Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg in 1954. She became Germany's first female Chancellor and the first from communist East Germany in 2005. ‘Forbes' magazine listed her as the most powerful woman in the world in 2006 and 2007. Western media often dub her the “Iron Lady” because of her no-nonsense approach to her work and reputation as a tough negotiator.
1954年，安格拉·默克尔出生于德国汉堡。她是德国首位女总理，也是在2005年两德统一后首位出身前东德地区的联邦总理。福布斯杂志将她选为2006年和2007年最有影响力的世界女性。默克尔工作认真勤奋，沉稳务实,而且她还是一位据理力争的谈判家，西方媒体经常称她为“铁娘子”。
Merkel grew up in the former German Democratic Republic. She was a member of the socialist youth movement and participated in many communist-led activities. She speaks Russian fluently. She studied physics at theUniversity of Leipzig in the 1970s and physical chemistry in Berlin in the 1980s. She earned a Ph.D. basedon her research on quantum chemistry.
默克尔出生在前德意志民主共和国时期。她还是社会主义青年运动的成员之一，并参加了许多共产主义活动。她能说一口流利的俄语。20世纪70年代，她在德国莱比锡大学攻读物理学，80年代在柏林学习物理化学。她在量子化学方面的研究让她获得了博士学位。
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Merkel became involved in the growing democracy movement. She won a seat in the unified German parliament in 1990 and was appointed Minister for Women and Youth. In 1994,she was made Minister for the Environment. This was her springboard to rise to the top. She was elected Chancellor in November 2005.
自从1989年柏林墙倒塌以来，默克尔参加了不断壮大的民主运动中来。1990年，她在德国联邦议会中获得席位，并任命为联邦妇女和青年部部长。1994年，任联邦环境部部长。这是她政治顶峰的跳板。2005年11月，她成为了德国总理。
In 2007, Merkel took on the six-month rotating position of President of the European Council and chair of the G8. That same year, she met the Dalai Lama in Berlin, thus angering the Chinese. In 2008, she spoke ofGermany's “Holocaust Shame” in Israel's Knesset. She also received the Charlemagne Prize "for her workto reform the European Union".
2007年，默克尔担任了六个月欧洲理事会轮值主席，同时还是八国集团主席。同年，她在柏林会见了达赖喇嘛，这引起了中国的不满。2008年，她在以色列的国会谈到了德国对大屠杀感到的耻辱感。她还因为对欧盟进行改革而获得查理曼和平奖。
译文属秀哈英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。
