✸✸TO ANYONE outside Italy it may seem unthinkable. But the hottest political topic in a searing Italian summer is the expectedresurrectionof Silvio Berlusconi.Ejected fromoffice by his own lawmakers in 2011, and convicted of tax fraud two years later, the TV and property magnate turned-politician will be 81 next month. Stillderidedfor hosting Bacchic “Bunga Bunga” parties while running the country, Mr Berlusconi is due to go on trial, charged with bribing his young female guests to perjure themselves in earlier proceedings. Yet, as one commentator noted, on his return from the summer recess in September, modern Italy’s longest-serving prime minister can expect to be “treated with respect by all”.
1） resurrection 英 [ˌrezəˈrekʃn] 美 [ˌrɛzəˈrɛkʃən] n.<宗>耶稣复活;使复活者;恢复使用;<宗>（最后审判日）所有死者的复活 adj.复活的，复兴的
Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the death.
基督教徒们庆祝耶稣基督的复活。
2） eject from 用力将…从（某处）投[喷]出;将（某人）从（某处）开除[逐出]
I saw the volcano vomit black smoke. expel or eject from the mouth.
我看到火山口喷出黑烟。从口里吐出或喷出东西。
3） deride 英 [dɪˈraɪd] 美 [dɪˈraɪd] vt.嘲弄;嘲笑，愚弄
Opposition MPs derided the Government's response to the crisis
反对党议员嘲弄政府针对危机作出的反应。
✸✸Why? Mr Berlusconi’s party, Forza Italia, has barely crept back from the low point it hit two years ago when it was winning only 10% of the national vote in polls and was overtaken by the Northern League. Forza Italia still trails the moreradical, populist League, and faces a new threat from its leader, Matteo Salvini, said to be planning to consolidate his leadership of the Italian right by changing his party’s name to give it nationwide appeal.
1） radical 英 [ˈrædɪkl] 美 [ˈrædɪkəl,'rædɪkḷ] adj.激进的;彻底的;根本的，基本的;[植]根生的 n.激进分子;根基，原子团;[数学]根数
The country needs a period of calm without more surges of radical change
国家需要一段时间的稳定，其间不要再有重大的变革。
短语：radical change 英 [ˈrædikəl tʃeindʒ] 美 [ˈrædɪkəl tʃendʒ] 巨变
✸✸The reasons for Mr Berlusconi’srosy prospectsare the alignment of two other political factors. One is the bizarre state of Italy’s electoral law—or rather, laws. There are two, one for each house of parliament, and since 2014 the constitutional court hasstruck outcrucial provisions in both. What remains is close to proportional representation in its purest form, which encourages fragmentation. Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, has urged parliament to revise and harmonise its two laws, but an attempt to do so foundered in June.
1） rosy prospects 美好的前景;光明的前途
Guangxi is rich in the resources of fancy stone, there are various kinds with rosy exploitativeprospects.
广西观赏石资源丰富，品种繁多，有较好的利用前景。
2） Strike out 可以当动词用，来指在经商或者从政的过程中遭到失败。也可以说在个人生活上遇到挫折。
I know I've struck out twice. But I expect the third time will be the charm; I'm better known to the voters, I've raised more money and this year I have a better chance to win.
他说：我知道自己已经两度败阵，但是我预计第三次会时来运转，因为我在选民中的知名度提高了，我还募集了更多的资金，所以我今年成功的希望比较大。
✸✸Reform looks unlikely in time for the next general election, which is due by May. With the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) unable tomustermore than 30% of the vote, and the two main right-wing parties each polling less than half that, the balance of power is likely to be held by Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), which alsohoversin the high 20s in the polls. But the M5S refuses to join a coalition with any of the mainstream parties, the second explanation for Mr Berlusconi’s rising fortunes. The only foreseeable way to avoid a stalemate would be a government formed, or supported, by centrist elements of the left and right. Forza Italia, though solidly right-wing in many respects, is a more moderate option than either the League or another, smaller, conservative group, the Brothers of Italy.
1） muster 英 [ˈmʌstə(r)] 美 [ˈmʌstɚ] n.集合;集合的人群;检阅;花名册 vt.& vi.集合;召集;集结（尤指部队） vt.聚集;（自他人处）搜集某事物;激发;激起（支持、勇气等）
He travelled around West Africa trying to muster support for his movement
他在西非四处奔走，为自己的运动争取支持。
短语：muster up 英 [ˈmʌstə ʌp] 美 [ˈmʌstɚ ʌp] 鼓起;召集，振作
muster up courage 英 [ˈmʌstə ʌp ˈkʌridʒ] 美 [ˈmʌstɚ ʌp ˈkɚrɪdʒ] 鼓起勇气，奋勇
2） hoversv.鸟( hover的第三人称单数 );靠近（某事物）;（人）徘徊;犹豫
I am an angel with broken wing, illusion hovers.
我是折断了翅膀的天使，幻想飞翔。
✸✸Mr Berlusconi is spending the summer framing a programme that borrows from both left and right as the M5S, which see sit self as post-ideological, has done. His ideas are said to include a flat rate of income tax; a big rise in the level at which it becomes payable; an increase in the minimum pension, and the introduction of a safety-net benefit for those with no other means of support—all supposedly to be paid for by the proceeds of privatisation and by deep cuts in public spending. Such a programme could form the basis of a future coalition with the moderate left. But it might also be used to try to lure Mr Grillo out of his self-imposed isolation.
✸✸Not that Mr Berlusconi himself will be in Italy’s next government. Because of his conviction, he cannot hold public office until 2019. But Italy has a long history of governmentsbeholdento powerful party bosses sitting outside the cabinet room.
1） beholden 英 [bɪˈhəʊldən] 美 [bɪˈhoʊldən] adj.有责任的，有义务的
He was made beholden to the Mafia
他受过黑手党的恩惠。