【在生活中學習語言】《中英對照讀新聞》Happy Christmas honey - here’s a divorce voucher 耶誕快樂，親愛的—這裡有張離婚禮券

◎魏國金

Stuck for Christmas gift ideas? Is your marriage or a friend’s going through a rocky patch? How about a divorce voucher? A London law firm is offering Christmas gift vouchers for divorce advice.

想不出送什麼耶誕禮物嗎？你或朋友的婚姻正經歷困境嗎？送張離婚禮券如何？倫敦一家法律事務所正提供離婚建議禮券作為耶誕禮物。

The firm, Lloyd Platt & Company, which normally charges 325 pounds an hour, said it had been swamped with enquiries since it launched the vouchers early last week. So far, more than 60 have been sold -- a snip at 125 pounds for a half hour session with a divorce lawyer.

里歐德．普拉特律師事務所通常一小時收費325英鎊，該公司說，自上週初推出禮券以來，湧入的詢問應接不暇。迄今已賣出逾60張禮券—與離婚律師諮商半小時僅需125英鎊。

A spokesman for the Church of England called the vouchers sad. "Divorce is a very personal matter and not really suitable for the idea of gift vouchers," he said.

英國國教一名發言人對於該禮券表示悲哀。「離婚是非常個人的事，真的不適合禮券這種點子，」他說。

Demand for the vouchers could soar over the next few weeks. Christmas tends to be a particularly stressful time for families, with a huge rise in people seeking advice each January, Vanessa Lloyd Platt, the firm’s founder, said.

未來幾週離婚禮券的需求量可能攀升。耶誕節對家庭來說向來是特別有壓力的時期，因此每年一月間，尋求離婚建議的人們大幅增加，該公司創辦人凡妮莎．里歐德．普拉特說。

新聞辭典

be stuck for︰想不出來。be stuck on則指迷戀、特別喜愛。例句︰She is really stuck on her new teacher.（她實在喜歡她的新老師。）

a rocky patch︰困境。Their relationship has hit a rocky patch.（他們的關係已觸礁。）

be swamped with︰多到難以招架。例句︰We were swamped with telephone calls after our advertisement was put in the paper.（自從在報紙登廣告後，我們的電話就應接不暇。）

自由時報-981223

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