新奇事件簿 皇家婚礼消耗本国经济

Millions of Britons are in celebratory mood ahead of the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. The good cheer created by the event may soon disappear after it as people read about the wedding’s impact on the British economy. The LA Times reckons the celebration will cost the UK economy around 10 billion dollars. Most of this will be due to a loss of productivity as the country embarks¹ on its second four-day holiday in a row, following the Easter break last weekend. Many people have decided² to take off the three days in between as holiday to have eleven consecutive³ days off. This bad news for the economy comes at a time when the British economy is struggling to deal with its massive debt. Politicians are also arguing over whether or not the economy is growing.

威廉凯特婚礼在即，数百万英国人沉浸在喜悦之中。但如果你知道这场婚礼对英国经济的影响，欢乐之情会立即烟消云散。据《洛杉矶时报》预测，庆典活动将花费约100亿美元。上周末复活节假期刚刚结束，又赶上第二次四天假期，生产力不足也是开销如此之大的主要原因。两次假期中间有3天工作日，许多人决定再休三天，连休十一天。英国经济目前负债累累，这一消息实则雪上加霜。政界人士对本国经济增长持怀疑态度。

The royal event is being billed as the wedding of the century and the biggest since William’s father, Prince Charles, married Princess Diana 30 years ago. The wedding will be televised to a global audience of around two billion people, making it one of the most-watched world events in history. The pomp and pageantry of the day will generate an estimated 850 million dollars in souvenir sales and visits to royal castles. Many Britons are asking why they have to foot much of the bill for the wedding. Taxpayers⁴ will have to fork out over 30 million dollars for the enormous security operation along the route of the wedding procession and in other areas of London. Terrorist threats are being taken seriously and many groups have promised to protest in the English capital.

这场盛典被誉为“世纪婚礼”，而它也是既三十年前查尔斯戴安娜婚礼之后规模最大的一次。婚礼将进行现场直播，全球观众约20亿人，也成为了史上观看人数最多的活动。婚礼纪念品销售额预计将达到8.5亿美元，皇家城堡浏览游客也将激增。人们对支付如此高昂费用表示不解。在婚礼队伍所到之处，以及伦敦其它地区，纳税人需要支付的安保费用将超3000万美金。恐袭是重中之重，许多组织称将在伦敦举行抗议活动。

1 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。