有钱任性 沙特新国王发210亿镑红包

 　　The new monarch¹ of Saudi Arabia has handed out billions of pounds to the country's citizens to celebrate his coronation.

　　日前，沙特阿拉伯的新国王为庆祝登基，向沙特民众发放了上百亿英镑的红包。

　　King Salman bin² Abdulaziz Al Saud made the remarkably³ generous gesture, estimated to total almost ?21 billion, to mark taking the throne in the oil-rich country.

　　新国王萨勒曼·本·阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹慷慨地向民众发放了总额约为210亿英镑的红包，以纪念成为石油大国的新国王。

　　In a message on Twitter - that has now been shared more than 350,000 times - the King wrote: 'Dear people: You deserve more and whatever I do will not be able to give you what you deserve.'

　　萨勒曼在推特上写道：“亲爱的臣民，你们值得获得更多。无论我发多少钞票，都无法匹配你们的价值。”这条推文目前的转发量已超过35万次。

　　有钱任性 沙特新国王发210亿镑红包

　　The massive handout⁴ includes a two-month wage payout for all state employees, as well as soldiers, students and pensioners⁵.

　　高达210亿的大红包包括为国家公务员、军人、退休的公务员以及领取政府奖学金深造的学生发放的相当于两个月工资的奖励。

　　Delighted Saudis are said to be splashing out on new smart phones, luxury watches and exotic holidays to celebrate.

　　沙特的民众非常开心，纷纷表示要将这些钱用来买新手机、买名牌手表、去海外旅游休假等。

　　Some men are also reported to be setting aside the money especially to allow them to marry their first, second or third wives.

　　一些男性表示准备把这笔钱留作娶老婆用，有老婆的就留作娶第二、第三任老婆用。

　　There will also be generous grants to various professional associations, as well as literary and sports clubs.

　　另外，一些专业人士协会、文艺经济体育俱乐部还有图书馆等也都可得到拨款奖励。

　　John Sfakianakis, Middle East director of the Ashmore group, an investment company, told the New York Times: 'It is party time for Saudi Arabia right now.'

　　安石投资公司的中东部负责人约翰·斯法基安纳基斯说：“对沙特阿拉伯的民众来说，现在是狂欢时间。”

　　Several private companies have also reportedly followed the King's lead and handed out bonuses to their own employees.

　　报道称沙特的一些私人企业也效仿新国王的举动，给员工们发放了红包奖励。

　　King Salman, 79, came to the throne last month after his half-brother Abdullah died aged⁶ 90 after losing his battle with pneumonia⁷.

　　上个月同父异母的兄弟—90岁的阿布杜拉因肺炎去世后，79岁的萨勒曼成为了新国王。

　　It has long been a common tactic⁸ for a new monarch to win over the hearts and mind of the people with generosity⁹ when they first come to power.

　　为赢得民心在掌权后向民众发放红包是沙特新国王惯用的策略。

　　The tactic appears to be working, with reports that companies have taken out billboards¹⁰ across the country saying they 'pledge allegiance' to their new ruler.

　　这策略看起来也相当凑效，有报道称一些公司已在全国范围内登出的广告上宣称他们愿意为新国王效忠。

　　King Abdullah announced a 15 per cent raise in government salaries after taking the throne in 2005, and also handed out a one-month salary bonus in 2011 after returning from medical treatment abroad.

　　前任国王阿布杜拉在2005年掌权后宣布将政府工作人员的工资提高15%，2011年从国外结束治疗后又给民众发放了相当于1个月工资的红包。

　　But experts have warned that the tradition will be unsustainable in the future, as falling oil prices around the world has an impact on Saudi Arabia's wealthy reserves.

　　但是专家警告这项传统在将来可能不会延续下去，因为全球油价持续下跌，已经对沙特阿拉伯的财富储备产生了影响。

1 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

4 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

5 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

8 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

9 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

10 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号