英国情侣太胖不上班 政府每月补贴2千镑

 　　With a combined weight of 54st, they say they are ‘too fat to work’.

　　一对情侣体重加起来有300多公斤，他们说他们“太胖而无法工作”。

　　But that did not stop Stephen Beer, 45, and wife Michelle, 43, being able to splash out ?3,000 on their wedding – as the bill was footed by the taxpayer¹.

　　但是这并没有阻止45岁的史蒂芬·比尔和妻子43的米歇尔花上3000英镑来举办他们的婚礼，因为这些钱全部由政府来承担。

　　Mr Beer, who was marrying for the sixth time, weighs 31st and had to have a suit specially² made for the occasion.

　　新浪比尔是第6次结婚，他体重197公斤，婚礼上需要穿专门定制的礼服。

　　By contrast his 23st wife became a bride for the first time and wore a white gown for the registry office ceremony and church blessing³ that followed.

　　而他的妻子米歇尔体重为148公斤，这是她第一次结婚，在婚姻登记处的典礼以及随后的教堂仪式上，她身穿白色婚纱。

　　The couple’s story was featured on the Channel 5 documentary Benefits: Too Fat To Work last night and viewers were shown how paramedics were called to the reception in Plymouth, Devon, before Mr Beer was taken to hospital feeling unwell.

　　这对情侣的事迹被一档电视节目制作成纪录片--《胖到无法工作》，节目中介绍，在德文郡的普利茅斯进行的比尔、米歇尔两人的登记典礼上，虽然有护理人员在场，但比尔仍感到不舒服，随后被送到了医院。

　　The groom⁴, who suffers from type 2 diabetes⁵, hypertension and other problems linked to his weight, had a blood clot⁶ on the lung and instead of a honeymoon⁷ he spent nine days in hospital.

　　比尔由于肥胖患有二型糖尿病、高血压等疾病，另外还有肺部血栓。其他情侣新婚后要去度蜜月，而比尔却在医院里呆了9天。

　　He can only stand for a limited period before becoming breathless and his wife said the wedding day trip to hospital was no surprise.

　　比尔只能站立一小会儿，否则就会喘不上气。他的妻子米歇尔称登记典礼那天比尔被送到医院是意料之中的事。

　　Mr Beer used to run a cleaning business and had to give up work six years ago following a stroke.

　　比尔曾经经营过一家清洁公司，但在6年前因遭受中风，之后便停止了工作。

　　The couple receive around ?1,700 a month in benefits. The rent on their one-bedroom flat is paid for by the taxpayer, and a carer comes twice daily to clean and help Mr Beer dress, but the taxpayer pays the ?8,000-a-year cost.

　　比尔和米歇尔每个月可以领到约1700英镑的补助。他们租住的公寓及各种费用等每年8000英镑的花费同样不用他们付钱，每天两次有护工过来打扫并帮助比尔穿衣服。

　　Mr Beer also uses a specially strengthened mobility⁸ scooter, provided at public expense.

　　比尔走动也必须依靠一辆专门设计的小轮车。

　　He insists he wants a job but says no one will give him work because of his weight. And yesterday, he blamed the Government for being too generous to those on benefits.

　　比尔说他想要工作，但因为他太胖没人愿意提供工作给他。他抱怨这是因为政府的补助政策太好了。

　　Speaking on ITV’s This Morning programme, Mr Beer said: ‘The Government is making it easy for people like us. The Government is making it easy for people on benefits.’ He said he didn’t think he deserved anything, adding: ‘I’m the one who put myself in this situation, no one else.’ However, he insisted he was now suffering from ‘prejudice’. He said he recently applied⁹ for an office job but claims he was turned down because he was too overweight.

　　他说：“政府对我们这样的人提供了太大的便利。足够的补助让我们生活并不困难。”他觉得他并不该拥有这些补助，“是我把自己弄成这个样子的，与其他人无关。”但是他也说他现在遭受到了“歧视”。他说他最近申请了一份办公室的工作，但因为太胖而遭到拒绝。

　　Mr Beer said he became so overweight because of an addiction¹⁰ to food, but is now trying to sort himself out and plans to go to a boot camp later this month.

　　比尔说他是因为贪吃才这么胖的，现在他已经在尝试规范饮食，并计划参加减肥训练营。

　　The couple both attended weight loss groups and courses at public expense in the run up to the wedding.

　　这对情侣目前都在为婚礼而努力瘦身中。

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

3 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

4 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

7 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

8 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

9 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

10 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。