Introduction

Thousands of women have signed up with 50:50 Parliament to register their interest in standing as an MP (Member of Parliament) in the UK. What's inspiring them to get involved? Sam and Georgina discuss the engagement of women in politics and teach you related vocabulary.

This week's question

Which country has the highest percentage of women in its parliament? Is it:

a) Rwanda

b) Sweden

c) New Zealand

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Sam

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Sam.?

Georgina

And I'm Georgina.?

Sam

How do you do feel about politics, Georgina??

Georgina

Well, there’s a lot around at the moment!?

Sam

Yes, indeed!?

Georgina

One thing I would like to see in politics, particularly British politics, is more women in parliament. About 34% of our MPs are women, which is the highest it’s ever been, but it’s still not close to 50%.?

Sam

In order to be elected though, you first have to?stand, don’t you??

Georgina

Yes, we use the verb?stand?when you are a candidate someone can vote for.?

Sam

Women in politics is our topic today. Before we get into it, today’s question. Which country has the highest percentage of women in its parliament? Is it:

a) Rwanda

b) Sweden

c) New Zealand

What do you think, Georgina?

Georgina

I’m not sure. I know New Zealand was one of the first countries to allow women to vote and they currently have a female prime minister – but I think it’s actually an African country. So I’m going to say Rwanda.?

Sam

OK. We’ll see if you’re correct at the end of the programme. There are a number of projects in the UK at the moment trying to get more women interested in?standing forparliament. One of these is the campaign ‘sign-up-to-stand’ from an organisation called 50:50 Parliament. Lucrece Grehoua is someone who has taken up that challenge and is hoping to?stand?in upcoming elections. She was a guest on the BBC Radio programme Woman’s Hour. She wasn’t always interested in politics, though. How does she describe it??

Lucrece Grehoua

I didn’t really?see myself?in the Houses of Parliament. When we see it on TV it looks extremely boring, politics looks boring, especially as a young person and so when I saw that 50:50 Parliament were including women and including young women, including a diverse range of young women, I thought ‘wow, this is really for me and it can be for me’. So I decided to #signuptostand. Ever since I’ve just been excited at?the prospect of?me?standing for?parliament.

Sam

What was her original feeling about politics??

Georgina

Boring! She thought it was boring, particularly as a young person. In fact she couldn’t?see herself?as a politician. She couldn’t imagine herself doing it.?

Sam

She says that she is now excited at the?prospect of?standing. What does she mean by that??

Georgina

The?prospect of?something is the possibility of something. So before, she thought it was boring, now she’s excited at the possibility that she could be a member of parliament.?

Sam

So, what was it that made her change her mind and think that politics wasn’t so boring after all? Here’s Lucrece Grehoua again.?

Lucrece Grehoua??

I think everybody has a politician within them because we all get anger about something but unfortunately when we see it, it’s all?jargon, it’s not very… words that we can understand. Even just as a working class person who hasn’t, you know, been to a private school and who’s come from?a disadvantaged background?and so I realised politics is for absolutely everybody, it’s just the way that you speak about it has to be?tailored?to everyone.?

Sam

One of the things she didn’t like about politics was the?jargon.?

Georgina

Well, no one likes?jargon, do they??Jargon?is the very specific language and vocabulary relating to a particular profession. Inside the profession people know what it means, but from outside it can seem very complicated and confusing.?

Sam?

Lucrece said she came from a?disadvantaged background. This means that when she was growing up her family didn’t have very much money and that made life and study very difficult.?

Georgina

But even though, or maybe because, she came from a?disadvantaged background?she has become interested in politics and thinks that it can be something for everyone, but rather than use?jargon?you have to?tailor?the way you speak for everyone. To?tailorsomething is to make it fit – in the same way that a tailor makes clothes fit, you can?tailoryour language to make it easy for everyone to understand. And one way to do that is to cut out the?jargon!?

Sam

That’s just about all we have time for today. But before we review the vocabulary, it’s time to get the answer to today’s quiz question. Which country has the highest percentage of women in its parliament? Is it:

a) Rwanda

b) Sweden

c) New Zealand

Georgina, what did you say??

Georgina

I made an educated guess of Rwanda.?

Sam

An educated guess and a correct guess. Well done. And well done to everyone else who got that right too! According to 2019 figures, Rwanda’s parliament has over 60% women MPs. Go Rwanda! OK, let’s remind ourselves of today’s vocabulary.?

Georgina

Of course. To?stand?is the verb we use when someone is a candidate in an election – when someone?stands for?election you can vote for them.?

SamIf you can?see yourself?as something, it means that you can imagine yourself doing that thing.?

Georgina

The?prospect of?something, is the possibility of something, so for example, the?prospect of?becoming an MP is something that excites Lucrece.?

Sam

Something that we all hate, except when we use it ourselves, is?jargon. Words and language that are very specific to a particular job and which are difficult for people outside that profession to understand.?

Georgina

People who grow up without enough money and without access to education can be said to come from a?disadvantaged background.?

Sam

And finally, to?tailor?something is to change it to make it suitable for a particular purpose.?

Georgina

So for example, if you want to make politics accessible for more people, you have to tailor your language and cut out the?jargon.?

Sam

Indeed! Well, it’s time for us to go now, but do join us again soon. Bye for now.?

Georgina

Bye!

Vocabulary

to stand

to be a candidate in an election?

to see yourself?(doing something)

to imagine that it is possible for you to do something?

the prospect of

the possibility of?

jargon

vocabulary and expressions related to a particular job?

a disadvantaged background

growing up in a family situation without much money?

to tailor?(what you say)

to change (how you speak) to make it suitable for a particular group

雙語(yǔ)版Transcript

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Sam.

大家好，這里是六分鐘英語(yǔ)，我是薩姆。

And I'm Georgina.

我是喬治娜。

How do you do feel about politics, Georgina?

你對(duì)政治有什么看法，喬治娜？

Well, there's a lot around at the moment!

嗯，現(xiàn)在關(guān)于政治的東西周?chē)泻芏啵?/p>

Yes, indeed!

是的，的確！

One thing I would like to see in politics, particularly British politics,is more women in parliament.

我在政界會(huì)看到的一件事是，特別是英國(guó)政界，有更多女性進(jìn)入議會(huì)。

About 34% of our MPs are women, which is the highest it's everbeen,?but it's still not?close to 50%.

大約34%的國(guó)會(huì)議員是女性，這是有史以來(lái)的最高比例，但它仍不到50%。

In order to be elected though, you first have to stand, don't you?

然而為了當(dāng)選，你首先得參加競(jìng)選，不是嗎？

Yes, we use the verb stand when you are a candidate someone can vote for.

是的，當(dāng)你是某人可以投票選舉的候選人時(shí)，我們用動(dòng)詞"參加競(jìng)選"。

Women in politics is our topic today.

政界女性是我們今天的主題。

Before we get into it, today's question.

在我們深入討論這個(gè)話題之前，是今天的問(wèn)題。

Which country has the highest percentage of women in its parliament?

哪個(gè)國(guó)家的議會(huì)中女性比例最高？

Is it: a) Rwanda, b) Sweden, or c) New Zealand?

是a)盧旺達(dá)，b)瑞典，還是c)新西蘭？

What do you think, Georgina?

你覺(jué)得呢，喬治娜？

I'm not sure.

我不確定。

I know New Zealand was one of the first countries to allow women to voteand they currently have a female prime minister,?but I think it's actuallyan African country.

我知道新西蘭是最先允許女性進(jìn)行選舉的國(guó)家之一，而且目前該國(guó)有一位女總理，但我認(rèn)為議會(huì)中女性比例最高的國(guó)家實(shí)際上是一個(gè)非洲國(guó)家。

So I'm going to say Rwanda.

所以我說(shuō)是盧旺達(dá)。

OK. We'll see if you're correct at the end of the programme.

好的。我們將在節(jié)目最后看看你是否正確。

There are a number of projects in the UK at the moment trying to get morewomen interested in standing for parliament.

目前英國(guó)有很多項(xiàng)目試圖讓更多女性對(duì)參加議會(huì)競(jìng)選感興趣。

One of these is the campaign 'sign-up-to-stand' from an organisationcalled 50:50?Parliament.

其中之一是名為"議會(huì)男女比例一比一"的組織發(fā)起的"報(bào)名參加競(jìng)選"活動(dòng)。

Lucrece Grehoua is someone who has taken up that challenge and is hopingto stand in upcoming elections.

魯克麗絲·?戈魯斯基亞已經(jīng)接受了挑戰(zhàn)，并希望參加即將到來(lái)的競(jìng)選。

She was a guest on the BBC Radio programme Woman's Hour.

她是BBC廣播節(jié)目《女性時(shí)間》的嘉賓。

She wasn't always interested in politics, though.

不過(guò)，她并不是一直都對(duì)政治感興趣。

How does she describe it?

她是怎么形容的？

I didn't really see myself in the Houses of Parliament.

我真的沒(méi)想象過(guò)自己進(jìn)入議會(huì)大廈。

When we see it on TV it looks extremely boring, politics looks boring,especially as ayoung person,?and so when I saw that 50:50 Parliament wereincluding women,?and including young women,?and including a diverserange of young women,?I thought 'wow, this is really for me and it can befor me'.

當(dāng)我們?cè)陔娨暽峡吹阶h會(huì)時(shí)，它看起來(lái)非常無(wú)聊，政治看起來(lái)很無(wú)聊，尤其是作為一個(gè)年輕人，當(dāng)我看到"議會(huì)男女比例一比一"包括女性，包括年輕女性，包括各種各樣的年輕女性時(shí)，我就想"哇，這真是為我準(zhǔn)備的，很適合我"。

So I decided to #signuptostand.

所以我決定參加"報(bào)名參加競(jìng)選"活動(dòng)。

Ever since I've just been excited at the prospect of me standing forparliament.

從那以后，我就對(duì)自己有參加議會(huì)競(jìng)選的可能感到興奮。

So what was her original feeling about politics?

那么她對(duì)政治最初的感覺(jué)是什么？

Boring! She thought it was boring, particularly as a young person.

無(wú)聊！她認(rèn)為那很無(wú)聊，尤其是作為一個(gè)年輕人。

In fact she couldn't see herself as a politician.

事實(shí)上，她沒(méi)想象過(guò)自己是一個(gè)政客。

She couldn't imagine herself doing it.

她無(wú)法想象自己會(huì)成為政客。

She says that she is now excited at the prospect of standing.

她說(shuō)她現(xiàn)在對(duì)自己有參加競(jìng)選的可能感到很興奮。

What does she mean by that?

她那么說(shuō)是什么意思？

The prospect of something is the possibility of something.

某事的前景就是某事的可能性。

So before, she thought it was boring,?now she's excited at thepossibility that she could be a member of parliament.

所以以前，她認(rèn)為那很無(wú)聊，現(xiàn)在她對(duì)自己有成為國(guó)會(huì)議員的可能感到興奮。

So, what was it that made her change her mind and think that politicswasn't so boring after all?

所以是什么讓她改變了觀點(diǎn)并認(rèn)為政治并不是那么無(wú)聊？

Here's Lucrece Grehoua again.

再聽(tīng)聽(tīng)魯克麗絲·戈魯斯基亞是怎么說(shuō)的。

I think everybody has a politician within them because we all get angerabout something,?but unfortunately when we see it, it's all jargon, it'snot very… words that we can understand.

我認(rèn)為每個(gè)人心中都是一個(gè)政治家，因?yàn)槲覀兌紩?huì)對(duì)某事感到憤怒，但不幸的是，當(dāng)我們了解這件事時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)它全是行話，并不是我們能理解的詞匯。

Even just as a working class person who hasn't, you know, been to aprivate school and who's come from a disadvantaged background,?and so Irealised politics is for absolutely everybody,?it's just the way that youspeak about it has to be tailored to everyone.

更甚說(shuō)只是一個(gè)沒(méi)有上過(guò)私立學(xué)校的工人階級(jí)的人，一個(gè)來(lái)自貧困家庭的人，所以我意識(shí)到政治絕對(duì)是針對(duì)每個(gè)人的，只是你談?wù)撜蔚姆绞奖仨氝m合每個(gè)人。

One of the things she didn't like about politics was the jargon.

政治讓她不喜的地方之一就是行話。

Well, no one likes jargon, do they?

沒(méi)有人喜歡行話，是吧？

Jargon is the very specific language and vocabulary relating to aparticular profession.

行話是與特定職業(yè)相關(guān)的特定語(yǔ)言和詞匯。

Inside the profession people know what it means,?but from outside itcan seem very complicated and confusing.

行業(yè)內(nèi)的人知道它是什么意思，但行外人看來(lái)，它似乎非常復(fù)雜，令人困惑。

Lucrece said she came from a disadvantaged background.

魯克麗絲說(shuō)她來(lái)自貧困家庭。

This means that when she was growing up her family didn't have very muchmoney and that made life and study very difficult.

這意味著，在她成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程中她家沒(méi)有很多錢(qián)，那使得生活和學(xué)習(xí)非常困難。

But even though, or maybe because she came from a disadvantagedbackground,?she has become interested in politics and thinks that it canbe something for everyone,?but rather than use jargon you have to tailorthe way you speak for everyone.

但即便如此，或許是因?yàn)樗齺?lái)自貧困家庭，她對(duì)政治有了興趣，并認(rèn)為每個(gè)人都可以成為政客，但你必須調(diào)整自己的說(shuō)話方式，而不是使用行話。

To tailor something is to make it fit – in the same way that a tailormakes clothes fit,?you can tailor your language to make it easy foreveryone to understand.

調(diào)整某事就是讓它適合——就像裁縫讓衣服合身一樣，你可以調(diào)整你的語(yǔ)言讓每個(gè)人都容易理解。

And one way to do that is to cut out the jargon!

其中一種方法就是去掉行話！

That's just about all we have time for today.

以上就是我們今天的全部?jī)?nèi)容。

But before we review the vocabulary, it's time to get the answer totoday's quiz question.

但是在我們回顧詞匯之前，是時(shí)候揭曉今天問(wèn)題的答案了。

Which country has the highest percentage of women in its parliament?

哪個(gè)國(guó)家的議會(huì)中女性比例最高？

Is it: a) Rwanda, b) Sweden, or c) New Zealand?

是a)盧旺達(dá)，b)瑞典，還是c)新西蘭？

Georgina, what did you say?

你說(shuō)是什么，喬治娜？

I made an educated guess of Rwanda.

我據(jù)理推測(cè)是盧旺達(dá)。

An educated guess and a correct guess.

據(jù)理推測(cè)并且猜對(duì)了。

Well done.

做得很好。

And well done to everyone else who got that right too!

其他做對(duì)了的人也很棒??！

According to 2019 figures, Rwanda's parliament has over 60% women MPs.

根據(jù)2019年的數(shù)據(jù)，盧旺達(dá)的議會(huì)中有60%以上的女性議員。

Go Rwanda!

選盧旺達(dá)！

OK, let's remind ourselves of today's vocabulary.

好的，讓我們回顧一下今天的詞匯。

Of course.

當(dāng)然。

To stand is the verb we use when someone is a candidate in an election.

"參加競(jìng)選"是當(dāng)某人是選舉候選人時(shí)我們所使用的動(dòng)詞。

When someone stands for election you can vote for them.

當(dāng)某人參加競(jìng)選時(shí)，你可以投票支持他們。

If you can see yourself as something, it means that you can imagineyourself doing that thing.

如果你能想象自己是某類(lèi)人，那指的是你能想象自己在做那類(lèi)事。

The prospect of something is the possibility of something,?so forexample, the prospect of becoming an MP is something that excites Lucrece.

某事的前景是某事的可能性，例如，成為議員的可能性是讓魯克麗絲興奮的事情。

Something that we all hate, except when we use it ourselves, is jargon.

我們都討厭的東西就是行話，除了我們自己用的時(shí)候。

Words and language that are very specific to a particular job,?andwhich are difficult for people outside that profession to understand.

它是針對(duì)特定工作的詞匯和語(yǔ)言，對(duì)行外人來(lái)說(shuō)它很難理解。

People who grow up without enough money and without access to educationcan be said to come from a disadvantaged background.

那些成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程中沒(méi)有足夠的錢(qián)，沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)接受教育的人可以說(shuō)是來(lái)自貧困家庭。

And finally, to tailor something is to change it to make it suitable for aparticular purpose.

最后，調(diào)整某事物就是改變它，使它適合于特定用途。

So for example, if you want to make politics accessible for morepeople,?you have to tailor your language and cut out the jargon.

例如，如果你想讓更多的人接觸到政治，你必須調(diào)整你的語(yǔ)言，去掉行話。

Indeed!

確實(shí)！

Well, it's time for us to go now, but do join us again soon.

好了，現(xiàn)在是時(shí)候結(jié)束我們的節(jié)目了，下次再見(jiàn)。

Bye for now.

再見(jiàn)啦。

Bye!