Cherry+Tree2

cherry pick—摘櫻桃,仔細挑選  to select the best or most desirable from (a group)

Examples: Isn’t there a danger that the state universities might start cherry-picking the pupils with the best exam results? 這難道不會有[州立大學可能率先挑選考試成績最優學生]這樣的危險?

(BBC, 6/29/2016)

In a speech to the German parliament before leaving for Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was strong enough to survive without the UK.

She said she respected the result and warned the bloc would not tolerate British “cherry-picking” when it came to negotiations.

The remarks are Mrs. Merkel’s toughest words yet, with concerns in the German government that other EU members could follow Britain’s move.

德國總理梅克爾在赴比利時參加歐盟高峰會之前,在德國國會演講,她說歐盟健全,沒有英國亦可生存.她也表明尊重英國(脫歐公投)的結果,並且警告英國,歐盟談判時不會容忍英國挑選條件.這是梅克爾到目前為止最強硬的發言,表示德國政府擔心其他歐盟會員可能會效法英國.

While Switzerland may have wanted only economic union with Europe, political ties have become ever closer over the years. A central plank of Brussels’ negotiating tactic with the Swiss was to insist that they could not “cherry-pick” the parts of the EU they thought would be most advantageous, such as its trade area.

Switzerland has signed up to free movement of people, with all the benefits that implies for workers and their families from the EU, and to Schengen open borders, all without ever being at the negotiating table at which those policies were drafted.

瑞士也許只想要歐盟的經濟層面,但長年下來它跟歐盟的政治關係卻越來越接近. 歐盟對瑞士最基本的談判策略就是堅持不讓瑞士挑選他們覺得歐盟裡面最有利的條件,例如它的貿易區. 瑞士同意人民自由移居,這包括來自歐盟的上班族和他們的家屬,也接受申根開放邊界簽證. 瑞士接受這些條件,都是在後來歐盟政策決定以後才加入的.

photo: Sunnysidenursery