[ti:Britain Carries Out Test to Predict Effects of EU Withdrawal] [00:00.00]如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享... [00:00.04]Britain is studying how its roads and shipping could be affected [00:06.32]if the country leaves the European Union (EU) [00:10.32]without an agreement between the two sides. [00:14.92]The study, which began Monday, [00:18.24]is meant to show possible traffic problems [00:22.20]if the country leaves the EU on March 29. [00:28.32]That is when a new British law is set to go into effect. [00:34.08]It would require Britain to cancel its EU membership, [00:40.24]even if the government is not finished negotiating an exit agreement. [00:48.80]Prime Minister Theresa May is attempting to win parliamentary approval [00:55.60]of an EU exit agreement to avoid the automatic exit. [01:02.56]But British lawmakers are expected to reject the deal. [01:08.44]A vote on the measure is set for next week. [01:13.84]Almost 100 trucks took part in the first day of testing. [01:20.72]The trucks traveled about 30 kilometers from a closed airport [01:26.57]to the port of Dover, in southeastern England. [01:32.24]May's government has repeatedly warned [01:35.88]that an automatic exit from the EU, without an agreement, [01:41.60]would cause severe economic problems. [01:46.00]It is widely believed that a "no-deal" exit [01:50.92]would lead to new taxes and customs barriers in Britain. [01:56.35]This would likely slow Britain's transportation links to the rest of Europe. [02:04.92]Transportation experts have predicted major traffic problems [02:10.44]leading into and out of ports like Dover. [02:16.16]Such problems could also lead to shortages of food and medicine. [02:23.92]Some British lawmakers have criticized the tests [02:28.36]as a waste of time and money. [02:32.00]Britain's Road Haulage Association [02:35.84]has described the tests as "too little, too late". [02:41.80]The group suggested holding additional transport exercises that are much bigger. [02:50.12]Charlie Elphicke is a Conservative Party lawmaker from Dover. [02:55.56]He told the Reuters news agency that he believes any tests need to be much larger [03:03.80]to effectively measure possible effects on transportation. [03:10.04]"Less than a hundred lorries is a drop in the ocean [03:14.08]compared to the more than 10,000 [03:17.00]that go to the channel ports every day," he said. [03:21.89]Supporters of Britain's exit from the EU have admitted the split [03:28.40]would lead to some economic disruption in the beginning. [03:34.20]But they believe that such effects would only be short term. [03:40.32]In the long run, they expect Britain to gain new economic [03:45.76]and political strength outside of the EU. [03:51.52]Groups opposed to Britain's withdrawal [03:54.40]say it will isolate the country too much from Europe [03:58.96]and will hurt the economy. [04:02.19]I'm Caty Weaver.如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享...