離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Put bed tax to sleep 讓床鋪稅壽終正寢
◎鄭寺音
Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, is leading a campaign inside the Government to derail plans for a "bed tax" on British holidays.
文化部長泰莎．喬維爾正在政府內部推動一項活動，顛覆在英國假日徵收「床鋪稅」的計畫。
Jowell and Shaun Woodward, the Tourism Minister, fear that the tax will jeopardise domestic tourism. Tourism and business leaders have asked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to halt the move.
喬維爾與旅遊部次官蕭恩．伍德瓦德擔心，床鋪稅如付諸實施，會危及國內旅遊業。旅遊業與企業界領導人要求文化、媒體暨運動部停止這項計畫。
Marshall, the chairman of VisitBritain, is asking to "put the bed tax to sleep" before it undermines the industry.
「訪問英國」組織的主席馬歇爾，要求「讓床鋪稅壽終正寢」，在它對觀光旅遊業造成危害之前。
Tourism is already worth £74 billion a year, and the Treasury has indicated that it expects the industry to bring in £100 billion a year by 2010.
目前旅遊業每年產值已經達到740億英鎊，而且財政部指出，在2010年之前，旅遊業預計每年可以賺進1,000億英鎊。
However, Marshall said that there was already an £18 billion tourism deficit in Britain, with people taking advantage of cheap flights abroad, and Britain had the third highest taxes on holidays in Europe.
不過，馬歇爾說，由於飛往國外的班機票價低廉，吸引民眾，且英國在假日所課的稅率在歐洲各國之中高居第三，英國旅遊業已出現180億英鎊的赤字。
新聞辭典
derail︰動詞，火車出軌、讓計畫等無法成功。例句：The train derailed because a cow was standing on the tracks.（因為有隻牛站在鐵軌上，導致火車出軌。）
jeopardise︰動詞，使瀕於危險境地；冒…的危險；危及。例句：If you are rude to the boss, it may jeopardize your chances of success.（如果對老板沒有禮貌，也許會危及你成功的機會。）
undermine︰動詞，暗中破壞；逐漸損害。例句：The bad cold had undermined her health.（重感冒損傷了她的健康。）
bring in︰片語，產生（利潤，收入）；進口。
