ultimatum 最后通牒

Chinese authorities said on Sunday that it is baseless speculation¹ to say that an "ultimatum²" had been given to force relatives of those who died in a fatal high-speed train crash in east China to agree to accept government compensation.

周日中国政府表示，铁道部向动车事故遇难者家属下达“最后通牒”、强迫其接受政府赔偿一事纯属子虚乌有。

文中的ultimatum一词即为“最后通牒”的意思，源于拉丁语，指谈判破裂前“最后的话”。在diplomatic negotiation（外交谈判）破裂前，一般一国会就某个问题用书面通知对方，限定在一定时间内接受其条件，否则就采取某种coercive measures（强制措施），比如threat of force（武力威胁），economic blockade（经济封锁），sever diplomatic relations（断绝邦交）等等。

Ultimatum如今已不限于外交领域，日常生活和商务往来中也时常会用到这个词，而且一般都以dispatch/deliver/give an ultimatum to…的形式出现。例如：He gave his daughter an ultimatum: unless she stopped taking drugs he would throw her out of the house.（他给女儿下了最后通牒：她要是不戒毒，就把她从家里赶出去。）