VOA慢速英语2021 新冠疫情期间迪拜豪宅大受欢迎

Sales of costly¹ homes have been booming³ in the Middle Eastern city of Dubai during the coronavirus health crisis⁴.

在新冠病毒健康危机期间，中东城市迪拜的豪宅销售一直很火爆。

People from Europe and the United States have been moving to the city, which is one of the United Arab Emirates. They say it is because the city follows a "business as usual" policy.

来自欧洲和美国的人士搬到了这座属于阿拉伯联合酋长国的城市。他们表示，这是因为这座城市遵循“一切如常”的政策。

Christophe Reech is a wealthy French businessman who lived in London for nearly 30 years. But when Britain put in place restrictions⁵ because of COVID-19, he decided⁶ it was time to leave.

克里斯托弗·里奇是一位在伦敦居住了近30年的法国富商。但是当英国因为新冠肺炎实施限制时，他认为是时候离开了。

In Dubai, he said, the plan for dealing⁷ with the virus is simple: "Let's make sure everyone's vaccinated⁸ and keep everything open."

他说，迪拜应对病毒的方案很简单：“确保每个人接种疫苗，然后维持照常开放。”

"Of course that attracts people like me," he said.

他说：“当然这吸引了像我这样的人。”

The U.A.E. is mainly using a vaccine⁹ from China to protect people from the virus. The country has a population of about 9 million and has provided over 10 million vaccine doses so far. Other vaccines¹⁰ from Pfizer and AstraZeneca are also available.

阿联酋主要采用来自中国的一种疫苗来防止人们感染病毒。该国有大约9百万人口，到目前为止已经提供了超过1千万剂疫苗。辉瑞和阿斯利康的疫苗也有提供。

Dubai reopened to tourists last summer. It had a sharp increase in virus cases in January. But, unlike some countries, not very many people in the U.A.E. died.

迪拜在去年夏天重新对游客开放。一月份病毒病例急剧增长。但是与某些国家相比，阿联酋的死亡率不高。

The country used to be a place for rich people from the Middle East and Africa. Now people are coming from places like China, Russia, India and Europe. One reason is that it is easy to get vaccinated.

该国曾经是中东和非洲富人的地盘。现在人们来自于像中国、俄罗斯、印度和欧洲等地。原因之一是接种疫苗容易。

Reech was able to get an appointment for the Pfizer vaccine as soon as he arrived. In London, the waiting list was four months long.

里奇一到迪拜就能预约接种辉瑞疫苗。在伦敦，疫苗排期要4个月之久。

It is also easy for foreigners to get permission to live in the U.A.E. The country is offering visas for people who are able to work using the internet.

外国人也很容易获得阿联酋的居住许可。该国为能够使用互联网工作的人士提供签证。

In the past, some westerners worried about moving to Dubai because of its Islamic laws. But recently the country changed its rules to permit people from other parts of the world to observe some of their own laws and traditions. For example, it used to be illegal for men and women who were not married to live together.

过去，一些西方人因为穆斯林法律而对移居迪拜很担心。但是最近该国改了规定，允许世界上其它地方的人士遵循自己的一些法律和传统。例如，以前未婚男女同居在迪拜是非法的。

These changes made some people think about moving to Dubai: a busy city with beaches, bars, restaurants and tall buildings on the Persian Gulf¹¹.

这些变化使一些人考虑搬到迪拜，这座位于波斯湾的繁华城市有沙滩，有酒吧，餐厅和高楼大厦。

In March, a home in one of the city's rich neighborhoods was sold to a family from Switzerland for over $30 million. Less costly homes are being bought at record rates. Ninety homes worth over $2 million changed hands in April.

今年3月，该市富人区的一栋房屋以超过3000万美元的价格卖给了一个瑞士家庭。价格较低的房屋也卖出了创纪录的价格。四月份有90套价值超过200万美元的房屋易手。

But there are some signs that the housing boom² is ending.

但是有迹象表明这次房地产热潮即将结束。

Prices for space in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, have fallen nearly 70 percent from their height in 2013. Prices are falling in other buildings, too.

世界最高建筑哈里法塔的房价比2013年的高点下降了近70%。其它建筑的价格也在下跌。

Home sales experts say there are now too many places to live in Dubai. Jackie Johns is a home sales expert. She said the "boom time ... can run too quickly and it all falls apart."

房屋销售专家表示，迪拜现在有太多房子可以住。杰基·约翰斯是一名房屋销售专家。她说：“繁荣时期来得太快，一切都崩溃了。”

Matthew Cooke works for a business that sells costly homes. He said people are buying without thinking too much about the future.

马修·库克在一家销售豪宅的企业工作。他说，人们在购买时没有过多考虑未来。

Robert Mogielnicki studies the Middle East at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C.

罗伯特·莫吉尔尼基在华盛顿特区的阿拉伯海湾国家研究所工作。

He said a property boom does not usually hurt rich people. If the market changes, they are in a good position.

他说，房地产繁荣通常不会伤害到富人。如果市场发生变化，他们都处于有利位置。

"The people who lose out are on the lower end," Mogielnicki said.

莫吉尔尼基表示：“吃亏的人在底层。”

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

3 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

11 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。