Bilingual News 双语资讯 - 撒切尔夫人：从政坛女强人到孤独老人

撒切尔夫人：从政坛女强人到孤独老人

        英国前首相撒切尔夫人于当地时间8日上午突发中风①，逝世于她生前最喜欢的伦敦丽兹酒店，终年87岁。离世时没有家人陪伴身旁，只有照顾她的医生和看护。据悉，撒切尔的葬礼将于17日在伦敦圣保罗大教堂举行，虽然比国葬次一级，但英女王夫妇届时将会出席②，也算风光。

撒切尔夫人是英国至今唯一③的女首相，她以作风强悍和敢言见称，因而被称为“铁娘子”(Iron Lady)。她曾带领保守党赢得三次大选，在1979至1990年出任英国首相，在位11年，是英国19世纪末期以来连续④在位最长的首相。

 从叱咤风云的政坛女强人到虚弱无助经常失忆的老人，撒切尔夫人饱受病魔折磨，于8日走到人生的尽头。她的多位好友说，心中固然为撒切尔夫人的离世而悲伤⑤，但也为她终于可以解脱而松了一口气，祝她一路走好。
 词语解释 Notes to the Words：
 中风: n. stroke
 出席: v. to attend
 唯一: adj. only
 连续: continuously
 悲伤: adj. sad
 
"Iron Lady" Thatcher Mourned, But Opponents Celebrate

Admirers of Margaret Thatcher on Tuesday mourned the "Iron Lady" who as Britain's longest serving prime minister in the past one hundred years pitched free-market capitalism as the only medicine for her country's crippled economy and the crumbling Soviet bloc.

World leaders past and present, from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. President Barack Obama, led tributes to the grocer's daughter who sought to arrest Britain's decline and helped Ronald Reagan broker an end to the Cold War.

"The world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend," said Obama.

While world leaders praised the most powerful British prime minister since her hero Winston Churchill, the scars of bitter struggles during her rule left Britain divided over her legacy.

Opponents celebrated in London, the English city of Bristol and the Scottish city of Glasgow, cheering her death and toasting to the death of "the witch" with champagne and cider.

Loathed and loved, Thatcher crushed trade unions, privatized swathes of British industry, clashed with European allies and fought a war to recover the Falkland Islands from Argentina.