A decade ago when London chose its first directly elected mayor some feared擔心 it would become a shallow膚淺 political beauty contest選美比賽. But the idea has taken off起飛. 16 authorities now elect or are about to elect their mayor; ten more British cities are about to decide.
This is Birmingham's so called Council House built with some grandeur富麗堂皇, 高貴 in the nineteenth century to run Britain's second largest city. If voters say yes, they could scrap取消 the traditional council評議會 here and choose an executive執行 mayor市長. But one recent poll suggested the idea is unpopular and voters here remain仍然 divided分歧.
Some experts want to go further進一步, 更遠的 and give mayors control of local health and policing治安, though that remains highly controversial爭議. Many democracies around the world already have directly or indirectly elected mayors and in mainland Europe it's common.
This is Birmingham's so called Council House built with some grandeur富麗堂皇, 高貴 in the nineteenth century to run Britain's second largest city. If voters say yes, they could scrap取消 the traditional council評議會 here and choose an executive執行 mayor市長. But one recent poll suggested the idea is unpopular and voters here remain仍然 divided分歧.
Some experts want to go further進一步, 更遠的 and give mayors control of local health and policing治安, though that remains highly controversial爭議. Many democracies around the world already have directly or indirectly elected mayors and in mainland Europe it's common.
So a 'yes' vote in a large number of British cities could be followed by more; in a decade local government will have been transformed轉變.
this text is from bbc learning english
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/05/120501_witn_britains_mayor_2.shtml
沒有留言:
張貼留言