◎俞智敏
Mom is neutral. Everyone else has an opinion. The unusual spectacle of two brothers fighting for the soul of the defeated Labour Party _ and the chance to challenge Prime Minister David Cameron in the next general election _ has turned a ho-hum contest into a nailbiter.
老媽保持中立。其餘每個人都各有意見。兩兄弟為角逐敗選後的工黨靈魂人物寶座而較勁的不尋常場面──以及在下屆國會選舉中迎戰英國首相卡麥隆的機會──讓這場沈悶的選舉變成了一齣令人緊張的戲碼。
Voting has already begun, with former Foreign Secretary David Miliband seen as a slight favorite over his younger brother, former Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, and three other candidates. Results will be announced at the start of a party conference in late September.
投票已經開始，一般認為前英國外相大衛米勒班的勝選機會略高於其弟、前能源暨氣候變遷大臣艾德米勒班，以及其他3位候選人。選舉結果將在9月底工黨召開黨代表大會時宣布。
The younger Miliband is running a maverick campaign, promising to bring the Labour Party back to its working class roots. "I’m the candidate most willing to turn the page in this election," Ed Miliband says on his campaign website, taking a subtle dig at his big brother, who represents the party Establishment.
米勒班弟弟正採用不按牌理出牌的競選方式，他承諾要把工黨帶回勞工階級的根源。「我是這場選舉中最願意開創新局的候選人，」艾德米勒班在他的競選網站上說，暗批代表著工黨既有體制的哥哥。
Most insiders believe David Miliband is ahead of his brother. But the results are hard to predict because of a complicated system that allows voters to rank the five candidates in order of preference. As a result, a candidate who is named as the second choice by a large number of voters could end up with the job.
多數內部人士都認為大衛米勒班的勝算領先其弟。但選舉結果很難預料，因為工黨黨內選舉制度非常複雜，選民可依喜好替5位候選人排名。假如某位候選人被大多數選民列在第2位，最後卻反而可能贏得選舉。
新聞辭典
ho-hum：形容詞，指沈悶乏味的、老套的，如He is a ho-hum speaker who couldn’t capture the attention of the audience.（他的演講很沈悶，沒辦法吸引聽眾注意。）
nailbiter：名詞，指情節緊張、無法預知結局的比賽、故事或影片等，如Saturday’s semi-final was a real nailbiter.（週六的那場半準決賽讓人看得坐立難安。）
take a dig at someone：片語，指挖苦、譏諷某人，如He’s always having/taking/making digs at me.（他老是對我冷嘲熱諷。）
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