托福阅读材料之德国总统因腐败丑闻宣布辞职

German President Christian Wulff has announced his resignation, after prosecutors called for his immunity to be lifted.

德国总统克里斯蒂安伍尔夫宣布他将辞职，主要原因是检察院已经提出要求取消他的豁免权。

An ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Wulff, 52, stepped down over corruption claims involving a dubious home loan. He denies any wrongdoing.

52岁的伍尔夫作为总理默克尔的一位盟友，因为当前尚不明晰的家庭贷款案宣布离职。他个人依旧坚持自己并没有做错什么。

Mrs Merkel cancelled a visit to Italy on Friday to deal with the crisis, and said she regretted that he had quit.

德国总理默克尔取消了对意大利的访问来应对此次危机，她表示她对于伍尔夫的离职非常遗憾。

She said she accepted his resignation "with respect but also with regret".

她说：她尊重总统的选择，但是也对此表示惋惜。

"He dedicated himself to the interests of Germany," she said in a brief statement at 10:30 GMT, shortly after his announcement on Friday.

默克尔在当地时间10点30分，继总统正式发布证明之后做了一个简短的说明：她认为伍尔夫在任职期间始终为了德国人民的利益而尽职尽责。

She said Mr Wulff was convinced he had "acted legally correctly" but was "stepping back from the office, from service to our people".Germany's political parties will now seek to agree on a new candidate for president, she said.

她也进一步表示，伍尔夫总统的行为并没有非法之处，仅仅只是从官方的立场以及服务人民的位置上退了下来。德国的政党将会重新找到一位新的总统候选人。

In the interim, Horst Seehofer of the Christian Social Union (CSU), will be acting president.

在总统的过渡期间，来自于基督教社会联盟的泽霍费尔将代理德国总统一职。