口译双语阅读：欧盟禁止儿童购买圣诞烟花惹争议

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2011:03:17 21:12:54
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

由于欧盟鼓励对“第一类烟花”发放强制令，一些商店被禁止向16岁以下的顾客销售圣诞烟花。这项政策引起很多人的反对。

　　Stores are being banned from selling Christmas crackers to anyone under 16 because an EU inspired diktat classes them as ‘category 1 fireworks’.
　　由于欧盟鼓励对“第一类烟花”发放强制令，一些商店被禁止向16岁以下的顾客销售圣诞烟花。
　　Check-out staff have even been warned they face a 5,000 fine – or up to six months’ jail – if found guilty of selling the ‘dangerous explosives’ to an under-age child.
　　一旦发现向未成年孩子销售危险爆炸物，收款人员将面临5000欧元的罚款，或是最多六个月的监禁。
　　Last night, some critics were left asking if crackers are so hazardous, why are we putting them on the dinner table at all.
　　昨晚，一些批评家询问烟花是否这么危险，那为什么人们还要把它们放在桌子上呢。
　　The cracker was invented in 1847 by Tom Smith, a London baker. It subsequently became a particularly British tradition, so any restriction on sales will be felt more keenly here than elsewhere in Europe.
　　1847年，一位名为Tom Smith的伦敦面包师发明了该类烟花。随后它就变成了英国一个特别的传统，所以任何在销售方面的限制在英国都会感觉比在其它欧洲国家更加敏感。
　　News of the ‘ludicrous’ directive found its way in to the Commons yesterday, where the Prime Minister was asked by Tory MP Michael Ellis to ‘put a firework up the health and safety legislation’.
　　昨天，这条“可笑的”指令到达了英国国会下院，英国保守党议员Michael Ellis提议首相将烟花列入健康与安全法里。
　　In reply, David Cameron seemed to promise action, saying: ‘That would give me enormous pleasure and I look forward to doing so.’
　　戴维卡梅伦似乎表示同意，回复说：“对我来说那将会是一大乐趣，我期待着这么做。”
　　The cracker rules were condemned as ‘particularly daft’, by the British Retail Consortium.
　　英国零销商协会则谴责烟花的规定“特别愚蠢”。
　　They are included in the Pyrotechnic Articles (safety) Regulations of August 2010, which implement an EU directive into British law.
　　它们被写入2010年8月烟火用品(安全)规章中，这是一项将欧盟的指令贯彻进英国法律的规定。
　　The original directive recommended the ban should only apply to anyone under 12, however the UK decided to go for the more draconian limit of 16.
　　原来的指令建议禁止向12岁以下购买者销售烟花，但英国决定将限制调至16岁。
　　Trading standards officers will be monitoring how retailers enforce the law. Cashiers have been told to check the age of any cracker shopper who looks under 16.
　　负责买卖标准的官员将会监测零销商们对这项法律的执行情况。收银员已经被告知核对任何看似低于16岁以下年龄的顾客。
　　Jane Bevis, of the BRC, said: ‘No one wants children to be able to buy things which are dangerous, but extending rules for fireworks to cover the kind of bang provided by a cracker seems particularly daft.
　　英国零销商协会的Jane Bevis说：“没有人希望孩子们买到一些危险的东西，但将这一类烟花写入法律看起来特别愚蠢。”
　　‘It’s vital there is a sensible attitude to enforcement until the Government can reverse this ludicrous restriction.’
　　“直到政府能扭转这类可笑的限制，才是对于执行理性的态度，这是至关重要的。”
　　The regulations add a fresh layer of bureaucracy to doing the shopping. Most retailers already challenge anyone who looks under 25 to prove their age if they are buying alcohol. Others restrict the sale of matches and glue.
　　这样的规章似乎是在人们购物上加了一层新的官僚作风。当消费者购买酒精类饮品时，大多数零售店都会让任何看似低于25岁以下的人证实他们的年龄。而其他的一些规定则限制买卖火柴和胶水。
　　The situation has reached the point where some adults carry their passports to cope with checks.
　　这样的情形已经达到了一些成年人必须随身携带他们护照的时候，从而应付这些检查。