万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-04-17&19, 威廉王子和女友分手

Last winter, as rumors¹ of a royal engagement swirled², Kate Middleton haunted by the paparazzi just wished they'd leave her alone. Now that the royal romance is over, they probably will.

Prince William, 24, and his girlfriend Kate, who is 25, met at university in Scotland four years ago. There they shared a house and became lovers out of the media spotlight³. But after their graduation they had to face real life and the glare of publicity⁴.

Prince Williams joined the army, and began officer training at Britain's elite⁵ military academy Sandhurst, while Kate became a fashion buyer in London. Wherever they went, whether it was the prince's out drinking with friends, or Kate's simply setting out for work, photographers were never far away. Finally it may be that strain that ended the relationship, or the fact the prince has said he doesn't want to marry until he is 28 or 30. On the other hand, it may be Kate deciding that a royal wedding is less fairytale ending than a life sentence.

Whatever the reason, royal watchers say the parting was amicable⁶, and the two will remain friends.

1 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 amicable   

adj.和平的，友好的；友善的

参考例句：

• The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。
• The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。