考研英语经济学人文章阅读训练十七

In the bureaucracies of Bangladesh and Pakistan,the Raj lives on

在孟加拉国和巴基斯坦的官僚机构中，仍然可见英国殖民时期的影子

Recruits are taught Victorian table manners

官场新人仍要学习维多利亚时代的餐桌礼仪

A clink of the spoon against the side of the teacup:one point deducted. One too many slices of carrot on the fork:another two points lost.When Sarim was training to become a civil servant in Pakistan,he was graded on his table manners.Everyone in his class was so cautious during the test that they would barely eat,he chuckles.

勺子碰到茶杯壁叮当作响：扣一分。叉子叉了多片胡萝卜：再扣两分。这是正在受训成为巴基斯坦公务员的沙林接受餐桌礼仪打分时的场景。他咯咯笑着说道，考核时，班上每个人都格外小心，以至于大家都没怎么吃东西。

Etiquette lessons are still mandatory for those aspiring to become senior government officials in Bangladesh and Pakistan,although Pakistan no longer marks candidates down for a slip of the teaspoon.During six months living and studying at the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre(BPATC),future civil servants must eat with knives and forks,says Mehbub,a successful graduate.A watchful instructor is quick to chastise anyone who reverts to eating directly from the right hand,as is customary for most South Asians.

对于孟加拉国和巴基斯坦那些想要成为政府高级官员的人来说，礼仪仍是必修课，当然巴基斯坦已不再以“一勺之差”给学员打分了。顺利上岸的曼合布拜说道，在孟加拉国公共管理培训中心生活和学习的六个月里，准公务员必须用刀叉吃饭。大多数南亚人传

统上都习惯于用右手抓饭吃，而虎视眈眈的教导员会毫不犹豫地对那些试图回归传统的学员施以惩罚。

The centre’s guide to etiquette includes detailed passages on how to hold and use cutlery.It recommends the“Continental”style—cutting and eating each mouthful in turn,with the fork in the left hand,tines down—over the“American”practice of cutting the entire serving into bite-sized pieces and then scooping them up with the fork,tines up.Another section explains in depth the art of“managing bread and rolls”.

孟加拉国公共管理培训中心的礼仪指南包含了有关刀叉持握及使用的细则。其所推崇的是“欧式”风格（即左手持叉，叉尖朝下，切一块吃一口），而非“美式”风格（即先将食物全部切成小块，然后再用叉子叉取食用，叉尖朝上）。指南的另一部分则深入探讨了“食用面包及面包卷”的艺术。

Naima,a graduate of Pakistan’s Civil Services Academy,grew up with such conventions as the daughter of a civil servant.But for people coming from other backgrounds it can be a struggle,she says.The weekly lessons on the customs of polite society,little changed since the colonial era,were daunting for her rural classmates.The BPATC’s injunctions not to dip bread in sauce and to stand whenever a woman comes or goes from the table would seem impossibly stuffy to most contemporary Britons.

奈玛毕业于巴基斯坦公务员学院，作为公务员之女的她从小就在这种环境中长大。但她说，对于那些其他家庭背景的人来说，这并非易事。自殖民时代以来，巴基斯坦上流社会的风俗习惯几乎没有发生变化，但每周的礼仪课程却让来自农村的学员感到烦恼。孟加拉国公共管理培训中心禁止学员拿面包去蘸酱（应该将酱涂抹在面包上），禁止女性站立着前来或离开餐桌，这些规定在当代英国人看来也太过古板。

In India the emphasis on colonial-era etiquette for trainees has waned as the civil service has become more inclusive.Rich,cosmopolitan Indians have turned to careers in banking and business,“more than we have pushed them out”,says an Indian official who hails from a rural part of the state of Rajasthan.

在印度，随着公务员制度变得更具包容性，殖民时代礼仪的重要性也有所下降。富有而又见多识广的印度人都转而投身于银行和商业领域，一位来自拉贾斯坦邦农村地区的印度官员说：“这远多于被我们拒之门外的人。”

Centuries of formality are hard to slough off,however.When posted abroad,the Indian official often found himself overdressed compared with Americans and Europeans.“My Pakistani friends were even more so,”he laughs.He did dispense with the formal dinner service,however,and dished up Rajasthani thalis even to foreign guests.

然而，几个世纪以来所崇尚的礼仪并非那么容易摒弃。当这位印度官员被派往国外时，他常常发现，相比美国人和欧洲人，自己的穿着过于讲究。他笑着说道：“我的巴基斯坦朋友更是如此。”不过，他确实摒弃了正式的接待晚餐，有时甚至会为外国来的客人上一道拉贾斯坦泰利。

The old ways are the best ways for Pakistan,argues Naima.Just because the British introduced them does not make them wrong,she says.Indeed, one reason colonial habits endure in Pakistan is because they suit its conservative culture,she argues.The formal etiquette helps the bureaucracy set itself apart,in her view.In hierarchical places like South Asia,bureaucrats are the top of the pile,says Ishtiaq Jamil of the University of Bergen.Rigid decorum adds to their sense of importance.