金融时报原文：The growing popularity of government jobs highlights the challenges faced by China’s labour market as employers cut back on hiring, driving the jobless rate to above pre-virus levels despite a recovering economy. At a time of massive job losses, government agencies are the best places to work given the iron rice bowl it provides. Government positions are not just secure. China’s state control of economic resources has allowed official agencies to offer above-average salaries plus lucrative benefits, ranging from housing allowances to subsidised pension plans.

高斋参考译文：政府职位越来越受欢迎，凸显出中国劳动力市场面临的严峻挑战。企业招聘需求减少，尽管经济正在复苏，失业率仍高于疫情前水平。在大批人员失业之际，能够提供“提饭碗”的政府机构无疑是找工作的最佳去处。政府职位不仅稳定；中国政府掌控经济资源，政府机构还能够提供高于平均工资的薪资，而且还有住房津贴、养老金计划等丰厚的福利。

第一句：The growing popularity of government jobs highlights the challenges faced by China’s labour market as employers cut back on hiring, driving the jobless rate to above pre-virus levels despite a recovering economy. 

政府职位越来越受欢迎，凸显出中国劳动力市场面临的严峻挑战。企业招聘需求减少，尽管经济正在复苏，失业率仍高于疫情前水平。

1. 句子结构分析：这句的主干是The growing popularity of government jobs highlights the challenges。

as employers cut back on hiring, driving the jobless rate to above pre-virus levels despite a recovering economy是主干的状语，其中driving the jobless rate to above pre-virus levels despite a recovering economy是现在分词作结果状语，是employers cut back on hiring的结果状语，不是主干的。

2. 固定表达：the growing popularity of sth表示……越来越受欢迎。growing也可以换为increasing。

如果要描写越来越多毕业生报考公务员，我们可以借鉴经济学人上这两句：

A. Growing numbers of Chinese graduates aspire to join China's massive bureaucracy.

join China's massive bureaucracy意思就是成为庞大公职人员队伍的一员。

B. Young jobseekers have been applying in droves for government posts.

in droves表示成批，成群结队；

government posts也可以是文中的government jobs。

“公务员考试”是civil-service exams，“公务员”是civil servants，“公务员职位”是civil-service jobs。

3. 单词用法和同义替换：highlight在这里是动词，表示“突出；凸显出；强调”。可以直接说highlight sth，举个金融时报例子：

本案凸显出欧盟和中国在高科技行业的竞争日益激烈。

The case highlights the increasing rivalry between the EU and China over high-tech industries.

the increasing rivalry between ... and ...意思是“……和……之间的竞争/较量日益激烈”。在某方面的竞争介词是over。

还比如纽约时报在说远程办公影响的时候使用了这样一句：

For working couples, Japan’s efforts to combat the spread of the virus — encouraging teleworking and asking residents to stay inside — have highlighted disparities in the division of domestic work that shape households across the globe but are especially pronounced in Japanese society.

对于上班族夫妇来说，日本的抗疫努力，如鼓励远程工作，并要求居民居家隔离，凸显出家庭分工的不平等，这种不平等影响着全球各地的家庭，但在日本社会尤为明显。

Highlight的同义词是underscore，underline，具体大家可以看看词典例句或外刊例句。

这三个单词还可以表示划重点，词典上面就有两个例句：

Underline the following that apply to you...

在符合自身情况的项下画线。

Highlight the chosen area by clicking and holding down the left mouse button.

点击并摁住鼠标左键将所选区域高亮显示。

4. the challenges faced by sb：谁面临的挑战。Faced by是challenges的后置定语，可以还原为定语从句which are faced by sb. 不过一般为了简洁，省去which are。

the challenges faced by sb也可以转换为the challenges facing ...如下图经济学人所示：

5. 同义替换：cut back on sth表示减少，缩减，削减。如cut back on spending 削减支出。cut back on hiring意思就是招聘职位减少。

这里cut back on hiring也可以替换为scaled back their hiring，reduced/slashed hiring，reduced job openings。

其中job openings表示工作机会，职位空缺。比如cnbc报道中这句：

In the last month, amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., 60% of employers have reduced job openings, with almost 25% of employers closing all of their postings, according to job searching platform Glassdoor.

招聘和裁员相关的表达我在外刊精读翻译班 | 第2期（3月8日开课）：拼团只需329元，适合CATTI、MTI翻硕和考研英语备考以及之前的推文经济学人精读：奥巴马《美国工厂》刷屏，中国工厂文化VS美国文化！| 外刊双语讲过：

“American Factory” is set in the industrial heartland of the US. Hard done by The Great Recession in 2008, General Motors shut down their truck plant in Ohio, putting around 2,000 employees out of work. Cut to 2015, the founder of Fuyao Glass, Cao Dewang, took over the plant.

《美国工厂》以美国工业中心地带为背景。受2008年金融危机影响，通用汽车关闭了俄亥俄州的一家工厂，导致近2000名员工失业。镜头切换到2015年，福耀玻璃集团创始人曹德旺接手了该工厂。

6. driving表示推动，促使。the jobless rate可以替换为the unemployment rate，后面跟level表示怎样的水平。比如路透社上这句话：

In December, hiring nearly stalled, driving the unemployment rate to its highest level in more than two years.

12月美国就业增长接近停滞，失业率达到两年多以来的最高点。

第二句：At a time of massive job losses, government agencies are the best places to work given the iron rice bowl it provides.

在大批人员失业之际，能够提供“提饭碗”的政府机构无疑是找工作的最佳去处。

1. 句子结构分析：given the iron rice bowl it provides是主干的原因，it provides是the iron rice bowl的定语从句。

2. 英语写作句型：at a time of表示在……之际，常用来表示背景。At a time of massive job losses也可以说amid massive job losses。如下图streeter.ca上这个标题：

金融时报上在说到2020年毕业生考公热的原因时是这样说的：

Government bodies, known for their long-term employment, have become even more appealing.

提供稳定工作的政府机构变得格外具有吸引力。

所以，这句话At a time of massive job losses, government agencies are the best places to work given the iron rice bowl it provides也可以改写为：

Amid massive job losses, government bodies, known for their long-term employment,  are the best places to work.

第三、四句：Government positions are not just secure. China’s state control of economic resources has allowed official agencies to offer above-average salaries plus lucrative benefits, ranging from housing allowances to subsidised pension plans.

政府职位不仅稳定；中国政府掌控经济资源，政府机构还能够提供高于平均工资的薪资，而且还有住房津贴、养老金计划等丰厚的福利。

1. allowed在这里不是“允许”，而是“使可能”。这个用法我们见过很多次了，比如前不久发过的这篇双语完整版：“人人影视字幕组”，凉了 | 经济学人精读中就有一句：

They provided their skills for little reward, except the glory of an on-screen credit, to streaming services that allowed free access or offered super-cheap subscriptions.

他们向那些允许用户免费观看或提供超低价订阅服务的流媒体服务公司提供翻译，除屏幕上的署名权带来的荣誉外，几乎没什么报酬。

2. plus：和，加，加上。考MTI翻硕的同学应该看过张培基译《我的书斋生活》，其中就有这句：

这个小房间里还有两只安乐椅；一个书架，里面是我最心爱的书籍，不肯借人的。

There are only two armchairs in the room plus a bookcase holding my most favorite books, which are not to be borrowed by anybody.

3. lucrative [ˈluːkrətɪv]这个词意思是“获利多的；赚大钱的”。lucrative benefits指丰厚福利，和经济学人中的good welfare benefits其实是一个意思。

4. ranging from housing allowances to subsidised pension plans是对lucrative benefits进行举例说明。ranging from ... to ...表示从……到……，……和……等。

5. housing allowances：住房补贴。allowance在这是可数名词，意思是补贴，补助，津贴。pension plans：养老金计划。背景知识：公务员养老金计划是政府为雇员提供的附加性退休收入。

6. 英语写作句型：有关公考热的原因，我在引出原因，可别只会用There are three reasons for this. First,...Second,....这篇中提到过这个话题，一起复习一下：

This increase is due in part to a surge in the number of university students entering an intensely competitive market for jobs. It is also thanks to health, pension and housing benefits.

这一增长的部分原因是大学生求职人数激增，就业市场竞争激烈。医疗、养老保险以及住房福利的吸引也是一大原因。