经济学人223:婚礼保险 婚前的保护

 　　Wedding insurance

　　婚礼保险

　　Prenuptial protection

　　婚前的保护

　　Underwriters are becoming as much a part of the big day as cake and flowers

　　在婚礼那天，承销商变得和蛋糕和鲜花一样重要

　　Sorry, your policy doesn't cover cold feet

　　对不起，您的保险不包含临阵脱逃

　　JUST as each wedding creates potential business for divorce lawyers, so each engagement gives insurers a chance to drum up business. Future spouses², says Alan Tuvin of Travelers, an insurer, may wish to protect themselves against something going wrong on the wedding day. It is unlikely that your betrothed³ will scarper on horseback, as Julia Roberts did in “Runaway Bride”, and most insurers wouldn't cover that anyway. But you never know what might happen. Mr Tuvin launched the firm's wedding-insurance business; he and his wife were its first clients.

　　正如每一场婚礼会为离婚律师创造潜在的业务一样，每一场订婚也会给保险公司招揽生意的机会。保险公司Travelers的承保人艾伦·图瓦表示，未来的夫妻可能更希望在婚礼上保护自己，免出差错。虽然你的未婚妻不太可能像《落跑新娘》中的茱莉亚·罗伯茨那样骑马跑掉—当然，大多数保险公司不会涵盖这项业务，但是你也不可能知道会发生什么。图瓦先生发起了这家公司的婚礼保险业务，他和他的妻子是的一个客户。

　　婚前的保护.jpg

　　A typical American wedding costs 25,000 or so. This has fallen a bit over the past quarter-century but still seems lavish⁴ given how tight American belts are these days (see chart). Weddings are pricey because the rich are more likely to marry than the poor, and the average age of newlyweds has gone up, so couples are more prosperous when they eventually tie the knot. High prices, and the fact that many venues⁶ require couples to take out liability insurance, feed demand for wedding insurance. A fifth of couples buy it, says the Wedding Report, a trade publication. “If some fat lady slips on a canapé and breaks her hip⁷, she doesn't give a rat's ass⁸ that this is her boyfriend's cousin's wedding,” hypothesises Robert Nuccio of Wedsure, an insurer. “She just wants to get paid.”

　　一个传统的美式婚礼大概花费在25000美元左右。在过去的25年里，这项花费略有下降，但是鉴于美国近年来勒紧的裤腰带，这已经很奢华了。婚礼是昂贵的，因为富人比穷人更有可能结婚，并且现在新婚夫妇的平均年龄正在变大，所以当他们最终结婚时，他们的经济相对而言比较宽裕。昂贵的价格以及许多场馆要求夫妻承担责任保险的事实使得人们对婚礼保险的需求越来越大。贸易出版物Wedding Report 指出有五分之一的夫妇购买婚礼保险。保险公司Robert Nuccio of Wedsure 提出假设：“如果有一个胖太太从沙发上滑下来并且摔疼了屁股，她并不会完全不在意，由于这是她男朋友表哥的婚礼，她只是想要获得赔偿。”

　　Wedding insurance began inBritain: Cornhill, an insurer, wrote its first policy in 1988. But there were few takers. The idea only took off once transplanted toAmerica. In the early days, says Mr Nuccio, there were incidents of couples faking engagements to collect a payout. Since then, most policies have a clause that excludes “change of heart”. Wedsure does insure against cold feet, but its policy will pay out only if the wedding is cancelled more than 12 months before it is due to take place, thereby⁹ guarding against fiancés (or their parents) phoning the broker¹⁰ once the relationship is already on the rocks.

　　婚礼保险这项业务最早是由英国的一家保险公司康希尓于1988年提出来的。但是那个时候少有问津。直到它传到了美国，这个想法才得以落实。Nuccio先生说，在早期，会有情侣假装约会来收集费用。从那时候开始，大部分保险条款就不包括“变心”这一项了。婚礼保险包含婚礼前临阵退缩这一项，但是只有在原定婚礼日期前12个月取消婚礼才有效，这是为了防止未婚夫妇（或他们的父母）临时打电话给介绍人说新人的关系已经濒于破裂。

　　This does not mean policies are useless. Common causes of payouts include the venue⁵ or caterers going bust¹¹ after having taken a big deposit. Extreme weather, a spouse¹ being deployed¹² by the armed forces and an absent priest can all trigger payouts. Most policies will pay to re-stage the photos if the snapper fails to turn up or disappears with the pictures. “DJs are flaky. Florists¹³? Flaky. Cakemakers? Flaky. They are all flaky as hell,” warns Mr Nuccio.

　　这并不意味着这些保险就是无用的。保险支出的常见原因包括场地或供应商在拿到了一笔巨额押金后宣告破产。极端的天气，一方新人被部队征召或牧师的缺席都会导致保险的支出。

　　For some, even a small risk of something going wrong on a day that has been planned for months is worth paying to avoid. Who says romance is dead?

　　对于有些人来说，在一个期盼了数月的重要日子里，即使是一个很小的失误，也是值得花钱去避免的。谁说浪漫已经消失了呢？

1 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

2 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

3 betrothed   

n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。
• His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。

4 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

5 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

6 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

7 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

8 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

9 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

10 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

11 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

12 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

13 florists   

n.花商，花农，花卉研究者( florist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The little dressmaker bought an envelope of nasturtium seeds at the florists. 那个个子矮小的女裁缝在花铺里买了一包金莲花种子。 来自辞典例句
• I have more important things to do than petulant florists. 我有比教训坏脾气的花匠更重要的事情要做。 来自互联网