《经济学家》读译参考：烟囱清洁工四面楚歌－德国烟囱清扫业排斥竞争

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:05:12 12:24:43
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

Chimney sweeps under fire
烟囱清洁工四面楚歌

（1）GERMANYS chimney sweeps—hallowed as bringers of good luck, with their black top hats and coiled-wire brushes—are under attack. Last week the European Commissions directorate[1] for the internal market revived proceedings against an antiquated German law that protects sweeps against competition.

头戴大礼帽、身背金属盘条刷的德国烟囱清洁工被视为能带来好运的圣人，如今却遭到了抨击。上周，欧盟委员会内部市场理事会再次对德国一部保护烟囱清洁工免受竞争的过时法律提起了控诉。

The countrys chimney sweeps enjoy a near-perfect monopoly. Germany is divided into around 8,000 districts, each ruled by its own master sweep who usually employs two more sweeps. Although this is a private enterprise, the maintenance and inspection service provided is c_______① and prices are set by the local authority: sweeps cannot stray outside their district, nor can householders change their sweep even if they loathe him. （2）This rule cuts both ways. “There are some customers I cant stand either,” says one Frankfurt sweep.

德国的烟囱清洁工几乎完全享有垄断权利。德国总共划分为大约8000个行政区，每个区都有各自的清洁工工长，这名工长通常再雇佣2名以上的清洁工。虽然这是一个私人公司，但是其提供的维护和检查服务都是强制性的，而且由地方当局定价。清洁工不能跨区服务，而各家各户即便对清洁工不满意也不可更换。这一规定两头都不讨好。法兰克福一名清洁工说：“有一些客户我也受不了。”

The r_______② is simple: chimney-sweeping and related gas and heating maintenance in Germany are treated as a matter of public safety. Annual or semi-annual visits are prescribed, keeping the sweeps busy all year round.

原因很简单——德国人认为清扫烟囱及相关的燃气、供热保养事关公共安全，而清洁工按规定每年或每半年要拜访客户一次，长年都忙忙碌碌。

（3）For centuries, chimney-sweeps in Europe were a wandering breed. But in 1937 the chimney-sweep law was revised by Heinrich Himmler, then the acting[2] interior minister. His rules tied chimney sweeps to their districts and decreed that they should be German, to enable him to use sweeps as local s______③.

欧洲的烟囱清洁工曾经都是漂泊一族，这种状况维持了数百年之久。不过到了1937年，时任德国内政部代理部长的海因里希·希姆莱（德国纳粹头子）对烟囱清洁法进行了修订。他要求烟囱清洁工只能在其所在的行政区内工作，并下令规定清洁工必须是德国人，这样他就可利用清洁工作为地方间谍。

（4）The law was 0updated in 1969, leaving the local monopolies in place but opening up the profession, in theory at least, to non-Germans. But in practice few apply. Four years ago a brave Pole qualified as a master in Kaiserslautern, according to a fellow student, and this year an Italian did so in the Rhineland Palatinate. But he, like most newly qualified German masters, will spend years on a waiting list before he gets his own district.

1969年该法经重新修订后，尽管地方垄断仍然保持不变，但至少从理论上看，这一行业已经可以向非德国人开放了。不过这一点几乎没有得到付诸实施。据一位同学说，四年前一个敢为天下先的波兰人取得了凯泽斯劳滕的清洁工工长资格。今年，一名意大利人在莱茵兰－帕拉廷又同样获得了这一资格。不过跟大多数刚刚取得德国清洁工工长资格的人一样，他要等上数年才能申请到自己负责的区域。

The European Commission would like to see a competitive market in which people can choose their own sweeps, just as they choose builders or plumbers[3]. It first opened infringement proceedings in 2003, and the German government of the time promised to change the law but failed to do so. （5）And despite the huffing and puffing[4] from Brussels, the government is still reluctant to dismantle its antiquated system on safety grounds. The number of deaths from carbon-monoxide poisoning in Germany is around one-tenth that in France or Belgium, claims the Frankfurt sweep. So Germans are likely to be stuck with their neighbourhood Schornsteinfegers—whether they can stand each other or not—for some time to come.

欧盟委员会希望建立一个充满竞争的市场，人们在此可以像挑选建筑工和水管工那样挑选自己的烟囱清扫工。它于2003年首次提出了侵权指控，当时的德国政府答应修改法律，可后来却食言了。尽管欧盟委员会（总部位于比利时布鲁塞尔）怨声载道，德国政府依旧不愿废除其基于安全考虑所建立的老掉牙的体制。法兰克福的烟囱清洁工声称，德国死于一氧化碳中毒的人数大约是法国或比利时的十分之一。因此一段时间以后，德国人很可能要不得不勉为其难地接受来自邻国的烟囱清洁工——无论他们彼此之间能否相互容忍。

[QUIZ]

1. 根据上下文和英文释义，补全单词：

①c_______（adj. mandatory）

②r_______（n. the reasons for a decision, belief etc）

③s________（n. someone whose job it is to find out secret information about another country, organization, or group）

2.[NOTES]

1. directorate n. 董事会

2. acting adj. 代理的

3. plumber n. 水管工

4. huff and puff

a) to breathe out in a noisy way, especially when you do something that involves a lot of physical effort 大声呼吸、喘气例：He was huffing and puffing by the time he got to the top.

b) to show clearly that you strongly disagree with or are annoyed about something:对……表示不满、反感

例：After a lot of huffing and puffing, he eventually gave in to our request.

5. Schornsteinfegers n. [德语]扫烟囱的人

[KEY TO QUIZ]

1. ①compulsory 强制性的

②rationale 原因，理由

③spies 间谍