质询。
In succession Britain has managed to cope with a chemist (Margaret Thatcher), an accountant (John Major), a barrister (Tony Blair), a quasi-Presbyterian minister (Gordon Brown) and a PR man (Mr Cameron) as prime minister. But a journalist? You have to draw the line somewhere.
一路走来，英国设法应付了化学家（玛格丽特•撒切尔(Margaret Thatcher)）、会计师（约翰•梅杰(John Major)）、律师（托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)）、准长老会牧师（戈登•布朗(Gordon Brown)）和公关人士（卡梅伦）出身的首相。但一位记者首相？你必须在某个地方划上一条界线。
（编者注：鲍里斯•约翰逊6月30日宣布不参与角逐保守党领袖一职，此文写于约翰逊退选前一天。曾宣称无意竞逐、并信誓旦旦支持约翰逊竞选的迈克尔•戈夫，早于约翰逊露面两个小时前抢先宣布竞逐保守党领袖，被英国媒体称为在约翰逊背后“捅刀”。戈夫也是记者出身。）
