我最近看了一篇外刊上的文章，里面寫道“中國社科院最近發(fā)布的一份藍皮書稱，超過55%的90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生表示，如果買房意味著要“背負沉重房貸”，他們寧可不買房”。

這個比例確實挺高的，每個人的想法不同，有的人借錢湊齊首付了趕緊買房，有的人寧愿無房也不要背負沉重的房貸。當然，在條件允許的情況下，如果房貸差不多，我還是會選擇買房。

今天“高齋外刊雙語精讀”就帶大家一起來看看買房or租房這一熱點英語寫作話題。這篇內(nèi)容既適合練翻譯，也適合學(xué)寫作，提高閱讀理解。

順便提醒下大家，我們這個課很不錯，話題和文章很適合考試，一句句講解，特別細致，想趁寒假學(xué)習(xí)的同學(xué)別錯過哈外刊精讀翻譯班第2期（12月21日開課）：拼團只需329元，適合MTI翻碩、CATTI和考研英語備考

年輕人，

你愿意背負沉重的房貸嗎？

外刊原文：According to a recent blue paper by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, more than 55 percent of college graduates?born in the 1990s?said they would rather not?buy a house?if that meant "a heavy mortgage". Only one-third of graduates of the post-1990s generation are willing to?compromise on?quality of life for the sake of?buying a home,?it said. About 30 percent of them lived in a space of less than 20 square meters a year after graduation, but they are more willing to improve their life quality?rather than having?a larger living space. Housing prices in China's first-tier cities are more than 40 times the average income of residents, challenging young people's capability and willingness to?buy homes.?As a result, living in rented homes may become a preferable lifestyle for most people.

高齋參考譯文：中國社科院最近發(fā)布的一份藍皮書稱，超過55%的90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生表示，如果買房意味著要“背負沉重房貸”，他們寧可不買房；在90后畢業(yè)生中，只有1/3的人愿意為了買房而降低生活質(zhì)量，還有30%畢業(yè)一年后仍住在不足20平米的房間，但比起擁有一個更大的生活空間，他們更愿意提高生活質(zhì)量。中國一線城市房價是居民人均收入的40多倍，嚴重影響了年輕人的買房意愿和買房能力。因此，對大多數(shù)人來說，租房住可能是一種更適合的生活方式。

01

第一句：According to a recent blue paper by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, more than 55 percent of college graduates born in the 1990s said they would rather not buy a house if that meant "a heavy mortgage".

中國社科院最近發(fā)布的一份藍皮書稱，超過55%的90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生表示，如果買房意味著要“背負沉重房貸”，他們寧可不買房；

1. 固定句型：According to a paper by ...是一個固定句型，外刊中很常見，表示“……發(fā)布的報告稱/顯示/指出/表明”，by后引出人、機構(gòu)、組織等，常見的還有report，survey，research。這個在經(jīng)濟學(xué)人精讀：近視與遺傳有多大的關(guān)系？| 英語寫作句型中也講過：

Diets high in fat can throw off the body's internal clock, a new study by researchers at Northwestern University has found.

美國西北大學(xué)（Northwestern University）研究員的一項新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，攝入高脂肪食物可能會擾亂人體生物鐘。

還比如下圖經(jīng)濟學(xué)人這個：

2. 專有名詞：Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 中國社會科學(xué)院，簡稱CASS。注意專有名詞在句中加the。

冠詞的用法大家可以看看高齋CATTI更過的兩篇文章：

CATTI三筆真題中組織機構(gòu)的翻譯

冠詞使用讓人抓狂！CATTI三筆真題中如何正確使用冠詞？

3. 同義表達：born in the 1990s，出生于20世紀90年代，也就是俗稱的“90后”。college graduates born in the 1990s即“90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生”，外刊上有一個類似表達：

College graduates born in the 1980s are less able to build wealth compared with earlier generations.

“90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生”還可以說post-90s college graduates，graduates of the post-1990s generation。

“××后”的表達我在CATTI沖刺班講19年11月CATTI二筆真題的時候講過，原句是：

作為看漫畫長大的80后一代，熱愛傳統(tǒng)民居建筑的毛葛想到了通過漫畫形式向人們介紹傳統(tǒng)民居，希望讓更多人看到傳統(tǒng)民居建筑的美并加入到保護傳統(tǒng)民居的行列，引起更多人尤其是年輕人對這一學(xué)科的興趣。

4. 固定表達：would rather not do sth意思是“寧可不；不愿”，也可以說prefer not to do sth。

5. if that中的that指代buying a house。

6. "a heavy mortgage"在這里指“背負沉重房貸”。

“過高的房價”可以說overinflated house prices，也可以說exorbitant housing prices。

“因房價過高長期負債”可以說go into long-term debt?to pay an overinflated price for a house.

02

第二句：Only one-third of graduates of the post-1990s generation are willing to compromise on quality of life for the sake of buying a home, it said.

在90后畢業(yè)生中，只有1/3的人愿意為了買房而降低生活質(zhì)量。

1. it指代第一句提到的blue paper。這個it said和according to the blue paper表達同一層含義，可以互換。

2. 固定搭配：compromise意思是妥協(xié)，折中，讓步。注意后面的介詞搭配，是compromise with sb on sth。舉個例子：

我們不得不在教育水平、技能和英語水平方面降低要求。

這個“降低要求”就可以用compromise on來表示。

因此，這句話英文可以寫為：

We have to?compromise on levels of education, skills, and English.

3. quality of life也可以說life quality。

4. 固定表達：for the sake of是固定表達，表示“為了”。例如：

為了一些目的而做事往往比什么都不做更糟糕。

英文可以說：

Doing something for the sake of it is often worse than doing nothing.

03

第三句：About 30 percent of them lived in a space of less than 20 square meters a year after graduation, but they are more willing to improve their life quality rather than having a larger living space.

還有30%畢業(yè)一年后仍住在不足20平米的房間，但比起擁有一個更大的生活空間，他們更愿意提高生活質(zhì)量。

1. 同義替換：them指代前一句的graduates of the post-1990s generation。中新網(wǎng)上有類似報道：

About 30 percent of post-90s college graduates?occupied an area of less than 20 square meters one year after graduation.

這句話中的occupied an area of less than 20 square meters和原文的lived in a space of less than 20 square meters可以同義替換，occupy表示“居住；使用”。

2. 固定句型：more willing to do rather than doing sth，表示“與其……，更愿意……”，也可以說more willing to do than to do，如在面試環(huán)節(jié)中，面試者為節(jié)省時間傾向于進行小組面試，比如：

部門主管往往更愿意花一個小時來同時面試12名求職者，而不愿意拿出12個小時進行一對一的對話。

Department heads are much more willing to spend one hour in a group interview of 12 candidates than to set aside 12 hours for one-on-one conversations.

set aside在這里表示“留出（時間）”。

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第四句：Housing prices in China's first-tier cities are more than 40 times the average income of residents, challenging young people's capability and willingness to buy homes.

中國一線城市房價是居民人均收入的40多倍，嚴重影響了年輕人的買房意愿和買房能力。

1. first-tier cities：一線城市。近年來快速發(fā)展的“新一線城市”英文就是new first-tier cities。同理，“二三線城市”是second- and third-tier cities。

2. 語法分析：more than 40 times the average income of是倍數(shù)的一種表達，其基本結(jié)構(gòu)為：數(shù)字+times the+名詞+of ...，表示是……的多少倍。

forbes報道中也有一個類似的數(shù)據(jù)，說工薪階層近35年的收入才夠買得起一套房，原文是這樣說的：

it would take nearly 35 years of an average salary to pay for an average home.

3. capability and willingness to buy homes指“買房意愿和買房能力”。

年輕人無力在大城市買房，因此他們往往有三種選擇：

A. 選擇在大城市租房，也就是本文的觀點；

B. 選擇離開大城市，到房價不那么高的地方買房，正如衛(wèi)報上這句：

People are increasing willing to move out of big cities in search of affordable homes.

類似的還有forbes上這句：

It's highly likely that people will start moving out of the big cities.

It's highly likely that是一個固定句型，表示“很可能……”。

C. 還有一部分會在家鄉(xiāng)買房，同時仍然留在大城市租房。參考forbes上這句：

Almost all salary earners would struggle to buy a house with their wages, which is making more young Chinese who want to stay in the big cities realize that they are unlikely to ever buy a house there.?Some will buy a home in their home town, and rent in the big city.

05

第五句：As a result, living in rented homes may become a preferable lifestyle for most people.

因此，對大多數(shù)人來說，租房住可能是一種更適合的生活方式。

1. living in rented homes也可以說renting a home或直接說renting。

2. preferable：更好的；更可取的；更合適的。a preferable lifestyle也可以說a viable option，forbes上也有類似句子，它是這么說的：

Renting is now a viable option for China’s younger generation.

最后，我從外刊中找了一些買房or租房原因的相關(guān)觀點，作為前面觀點的補充?？偟膩碚f，對年輕人來說，租房仍是主流生活方式，尤其在房價高昂的地方。大家可以借鑒一下下面的觀點：

租房

利：

Renting is beneficial in the short term because it is a great option if you don’t have the finances to purchase a home. Buying property comes with a lot of hidden costs and renting allows you to pay less than you would if you were a homeowner, which canhelp you save, invest and pay for other expenses.

Another advantage of renting is that it allows for flexibility. It is a great option if you’re planning on staying in an area for a short amount of time.

弊：

When renting, your money goes towards the landlord’s mortgage, meaning you aren’t building any assets of your own.?Furthermore, it’s difficult to customise or renovate a rental because the landlord will have to sign off on any changes you’d like to make.

買房

利：

Home ownership provides people with a sense of physical and emotional security and safety. It is a personal space in which they can be themselves.

Having your own home gives you greater privacy and?allows you to set the rules. This also means there won’t be any disputes with a landlord, because you are the landlord.

弊：

The disadvantages of homeownership are that you have less flexibility with regards to moving,?so you can’t just pack up and leave to another city or country without immense consideration.

總結(jié)

Each choice comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages,?but the phase you’re at in your life combined with your personal finances will help you determine what the best choice for you is. As far as I am concerned, renting will continue to be the norm for young people, particularly in cities where a shortage of homes would continue to drive higher prices.