【外刊精读】查尔斯继位英国国王(下)
在上一期的学习中,我们已经了解部分查尔斯继任英国国王后的现状,今天让我们跟随贸学长完成剩下的学习和积累。原文导读(下)
Married since 2005 to Camilla, with whom he was romantically involved before and during his marriage to Diana, Charles has found stability in his personal life. With the death of his father, Prince Philip, at 99, last year, he became paterfamilias of the House of Windsor. Camilla, 75, who will take the title of queen consort, is a sturdy and respectable presence at his side.
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But Charles takes the helm of a royal family that has been rocked by a series of upheavals: a bitter falling-out with his younger son, Prince Harry, and his American-actress wife, Meghan, and the unsavory ties of his brother Prince Andrew with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, which resulted in a civil suit against Andrew accusing him of sexual abuse of a teenager. Charles has struggled to keep wayward family members in line.
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Charles, Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at King’s College London said, fought to carve out an identity as the Prince of Wales, a role that he held longer than anyone but that comes without a job description. He founded formidable charities like the Prince’s Trust, which has helped nearly a million disadvantaged young people, and championed causes like sustainable urban planning and environmental protection, long before they became fashionable.
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It is not clear whether Charles will continue his extensive philanthropy. He is a patron or president of more than 400 charities, in addition to the Prince’s Trust. But his philanthropic work has not been without problems: The chief executive of another of Charles’s charities, Michael Fawcett, resigned after he was accused of promising to obtain a knighthood for a billionaire Saudi donor.
For some, the scandal laid bare one of Charles’s biggest weaknesses: a lack of judgment about those around him. Advisers had long questioned the conduct of Mr. Fawcett, who had served as the prince’s valet before ascending into powerful posts in his charity network. But Charles, whose spokesman said he had not been aware of the cash-for-honors accusation, hung on to Mr. Fawcett stubbornly.
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But for now, the future of the monarchy seems secure: 43 percent of people said Britain would be worse off without it, while only 19 percent said it would be better off, and 31 percent said there would be no difference. Those numbers barely budged even after Harry and Meghan gave a sensational interview to Oprah Winfrey in which they accused the royal family of callous and racist treatment.
第一段:Married since 2005 to Camilla, with whom he was romantically involved before and during his marriage to Diana, Charles has found stability in his personal life. With the death of his father, Prince Philip, at 99, last year, he became paterfamilias of the House of Windsor. Camilla, 75, who will take the title of queen consort, is a sturdy and respectable presence at his side.
参考译文:查尔斯于2005年与卡米拉结婚,婚后他的私生活稳定了下来,但在与戴安娜的婚前和婚内,两人就一直存有私情。随着他的父亲菲利普亲王去年离世,享年99岁,他成为温莎王朝的领头人。75岁的卡米拉被授予王后头衔,作为他身边一位坚定而受人尊敬的存在。
知识点解读:
1. be romantically involved with sb:出轨的委婉表达,同样的表达有“have an affair with sb”,例如,“Don't have affairs with married people. 不要和已婚人士有染。”这里我们拓展几个跟“结婚”相关的地道英文表达:
To tie the knot:喜结连理。To walk down the aisle:结婚(踏上红毯)。To get hitched:结婚(拴在一起,夫妻同体)。
第二段:But Charles takes the helm of a royal family that has been rocked by a series of upheavals: a bitter falling-out with his younger son, Prince Harry, and his American-actress wife, Meghan, and the unsavory ties of his brother Prince Andrew with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, which resulted in a civil suit against Andrew accusing him of sexual abuse of a teenager. Charles has struggled to keep wayward family members in line.
参考译文:但查尔斯掌权的王室已经经受了一系列动荡与冲击:他与他的小儿子哈里王子及其妻子梅根(美国演员)的激烈冲突,以及他弟弟安德鲁王子因为与金融家杰弗里·爱泼斯坦声名狼藉的关系而惹上民事诉讼,被指控性虐待一名青少年。查尔斯始终竭力管束家庭成员的任性行为。
知识点解读:
1. take the helm of:掌舵、接管、掌控,例如,“After years of training, the executive was ready to take the helm of the company. 经过多年的训练后,这位主管已准备好接管这间家公司。”相当于“take over”和“take charge”。例如,“Make it happen. Don't wait for someone else to take over or to offer to help you out. 动手去做,不要等着别人接手或是出手帮你解决。”
2. falling-out:失和;闹翻,相当于“quarrel”,是更为地道和形象的表达,例如,“I had a falling out with my boss and he left the company. 我跟我老板吵翻了,他离开了公司”
3. unsavory:令人恶心的、声名狼藉的,原文中的“unsavory ties”也就是“声名狼藉(不正当)的关系”。
4. a civil suit:法律专业词汇,表示“民事诉讼”,这里积攒几个关于法律常考的表达:
criminal offender:罪犯enact law:执法;颁布法律law enforcement:法律实施make perjury:作伪证
5. sexual abuse:性虐待,例如,“They were trick to Europe, where the big money of the hope that the end is all abnormal sexual abuse and torture.她们被哄骗到欧洲,本希望能到那里赚大钱,到头来却是性虐待和种种变态的折磨。”另外一个表达“sexual/sex assault”则表示“性侵”,通常是带有暴力行为的,例如,“If elected, Patten said her first mission would be to call for a royal commission into child sex abuse in religious institutions.佩顿还称竞选,头等大事是成立委员会,调查宗教机构中儿童遭受性侵的问题。”
6.keep in line: 管束,例如,“China has always taken the road of peaceful development and keep in line with the defensive national defense policy, he said. 中国坚持走和平发展的道路,实行防御性国防政策。”
第三段:Charles, Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at King’s College London said, fought to carve out an identity as the Prince of Wales, a role that he held longer than anyone but that comes without a job description. He founded formidable charities like the Prince’s Trust, which has helped nearly a million disadvantaged young people, and championed causes like sustainable urban planning and environmental protection, long before they became fashionable.
参考译文:伦敦国王学院的政府学教授弗农·博格丹诺表示,查尔斯一直在努力打造自己威尔士亲王的身份,他拥有这一头衔的时间比任何人都长,但这一头衔却没有工作描述。他创立了强大的慈善机构,如王子信托基金会(Prince's Trust),该基金会帮助了近百万处境不利的年轻人,并在可持续城市规划和环境保护等事业成为时尚之前很久就提出了倡议。
知识点解读:
1. carve out:开拓、打造,例如,“Simply put, it's up to you to carve out your place in the work world and know when to change course.简单说,在职场中如何开辟你的天地以及何时转向都取决于你自己。”
2. Formidable:可怕的, 令人畏惧的,例如,“In primitive times, nature appeared to be a mysterious and formidable force and men found themselves powerless in the face of it. 在原始时代,大自然好象是一种神秘可怕的力量,人们在它面前显得无能为力。”
3.champion:作动词时表示“捍卫;为…而斗争;声援”,例如,“He failed to lead from the centre; he failed to champion his own policies; and he delegated too much to an unpopular Congress. 他未能发挥中央领导力量;未能捍卫自己的政策;而且将过多权力下放给了不得人心的国会。”
第四段:It is not clear whether Charles will continue his extensive philanthropy. He is a patron or president of more than 400 charities, in addition to the Prince’s Trust. But his philanthropic work has not been without problems: The chief executive of another of Charles’s charities, Michael Fawcett, resigned after he was accused of promising to obtain a knighthood for a billionaire Saudi donor.
参考译文:目前尚不清楚查尔斯是否会继续他的广泛慈善事业。他是400多个慈善机构的赞助人或主席,此外还有王子信托基金。但他的慈善工作并非没有问题:查尔斯另一个慈善机构的首席执行官迈克尔·福塞特因被指控承诺为一位沙特亿万富翁捐赠者获得爵位后辞职。
知识点解读:
1. philanthropy:慈善事业,此时的近义词是“charity”,也可以表示“博爱”等意思。
2. The chief executive:执行官,常见的缩写有如下:
GM(General Manager)总经理VP(Vice President)副总裁CEO(Chief Executive Officer)首席执行官COO(Chief Operations Officer)首席运营官CFO(Chief Financial Officer)首席财务官CIO(Chief Information Officer)首席信息官CTO(Chief technology officer)首席技术官HRD(Human Resource Director)人力资源总监OD(Operations Director)运营总监MD(Marketing Director)市场总监
3. resign:正式辞职,例如,“He is by implication requesting me to resign.他示意要我辞职。”
4.Be accused of: 被指控;被指责,例如,“The press began to be accused of being one-sided, unfair, of not giving a balanced picture.人们开始指责报纸立场偏颇、不公正、没有进行全面的描述。”
第五段:For some, the scandal laid bare one of Charles’s biggest weaknesses: a lack of judgment about those around him. Advisers had long questioned the conduct of Mr. Fawcett, who had served as the prince’s valet before ascending into powerful posts in his charity network. But Charles, whose spokesman said he had not been aware of the cash-for-honors accusation, hung on to Mr. Fawcett stubbornly.
参考译文:一些人认为,这件丑闻暴露了查尔斯最大的弱点之一:对周围人缺乏判断力。顾问们长期以来一直质疑福塞特的行为。福塞特之前是王子的贴身仆人,后进入王子的慈善网络担任要职。但查尔斯的发言人表示,他并不知道“现金换荣誉”的指控,他固执地不肯放弃福塞特。
知识点解读:
1. serve as: 担任、充当,是很地道的英文表达,例如,“He might suddenly find himself in a fight--initiating one--and the smallest incident may serve as a trigger.他会突然发现他自己变得一触即发,极小的事情会成为导火索而引爆。”
2. ascend into:升入,例如,“He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.他升了天,坐在圣父的右边。”
3. hang on to: 紧紧抓住;保留;衍生出“不肯放弃、依赖”之意,例如,“Her son's death depressed her so much that she thought nothing was left for her to hang on to.她儿子的死使她十分地伤心,以致于她认为没有什么是她可以依靠的了。”
第六段:But for now, the future of the monarchy seems secure: 43 percent of people said Britain would be worse off without it, while only 19 percent said it would be better off, and 31 percent said there would be no difference. Those numbers barely budged even after Harry and Meghan gave a sensational interview to Oprah Winfrey in which they accused the royal family of callous and racist treatment.
参考译文:但就目前而言,君主制的未来似乎是安全的:43%的人表示,如果没有君主制,英国的情况会更糟,只有19%的人认为会更好,31%的人表示不会有什么不同。即使在哈里和梅根接受奥普拉·温弗瑞的采访,指责王室无情而他们受到了种族主义对待之后,这些数字也几乎没有变化。
知识点解读:
1. worse off:更糟糕,对应的“better off”表示“好转”。
2. budge:(使)微移动、(使)改变主意、(使)让步,例如,“Money can't budge me.金钱不能使我改变立场。”
3. sensational:轰动的,例如,“The arrival of a taxi was unusual enough; an unknown woman getting out of it was sensational.来了辆出租车就够奇怪的了,从里面出来名陌生女子就更引人注目。”
4.callous:冷酷无情的,常见的表达是“be callous about”,例如,“He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他的工人的安全毫不关心。”
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