“梅姨”作风：埋头做事

By+Steven+Erlanger

Her beloved father， an Anglican vicar， died in a car crash when she was 25， after she had been married only a year， and her mother， who had multiple sclerosis，1 died a few months later. For Theresa May， a cherished only child， the shock was devastating2.

It brought her even closer to her husband， Philip， two years younger， whom she had met at Oxford， at a Conservative Party disco.3 They bonded over cricket and silly university debates.4 Both became bankers， and Ms. May threw herself into the Conservative politics that had entranced5 her since the age of 12， when she liked to argue with her father.

“Politics captured6 me，” Ms. May said in 2014. “That sounds terribly trite7，” she said， but “I wanted to make a difference， I wanted to be part of the debate.”

On July 13， 2016， Ms. May， 59， became Britains Prime Minister， the Britains second female prime minister.

Ms. May， who had been home secretary， is considered “a safe pair of hands，” not flashy and even dull， who seems to be a candidate of continuity.8 But the countrys dire9 circumstances may demand more. And Ms. May， a traditional economic and social conservative in many respects， has signaled a desire to give her party a new focus on the need to build a fairer society.

With Britain deeply divided over its decision to leave the European Union， its place in the world in flux， its unity threatened by calls for Scottish independence and its economy at risk， the times may require that Ms. May be both steady and bold.10

Her six-year tenure at the Home Office showed her to be a tough operator and put her in charge of a number of flash-point issues.11 She demanded police reforms to reduce racial profiling12. She helped push through surveillance policies that had to balance fears of terrorism against civil liberties and confronted public pressure to reduce immigration.13

Damian Green， who worked for her as Home Office minister until 2014， said that “Theresa doesnt do verbiage14， doesnt do speeches for the sake of making speeches. One of her virtues is that when she says something today she means it tomorrow.”

Friends say that her early religious upbringing—she is an Anglican but went to a Roman Catholic school—has given Ms. May a moral base， a steady personality and a feeling for the disadvantaged.15

A young woman who hunched her shoulders16 at school to seem less tall has grown into a proud master of her responsibilities. She lives for her work and her husband. They live in their neat house in Sonning-on-Thames， in Berkshire， a village she shares with better-known types like the guitarist Jimmy Page and George and Amal Clooney.17 She likes to cook and owns more than 100 cookbooks， and will likely be glad that the Camerons took the heat for remodeling the ancient kitchen at 10 Downing Street.18

Mr. Cameron valued her workaholic talents， naming her Home Office secretary， one of the four senior cabinet19 posts， only the second woman to hold the job. Ms. May is polite but not chummy， works late and does not hang around Parliaments bars.20

In office， Ms. May has been rigorous， largely sticking to her brief，21 which she knew in depth， and not often consulting cabinet colleagues. One former minister， Kenneth Clarke， called her “a bloody difficult woman，” a description she embraced22.

Ms. May has been compared to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany—both daughters of Protestant clergymen， both with quiet， private husbands， both without children， both hardworking and rather distant.23 Ms. May clearly sees the similarities， including being underestimated24 by men.

She has made a calculated effort to show some inner life and spark by her choice of clothes， especially her kitten-heeled animal-print shoes.25“You can be clever and like clothes，” she has said.“One of the challenges for women in politics is to be ourselves.”

When asked what single novel she wanted as a castaway， she answered， “Pride and Prejudice.”26 And her single luxury？ “A lifetime subscription to Vogue.”27

1. Anglican： 英国圣公会的；vicar：教区牧师；sclerosis： 硬化症。

2. devastating： 令人极为悲伤的，令人极为震惊的。

3. Conservative Party： 保守党；disco： 迪斯科舞会。

4. bond： 建立感情；cricket： 板球。

5. entrance： 使着迷。

6. capture： 引起某人的兴趣。

7. trite： 陈腐的，老一套的。

8. home secretary：（英国）内政大臣；a safe pair of hands： 信得过的人；flashy：俗艳的，华而不实的；candidate： 候选人；continuity： 连续性，此处指连任。

9. dire： 极端的，非常严重的。

10. 由于英国在脱欧问题上的严重分歧，导致其国际地位发生了变化，加之国家统一还同时受到苏格兰要求独立和国内经济不景气的威胁，这样的时局要求梅姨既要稳健又要有魄力。flux： 变动，波动。

11. tenure： 任期；Home Office： （英国）内政部；operator： 经营者；flashpoint： 燃点，爆发点。

12. racial profiling： 种族定性，指警察等因肤色或种族而不是证据来怀疑人犯罪。

13. 她帮助推行一系列监管措施，以平衡恐怖主义危害公民自由而给人们带来的恐惧心理，并且敢于直面公众要求减少移民的压力。surveillance：监督，监管；civil liberty： 公民自由；confront： 正视，处理。

14. verbiage： 冗词，废话。

15. upbringing： 抚养，培养；Anglican： 此处为名词，英国圣公会教徒；Roman Catholic： 罗马天主教的；the disadvantaged： 弱势群体。

16. hunch ones shoulders： 耸起双肩，弓着身子。

17. 他们居住在伯克郡泰晤士河畔桑宁小镇一幢干净舒适的房子里，小镇上还住着其他一些知名人士，比如著名吉他手吉米·佩奇、演员乔治·克鲁尼夫婦等。Jimmy Page：吉米·佩奇（1944— ），英国著名吉他手、作曲家、音乐制作人；George and Amal Clooney： 乔治·克鲁尼和艾莫·克鲁尼夫妇。乔治·克鲁尼（1961— ），美国著名演员、导演，艾莫·克鲁尼（1978— ），英国著名律师、社会活动家。

18. 她喜欢烹饪，拥有一百多本食谱，而且她可能很乐于见到卡梅伦一家出面改造一下唐宁街10号（英国首相官邸）的厨房。take the heat： 出面解决棘手问题。

19. cabinet： 内阁。

20. chummy： 很友好的，友善的；hang around： 在某处闲荡。

21. rigorous： 严格的，严苛的；brief： 任务简介，指示。

22. embrace： 欣然接受。

23. Chancellor Angela Merkel： 德国总理安格拉·默克尔（1954— ），2005年成为德国历史上首位女性联邦总理，素有铁娘子之称，也是欧洲最具影响力的女性领导人之一；Protestant： 新教徒的（指不受天主教或东正教控制的其他任何基督教徒）；clergyman： 牧师，教士；private：无官职的；distant： 冷淡的，不友好的。

24. underestimate： 小看，低估。

25. calculated： 精心计划的，故意的；spark： 火花，朝气；kittenheeled： 矮细跟的。

26. castaway：（因船失事而）流落到荒岛的人；Pride and Prejudice： 《傲慢与偏见》，作者为英国著名女作家简·奥斯汀。

27. subscription： 订阅；Vogue： 《时尚》杂志，创办于1892年。