"I'm broke." = I have no money.
And the even stronger versions: "I'm dead broke." and "I'm flat broke."
Today we'll study a CNN video about the queen and her money problems.
TIM EWART, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The queen was at Culloden in Scotland, site of the last major battle on British soil more than 250 years ago. There's a battle looming now over the royal purse. The queen is facing an unseemly scrap over how much of our money she should receive. Next year, she's going to ask for more.
The queen cost the taxpayer 41.5 million pounds last year, an increase of 1.5 million pounds. It amounts to 69 pence for each man, woman and child in the country, up from 66 pence the year before.
Much of the controversy will revolve around the royal family's travel costs, revealed today. Trips by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to South America and the far east cost 1.3 million pounds. The Duke of Gloucester, the queen's cousin, went to a coronation in the South Pacific. The bill, 150,000. And Prince Andrew chartered a plane to an economic summit in Egypt, costing 55,000 pounds.
ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Prince Andrew going to Egypt, 55,000 pounds? When the cost of a first-class ticket -- and a first- class ticket, not an economy ticket -- is extremely -- it's just a matter of a few thousand pounds. So I think in these current economic times, it's difficult to justify.
EWART: travel is covered by an annual grant, but running the royal household comes from the civil list. It's been frozen, at just under 8 million pounds a year, for 20 years. And the palace say a private fund used to top it up will run out in three years. So, should the civil list be increased?
The queen cost the taxpayer 41.5 million pounds last year, an increase of 1.5 million pounds. It amounts to 69 pence for each man, woman and child in the country, up from 66 pence the year before.
Much of the controversy will revolve around the royal family's travel costs, revealed today. Trips by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to South America and the far east cost 1.3 million pounds. The Duke of Gloucester, the queen's cousin, went to a coronation in the South Pacific. The bill, 150,000. And Prince Andrew chartered a plane to an economic summit in Egypt, costing 55,000 pounds.
ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Prince Andrew going to Egypt, 55,000 pounds? When the cost of a first-class ticket -- and a first- class ticket, not an economy ticket -- is extremely -- it's just a matter of a few thousand pounds. So I think in these current economic times, it's difficult to justify.
EWART: travel is covered by an annual grant, but running the royal household comes from the civil list. It's been frozen, at just under 8 million pounds a year, for 20 years. And the palace say a private fund used to top it up will run out in three years. So, should the civil list be increased?
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Vocabulary:
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- a site: noun, location.
- major: adjective, big
- soil: noun, land
- looming: adjective, coming soon, impending, 迫り来る
- a purse: noun, budget
- unseemly: adjective, inappropriate, improper, unbecoming, embarrassing, 不適切な、ふさわしくない
- a scrap: noun, a fight, argument
- controversy: noun, anything that people have very strong and often opposing opinions about. Example of controversial (形容詞) subjects in the USA are: abortion, the death penalty, and gun control.
- to revolve around st=to be about st.
- the far east: east of the U.K., like China and Japan
- a coronation: The ceremony held to crowning a sovereign or the sovereign's consort., 戴冠式、即位式、即位
- to charter a plane: to hire a private plane
- a summit: a big meeting of high level leaders, サミット（会談）、先進国首脳会議
- to justify st: to give acceptable reasons for one's actions, 〔不当だと批判された人・行為・考え方・意見などを〕正当だと説明する［証明する・納得させる］、弁明する、正当化する
- to cover st: to pay for st, to be included by a budget, insurance, policy, etc.
- annual: yearly
- to run out: to be used up
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