Kate and Wills Break Tradition
Viewers of today’s royal wedding between Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton may have a feeling of déjà vu. As in previous weddings, the couple will travel to Westminster Abbey in London with a parade and horse-drawn carriages. The ceremony will be attended by heads of state and international royalty.
However, in some ways the wedding will be far from traditional. The wedding is thoroughly connected on facebook, twitter and YouTube. More importantly, for only the second time in British history, an heir to the throne will marry someone from outside the aristocracy. Although the Middletons are now extremely rich, they are nouveau riche. Kate Middleton’s father made a fortune from an on-line business. Kate’s parents met when they were both working in low-paid jobs for British Airways, and Kate’s grandfather was a lorry driver. It seems today’s fairy-tale wedding reflects the changing values of British society.
英國威廉王子與凱特突破王室傳統
民眾在觀看英國威廉王子與凱特於今天舉行的皇家婚禮時，可能會覺得這個場景似曾相識。根據皇家婚禮的傳統，新人通常會搭乘馬車、隨著遊行隊伍前往位於倫敦的西敏寺，國家元首與來自全球的皇家貴賓都將出席典禮。
然而，威廉王子與凱特將突破王室傳統，兩人婚禮的相關消息已遍佈「facebook臉書」、「twitter推特」以及「YouTube」網站；更重要的是，這將是英國史上第二次英國王儲迎娶來自平民階層的準王妃。雖然密道頓家族已相當富有，他們卻是所謂的新貴；凱特的父親因為網路事業而致富，凱特的父母在任職於英國航空的基層工作時認識彼此，且她的祖父只是一名貨車司機。今天，如童話故事一般的幸福婚禮反映出英國社會的價值觀正在改變。
字彙
- parade 遊行
- ceremony 典禮儀式
- head of state 國家元首
- connected 連接的
- heir 繼承者
- aristocracy 貴族
- reflect 反映
解讀
Many French expressions are commonly used in English. They can give the writing style and colour. Here we have déjà vu – to feel you have seen something before, and nouveau riche – newly rich.
通常英文的文章中會使用許多法文片語，使文章的寫作風格與內容更加多元化。本文使用「déjà vu」一詞表示「覺得似乎曾經看過某些事物」；「nouveau riche」一詞則代表「新貴」。
文句練習
- Our classroom is fully ______; it has laptops and an interactive whiteboard.
- Violence in film ______ violence in society.
- In Taiwan, the president is the ______.
- All of these estates were owned by members of the ______.
- When he died, he left his son as his only ______.
- On National Day, there is a military ______ in front of the president’s office.
- My whole family came to my university graduation ______
文句練習解答
- connected
- reflects
- head of state
- aristocracy
- heir
- parade
- ceremony
(資料來源：British Council 英國文化協會)
本文引用自 英文資訊交流網 http://blog.cybertranslator.idv.tw/
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