英語不熟練 女子被剝奪競選市議員資格

A woman who was barred from running for a city council seat in Arizona because she doesn't speak English proficiently has appealed the judge's ruling to the state's highest court.
美國亞利桑那州的一位女士因爲英語不夠熟練而被剝奪了競選市議員的資格，她已經向美國最高法院提起上訴。

The case has brought national and international attention to the southern Arizona city of San Luis after the Mayor filed a court action asking for a determination on whether Alejandrina Cabrera has the English skills necessary to serve a four-year term on the council.
此前，聖路易斯市市長要求法庭確認市議員候選人Alejandrina Cabrera的英語能力是否能夠讓她勝任爲期4年的議會工作，這讓美國和世界其他國家的目光都聚焦到了亞利桑那州這個南部城市之上。

State law requires elected officials to know English, but Ms Cabrera's attorneys claim the law doesn't define proficiency in the language.
亞利桑那州法律規定，民選官員要有英語能力，但是Cabrera女士的律師指出，法律並沒有定義何爲英語熟練。

Ms Cabrera told the local newspaper that she needs to improve her command of English but said her language skills are adequate for serving the border city of San Luis, where Spanish is used as often as English.
Cabrera女士對當地報紙說，她確實需要提升自己的英語能力，但以她目前的水平，足以勝任聖路易斯市議員工作。因爲在這座邊境城市，西班牙語和英語一樣常用。

Sociolinguistics expert William Eggington presented the court with results of three different tests he administered to Ms Cabrera. His report said Ms Cabrera's English skills did not meet the level of language proficiency needed to serve on the council.
社會語言學專家William Eggington對Cabrera女士做了三項不同測試，並向法院展示了測試結果。他的報告顯示，Cabrera女士的英語水平無法達到勝任議會工作所需要的熟練程度。

Ms Cabrera's lawyers said the action against their client was politically motivated because of her previous efforts to remove the city's mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla from his seat.
而Cabrera女士的律師則表示，他們的行爲有着政治動機，因爲Cabrera女士此前曾想把市長Juan Carlos Escamilla推翻下去。

Interestingly, the mayor even admits that his mastery of the English language isn't perfect yet he still thinks that Ms Cabrera should be banned from the city council position.
有趣的是，市長本人承認他自己的英語能力也不是很好，但他卻堅持認爲應該取消Cabrera女士競選市議員的資格。

'I feel I don't dominate 100%, but I can still get by. I can write, read and understand it very well. But that's why I am not the expert and that's why I directed staff to look into it,' Mr Escamilla has previously said.
Escamilla市長曾說：“我感覺自己沒有百分百掌握英語，但還勉強過得去。讀寫方面我都會，也能很好地理解。所以說我不是專家，所以我讓其他專業人員來研究此事。”City Attorney Glenn Gimbut said it's not only required by law, but by the nature of the work and council activities.
市法律顧問Glenn Gimbut認爲，官員需要英語過關不僅僅是因爲法律上如此要求，更重要是出於他們工作和會議活動的性質。

'We are not a little ranch, we are a large community. We represent a lot and need to be prepared,' he told the Yuma Sun newspaper.
他對當地媒體《尤馬縣太陽報》說：“這裏不是一個小牧場而是一個大社區，我們在很多方面都起着代表作用，必須做好充分準備。”

Lawyers for Ms Cabrera said they want the matter settled by Wednesday because election ballots will start being printed Thursday, but because of the Court's schedule, it may not happen until early next week.
Cabrera女士的律師表示，他們希望在週三（2月1日）前解決這事，因爲週四（2月2日）就要開始印選票了。但是根據法院的日程安排，最早得等到下週初纔有希望得到結果。