Margaret Thatcher (nee Margaret Roberts) was born in 1925 in England. Her father owned two local grocery stores, which is where she first developed her business sense. The young Margaret had a strict religious upbringing. She studied chemistry and then law at university. She was Britain’s Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Her tough style earned her the nickname “The Iron Lady”.
1925年，瑪格麗特·撒切爾（本名為瑪格麗特·羅伯茨）出生于英格蘭。父親為當地雜貨店店主，她的商業(yè)頭腦也是從那里起步。她還被教育成了一名嚴謹的宗教教徒。她在大學主攻化學，之后又投身法律。從1979-1990年，她擔任英國首相。因其強硬做派，她被譽為“鐵娘子”。
Thatcher became a politician after winning an election in London in 1959. She served as Britain's Education Secretary from 1970 to 1974. Thatcher became Britain’s first female Prime Minister in 1979. She privatised many of Britain’s state-owned companies and had long battles with labour unions. She lowered taxes and inflation and greatly cut government spending.
1959年，撒切爾在倫敦獲選，并隨即走入政壇。從1970-1974年，她任職教育事務大臣。1979年擔任首相，并成為英國史上第一位女首相。在她的領導下，多數國有企業(yè)變身私有制，并與勞工會爭斗多年。減少稅收，降低通貨膨脹率，大大減少政府開支。
She was very busy with her foreign policy. Britain fought and won the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982. She forged close ties with the USA and had a warm relationship with President Ronald Reagan. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, she became friends with ex-Soviet leader Mikael Gorbachev. She escaped assassination in 1984 when a bomb exploded at a hotel she was staying in.
在外交方面，撒切爾也一直沒有停下腳步。1982年，英國與阿根廷爆發(fā)馬島戰(zhàn)爭，并以英國勝利而結束。她還加深同美國關系，與總統(tǒng)里根關系密切。鐵幕土崩瓦解后，她與前蘇聯(lián)領導人米哈伊爾·戈爾巴喬夫成了朋友。1984年，撒切爾下榻旅店遭炸彈襲擊，她躲過暗殺。
In 1987, Thatcher won a third term in office. However, she was becoming unpopular. Unemployment was high and there were street riots after she announced a Community Tax. Her opposition to closer integration with Europe led to a leadership challenge and in 1990, she resigned. She retired from public speaking in 2002, aged 77. She died on April 8th 2013, aged 87. “Thatcherism” is still a word commonly used in Britain.
1987年，撒切爾第三次連任。然而，如今的撒切爾卻不受大眾歡迎。失業(yè)率居高不下，宣布征收人頭稅之后，全國民眾走上街頭舉行抗議。反對派拉近“英歐”關系，致撒切爾遭受領導力挑戰(zhàn)，1990年撒切爾提出辭呈。2002年，77歲的撒切爾發(fā)表公開演講，并宣布退出政治圈。2013年4月8日，撒切爾去世，享年87歲?！叭銮袪栔髁x”一詞仍在英國廣泛使用。
譯文屬可可英語原創(chuàng)，未經允許，不得轉載。
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