【又中又英】Front and Centre

今天内容可能会涉及敏感词汇，所以不放翻译了。

Democracy was front and centre (center in American English) during the recent meeting by the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies. There are several ways to use the expression "front and centre". It can be someone or something that is easy to notice or see. You can say a handsome man or beautiful woman was front and centre at the party. But it can also mean of the greatest importance. Democracy was front and centre at the G7 leaders' meeting because it was the most important issue discussed. US President Joe Biden made it a front and centre topic at the Cornwall meeting hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Biden used the expression "step up" to stress that free societies must protect democracy. This was what he said: "How we act and whether we pull together as democracies is going to determine whether our grandkids look back 15 years from now and say, 'Did they step up? Are democracies as relevant and powerful as they have been?'" The expression "step up" used this way means to take action when necessary or doing something that is very important. What Biden meant was democracy's future will be decided by what leaders do now. If democratic leaders do nothing or do not "step up", their grandchildren will ask if democracy is as important as it is now.

In the game of baseball "step up to the plate" has a somewhat different meaning. The word "plate" in the game means a five-sided flat white rubber stuck to the ground. It is called the home base. When it's a player's turn to bat, the player must "step up to the plate" by standing next to it to hit the ball thrown by the pitcher. The pitcher is the player with the opposing team who throws or "pitches" the ball to see if the batsman can hit it. Pitchers are skilled at pitching fast or curve balls to make it difficult for the batsman to hit them.