英国政府的一举一动都难以逃脱反对党的监督。据英国媒体报道，根据英国保守党的统计，英国政府各部和主要公共机构官员去年的“航空里程”高达3亿英里，相当于这些政治家和公务员前往月球1280次，环球旅行1.2万次。

British ministers surely waste no time when it comes to hopping from one place to another, at least that’s what the latest study by the Conservatives suggests.

According to the study, Government officials flew more than 300 million miles in 2007- the equivalent of more than 1,000 journeys to the moon.

The cost to taxpayers of the air travel by ministers and mandarins, excluding subsistence and accommodation, is estimated at 50 million pounds, the study found.

A total of 306million air miles were covered on official business almost 146million miles by the Foreign Office alone.

Tories calculated the figures using new stats for carbon emissions generated from official flights, as the Government refused to publish full details of flights and travel by MPs and civil servants.

The Government would never indulge in unnecessary air travel, The Sun quoted a Cabinet Office spokesman, as saying.

The Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development were responsible for the most air travel last year, followed by the Cabinet Office, which includes flights taken by the Prime Minister and staff from 10 Downing Street, the study found.

(Agencies)

Vocabulary:

mandarin: 官员，职位较高的政府官员

(英语点津Celene编辑)