英语博客：Housing Market Up.

 　　Sales of low-priced(1) homes here continue to feed(2) a housing market that has buyers eager(3), sellers satisfied and some real estate agents scrambling(4) to keep up the pace."Put an entry-level home on the market and - wham! It’s gone in no time," said a broker¹ in Wenatchee. "They go almost as fast as we can list them. Sure, we’d like to see prices rising and more sales of higher-end(5) homes, but these low-end sales can be a good thing— sell a lot of entry-level homes now and, down the road, you’ll likely have a lot of second-home buyers."

　　Looser credit and some of the lowest interest rates in recent history(6), this week at 3.875 percent, have juiced(7) sales and spurred activity across the market, regardless(8) of price. "We’re seeing more interest, more showings in the $400,000 range than we’ve seen in years.“ It’s welcome activity. "Buyers are also wiser in their preparations to buy a home," said Paine, another  broker. "They come to the table with cleaner credit, higher incomes and better documentation —They’ve got their ducks in a row and are ready to purchase."

　　1. 'Low-priced homes' is the opposite of 'high-priced homes'. 'Low' and 'High' can be added to other nouns as well.

　　a. Low-priced land is selling quickly in our area.

　　b. High-priced furniture is finally on sale.

　　2. 'To feed a housing market'. When it comes to markets, we say that they are 'fed' by sales or demand. 'To feed' is used figuratively in many situations.

　　a. What you say will only feed the fire of his anger.

　　b. Play feeds the imagination of children and adults.

　　3. 'Eager' is the same as 'keen' or 'very willing to'.

　　a. They're eager to find jobs and a home in their new town.

　　b. I'm eager to meet my new boss.

　　4. 'To scramble²' means several things. We scramble eggs (beat them and add milk). It can also mean to hurry, or to run with both hands and feet on the ground, usually up hill, in an uncontrolled fashion.

　　a. The cat scrambled³ up the tree to get away from the dog.

　　b. I was late! I scrambled to get all of my things, and then I ran to catch the bus.

　　5. 'Higher-end' is similar to 'high-cost'. It is usually to describe property.

　　a. The higher-end houses are around the golf course.

　　b. The company party is always at a higher-end restaurant (high-end).

　　6. 'In recent history' the word 'recent' can be put in front of other nouns, such as 'years', 'months', 'governments' etc.

　　a.  In recent weeks, demonstrations⁴ have increased.

　　b. In recent years, there has been less rainfall.

　　7. 'Interest rates have juiced sales' the word 'juiced' here is American terminology⁵. It is the same as saying 'encouraged' or 'fed'.

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1 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

2 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

3 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。