【英语语言学习】北京的地下室

ARUN RATH, HOST:

More than 21 million people live in Beijing, so even the tiniest apartments can cost a fortune. But there is an underground market. Literally¹, people are living underground. Below the city's bustling² streets, bomb shelters and storage basements are turned into apartments. An estimated 1 million of Beijing's residents live underground. Annette Kim, an urbanization researcher at the University of Southern California, spent last year in China's capital city, studying Beijing's underground housing market.

ANNETTE KIM: Part of why there's so much underground space is because it's the official building code to continue to build bomb shelters and basements. That's a lot of new underground space that's increasing in supply all the time. They're everywhere.

RATH: Kim says apartments go as deep as three stories below ground. Residents have communal³ bathrooms and shared kitchens, and the tiny, windowless rooms have just enough space to fit a bed.

KIM: It's tight. But I also lived in Beijing for a year, and the city, in general, is tight. (Laughter).

RATH: Living underground at about 70 bucks⁴ a month offers an affordable⁵ alternative, but there's a stigma⁶ to living in basements and bomb shelters. During her research, Kim interviewed residents above-ground about their neighbors directly below.

KIM: They weren't sure who was down there. There is actually very little contact between above-ground and below-ground, and so there's this fear of security.

RATH: She says the underground dwellers⁷ are mostly young migrants who moved from the countryside looking for work in the big city.

KIM: They're all the service people in the city. They're your waitresses, store clerks, interior designers, tech workers who just can't afford a place in the city.

RATH: Kim says there's a range of units from the dark and dingy⁸ to the neatly⁹ decorated. But it's rare to get a glimpse below. Property owners are strict about who they let in. That didn't stop Beijing-based photographer Chi Yin Sim.

CHI YIN SIM: I started to try and find ways to get down there because I was fascinated by the fact that there was a universe beneath our feet.

RATH: The first basement-dweller she met was a young woman, a pedicurist at a salon¹⁰ who lived with her boyfriend.

SIM: I was just like, can I come and visit? And she was like, sure, come and visit us.

RATH: In the photo, the couple sits on their bed, surrounded by clothes, boxes and a giant teddy bear - all two floors below a posh Beijing apartment complex. Sim's pictures reveal rooms that look like prison cells, personalized to varying degrees.

SIM: The air's not so good. Ventilation is not so good. And the main complaint that people have is not that they can't see the sun. It's that it's very humid in the summer, so everything that they put out in their rooms gets a bit moldy¹¹ 'cause it's just very damp and dank underground.

 

RATH: Sim says many people simply adapt to the close quarters.

SIM: At dinner time, you can hear people cooking. You can hear people chitchatting in the next room. You can hear people watching television. It's really not so bad. I mean, you're spending almost all your day at work anyway. You're coming back, and all you need is a clean and safe place to sleep in.

RATH: She also met a number people who were too embarrassed to have their photo taken, especially since one Chinese newspaper referred to Beijing's underground residents as the Rat Tribe. It's especially difficult for the older residents - the ones who have been down there for years, says Annette Kim.

KIM: They're hoping that their next generation, their children will be able to live above ground. It's this sense of longing¹² and deferring¹³ a dream. And so it makes me wonder how long this dream can be deferred¹⁴.

RATH: Kim says housing laws changed in 2010, and living underground is now illegal. But she says it's still an active market. For hundreds of thousands of people, it's the only viable¹⁵ option for living in or under Beijing. To see more of Chi Yin Sim's amazing photos, check out our website, 

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

3 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

4 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

9 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

10 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

11 moldy   

adj.发霉的

参考例句：

• She chucked the moldy potatoes in the dustbin.她把发霉的土豆扔进垃圾箱。
• Oranges can be kept for a long time without going moldy.橙子可以存放很长时间而不腐烂。

12 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

13 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

14 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

15 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。