时代周刊:王室的意义 谁需要王室(1)

Who needs the royals?

谁需要王室？

TO HEAR PUNDITS¹ TALK ABOUT THE ROYALS THIS SPRING,

今年春天，听专家们谈论王室时，即便你认为“王室”就像是

you’d be excused for thinking “The Royal Family” is a prime time soap opera,

一部黄金档肥皂剧，一部观众们痴迷于剧情、剧中的新角色

with viewers obsessing² over new characters, story lines and how it’s doing in the ratings.

以及该剧的收视率表现的肥皂剧也情有可原。

Bets were placed on what Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new baby would be named,

民众纷纷就威廉王子和凯特·米德尔顿宝宝的名字下起注来，

while commentators³ eagerly discussed whether the new character of Meghan Markle

评论人士也急切地讨论着梅根·马克尔这个新人

would manage to “save” the royal family by marrying Prince Harry⁴.

嫁给哈里王子后是否能够“拯救”王室。

The answer to all this for most people around the world is simply: Who cares?

对于世界上大多数人而言，这个问题的答案都很简单：无所谓。

The way Britain celebrated⁵ Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a curious reminder⁶

英国人庆祝哈里和梅根婚礼的方式颇有意思地让人想起，

that the monarchy⁷ is rarely evaluated in terms of its actual purpose,

人们很少用王室的实际用途——

which is to provide Britain with an effective head of state.

给英国提供一个有效的国家首脑机构——来衡量王室。

Few pundits seem sure of what that role entails⁸ or even why it’s needed,

似乎很少有专家明确知道这个角色意味着什么，他们甚至连英国为什么需要这个角色都不确定，

because in Britain, unlike the U.S., the head of state’s role is ceremonial rather than political.

因为在英国，不像在美国，国家首脑是一种仪式性而非政治性的角色。

And so when a royal wedding happens—Will and Kate’s reportedly cost $34 million, paid for by British taxpayers—

所以，王室举行婚礼时——据报道，威廉和凯特的婚礼花了3400万美元，这笔支出最终将由英国的纳税人支付——

the debate usually hinges on two questions: popularity and cost.

有关婚礼的辩论通常会围绕两个问题展开：婚礼的受欢迎程度和婚礼的费用。

On the first, we’ve seen a sea change in public perception.

首先，我们看到，公众观念已经发生了巨大的变化。

Twenty years ago, the monarchy was seen as rich, expensive and out of touch—

二十年前，王室在大家眼里还是富有、奢侈、可望而不可即这样一种形象——

particularly during the post-Diana crisis of public confidence,

尤其是在戴安娜王妃去世后，公众信心出现了危机的那段时间，

when Queen Elizabeth’s apparently⁹ cold reaction to her death was met with widespread anger.

当时，伊丽莎白女王对王妃的离世表现出的冷淡引起了广泛的民愤。

In response, the royal family invested enormous amounts of time and taxpayers’ money to rewrite the script.

因此，王室一边将大量的时间和纳税人的钱都投入到了扭转局势上，

They put on glitzy campaigns around the 2011 royal wedding and the 2012 Golden Jubilee¹⁰,

将2011年的皇室婚礼和2012年的金禧庆典打造地十分夺目，

and stage-managed announcements around the birth of Kate and William’s children—

还精心策划了凯特和威廉王子得子的公告，

while at the same time playing hardball with the media and demanding official secrecy¹¹ and control over their public image.

一边又对媒体采取强硬态度，要求他们在官方为王室保密并维护王室的公众形象。

1 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

2 obsessing   

v.时刻困扰( obsess的现在分词 )；缠住；使痴迷；使迷恋

参考例句：

• Why is everyone obsessing over system specs right now? 为啥现在人人都对系统配置情有独钟？ 来自互联网
• A nitpicker, obsessing over dimes, is too stiff to place orders. 一个连一毛钱都舍不得亏的人，因太过拘谨而不能下单。 来自互联网

3 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

7 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

8 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

11 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。