我最近看了一篇外刊上的文章，里面写道“中国社科院最近发布的一份蓝皮书称，超过55%的90后大学毕业生表示，如果买房意味着要“背负沉重房贷”，他们宁可不买房”。

这个比例确实挺高的，每个人的想法不同，有的人借钱凑齐首付了赶紧买房，有的人宁愿无房也不要背负沉重的房贷。当然，在条件允许的情况下，如果房贷差不多，我还是会选择买房。

今天“高斋外刊双语精读”就带大家一起来看看买房or租房这一热点英语写作话题。这篇内容既适合练翻译，也适合学写作，提高阅读理解。

顺便提醒下大家，我们这个课很不错，话题和文章很适合考试，一句句讲解，特别细致，想趁寒假学习的同学别错过哈外刊精读翻译班第2期（12月21日开课）：拼团只需329元，适合MTI翻硕、CATTI和考研英语备考

年轻人，

你愿意背负沉重的房贷吗？

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.

高斋参考译文：中国社科院最近发布的一份蓝皮书称，超过55%的90后大学毕业生表示，如果买房意味着要“背负沉重房贷”，他们宁可不买房；在90后毕业生中，只有1/3的人愿意为了买房而降低生活质量，还有30%毕业一年后仍住在不足20平米的房间，但比起拥有一个更大的生活空间，他们更愿意提高生活质量。中国一线城市房价是居民人均收入的40多倍，严重影响了年轻人的买房意愿和买房能力。因此，对大多数人来说，租房住可能是一种更适合的生活方式。

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".

中国社科院最近发布的一份蓝皮书称，超过55%的90后大学毕业生表示，如果买房意味着要“背负沉重房贷”，他们宁可不买房；

1. 固定句型：According to a paper by ...是一个固定句型，外刊中很常见，表示“……发布的报告称/显示/指出/表明”，by后引出人、机构、组织等，常见的还有report，survey，research。这个在经济学人精读：近视与遗传有多大的关系？| 英语写作句型中也讲过：

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

美国西北大学（Northwestern University）研究员的一项新研究发现，摄入高脂肪食物可能会扰乱人体生物钟。

还比如下图经济学人这个：

2. 专有名词：Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 中国社会科学院，简称CASS。注意专有名词在句中加the。

冠词的用法大家可以看看高斋CATTI更过的两篇文章：

CATTI三笔真题中组织机构的翻译

冠词使用让人抓狂！CATTI三笔真题中如何正确使用冠词？

3. 同义表达：born in the 1990s，出生于20世纪90年代，也就是俗称的“90后”。college graduates born in the 1990s即“90后大学毕业生”，外刊上有一个类似表达：

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

“90后大学毕业生”还可以说post-90s college graduates，graduates of the post-1990s generation。

“××后”的表达我在CATTI冲刺班讲19年11月CATTI二笔真题的时候讲过，原句是：

作为看漫画长大的80后一代，热爱传统民居建筑的毛葛想到了通过漫画形式向人们介绍传统民居，希望让更多人看到传统民居建筑的美并加入到保护传统民居的行列，引起更多人尤其是年轻人对这一学科的兴趣。

4. 固定表达：would rather not do sth意思是“宁可不；不愿”，也可以说prefer not to do sth。

5. if that中的that指代buying a house。

6. "a heavy mortgage"在这里指“背负沉重房贷”。

“过高的房价”可以说overinflated house prices，也可以说exorbitant housing prices。

“因房价过高长期负债”可以说go into long-term debt to pay an overinflated price for a house.

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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后毕业生中，只有1/3的人愿意为了买房而降低生活质量。

1. it指代第一句提到的blue paper。这个it said和according to the blue paper表达同一层含义，可以互换。

2. 固定搭配：compromise意思是妥协，折中，让步。注意后面的介词搭配，是compromise with sb on sth。举个例子：

我们不得不在教育水平、技能和英语水平方面降低要求。

这个“降低要求”就可以用compromise on来表示。

因此，这句话英文可以写为：

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

3. quality of life也可以说life quality。

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

为了一些目的而做事往往比什么都不做更糟糕。

英文可以说：

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.

还有30%毕业一年后仍住在不足20平米的房间，但比起拥有一个更大的生活空间，他们更愿意提高生活质量。

1. 同义替换：them指代前一句的graduates of the post-1990s generation。中新网上有类似报道：

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

这句话中的occupied an area of less than 20 square meters和原文的lived in a space of less than 20 square meters可以同义替换，occupy表示“居住；使用”。

2. 固定句型：more willing to do rather than doing sth，表示“与其……，更愿意……”，也可以说more willing to do than to do，如在面试环节中，面试者为节省时间倾向于进行小组面试，比如：

部门主管往往更愿意花一个小时来同时面试12名求职者，而不愿意拿出12个小时进行一对一的对话。

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在这里表示“留出（时间）”。

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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.

中国一线城市房价是居民人均收入的40多倍，严重影响了年轻人的买房意愿和买房能力。

1. first-tier cities：一线城市。近年来快速发展的“新一线城市”英文就是new first-tier cities。同理，“二三线城市”是second- and third-tier cities。

2. 语法分析：more than 40 times the average income of是倍数的一种表达，其基本结构为：数字+times the+名词+of ...，表示是……的多少倍。

forbes报道中也有一个类似的数据，说工薪阶层近35年的收入才够买得起一套房，原文是这样说的：

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

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

年轻人无力在大城市买房，因此他们往往有三种选择：

A. 选择在大城市租房，也就是本文的观点；

B. 选择离开大城市，到房价不那么高的地方买房，正如卫报上这句：

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

类似的还有forbes上这句：

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

It's highly likely that是一个固定句型，表示“很可能……”。

C. 还有一部分会在家乡买房，同时仍然留在大城市租房。参考forbes上这句：

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，对大多数人来说，租房住可能是一种更适合的生活方式。

1. living in rented homes也可以说renting a home或直接说renting。

2. preferable：更好的；更可取的；更合适的。a preferable lifestyle也可以说a viable option，forbes上也有类似句子，它是这么说的：

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

最后，我从外刊中找了一些买房or租房原因的相关观点，作为前面观点的补充。总的来说，对年轻人来说，租房仍是主流生活方式，尤其在房价高昂的地方。大家可以借鉴一下下面的观点：

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.

买房

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.

总结

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.