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British monarchy

 

現代歐美政治，多以共和為主；即使保存皇室，也不會太高調，英國卻是異數。早前英女皇再度添丁，但英國境內一直有聲音辯論皇室存廢的問題。高薪供養特權家族，是否合理？

 

Earlier this month, 1.2 million people defied the pouring rain to watch the Diamond Jubilee Pageant from the banks of the River Thames.

 

早前英國慶祝英女皇登基鑽禧，大批民眾冒雨在泰晤士河畔見證。交中以 defied the pouring rain來表達「冒雨」之意：

 

defy 對抗；違抗；反抗

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：Jerry defied all odds by winning the tennis tournament.

 

Huffington Post 有讀者來郵，劈頭便問「英女皇是否令整個國家洗了腦？」：

 

Has the Queen brainwashed the entire nation? Economically, there seems to be no need for a monarch. The Sovereign Grant, which will replace the Civil List from 2013, is expected to be in the region of £34 million per year, although the campaign group Republic claims that the total cost to the taxpayer is closer to £200 million. Many argue that this is merely an investment that reaps rewards for the tourism industry.

 

brainwash 對…洗腦；向…強行灌輸

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：Many young adults are brainwashed by religious fanatics.

 

reap 收割，收穫；獲得

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：You can reap a lot of benefits if you stick to working with one company.

 

不過文章作者隨即指出，多年來女皇對待這份「工作」可謂盡心盡力：

 

It is true that the Queen has rarely, if ever, taken a day off during her 60-year reign, and the same can be said of most of the other senior royals. Perhaps even the staunchest republicans would not deny her this accolade.

 

staunch 忠實的；堅定的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子： Mary is a staunch supporter in women's rights.

 

accolade 讚美，讚賞；榮譽，嘉獎

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：The president's appearance was the ultimate honour for the accolade.

 

雖然女皇只是名義上的國家元首，但英國國內反而認為這樣比較好：

 

The fact that the Queen is largely "irrelevant to the political process", as Republic points out, actually seems to be more of a positive than a negative - our Head of State represents the UK, not the ephemeral, often unpopular politics of the UK. She is, quite literally, the face of the nation.

 

irrelevant 不相關的，不切題的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子：Whether he spoke the truth or not is irrelevant.  The money is gone.

 

ephemeral 短暫的，極短的；轉瞬即逝的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子：Fashion is ephemeral.

 

literally 按字面含義來講

(adverb 副詞)

 

例子： The driver took it literally when I told him to go across the turning circle.

 

平時交談，不少人也用 literally 來強調一件事是「確實、真正地」發生：

 

例子：I have been driving for literally hundreds of hours.

   
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