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： 英國圣公會的；vicar：教區(qū)牧師；sclerosis： 硬化癥。

2. devastating： 令人極為悲傷的，令人極為震驚的。

3. Conservative Party： 保守黨；disco： 迪斯科舞會。

4. bond： 建立感情；cricket： 板球。

5. entrance： 使著迷。

6. capture： 引起某人的興趣。

7. trite： 陳腐的，老一套的。

8. home secretary：（英國）內(nèi)政大臣；a safe pair of hands： 信得過的人；flashy：俗艷的，華而不實的；candidate： 候選人；continuity： 連續(xù)性，此處指連任。

9. dire： 極端的，非常嚴重的。

10. 由于英國在脫歐問題上的嚴重分歧，導致其國際地位發(fā)生了變化，加之國家統(tǒng)一還同時受到蘇格蘭要求獨立和國內(nèi)經(jīng)濟不景氣的威脅，這樣的時局要求梅姨既要穩(wěn)健又要有魄力。flux： 變動，波動。

11. tenure： 任期；Home Office： （英國）內(nèi)政部；operator： 經(jīng)營者；flashpoint： 燃點，爆發(fā)點。

12. racial profiling： 種族定性，指警察等因膚色或種族而不是證據(jù)來懷疑人犯罪。

13. 她幫助推行一系列監(jiān)管措施，以平衡恐怖主義危害公民自由而給人們帶來的恐懼心理，并且敢于直面公眾要求減少移民的壓力。surveillance：監(jiān)督，監(jiān)管；civil liberty： 公民自由；confront： 正視，處理。

14. verbiage： 冗詞，廢話。

15. upbringing： 撫養(yǎng)，培養(yǎng)；Anglican： 此處為名詞，英國圣公會教徒；Roman Catholic： 羅馬天主教的；the disadvantaged： 弱勢群體。

16. hunch ones shoulders： 聳起雙肩，弓著身子。

17. 他們居住在伯克郡泰晤士河畔桑寧小鎮(zhèn)一幢干凈舒適的房子里，小鎮(zhèn)上還住著其他一些知名人士，比如著名吉他手吉米·佩奇、演員喬治·克魯尼夫婦等。Jimmy Page：吉米·佩奇（1944— ），英國著名吉他手、作曲家、音樂制作人；George and Amal Clooney： 喬治·克魯尼和艾莫·克魯尼夫婦。喬治·克魯尼（1961— ），美國著名演員、導演，艾莫·克魯尼（1978— ），英國著名律師、社會活動家。

18. 她喜歡烹飪，擁有一百多本食譜，而且她可能很樂于見到卡梅倫一家出面改造一下唐寧街10號（英國首相官邸）的廚房。take the heat： 出面解決棘手問題。

19. cabinet： 內(nèi)閣。

20. chummy： 很友好的，友善的；hang around： 在某處閑蕩。

21. rigorous： 嚴格的，嚴苛的；brief： 任務簡介，指示。

22. embrace： 欣然接受。

23. Chancellor Angela Merkel： 德國總理安格拉·默克爾（1954— ），2005年成為德國歷史上首位女性聯(lián)邦總理，素有鐵娘子之稱，也是歐洲最具影響力的女性領導人之一；Protestant： 新教徒的（指不受天主教或東正教控制的其他任何基督教徒）；clergyman： 牧師，教士；private：無官職的；distant： 冷淡的，不友好的。

24. underestimate： 小看，低估。

25. calculated： 精心計劃的，故意的；spark： 火花，朝氣；kittenheeled： 矮細跟的。

26. castaway：（因船失事而）流落到荒島的人；Pride and Prejudice： 《傲慢與偏見》，作者為英國著名女作家簡·奧斯汀。

27. subscription： 訂閱；Vogue： 《時尚》雜志，創(chuàng)辦于1892年。