??FOR months, as the clock hastuckedtowards a two-year deadline for Britain to leave the
European Union in March 2019, Theresa May’s government has been criticised for being ill-prepared, divided and unrealistic in itsapproach toBrexit. And rightly so. However, this week it took abelatedstep towards reality in the first two ofa series ofBrexit papers, on future customs arrangements and on Northern Ireland. It accepted explicitly, for the first time, that a temporary transition, or interim period, will be necessary to avert a damaging cliff-edge exit in March 2019, and that in thisinterim periodBritain should be in a customs union with the EU.
1） tuck?英 [t?k] ? 美 [t?k] ?vt.<英俚>吃，喝;折疊（衣服的）褶;包起，裹起;擠進?n.鼓聲，喇叭聲;活力，精力;（袖子等上的）褶皺;卷起，蓋住
He?tried?to?tuck?his?flapping?shirt?inside?his?trousers
他設法把飄起的襯衫塞到褲子里。
短語：tuck in?英 [t?k in] ? 美 [t?k ?n] ?盡情吃
tuck away?英 [t?k ??wei] ? 美 [t?k ??we] ?暢飲，大嚼
tuck into?英 [t?k ??ntu?] ? 美 [t?k ??ntu] ?藏進，<口>把食物塞進肚子里，痛快地吃…
2) approach to英 [??pro?t? tu:] ? 美 [??pr??t? tu]接近
I?have?an?analytical?approach?to?every?survey.
對每項調查我都采用分析方法。
3) belated英 [b??le?t?d] ? 美 [b??let?d]adj.過時的;來得很遲的;來得很晚的;陳舊的
Clarissa?and?I?were?on?a?belated?honeymoon?when?I?spotted?this?seafood?restaurant.
克拉麗莎（clarissa）和我正在此地共度我們遲來的蜜月，我偶然看到了這個海鮮餐館。
4) a series of英 [ei ?si?ri:z ?v] ? 美 [e ?s?riz ?v]一系列;一連串
The?students?have?put?forward?a?series?of?questions.
學生們提出了一系列問題。
5) interim period?英 [?int?rim ?pi?ri?d] ? 美 [??nt?r?m ?p?ri?d] ?[財]過渡期
An?interim?period?refers?to?a?reporting?period?which?is?shorter?than?a?full?accounting?year.
中期，是指短于一個完整的會計年度的報告期間。
??That is a big step forward. It is all the more surprising, because it came just days after Philip Hammond, the chancellor,?and Liam Fox, the trade secretary, promised in a newspaper article that, even in an interim period, Britain would be out of the EU’s single market and customs union. The official Brexit paper acknowledges that this may happen eventually, and offers ideas for a new customs regime that, although burdensome and quite possibly impractical, at least tries to minimise the costs to traders (see page 44). Butin the meantimethe paper proposes an interim temporary customs union that will betantamountto staying in the current one. Dr Fox insists that, as is not the case today, he will be able to negotiate free-trade deals with third countries while Britain is in this interim customs union. He is wrong. No trade deal can take effect so long as Britain is in a customs union. And no country will be willing to negotiate the details of any deal until Britain’s own future trade arrangements with the EU are clear.
1) in the meantime?英 [in e? ?mi:ntaim] ? 美 [?n ei ?min?ta?m] ?與此同時;在…期間，同時
I'd?been?doing?some?quiet?investigating?in?the?meantime?and?had?an?ace?up?my?sleeve.
與此同時，我不動聲色地展開了調查，掌握了一張王牌。
2) tantamount?英 [?t?nt?ma?nt] ? 美 [?t?nt??ma?nt] ?adj.相等的，相當的
What?Bracey?is?saying?is?tantamount?to?heresy
布雷西的言論簡直就是異端邪說。
??A transitional period with a temporarycustoms unionwillput offthe problem of how to keep the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic as frictionless as possible. But once Britain leaves the customs union, border controls in some form will surely be necessary. This will damage the island’s economy and destabilise its politics; the Irish government is rightly unhappy. Although the British government’s paperpersists inthe vain search for a technological solution that can magically avoid any border at all, it does at least acknowledge that Brexit will involve significant administrative costs for both parts of the island.
1) customs union?英 [?k?st?mz ?ju:nj?n] ? 美 [?k?st?mz ?junj?n] ?n.關稅聯盟
A?customs?union?would?integrate?the?economies?of?these?countries.
關稅聯盟會把這些國家的經濟緊密結合在一起。
2) put off?英 [put ?f] ? 美 [p?t ?f] ?延期;敷衍;使分心;脫去（衣、帽等）
Women?who?put?off?having?a?baby?often?make?the?best?mothers
晚育的女性經常會成為最優秀的母親。
3) persist in?英 [p??sist in] ? 美 [p??s?st ?n] ?堅持;偏要;執
Mr?Straw?issued?a?stern?warning?to?those?who?persist?in?violence
斯特勞先生向那些堅持進行暴力活動的人發出了嚴正警告。
??Those trade-offs
??The government now needs to build on this new, moresoberapproach. Detail and realism should be the hallmarks of the big Brexit speech that Mrs May plans to give next month. One part of this must be to concede that Britainis bound toface a substantial exit bill, for without this the EU will not be prepared even to talk about trade. And when it comes to these talks, Mrs May must be more open about the compromises they involve. Put crudely, the more control Britain takes back from Brussels, the bigger will be the hit to its trade and thus to Britons’ living standards.
1) sober?英 [?s??b?(r)] ? 美 [?so?b?(r)]?adj.頭腦清醒的，冷靜的;未醉的，沒喝醉的;有節制的;樸素的，素凈的?vt.& vi.（使）冷靜，（使）清醒;使嚴肅
When?Dad?was?sober?he?was?a?good?father.
不喝醉的時候，爸爸是一個好父親。
短語：sober up?英 [?s?ub? ?p] ? 美 [?sob? ?p] ?v.醒酒;清醒起來
2） is bound to英 [iz baund tu:] ? 美 [?z ba?nd tu]勢必會;一定
A?wealthy?man?like?yourself?is?bound?to?make?an?enemy?or?two?along?the?way
像你這樣的有錢人，一路走來注定會結下一兩個仇人的。
??Mrs May also needs to accept that other countries also have politics. Too much of the Brexit debate in London has been internally focused: resolving cabinet disputes, trying to keep Parliament onside, working out what the Labour opposition really wants. In the end, however, the trickiest negotiations will be with the EU 27. Securing the necessary majority in Brussels for an exit deal will be hard enough. But when it comes to transition or, even more crucially, to the ultimate trade arrangements, the other countries must agree unanimously and their parliaments mustratifythe deal. That will take time, probably years, and it will need defter diplomacy than Mrs May’s government has displayed so far. This week’s papers are but a first step towards a more realistic approach to Brexit.
1） ratify?英 [?r?t?fa?] ? 美 [?r?t??fa?] ?v.批準;認可
The?parliaments?of?Australia?and?Indonesia?have?yet?to?ratify?the?treaty.
澳大利亞和印度尼西亞的國會尚未批準該條約。
