今日导读
英国和欧洲大陆的友谊小船，说翻就翻。2016 年 6 月 23 日，英国公布了“脱欧”公投的最终结果：“脱欧派”胜出，英国确定脱离欧盟。说到英国人对欧洲的感情，那可是相当复杂，让我们这些外人难以理解。不过，最近据英国《卫报》报道，英国脱欧题材的电视剧已经在拍摄阶段了，而且《神探夏洛克》的男主本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇会担任主演，脱欧影视剧的拍摄是否顺利呢？
带着问题听讲解
Q1: 脱欧神剧是什么性质的剧集？
Q2: battle-hardened是什么意思？
Q3: 谁是脱欧的幕后操控者？
新闻正文
What’s trickier than Brexit? Writing a TV drama about it
还有什么比英国脱欧更加棘手的呢？写一部关于脱欧的电视剧
注：drama：戏剧，剧本
For writers, it seems, penning a play about Brexit in 2018 could prove almost as risky as negotiating the real thing.
对编剧来说，写一部关于 2018 年英国脱欧的剧本简直和脱欧谈判一样风险重重。
It is the divisive issue that will come to define our age, so it’s no surprise that the country’s leading political dramatists are keen to tell the tale of Brexit and speculate on what it will mean. A slew of Brexit-themed dramas are in production this summer, and the writers behind these rival productions face difficulties that go beyond the problem of making the subject entertaining. They have to contend with the way the facts behind the referendum result, and the roles played by the key dramatis personae, keep changing.
脱欧是一项引起分歧的议题，它将会定义我们的时代，所以英国领衔的政治编剧们热衷于描述英国脱欧的故事并推敲其意义，这毫不让人奇怪。大量以脱欧为主题的剧集在今年夏天开拍，这些竞争作品的编剧们面临着许多问题，远远不止如何让这个话题变得有娱乐性。他们还不得不去应对的情况是，公投结果背后的事实和演员们扮演的角色都一直在变。
The production with most at stake is a high-profile Channel 4 thriller, already at the filming stage, with the working title Brexit. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, the backroomstrategist who is said to have shaped the referendum result with his use of personal online data.
最处于成败关头的作品要数一部惊悚片，它备受瞩目，来自第四频道，目前已在拍摄阶段，暂定的名字就叫《英国脱欧》。本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇扮演多米尼克·卡明斯，一位幕后的战略家，据说他通过利用其他人的网上数据左右了公投的结果。
“I’m obviously aware that there might be a level of scepticism in certain quarters about dramatising something so polarising and momentous,” said screenwriter James Graham this weekend. “I take seriously the responsibility of being one of the first out of the gates to represent that campaign and its impact. But I feel confident that, with the access and information we have, this film will be both fair and accurate, while asking tough questions and calling the key figures to account.”
“我清楚地意识到，在一些地方可能有很多关于把这件事改编成电视剧的质疑，毕竟它如此两极化，也事关重大”，编剧詹姆斯.格雷厄姆在本周末表示，“作为第一批越过藩篱，去记述脱欧及其影响的人，我会认真承担这一责任。但我很有自信，通过我们掌握的渠道和信息，这部剧会是公正准确的，剧中会问到很多棘手的问题，并且让主角们去解释这些问题。”
A spokesperson from Channel 4 said it does not expect legal complications to emerge over this “well-researched” drama. The author also said he has not yet “come under any personal pressure”, going on to point out that he is already battle-hardenedby his recent dramatisation of the controversial newspaper magnateRupert Murdoch in his recent stage play, Ink.
第四频道的发言人称，他们并不认为这部精研的剧集会引起法律纠纷。编剧也声称他还没有“面临任何个人压力”，并接着表示他已经像一个久经沙场的老兵，他最近改编了舞台剧 Ink，就是关于颇有争议的报业大亨鲁伯特·默多克的。
————— 文章来源 / 卫报 
重点词汇
tricky /ˈtrɪki/ adj. 棘手的，难办的
pen /pen/ v. 写 这里用名字做动词
speculate
/ˈspekjuleɪt/
v. 推测，推断
slew
/sluː/
n. 大量，许多
dramatis personae
/ˌdræmətɪs pɜːrˈsoʊnaɪ/
n. 戏剧中的所有角色
high-profile
/ˌhaɪ ˈproʊfaɪl/
adj. 备受瞩目的，知名度高的
e.g.
low-profile
low-key
backroom
/ˈbæk rʊm/
adj. 幕后的，秘密的
polarise
/ˈpoʊləraɪz/
v. （使）两极化，（使）对立
momentous
/moʊˈmentəs/
adj. 重大的，重要的
battle-hardened
/ˈbætl hɑːrdnd/
adj. （因久经沙场而显得）老练的
magnate
/ˈmæɡneɪt/
n. 富豪，权贵，大资本家
拓展内容
名词作动词：
cloak: He cloaked his embarrassment with a forced smile.为了掩饰尴尬，他强行露出笑容。
斗篷->遮盖
shield: Please shield me from sorrow and fear of tomorrow.
well构成的复合词：
well-known; well-behaved; well met!
类似battle-hardened的复合词：
tsunami-stricken: a tsunami-stricken island
fire-kissed