「经济学人解读」英语教学的危害 (下)
大家好，我们又见面了。
上一次我们解读的是从父母角度分析英语教学兴起的原因（点击蓝色字阅读上一部分内容），父母渴望孩子掌握英语，他们认为孩子接受“英语教学”教育有利于孩子顺利大学毕业、找到满意的工作，甚至成为一名出色的专业人士。今天是我们本次经济学人解读的最后一部分内容，和大家一起看看政府对“英语教学”教育热潮的推动作用。
话不多说，步入正文。
原文部分
①Where the private sector leads, governments are following. ②Some countries have long chosen to teach in English as a political expedient, because a local language would prove contentious. ③But even where public schools teach children in their mother tongue, or a local language, education authorities are switching to English medium, in part to stem the outflow of children into the private sector. ④That has happened in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan; many Indian states have started large or small English-medium experiments. ⑤In Africa most children are supposed to be taught in a local language in the first few years, but often, through parental pressure or a lack of textbooks, it does not happen.
解读部分
第一句：
①Where the private sector leads, governments are following.
该段的第一句，总领本段。上一次解读提到父母希望孩子接受英语教学，从而推动了私立学校的发展（采用“英语教学”），所以这里写到the private sector leads，因此政府当然也不会干看着，肯定也会采取相应的对策。这里的private sector个人觉得是与上一部分中的private schooling相呼应，故理解为“私立学校”。
昨天，2019年政府工作报告Part 17中同样出现了private sector这一说法，此处的private sector表示“民营经济/民营企业”，当然“民营企业”也可以说private enterprises.
激发企业家精神，促进民营经济发展升级 inspire entrepreneurial spirit, and promote development and upgrading in the private sector.
而sector在政府工作报告中也是个高频词、经常出现，如：financial sector表示金融业/财经界；heavy-polluting sectors表示重污染行业；deepen reforms in key sectors 深化重点领域改革；the insurance sector表示保险业等等（详见：2019年政府工作报告Part 17）。
整句翻译：
①Where the private sector leads, governments are following.
私立学校带头领先，政府也纷纷不甘落后。
接下来我们看第②句：
②Some countries have long chosen to teach in English as a political expedient, because a local language would prove contentious.
围绕第一句开始展开说明，许多国家选择英语教学是出于政治方面的考虑，并进一步补充原因：因为地方方言可能会引发争议。至于为什么会引发争议，作者也没有明说，大家可以自己思考一下。这一句主要注意两个单词，一起来看看。
expedient /ɪk'spiːdɪənt/
首先就是expedient一词，它既可以作名词，也可以作形容词。
作名词时可数，表示“权宜之举”，英文解释为：An expedient is an action that achieves a particular purpose, but may not be morally right，举个🌰：
The curfew regulation is a temporary expedient made necessary by a sudden emergency.
宵禁令是应对突发事件时必要的临时权宜之举。
同样表示“权宜之计”的还有一个短语：a quick fix，从词组表面的意思就可以推出来。fix作动词可以表示“修理；处理”，引申出来的名词有“解决办法”的意思，所以a quick fix合起来就是“一种快速的解决办法”——权宜之计。英文解释为If you refer to a quick fix to a problem, you mean a way of solving a problem that is easy but temporary or inadequate，举个🌰：
Any measures enacted now as a quick fix would only be reversed in a few years.
现在作为权宜之计颁布的任何措施等几年后就会被撤消。
expedient还可以作形容词，表示“权宜的，便捷有效（但不道德）的”，英文解释为If it is expedient to do something, it is useful or convenient to do it, even though it may not be morally right，举个🌰：
This solution is politically expedient but may well cause long-term problems.
这种解决方法是政治上的权宜之计，但会引起长远的问题。
contentious
表示“引起争论的；有争议的”，英文解释为“causing a lot of argument and disagreement between people”，后面经常接的名词有issue/area/subject等，如“如今克隆人类成为了一个有争议的话题”，我们就可以说Human cloning has recently entered the public sphere as a contentious issue。顺便分享一部电影《逃出克隆岛（The Island）》，无聊的时候可以看看。
整句翻译：
②Some countries have long chosen to teach in English as a political expedient, because a local language would prove contentious.
一些国家长久以来将英语教学作为政治上的权宜之计，因为地方方言可能引发争议。
接下来我们看③句：
③But even where public schools teach children in their mother tongue, or a local language, education authorities are switching to English medium, in part to stem the outflow of children into the private sector.
这一句虽然是以but开头，但从语义上看，这一句更像是跟第②句构成递进关系。第②句提到国家（也就是政府）因为觉得英语教学于政治上有利，所以必然对其重视。第③句则指出，即使有些地方的公立学校采用母语或者地方方言教学，当地的教育部门也开始把重心往英语教学转移。随后指出部分原因。同样和大家过一下这句的语言点。
private/independent/public/state schools
首先和大家分享一下网上有关国外中学的分类，美国和英国的教育体系略有差异。
在美国的教育体系中，私立学校叫做private schools，公立学校叫做public schools。
但在英国的教育体系中，公立学校叫做state schools，私立学校叫做independent schools，有时也叫做private schools，但independent school更强调学校董事会的独立性，可能会接受一些政府资金，但校董会必须是独立的。而私立学校中历史悠久的贵族学校就叫做public schools（中文是“公学”），比如我们在第一次解读中提到的哈罗公学。
注：考虑到本段是从政府的角度出发，且这句话的语义是为了防止生源流入私立学校，把此处的public schools处理为公立学校。
stem
stem这个词大家应该不陌生，常见的用法有stem from，表示“来源于”，比如说“他的头痛是由视力问题引起的。”就可以用英文His headaches stemmed from vision problems.表达。
此处是stem作动词的另一种用法，表示“阻止”，英文解释为“If you stem something, you stop it spreading, increasing, or continuing.”举个🌰：
Austria has sent three army battalions to its border with Hungary to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.
奥地利已派遣3个营到达与匈牙利接壤的边境处，以阻止非法移民的流入。
The government had failed to stem the tide of factory closures.
政府没有控制住工厂纷纷倒闭的势头。
稍微提一下它的名词用法，可以表示“（植物的）茎；梗；柄”，也可以表示“（葡萄酒杯、花瓶等的）颈，柄，脚”。所以喝葡萄酒用的“高脚酒杯”就可以说“long-stemmed wine glasses”。
outflow
表示“（钱或人的）外流”，英文解释为“When there is an outflow of money or people, a large amount of money or people move from one place to another.”举个🌰：
There was a net outflow of about $123m.
净外流量大约是一亿两千三百万美元。
整句翻译：
③But even where public schools teach children in their mother tongue, or a local language, education authorities are switching to English medium, in part to stem the outflow of children into the private sector.
但即使某些地方的公立学校采用母语或地方方言教学，教育当局也正逐步转为英语教学，部分原因是为了阻止生源流入私立学校。
接下来我们看④⑤句：
④That has happened in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan; many Indian states have started large or small English-medium experiments. ⑤In Africa most children are supposed to be taught in a local language in the first few years, but often, through parental pressure or a lack of textbooks, it does not happen.
第④句是对前一句的补充说明，衔接手段是“代词指代”，借用that指代第③句谈论的事情。这种衔接手段在英语文章中很常见，大家在写作的时候应该有意识地运用。
随后进一步举例论证，印度许多邦也开始启动英语教学试点。第⑤句同样是举例来论证”英语教学的风潮“。值得注意的是，这两句提到的几个地点都和上一次解读中提到的“非洲和南亚”相呼应。这两句比较简单，稍微提几个语言点。
state
大家都知道state做名词不加the时可以表示“国家；（美国等大国的）州”，加了the时可以表示“政府”。这里想要跟大家交流的是：翻译时，应该根据语境选用不同的译文，比如这里的state前面的限定语是Indian，所以采用的是印度的“邦”的译文。
据百度百科介绍，印度行政区划中的一级行政区域包括有27个邦（省）、6个联邦属地及1个国家首都辖区。
补充一个短语，If you say that someone is not in a fit state to do something, you mean that they are too upset or ill to do it. 表示“不在（做某事的）适宜状态”，举个🌰：
When you left our place, you weren't in a fit state to drive.
你离开我们家时，你的状态不适合开车。
parental
表示“父母的；父或母的”，英文解释为“Parental is used to describe something that relates to parents in general, or to one or both of the parents of a particular child. ”举个🌰：
Medical treatment was sometimes given to children without parental consent.
有时候没有征得父母的同意就对孩子进行了医疗救治。
类似的表达还有paternal，表示“父亲（般）的”，英文解释为Paternal is used to describe feelings or actions that are typical of those of a kind father toward his child. 此外你还可以表示“父系的; 父亲一方的”，英文解释为A paternal relative is one that is related through a person's father rather than their mother. 如：my paternal grandparents 我的祖父母。
那么“外祖父母”怎么说呢？换一个词就好了：maternal。同样地，该词可以表示“母亲（般）的”，英文解释为Maternal is used to describe feelings or actions which are typical of those of a kind mother toward her child；也可以表示“母系的”，英文解释为A maternal relative is one who is related through a person's mother rather than their father.
④⑤句翻译：
④That has happened in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan; many Indian states have started large or small English-medium experiments. ⑤In Africa most children are supposed to be taught in a local language in the first few years, but often, through parental pressure or a lack of textbooks, it does not happen.
这种情况已经发生在巴基斯坦的旁遮普和开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦；印度许多邦已启动了大小不一的英语教学试点。在非洲，大多数孩子最初几年的教育应采用地方方言教学，但往往由于来自父母的压力或缺乏教科书而未落实。
原文回顾
①Where the private sector leads, governments are following. ②Some countries have long chosen to teach in English as a political expedient, because a local language would prove contentious. ③But even where public schools teach children in their mother tongue, or a local language, education authorities are switching to English medium, in part to stem the outflow of children into the private sector. ④That has happened in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan; many Indian states have started large or small English-medium experiments. ⑤In Africa most children are supposed to be taught in a local language in the first few years, but often, through parental pressure or a lack of textbooks, it does not happen.
私立学校带头领先，政府也纷纷不甘落后。一些国家长久以来将英语教学作为政治上的权宜之计，因为地方方言可能引发争议。但即使某些地方的公立学校采用母语或地方方言教学，教育当局也正逐步转为英语教学，部分原因是为了阻止生源流入私立学校。这种情况已经发生在巴基斯坦的旁遮普和开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦；印度许多邦已启动了大小不一的英语教学试点。在非洲，大多数孩子最初几年的教育应采用地方方言教学，但往往由于来自父母的压力或缺乏教科书而未落实。
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