late into the night, students diligently rehearse exam questions at dozens of schools in downtown brasilia that offer people the chance for a better, more prosperous life--that of a brazilian bureaucrat.
　　深夜，巴西利亚市区的几十间学校里，学生们还在孜孜不倦地练习考试题，这将使他们有机会过上更好、更富裕的生活——做巴西的政府公务员。
　　
　　generous pay, stability, and often easy hours will attract applications from as many as 10 million people this year for civil service jobs. brazilians often refer to getting a government job as catching the "train of happiness."
　　高薪、稳定，再加上通常工作都很轻松，这在今年吸引了一千万人申请政府公务员的工作。巴西人通常把能吃上一碗公家饭称为搭上了“幸福列车”。
　　
　　in brazil, civil servants do very well, as the many luxurious homes with pools, servants and shiny cars in the capital brasilia's residential areas show.
　　在巴西，公务员的待遇可是相当不错，从首都巴西利亚的居民区来看，很多人的家都非常奢侈，有游泳池、佣人和闪闪发亮的轿车。
　　
　　there are an average of 700 applicants per job and some candidates study for years to pass an entry exam.
　　平均每个公务员职位有七百人竞争，一些人为了通过一个录取考试苦读了数年。
　　

　　the problem is that brazil's bloated public sector is a burden on business and the economy, leaving little money to invest in education or infrastructure. rather than slashing jobs, the government is adding more.
　　问题是巴西膨胀的政府部门对商业及经济是一个负担，使得投入教育和基础设施建设的资金所剩无几。政府不但没有大幅度削减职位，反而增加了更多。
　　
　　despite an economic boom in recent years, brazil ranks poorly in international competitiveness comparisons, due mostly to an unwieldy state apparatus that consumes about 38 percent of gross domestic product.
　　尽管近年来经济有所增长，但巴西在国际竞争力比较中的排名仍然较低，主要是因为臃肿的政府机构消耗了38%的国内生产总值。
　　
　　an accountant or administrator in one of the gray-green ministries that flank the main avenue of brasilia's government quarters can earn more than 10,000 reais a month, or roughly 20 times the minimum wage.
　　在巴西利亚政府区主路旁的灰绿色部委办公楼里，一个会计或行政人员每个月可以挣到一万多雷阿尔，大概是最低工资的20倍。
　　
　　a police inspector or public prosecutor can bring home twice as much, the equivalent of around $150,000 a year. in contrast, brazil's per capita national income stands well below $10,000 annually.
　　警督或检察官拿到手的是这个的两倍，相当于每年15万美元左右，而巴西的年均国民收入远远低于一万美元。
　　
　　in addition, most civil servants cannot be fired unless they break the law and many receive pensions worth 100 percent of their last salary upon retirement.
　　而且，大多数公职人员不会被解雇，除非他们违反法律，许多人在退休后可以拿到的养老金都相当于他们离职时的全额薪资。