BBC英国史

What followed in 1640 was a breakdown of deference of frightening magnitude.

在1640年 接踵而来的 是大规模的令人恐慌的信任危机

Officers were being attacked by their own men.

军官被自己手下的人所攻击

The latest round of fighting with the Scots was a disaster.

和苏格兰的最后一战异常惨烈

Newcastle, with its priceless coal, was captured.

享有无数珍宝的纽卡斯尔被占领

To get it back, to get the Scots out of England,Charles needed cash fast.

为了收复失地 为了将苏格兰人赶出英国 查理急需资金

He had no choice now, he would have to re-open parliament.

他已走投无路 只能重新召开议会

There'd never be a better opportunity for John Pym and his fellow parliamentary leaders to rein in the king.

这对于想要遏制王权的约翰·皮姆 和他的议会同僚来说简直是天赐良机

Pym had discovered,whether he understood the word or not, the elixir of revolution.

皮姆发现 无论他是不是理解什么叫做"万能革命"

Yesterday's truism,obey the king is tomorrow's bad joke.

昨日的真实"效忠国王" 会变成明日蹩脚的笑话

Yesterday's unthinkable,abolish all bishops seems to be tomorrow's necessity.

而昨日不可想象的"取缔教权" 看上去会变成明日的必然

All around London were enormous seething crowds,practically laying siege to Westminster.

伦敦周边人声鼎沸 几乎变成了对威斯敏斯特的围攻

John Pym's demands were simple and blunt:

约翰·皮姆的要求简单而直接

No taxes ever without parliament's say-so,parliaments to be elected every three years,

赋税征收必须获得议会许可 议会每三年选举一次

and most decisively of all, looking right into Charles's eyes,

其中直指查理的一项是

no parliament, especially not this one,could be dissolved without its own consent.

所有议会 特别是本届议会 未经议会本身同意不得随意解散

When Charles, through gritted teeth, conceded,it was the destruction of the absolute monarchy.Or was it?

查理咬牙接受这些要求 意味着君主绝对权力的丧失 是否还有转机呢

The king still had one card he could play that Catholic army that Wentworth,the Earl of Strafford, had raised in Ireland.

国王手中仍有最后一张牌 斯特拉福德伯爵温特沃斯 在爱尔兰集结的天主教军队

词汇解析

1、breakdown

（关系的）破裂；（计划、讨论等的）失败，结束

the breakdown of talks between the US and EU officials.

美国和欧盟官员间谈判的破裂

the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage.

无法挽回的婚姻破裂

神经衰弱；精神崩溃

My personal life was terrible. My mother had died, and a couple of years later I had a breakdown.

我个人的生活一团糟。母亲去世了，几年后我又患上了神经衰弱。

They often seem depressed and close to emotional breakdown.

他们经常显得很沮丧，精神濒于崩溃的边缘。

（汽车或机器的）故障，损坏

Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns.

她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。

If you stop on the hard shoulder, wait for the police or breakdown service.

如果你的车坏在路肩上了，就得等警察或修理站来帮忙。

2、discover

发现(以前不知道的事实)

She discovered that they'd escaped.

她发现他们已经逃跑了。

I discovered I was pregnant.

我发现自己怀孕了。

(第一个)发现

the first European to discover America.

第一个发现美洲大陆的欧洲人

In the 19th century, gold was discovered in California.

19 世纪时，在加利福尼亚发现了金子。

发现，发掘(不为人所知的演员、音乐人等艺人)

The Beatles were discovered in the early 1960's.

甲壳虫乐队于20世纪60年代初为世人所知。