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(guó)亞利桑那州的一位女士因?yàn)橛⒄Z(yǔ)不夠熟練而被剝奪了競(jìng)選市議員的資格，她已經(jīng)向美國(guó)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，圣路易斯市市長(zhǎng)要求法庭確認(rèn)市議員候選人Alejandrina Cabrera的英語(yǔ)能力是否能夠讓她勝任為期4年的議會(huì)工作，這讓美國(guó)和世界其他國(guó)家的目光都聚焦到了亞利桑那州這個(gè)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(guī)定，民選官員要有英語(yǔ)能力，但是Cabrera女士的律師指出，法律并沒(méi)有定義何為英語(yǔ)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(duì)當(dāng)?shù)貓?bào)紙說(shuō)，她確實(shí)需要提升自己的英語(yǔ)能力，但以她目前的水平，足以勝任圣路易斯市議員工作。因?yàn)樵谶@座邊境城市，西班牙語(yǔ)和英語(yǔ)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(huì)語(yǔ)言學(xué)專家William Eggington對(duì)Cabrera女士做了三項(xiàng)不同測(cè)試，并向法院展示了測(cè)試結(jié)果。他的報(bào)告顯示，Cabrera女士的英語(yǔ)水平無(wú)法達(dá)到勝任議會(huì)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，他們的行為有著政治動(dòng)機(jī)，因?yàn)镃abrera女士此前曾想把市長(zhǎng)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(zhǎng)本人承認(rèn)他自己的英語(yǔ)能力也不是很好，但他卻堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為應(yīng)該取消Cabrera女士競(jìng)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(zhǎng)曾說(shuō)：“我感覺(jué)自己沒(méi)有百分百掌握英語(yǔ)，但還勉強(qiáng)過(guò)得去。讀寫(xiě)方面我都會(huì)，也能很好地理解。所以說(shuō)我不是專家，所以我讓其他專業(yè)人員來(lái)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(wèn)Glenn Gimbut認(rèn)為，官員需要英語(yǔ)過(guò)關(guān)不僅僅是因?yàn)榉缮先绱艘螅匾浅鲇谒麄児ぷ骱蜁?huì)議活動(dòng)的性質(zhì)。

'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(duì)當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w《尤馬縣太陽(yáng)報(bào)》說(shuō)：“這里不是一個(gè)小牧場(chǎng)而是一個(gè)大社區(qū)，我們?cè)诤芏喾矫娑计鹬碜饔?，必須做好充分?zhǔn)備?！?/div>

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，他們希望在周三（2月1日）前解決這事，因?yàn)橹芩模?月2日）就要開(kāi)始印選票了。但是根據(jù)法院的日程安排，最早得等到下周初才有希望得到結(jié)果。