Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday banned the use of mobile phones at cabinet meetings in a bid to ensure his top team stay focused on the challenges facing them, his spokeswoman said.

英国新任首相大卫卡梅伦的一位女发言人日前称，卡梅伦于本周四提出禁止内阁成员在开内阁会议时使用手机，以确保新政府集中精力应对当前挑战。

Chairing his first meeting of the cabinet, Cameron told senior ministers from his Conservative party and their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, that the distraction of mobiles would not be welcome.

当天，卡梅伦在主持召开首次内阁会议时向他所领导的保守党及其联盟自由民主党的高级内阁大臣们表示，今后在开会时禁止使用手机。

The new team faces the daunting task of implementing public spending cuts to reduce a record budget deficit, while ensuring Britain stays on the road to recovery following a deep recession.

目前，新一届政府正面临削减公共开支以减少巨额财政赤字的艰巨任务，同时还要确保英国在严重的经济衰退后保持复苏势头。

Politicians here have come to rely on mobile technology such as BlackBerrys so much that parliamentary authorities now allow their use in the House of Commons main debating chamber, albeit silently.

英国的政坛人物十分依赖黑莓等移动科技，因此议会机关目前允许在下院主辩论厅使用手机，不过要调为静音。

Newly-installed Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke became the first to break the rule, drawing a rebuke from Cameron at the inaugural meeting of top ministers.

新任司法大臣肯尼斯‧克拉克在部长大臣就职会议上首破新规，受到卡梅伦的批评。

To laughter from the rest of the cabinet, the prime minister ordered him to cut short a telephone conversation so he could get down to the business of running the country.

卡梅伦要求他缩短通话，集中精力考虑国家大事。其他内阁成员则笑了起来。

Cameron has not spared himself from the ban, added his spokeswoman.

卡梅伦的女发言人称，手机禁令对首相自己也不例外。

He brought his cabinet together for the first time Thursday, after forming a coalition government earlier in the week by striking a deal with the Lib Dems following polls on May 6 that failed to produce a clear winner.

卡梅伦于本周四召开了上任后的首次内阁会议。因本月6日的大选未能决出胜负，本周早些时候，卡梅伦领导的保守党与自民党达成协议，组建了新一届的联合政府。


Vocabulary:
albeit：although; even if（尽管，虽然）
cut short：to end abruptly; terminate（打断，缩短）
strike a deal：达成协议