时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语听者文摘


英语课

Britain's Prince Charles to Marry


Camilla Parker Bowles


 


Britain's king-in-waiting, Prince Charles, is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman widely blamed for the collapse 1 of his first marriage to the late Princess Diana. The wedding is set for April 8 at Windsor Castle.


 


Charles's parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, say they are very happy for the couple. His sons, Princes William and Harry 3, say they are delighted.


 


Prime Minister Tony Blair also welcomes the engagement.


 


Tony Blair: It is very happy news, and when the Cabinet heard it this morning, they sent congratulations and good wishes on behalf of the whole government. We all wish them every happiness for their future together.


 


The announcement ends much speculation 4 about the future of Prince Charles and Mrs. Parker Bowles, who became romantically involved in the 1970s and continued their relationship after they both married other people.


 


The prince's first wife, the late Princess Diana, in a famous interview on British television after her separation from Charles, blamed Mrs. Parker Bowles for the collapse of her marriage.


 


Princess Diana: Well, there were three of us in this marriage. So it was a bit crowded.


 


Two of the biggest questions hanging over the marriage have been resolved. Mrs. Parker Bowles will not be queen when and if Charles becomes monarch 5. She will be known as Princess Consort 6.


 


Also, the couple will be wed 2 in a civil ceremony so as not to offend Church of England members who oppose the remarriage of divorcees. Mrs. Parker Bowles is divorced and her former husband is still alive. The issue is delicate because as king, Charles would head the Church of England.


 


In 1936, King Edward the VIII abdicated 7 so he could marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson.


 


But many royal watchers say times have changed, and the couple has gotten tacit approval from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.


 


Archbishop Williams: A marriage is a matter for the persons involved. It is a decision of great import, great significance for these individuals, I hope that will be respected, and as I said earlier, I hope that many people will hold them in their prayers.


 


The latest opinion polls show nearly one-third of Britons favor the marriage, a little less than one-third oppose it, and another third do not care.


 


Michael Drudge 8, VOA news, London.




1 collapse
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
2 wed
v.娶,嫁,与…结婚
  • The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
  • The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。
3 harry
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
  • 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。
4 speculation
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机
  • Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
  • There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。
5 monarch
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者
  • 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。
6 consort
v.相伴;结交
  • They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
  • The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。
7 abdicated
放弃(职责、权力等)( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 ); 退位,逊位
  • He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
  • King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。
8 drudge
n.劳碌的人;v.做苦工,操劳
  • I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作!
  • I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷,倒运,走投无路的苦力,只会拖累你。
学英语单词
active immunity
ajaccios
Almyropotamos
Ameca
amedo
angon
average daily calling rate
ball and inner ring assembly
barge to barge transfer
bills drawn under letter of credit
binary to decimal conversion
binnein mor
blowing spray
bomb calorimeters
branches at home and abroad
brick laid with mortar
capricorn beetle
carib woods
chimbley
complete set of eigenstates
contact flange
core and winding assembly
darrayne
disprovide
diverting dam
draw ... up
drift epoch
droseras
electron paramagnetic resonance
europium acetate
exchange volume
field investment
flairing
gemmifications
general call signal
Gentiloni
genus pedilanthuss
global liquidity
gone over
Hai Phong
heat-producing reaction
hflo
independent fault
inlaces
internal fuel
ionic speaker
irreversible circulation
ks-standard loading
latex examination gloves
LAVINIA
lipophilic compound
literatize
Loboc
macrocyclic compounds
metal-semiconductor-metal diode
monosuits
nonpsychological
notched furnace
oil sump tank
pallidofugal
Parafasciolopsis
pass-over offset
pentaradiate
pickup points
Pillsbury, Lake
plaque-infested port
plasma lipids
playdohs
public lawyer
Puccinia epimedii
put one's best foot first
radicicol
ratten-
readmitance
reclaiming by centrifuge
red-shank
relational instruction
resource productivity
sampling length
scare someone out of his wits
seasonal group profile code
settleability test
small wiring
soft corruption
spoliation
steam and gas
stereochemical formula
sun-bathing
suppression hangover time
tax reimbursement for export
thermofocal
tracepoint
tunnel in rock
twofold degeneracy
uncorrugated
unfavorable variance
union colourimeter
wetting of cloth
whidder
Wycakon-G
yudha