商业报道:美国购房断供创历史记录

Record U.S. foreclosures

Foreclosures are up 81% across the country, with many states hitting new highs in 2008.

Well, 2008 was a very rough year for the economy and a particularly rough year for the housing market. Foreclosure filings spiked¹ by more than 81% last year. That is a record increase and there are up 225%, believe it or not, from just 2006.

Here are the cold hard facts: more than 3.1 million families in this country received foreclosure notices last year. That is one in every 54 homes. More than 860,000 families lost their homes to foreclosure last year. That is more than the entire population of South Dakota. For the folks in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona, they've been hit the hardest. The most foreclosures in 2008 were in California, more than double what we saw in 2007. And in Nevada, foreclosure filings were up 126% from 2007 levels. They were up 133% in Florida and they were up an astounding² 203% in Arizona.

The only good news from all of these, mounting³ foreclosures has meant falling prices. So if you are in the market for a home, there are plenty of bargains out there.

1 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

2 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mounting   

n.装备；衬托纸；登上；乘骑adj.上升的，增长的v.登上，骑上( mount的现在分词 )；增加，上升；上演；准备

参考例句：

• There is mounting tension along the border. 边境局势日趋紧张。
• Though he felt his anger mounting, he kept perfect control of himself. 虽然他觉得越来越生气，但还是很好地控制住了自己。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》