英语访谈对话 510 Owning vs. Renting

 　　Todd: So, Akane, I was talking with my friend and he’s just recently married and he was wondering should he rent a home or own a home. That’s a tough call. What do you think?

　　Akane: It is a tough call but I personally prefer to rent.

　　Todd: Really? So why would you rather rent?

　　Akane: Well, because there’s just no extra costs. You don’t have to pay for extra things like maintenance¹ and just keeping up your home. When something gets broken you don’t have to pay to get it fixed². Property³ tax is already included, things like that.

　　Todd: Yeah but if you own a home I mean first of all I think the biggest reason is you’re not throwing money away, it’s a solid⁴ investment⁵. You can actually make a profit on the home later on.

　　Akane: That’s true but with this day and age you really never know when you’re going to lose your job or if you’re going to have to move for job reasons and for that reason I think that if you’re stuck with a mortgage⁶ and you lose your job then you won’t be able to pay it and what if you can’t sell it?

　　Todd: That’s a good point actually but you could always rent the house out, right, so…

　　One common thing that rich people all have is that they own property and they own real estate⁷.

　　So you could just rent it to someone else.

　　Akane: Well that’s a good idea but still I think that’s a lot of work for somebody as busy as me and I’m not a rich person.

　　Todd: That’s how you get rich!

　　Akane: Right! Well, I don’t think I could be bothered with the hassle of renting to somebody and first you have to find someone to rent it and then you have to make sure that they pay the rent and then you have to make sure that things are fixed It’s too much of a headache for me.

　　Todd: That’s a good point. You know, actually I think the main reason why I would ever want to own a home is because you could have a dog.

　　Akane: Oh that’s a great reason; I love dogs.

　　Todd: When you rent a house often they won’t allow you to have a pet.

　　Akane: That’s true. Well you can have a cat or fish and maybe a hamster.

　　Todd: True, but if you’re a dog lover⁸ its not the same thing.

　　Akane: I guess so.

1 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 property   

n.财产，所有物，所有权，性质，特性，（小）道具

参考例句：

• He has made over his property to a hospital.他已将财产转交给了一家医院。
• Oil has the property of floating on water.油有浮在水上的特性。

4 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。

5 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

6 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。

7 estate   

n.所有地，地产，庄园；住宅区；财产，资产

参考例句：

• My estate lies within a mile.我的地产离那有一英里。
• The great real estate brokers do far more than this.而优秀的房地产经纪人做得可比这多得多。

8 lover   

n.情人，恋人；爱好者

参考例句：

• Every lover sees a thousand graces in the beloved object.情人眼里出西施。
• Mr.Smith was a lover of poetry.史密斯先生是一名诗歌爱好者。