British Vision- Issue 6 威廉王子投笔从戎

本期难点
1. ironing: 这个词不难，熨衣服。在这里是说Wills以后不能搞特殊了，衣服也得自个熨了。
2. cotton wool: cotton made absorbent by chemically freeing it from its fatty matter 药棉。
3. wrap someone up in cotton wool (British & Australian): to protect someone too much without allowing them to be independent enough.

His last precious moments of freedom. Arriving back at Heathrow with his girlfriend Kate after a skiing-trip, three days before starting Sandhurst where for the first 5 weeks he will have no contact with the outside world.

William who passed a four-day assessment¹ last year faces a tough physical challenge when he starts at the military academy.

There'll be a lot of this, but also dorm starts, long tracks and doing your own ironing, Harry²'s proof of the transmission from a lazy civilian³ to a disciplined army man, and William's already made it clear he would want to see action on the front line.

Price William: "The last thing I want to do will, is be mollycoddled⁴ or wrapped up in cotton wool, cause if I was to join the army, I'd want to go where my men went, and I 'd want to do what they did. Um, I would not want to be, you know, kept back for, sort of, being precious or whatever. It's the last thing I want.

That's a view shared by Harry, but the pair are very different. Harry was considered a weak student, but he's( has) nonetheless thrived here at Sandhurst. William is less outgoing, more thoughtful, but one day he will be head of the arm forces. And this represents his first major decision taken primarily for duty.

After Eton and a gap year, William went to St Andrew's University. He is 23 now, and will see the army as just one of his career choices.

After Eton and a 2-year gap, Harry joined Sandhurst aged⁵ 20, providing some structure in his life.

Prince William and Prince Harry will probably not meet a great deal at Sandhurst. It's an enormous campus. And indeed they will be in different colleges, and because they are at different stages of military training, although they will try to meet, because I'd rather say they'd like to meet out. They won't have the chance as regularly as you might think. But I dare say Prince William will have benefited from getting a bit of advice from his younger brother on what he should do and what he shouldn't do, and especially what he should pack.

And it is needed, after all their father, uncle and grandfather were all navy men, Harry was the first to break ranks.

Prince Harry: You are now in the army, sort yourself, sort your life out. As many, I think, as many pointed⁶ out that as a university student he's coming after, you know, a few lazy years in university like everybody is.

Lazy or not, as a graduate, William will quickly overtake his brother in rank when he passes out. But for the moment, Harry will be enjoying the rare situation of being senior to his older sibling⁷.

Catherine Vichy, Sky News.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• 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。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 mollycoddled   

v.娇养，宠坏( mollycoddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He doesn' t believe that children should be mollycoddled. 他认为不应溺爱儿童。 来自互联网

5 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。