2004年6月英语四级 - 阅读理解D

It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip co Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross's campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. "I knew the statistics," she said. "But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13- year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her."
1997年，威尔士王妃戴安娜前往安哥拉，支持红十字会全面禁止所有杀伤性地雷的运动，这让人感到意外。在抵达安哥拉的几个小时内，世界各地的电视屏幕上都是她安慰在地雷爆炸中受伤的受害者的画面。“我知道统计数字，”她说，“但面对这些数字，我意识到了现实；就像我遇到了失去一条腿的13岁女孩桑德拉，以及像她这样的人。”

The Princess concluded with a simple message: "We must stop landmines". And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.
王妃最后简单地说：“我们必须禁止地雷”。她利用访问期间的每一个机会重复这一信息。

But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as "very ill-informed" and a "loose cannon.”
但是，回到伦敦，英国政府的一些成员并不认同她的观点，他们拒绝支持禁止这些武器。愤怒的政客在媒体上对王妃发起攻击。他们形容她“见识不足”，是个“乱放炮的人”。

The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: "This is a distraction we do not need. All I'm trying to do is help."
王妃对这些批评置之不理：“我们不需要这些干扰。我所要做的就是提供帮助。”

Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess's trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government's policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.
反对党、媒体和公众立即表示支持王妃。令政府雪上加霜的是，王妃的访问很快就得到了外交部的批准，事实上，她对安哥拉局势和英国政府的地雷政策都非常了解。结果令政府十分尴尬。

To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess's views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was "working towards" a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was "a misinterpretation or misunderstanding."
为了试图限制损失，外交大臣马尔科姆·里夫基德声称，王妃对地雷的看法与政府政策没有太大区别，政府正在“努力”在全球范围内禁止地雷。国防部长迈克尔·波蒂略声称，这件事件是“误会”。

For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.
对王妃来说，访问这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家是一个极好的机会，可以利用她的声望向世界展示地雷会造成多大的破坏和痛苦。她说，这段经历也让她有机会更接近他们和他们的问题。