美國加州夫婦成世界最高夫妻
Their height made Wayne and Laurie Hallquist seem like an ideal match when they met seven years ago, and on Thursday they were matched with something else -- the title of world's tallest living married couple.
Guinness World Records bestowed that towering distinction to the Hallquists in a ceremony under the marquee at its Hollywood museum. The couple arrived in a white limousine, with Wayne sporting a tuxedo and Laurie in a white wedding dress.
The Hallquists, who live in Stockton, California, measure a combined 13 feet, 4 inches, or 407.4 centimeters, to be exact. He stands 6 feet 10.4 inches, she 6 feet 5.95 inches, the Guinness organization said.
"It's a whole different perspective up here, and we can find each other quite easily in a crowd," Laurie told Reuters.
"We can see several people going bald that might not know it at the moment," joked Wayne, 57, who works as a telephone company wire splicer.
The Hallquists said that when they met at a church singles club in 2003, they could tell that others around them were sizing up a possible love affair because of their height.
"She walked in, everyone looked at her, then they looked at me," Wayne said.
But while Wayne said it was love at first sight for him, Laurie their first meeting came up short.
"He talked about the size of my hands and feet, which is kind of a no-no," said Laurie, 46. "And then the second time we had a chance to talk, I figured out he was a really good guy."
They have been married for seven years, but it took the Hallquists until this year to contact Guinness World Records.
The couple said they were discouraged at first from making a play for world's tallest couple, because they read online that a man and a woman each standing over 7 feet had married in the 19th century.
Only this year did they realize they could compete in another category: world's tallest living married couple.
Guinness previously listed a couple in England -- Wilco and Keisha van Kleef-Bolton -- as the world's tallest couple at a combined height of 13 feet, 3 inches.
當韋恩和勞瑞•霍爾奎斯特在七年前相遇時，他們的身高讓他們看起來簡直是絕配。本週四，這二人又配上了另一樣東西——世界最高在世夫妻的稱號。
在位於好萊塢的吉尼斯世界紀錄博物館遮檐下舉行的儀式上，霍爾奎斯特夫婦獲封了這一最“高”殊榮。這對夫妻乘坐一輛白色的豪華轎車到達頒獎禮現場，韋恩是一身燕尾服裝扮，而勞瑞則身着白色婚紗。
吉尼斯機構稱，住在加州斯托克頓市的霍爾奎斯特夫婦身高加起來達到13英尺4英寸，也就是407.4釐米（精確數值）。霍爾奎斯特先生身高爲6英尺10.4英寸，而太太的身高爲6英尺5.95英寸。
勞瑞告訴路透社說：“站在這個高度可以擁有一個完全不同的視角，我們可以很容易在人羣中找到彼此。”
現年57歲的韋恩開玩笑說：“我們可以看到某些人已經開始禿頂，而那時他們自己可能並不知道。”韋恩是一家電話公司的電纜接線工。
霍爾奎斯特夫婦說，2003年當他們在一個教堂的單身俱樂部相遇時，他們可以察覺到，因爲他們的高度，周圍的其他人都在估摸着兩人也許會擦出火花。
韋恩說：“她走了進來，所有人都把目光投向她，然後又把目光投向我。”
不過，儘管韋恩說他當時是一見鍾情，勞瑞卻說他們第一次見面並不太愉快。
現年46歲的勞瑞說：“他談論我的手腳大小，這幾乎是不可接受的。不過當我們再次有機會聊天時，我發現他真的是個很不錯的人。”
霍爾奎斯特夫婦已經結婚七年，但是直到今年他們才聯繫了吉尼斯世界紀錄。
這對夫婦說，他們一開始想申請世界最高夫妻稱號，但這一想法遭到了打擊，因爲他們在網上查到19世紀有一對夫妻兩人的身高都超過了7英尺。
到了今年他們才意識到他們可以競爭另一個類別：世界最高在世夫妻。
此前的吉尼斯世界最高夫妻紀錄保持者是英國的一對夫婦——威爾科和凱莎•凡•克利夫-波爾頓，兩人的身高總和爲13英尺3英寸。
Vocabulary:
marquee: a covered entrance to a theatre, hotel, etc. often with a sign on or above it （戲院、酒店等入口處，通常帶有標記的）遮檐
limousine: a large expensive comfortable car（大型高級轎車；豪華轎車）
sport: to have or wear something in a proud way so that everyone can see（惹人注目地穿戴）
size up: 估量；判斷
no-no: a thing or a way of behaving that is not acceptable in a particular situation（不可乾的事；不可接受的行爲）
make a play for: 企圖得到
