经济学人:英国的住房问题:进步空间(1)

 Leaders 领导者

Housing in Britain: Rooms for improvement 英国的住房问题：进步空间

How to solve Britain's housing mess? 如何解决英国的住房危机？

On every side, Britain's politicians are grappling with problems of immense scale and nightmarish complexity¹. 在各个方面，英国政客都在与大规模且噩梦般错综复杂的问题斗争。

How to manage the departure from the European Union? 如何解决脱欧带来的影响？

How to help a crumbling² health service cope with an ageing, weakening population? 如何帮助一个摇摇欲坠的公共医疗服务应对人口日益老龄化且日益衰弱的情况？

How to deal with persistent³ regional deprivation⁴? 如何应对持续的地域性贫困？

Yet one national scourge⁵ that holds back the economy and poisons politics is readily solvable—politicians just need to be brave enough to act. 然而一个国家的祸害比如阻碍经济和政治影响是容易解决的，政客们只需要足够勇敢的行为。

That scourge is the cost of housing. 这个灾祸是住房的成本。

The ratio of median house prices to earnings⁶ in England hit 7.7 in 2016, its highest recorded level. 2016年，英国平均房价与收入的比率达到了7.7，创历史最高水平。

In the past four decades house prices have grown by more in Britain than in any other G7 country. 在过去的四十年，英国的房价已经上涨得比其它G7国家还要多。

Home ownership has been falling for more than a decade, after rising for most of the past century. 在过去大半个世纪上涨之后，住房自有率已经连续十年下跌。

In London housing is outlandishly dear: before the Brexit vote sent the pound tumbling, it was the priciest city in the world for renters. 在伦敦，住房是出奇的昂贵：在英国退欧公投之前，英镑暴跌，伦敦是世界上租房价格最高的城市。

The cost of housing has knock-on effects across the economy. 住房成本对整个经济产生了连锁反应。

As people are forced out to the suburbs, cities become less dynamic. 当人们被迫搬到郊区时，城市变得不那么有活力了。

Workers waste time on marathon, energy-sapping commutes⁷. 工人们把时间浪费在马拉松式、消耗能量的通勤上。

People from the regions cannot afford to move to cities where they might find work. 郊区的人们支付不起搬到他们可能找到工作的城区的费用。

Businesses cannot clear land to build. 企业不能清理土地用以建设。

It is perhaps no coincidence that Britain's growing housing mess has coincided with stagnant⁸ productivity. 英国日益增长的住房市场混乱与生产力停滞相吻合，这也许不是巧合。

All this has fostered a growing sense of inequity. 所有这些都滋生了一种日益增长的不平等感。

Britons over the age of 65, a fifth of the population, own over 40% of the housing wealth held by owner-occupiers. 年龄超过65岁的英国人占人口的五分之一，他们以业主占有的方式拥有40%的房屋财产。

Youngsters with rich parents can buy their first house thanks to the “Bank of Mum and Dad”. 有富有父母的年轻人可以买他们的第一套房，多亏了“爸妈的银行”。

Everyone else must resign themselves to renting small properties for life, or to continuing to pay off their mortgage long after retirement⁹. 其他的人则必须放弃自己的意愿，终身租着小房子，或者在退休很久后继续偿还贷款。

 

1 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

5 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 commutes   

上下班路程( commute的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She commutes from Oxford to London every day. 她每天上下班往返于牛津与伦敦之间。
• Barbara lives in Oxford and commutes. 芭芭拉住在牛津，通勤往来。

8 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。