King Saud University
College of Languages and Translation
Mass Media- 1st In-term
Fall 2008
Name…………………………………..ID#......................Grp…………………..
Q. Translate the following into Arabic (20 pts).
The wealthy and glamorous gathered in Dubai for the £20 million celebration of the opening of the world's most expensive hotel.
More than 2,000 guests attended, among them Robert de Niro, Michael Jordan and Charlize Theron, to hear Kylie Minogue perform a mixture of her hits for which she received £1.5 million, or £33,333 a minute.
Kylie sang 10 songs as guests ate lobster, salmon, sushi, lamb, chicken and salads.
Her performance was followed by a £7 million fireworks display, said to be so spectacular it was visible from space.
Even Sol Kerzner, the South African businessman behind the £1 billion Atlantis Hotel on the man-made Palm Island appeared embarrassed at the cost of last night's party.
"If I had to do it all over again, I might do it recognising the fact that we're living through a bit of a tough economic environment," said Mr Kerzner. He added: "We don't know how long it's going to take for the economy around the world to take off again. The economy is such that it is going to be challenging right here.
"One is going to have to be more and more effective in marketing and at the time being it is very, very difficult to predict ahead. There is a visibility of just four to five weeks."
There are fears Dubai is said to be "groaning*" under heavy debt of almost $50billion and banks have restricted lending to building projects.
On Palm Island, it is reported today that property prices have fallen as much as 40 per cent since September with four-bedroom villas now selling for 10 million UAE dirhams (£1.8 million).
None of which seemed to bother the guests at last night's hotel opening.