《经济学家》读译参考:给我钱(上) 经济学家

幽幽草

Show me the money  给我钱！  

May 4th 2006 | NEW YORK  

From The Economist print edition  

（1）THE words “probate exception” do not titillate[1]. And yet a saucy[2], decade-long legal battle ______① a fortune of nearly half a billion dollars hinges on[3] this clause, which deals with the boundaries between state and federal courts in estate disputes. At issue[4] is whether Vickie Lynn Marshall, a former Playboy pin-up[5] and exotic dancer better known as Anna Nicole Smith, will get anything from the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall, an oil tycoon with assets estimated _______② $1.6 billion.   

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“对遗嘱公证可持有异议”这句话本身并无桃色意味。实际上，这是适用于涉及州立和联邦法庭之间处理财产纠纷的权限问题的条款。然而正是这一条款，让一场令人啼笑皆非、争夺大约5亿财产的诉讼持续十年之久。大家都对维基•琳恩•马歇尔能否从她已故丈夫的财产中分得一杯羹议论纷纷。马歇尔曾经是《花花公子》杂志的一名海报女郎和脱衣舞女，人称“安娜•尼科尔•史密斯”，她的丈夫J.霍华德•马歇尔则是一个拥有差不多16亿身家的石油大亨。  

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On May 1st, Ms Smith won an important victory. Although her inheritance remains uncertain, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that she could pursue her case in federal court. （2）One suspects the justices were enjoying themselves, for once.   

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5月1日，史密斯女士赢得了重大胜利。尽管她的继承权仍未明确，但美国最高法院一致裁决，她可以在联邦法院追诉。有人怀疑，法官们这是在逗闷玩儿，简直是破天荒头一次。  
（3）The details of the case have kept the tabloids busy. （4）Marshall met Ms Smith when he was wheeled[6] into the Texas strip club where she was dancing. After a courtship of a few years, full of expensive gifts (such as $2m in jewellery) and pricier promises, the two were married in 1994. She was 26, he was 89. Fourteen months later, Marshall dropped dead ________③ a heart attack, leaving nothing to Ms Smith in his will.   

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那些街头小报为了捕捉此案一些细节而忙得不亦乐乎。（报道说，）马歇尔是被人用轮椅推进得克萨斯脱衣舞夜总会后结识了在那儿跳脱衣舞的史密斯。随着几年的求爱，加上数不胜数的昂贵礼物（比如200万美元的珠宝）跟一番海誓山盟之后，两人在1994年结婚。当时她26岁，而他89岁。十四个月过后，马歇尔死于心脏病，可在遗嘱中给史密斯女士分文未留。  

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（5）The dispute has seen the inside of five courthouses since 1995, when Ms Smith first sued Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall, in a Texas state court, accusing him of cutting her ________④ from the estate. She insists that Marshall promised her half his fortune. His son, seething[7] at what he considers Ms Smith’s gold-digging (he calls her “Miss Cleavage”), argued that Marshall had already given her $6m in gifts and did not intend to leave her more. Ms Smith got nothing from her first lawsuit, but was awarded $475m in a federal bankruptcy ruling in California in 2000. （6）A federal district court judge cut this award to $89m, and then a US appeals court ruled that the issue was not a federal matter.   
（7）The Supreme Court justices, who heard arguments in February, have not weighed in on the merits of Ms Smith’s case. （8）Indeed the buxom[8] blonde, who sniffled disingenuously during the hearings, has hardly been a sympathetic figure. The court’s opinion, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a technical one that measures the scope of the probate exception. It leaves _______⑤ state courts the probate or annulment[9] of a will and the administration of an estate. （9）This puts Marshall’s estate back into play, and ensures that bitter legal wrangling[10] will stretch on for years
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今年2月就此案举行听证的最高法院法官并没有把史密斯一案当回事。事实上，这个在听证会上拿腔作势、哭哭啼啼的丰乳肥臀的金发女人，绝不是省油的灯。鲁思•巴德尔•金斯伯格法官（在一项声明中）写道，最高法院给出的是从技术层面权衡“遗嘱认证例外”范围的处理意见，至于遗嘱公证或认定无效以及财产如何分配则是州立法院的事。这就使得马歇尔的财产再度陷入纠葛之中，接下来肯定又是持续数年的激烈的法律纷争

幽幽草

[QUIZ]  

1.在文中空白处填入适当介词：  

2. 将划线部分英文翻译成中文（任选3句翻译即可）  

[NOTES](LONGMAN)  

1. titillate v.   

if a picture or a story titillates someone, it makes them feel sexually interested（照片或故事）给人以快感；搔痒  

2. saucy adj.  

saucy jokes, remarks etc are about sex in a way that is amusing but not shocking: （性有关的小说、言论等）可笑的，俏皮的  

3. hinge on/upon something  

if a result hinges on something, it depends on it completely: 完全依赖于，取决于  
例如：His political future hinges on the outcome of this election.  

The case against him hinged on Lewis’ evidence.  

4.at issue  

the problem or subject at issue is the most important part of what you are discussing or considering: 正在讨论或考虑的（最重要问题或话题）  

例如：At issue here is the extent to which exam results reflect a student’s ability.  

5. pin-up[countable]招贴（美女）画像  

1）a picture of an attractive person, often not wearing many clothes, that is put up on a wall to be looked at and admired:  

2）someone who appears in pin-up pictures or who is considered attractive by a particular group of people:  

（小典故：在20世纪50年代早期，肚子尤其是肚脐是女人身上最猥亵的部分。但是，许多好莱坞女星都穿着比基尼摆POSE拍照，她们的照片被印出成千上万份，到了男人们的手里，男人们兴奋极了，立刻把这些照片贴在自己房间的墙上，由此诞生了一个词：pin-up(钉在墙上的半裸体美女照片)。此外，性感美女还被赋予了一些人为的标准：涂得无可挑剔的指甲，眼睛经过细心描画，还贴上了假睁睫毛，嘴唇涂成大红色，头发染成全黑，或者相反，染成金黄色……在好莱坞，"性"开始大行其道，虽然审查官们时刻拿着剪刀准备着。当时的影片里不仅有赤裸镜头，还有令人不耻的通奸(拍摄出来的画面却十分具有吸引力)，甚至还安排了白人与黑人的性关系……美国的导演们是处理这类"艺术"的行家里手。如今，时隔50年，我们依然会对他们这样做的毫无意义感到目瞪口呆。1953年，美国的一位享乐主义天才--休•赫夫纳创办了杂志《花花公子》。这是第一本可以在报摊上买到的色情杂志，从此色情暴露在光天化日之下。当时尚毫无名气的玛丽莲.梦露成为在《花花公子》上露面的首批封面女郎之一。这份杂志迅速地取得了全球性的成功，于是性革命开始了。从此之后，在这个世界上，性别混淆了，世界已经做好了准备来接受色情的发展。）  

6. wheel （into）vt.  

to move someone or something that is in or on something that has wheels: 用带轮子的工具运送  
例如：Two nurses were wheeling him into the operating theatre.  

7.seethe (with) vi.   

to feel an emotion, especially anger, so strongly that you are almost shaking [= fume]激动（发怒）以至于发抖  

例如：He was seething with anger.  

I was absolutely seething.  

8. buxom adj.   

a woman who is buxom is attractively large and healthy and has big breasts （女人）丰满的  

9. annulment n. –annul v.  

to officially state that a marriage or legal agreement no longer exists: 正式宣布（婚姻或合同）解除或失效  

例如：Their marriage was annulled last year.  

10.wrangle vi.  

to argue with someone angrily for a long time与（某人）持久争吵  

[TIPS & BACKGROUND]  

美国法院体系：美国法院分为联邦法院和州法院两个体系。  

（1）联邦法院：联邦法院是美国联邦政府的一部份，可分为普通法院和专门法院。普通法院分为三级，从下到上分别是：地方法院（district court）、上诉法院（appeal court或Court of Appeals, 除了联邦区域上诉法院）、最高法院（the Supreme Court）；专门法院有：破产法庭（bankruptcy court）、税务法庭（tax court）、国际贸易法庭（international trade court）、联邦区域上诉法院。地方法院共有94所，分散在全国各州境内，由1名法院独任审理。上诉法院有13所，是第二审级法院，上诉案件由三名法官审理；最高法院设在华盛顿，由首席法官(chief justice)1人、法官(associate justice)8人组成。最高法院法官是行使司法权的最高机构，其法官由总统经参议院三分之二的多数同意后任命，并任职终身。美国的最高法院有权对是否符合宪法行使监督权。  

[KEY TO QUIZ]  

1.   

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